45-70 500 gr. Black MZ load work......

[fortyshooter]

With no load data on this I had to do my homework on it as far as bullet seating depth and powder load.

Now this 500 gr. bullet has about .035 less bullet in the .45-70 case than the lighter 405 gr. bullets I load.
With Alliant Black MZ you want the bullet to be seated touching powder with maybe a slight bit of compression.

So I machined up a light weight aluminum plug gauge that just slides inside the case and will rest on top of powder.
I added a 5/16ths hole in top about .500 deep to lighten it up so as to get minimum compression....just want it so sit on top of powder.

I then get a measure of how much of gauge is sticking above case and subtract from plug's length and that gives me a seating depth with the powder charge I want to use being 50 grs.
Alliant list 49 gr. for a 405 gr. bullet like what I use so 50 gr. should work well with where this bullet needs to be seated.

Made up 20 with rest of those bullets I had and will try them out in the .45-70 High Wall.

[BigAl52]

When I loaded with black I would use a wad. .030 vegie fiber wad. I then would use the tail on the caliper to gauge the right dept. Im wondering if you should be using a wad to prevent powder burn from distorting the base of the bullets Forty.

[fortyshooter]

Well Alliant recommends no wad or lube but the smokeless lube is OK. MZ generates it's own lube as it burns.
Worked really well in the 230gr. Colt 45 loads I used in the Remmie. Bore cleaned out with a water/Ballistol patch...shiny!

I have used it in the High Wall before with the 405 gr. cast lead bullets with 49 gr.

[RanchRoper]

Torpedoes....

[Travlin]

Do any of you who load black powder use a drop tube?

[BigAl52]

I always used a drop tube when loading blackpowder.