Henry Rifle Forums

Greetings All,

Please forgive what might be an obvious question to those of you that have been kicking around for a while, but I was wondering if it was possible to load black powder cartridges and run them through my H010B (45-70)?

If so, I imagine there would be issues with bore fouling, corrosive issues, etc..

I was wondering if there would be any advantage (less recoil) to using black powder over smokeless, as that was the powder the original rifle used.

I don’t think I could use the original cartridge specs (45 cal. Bullet 70 grains black powder, with a 500grain projectile), as I think I read somewhere that the 500 grain round is too big to feed into the rifle. The 500gr was used in the original trap door type rifles, if I’m not mistaken.

I could rn a 400-405 grain projectile.....just thinking out loud....

If so, I imagine there would be issues with bore fouling, corrosive issues, etc..

Yes there would and more than likely you would not get very many rounds through the rifle before it was fouled to the point of not functioning.
Cleaning would require a complete tear down as the black powder fouling will eventually find it's way into the internals.
Stick with smokeless powder.......

Thanks Mistered, I kind of thought that would be the case...smokeless it is...

I wouldn't go BP only for the sake of reducing recoil. There are lot's of loads with smokeless that will get you into that traditional BP 45-70 loadings.

On the other hand, I do know a couple of local shooters who use a BP sub called Blackhorn 209 with great results in their 45-70s. I've used it in in lines and it's fantastic. Cleans up like smokeless and no fouling residue, so no cleaning between shots. Be warned, though, it is mucho expensive.

I have and still do use some black powder loads in my marlin.
I started off using FFg and a 340gr cast and have since changed to 405gr and FFFg.
I think about 30 shots is the most I have gone in a session without cleaning. The rifle was still functioning fine, I found the extra lube the 405gr bullet carries and FFFg burning a bit cleaner made a real difference.
With a lever action that you can clean form the breach end cleaning is a simple job, a little more time consuming than smokeless but not a big or difficult task.