It's on!

[Kissmybrass]

Shells are cleaned, prepped, primed and sized.
300 g bullets shipped
Found IMR 3895 today.
Lyman scale is calibrated.
Now I need to clear my head.
Here's the best two sources.
Would you concur? I'd like a few head nods before I do my first ever reloads (tad nervous)
I think I'm going to follow direction from the IMR website.

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[Vaquero]

Definitely gettin closer.
Sorry I don't load for the caliber so I can't give much input.
Glad your able to get all the supplies, especially in today's turmoil.
I enjoy loading as much as I do shootin, heck sometimes I think I enjoy the loading more.

RP

[BigAl52]

Never used any 4895 in 45-70. Id start at the low end of that load table.

[Kissmybrass]

I think I'm going to load 6 Grizzly and 6 Missouri 300g bullets with the lighter grain and test those out first.
Hopefully more powders come in over the next few weeks. I really want to get this down to a round I really like to shoot

[BigAl52]

Are you wanting a plinking round or a hunting round

[Kissmybrass]

For now a smooth fairly accurate slow round.

[Kissmybrass]

For hunting (if I do it) I'll reload the Hornady FTX or just grab a box. They match up so nice with my rifle.

[JEBar]

the most helpful reloading manual I've found for 45-70 is "The Complete Reloading Manual for the .45-70 Gov't Spiral-its bound – January 1, 1993 " .... its available at Cabela's and Amazon ----> https://www.amazon.com/Complete-Reloadi ... B004JOGNQS .... it covers Trapdoor loads .... it list most all powders .... for a for a fun to fire round at 100 or so yards, I'd recommend you find one in the mid to low trapdoor

[Kissmybrass]

Thanks everyone for all of the help!!!
Pressed ten and ten
Triple and quadruple checked my weights and measurements and reweighed all of the completed rounds when they were done.

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[Rifletom]

Those look fine Kmb. Did you stay with the Hodgdon load data?

[Kissmybrass]

Those look fine Kmb. Did you stay with the Hodgdon load data?

Yes I did! I used the IMR trapdoor 300g data.
Did a ton (maybe too much) research and this was the best for starters.

https://shop.hodgdon.com/imr/imr-4895

[BigAl52]

No such thing as to much research or caution when you load your own. Those look great. Did you crimp with the RCBS die or the Lee

[JEBar]

looking forward to hearing your assessment after testing them

[Kissmybrass]

No such thing as to much research or caution when you load your own. Those look great. Did you crimp with the RCBS die or the Lee

I used the RCBS, that was the only tricky part of this. I think on a couple of the first crimps I went a little deep but they they chambered fine. There wasn't a defining measurement like everything else.

[BigAl52]

Dont be afraid to use the Lee die on the lead bullets also.

[Kissmybrass]

Good to know, thought the Lee was for jacketed

[Hatchdog]

I don’t believe there are specs for crimp but I may be wrong, just not in my experience anyway. If you have any factory ammo on hand you can do a visual comparison between them and your reloads. Biggest issue with over-crimp is an increase in pressure do to a late release of the bullet. From your pictures your crimp looks fine, especially since you are producing a light load. (More room for error doing that) Crimps are especially important in lever action rifles due to the in-line style of magazine. Too light of a crimp will cause the bullet to move forward or rearward in the case from recoil causing an over or under length condition.

Welcome to the wonderful world of reloading and happy shooting.

[Kissmybrass]

I've seen a lot of videos and instruction but they vary so much. Do I set the die all the way till it hits the shell holder? Do I put a cartridge in after the bullet was seated and screw it down till it stops, then add a quarter turn or half? For my first one I kept slowly turning it an eighth and pulling down. And repeat till it felt like it did something. It's grey area. It's kind of like you need to get a feel for it.

[BigAl52]

I usually raise the ram and screw the die till it makes contact with the loaded round and then screw it in a 1/4 turn at a time. After that its most by feel and looks for me. You can tell by handle resistance after you have done it for a while.

[Kissmybrass]

Yes I did. I used the Starting 47.5 grains of 4895. Around 1600 fps I believe. Gonna head to the range this afternoon or Tomorrow morning!