Henry Rifle Forums

Had it a couple months now and have gotten some 1.5 inch 4 shot groups at 100yrds with iron sights with jacketed rounds . But im a cast bullet type guy and the barrel was a little to rough , and a couple tight spots so cast bullets would foul out pretty quick and i would start getting flyers .
So i hand lapped the barrel and mounted a scope just for some test runs today . Pretty satisfied with the result , pretty stout load .... 434gr Flat nose over 46grs of H322 seemed to group the best today . Ended up with a little over 2" 5 shot group@110yrds after 40rds and no fouling issue . Hopefully get it tightened up a little more , but honestly its hard to keep it on the sand bags with that load lol I'll work up some lighter loads to see if i can get some better accuracy out of it , but these here are my Brown Bear loads ....... I shot my 6"×8" 3/4 inch thick steel cutting edge , hung by 3/8 chain at 100yrds and blew it clean off the chain ....... should've got pictures of that lol the welds on the chain pulled apart and it strecthed out the links

most impressive load for large, dangerous game like brown bears .... having fired dangerous game level loads through our CCH 45-70 I understand the recoil and am going to develop a Cowboy Action load ... please keep us informed along the way

JEBar wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:28 am

most impressive load for large, dangerous game like brown bears .... having fired dangerous game level loads through our CCH 45-70 I understand the recoil and am going to develop a Cowboy Action load ... please keep us informed along the way

Thanks , for a cowboy load 405gr cast flat base over 9-10grs of titegroup works really good and isn't position sensitive. We've shot hundreds of that load and its very accurate with no recoil to speak of at all . My wife and son shoot the heck out of that load and it still packs a punch lol

Pat wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 11:00 am

Thanks , for a cowboy load 405gr cast flat base over 9-10grs of titegroup works really good and isn't position sensitive. We've shot hundreds of that load and its very accurate with no recoil to speak of at all . My wife and son shoot the heck out of that load and it still packs a punch lol

I tried shooting lead a couple of years ago and after literally thousands of rounds, I have decided its best for us to stick with jacketed bullets .... the hunting and practice bullet we are committed to using is Nosler's 300 gr Ballistic Silvertips >>> http://www.shootersproshop.com/nosler-p ... -50ct.html <<< so far IMR 4198 has been a good power for our 45-70 so we will start out working with it .... the lowest gr load I've seen recommended is 47.5 gr which yields just over 2,000 fps .... I'd like to get down to the 1,300 to 1,500 fps neighborhood .... HSM Cowboy Action loads use 405 gr bullets pushed at 1,300 fps and are very comfortable to shoot

Pistol powders can give you those Velocitys and a lot cheaper also ..... just another option if you need it .
On the left side of the page is a list of calibers to choose from . I've used them for my 45-70 and 30-30 and found the info very accurate. Before i got molds for my 30-30 , i just used jacketed rounds.
http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm

interesting site, thanks for posting the link .... of all the powders listed I have used Bullseye, Unique and W231 and I have all of them on hand .... I hope to give all three a try but do have a question .... the data was based on using Lead bullets ... is there any problem with using the powder recommendations with using Jacketed bullets of the same weight

I have used 13-14 gr. of Unique with a cast 405 gr. bullet and see 1100-1170 FPS out of my Marlin Guide gun 18 inch barrel.
Also IMR 3031 will give around 1300 FPS in same rifle with 405 gr. bullet.

we will certainly give Unique a try ....

as noted, I envision the round to be used on a hundred yard range for punching paper and ringing metal ... OK, as well as, for blowing up water bottles, skeet, and most any other target I can come up with .. .. according to my ballistics program :

300 gr Nosler Ballistic Silvertip -- ZEROED AT 75 YARDS -- muzzle velocity - 1,309 fps :

25 yds +.5" / 50 yds +1.0" / 75 yds 0.0" / 100 yds -2.7" / 125 yds -7.2"


should I ever need a bit longer range -- ZEROED AT 100 YARDS -- muzzle velocity - 1,309 fps :

25 yds +1.1" / 50 yds +2.3" / 75 yds +2.0" / 100 yds 0.0" / 125 yds -3.8" / 150 yds -9.6"


I believe this load will have a relatively light recoil and be fun to shoot

First day of fun with my new .45-70 Marlin 1895 GS. This was in 2015 and was shooting Hornady FTX 325 ammo.
The .45-70 would make some targets just disappear!
https://youtu.be/iVPHCYfJZVI

understood on the disappear .... looks like a thicker towel might have come in handy ..

Nice shootin'.

.
Nice shots!

JEBar wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 7:07 pm

interesting site, thanks for posting the link .... of all the powders listed I have used Bullseye, Unique and W231 and I have all of them on hand .... I hope to give all three a try but do have a question .... the data was based on using Lead bullets ... is there any problem with using the powder recommendations with using Jacketed bullets of the same weight

Shouldn't be , i used jacketed 30-30 in place of lead ..... as always i started on the lower side and worked up slow , but these are low pressure loads so i didnt stress any on it . As long as you are matching weight closely it should be just fine

Pat wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 10:56 pm

Shouldn't be , i used jacketed 30-30 in place of lead ..... as always i started on the lower side and worked up slow , but these are low pressure loads so i didnt stress any on it . As long as you are matching weight closely it should be just fine

agree ... I've always heard that its OK to use loads for cast bullets with jacketed bullets but the reverse isn't true .... jacketed bullets are designed to handle much higher velocities

Mags wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 10:09 pm

.
Nice shots!

Thanks Mags ........ i hope to get that group worked on down , i may pick up some reloader7 and give it a try . I kept get unburned powder with IMR3031, and groups wasn't as good .

RanchRoper wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:55 pm

Nice shootin'.

Thanks RanchRoper

fortyshooter wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 14, 2019 9:44 pm

First day of fun with my new .45-70 Marlin 1895 GS. This was in 2015 and was shooting Hornady FTX 325 ammo.
The .45-70 would make some targets just disappear!
https://youtu.be/iVPHCYfJZVI

I loaded up some Ftx bullets and they have been the most accurate round ive shot though the 45-70 . I managed to get a 1.5" group at 100yrds with iron sights and didn't even play around much with the load . But for the game here i prefer cast bullets . And i shoot a lot , ive probably put over a thousand rounds through that 45-70 in the last couple months lol

Pat wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 1:02 am

I loaded up some Ftx bullets and they have been the most accurate round ive shot though the 45-70 . I managed to get a 1.5" group at 100yrds with iron sights and didn't even play around much with the load . But for the game here i prefer cast bullets . And i shoot a lot , ive probably put over a thousand rounds through that 45-70 in the last couple months

outstanding results with your FTX loads .... just curious, is it simply a matter of preference or have you found cast bullets offer some marked advantage for your use in hunting ..

JEBar wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 9:29 am

Pat wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 1:02 am

I loaded up some Ftx bullets and they have been the most accurate round ive shot though the 45-70 . I managed to get a 1.5" group at 100yrds with iron sights and didn't even play around much with the load . But for the game here i prefer cast bullets . And i shoot a lot , ive probably put over a thousand rounds through that 45-70 in the last couple months

outstanding results with your FTX loads .... just curious, is it simply a matter of preference or have you found cast bullets offer some marked advantage for your use in hunting ..

Both really , for the large bears we have large bore cast bullets are king of penetration and stopping power . I can adjust hardness of lead , i can shoot thousands of rounds of lead and not wear my barrels down . I like big fat meplats for hunting , there are a lot of jacketed bullets that separate from the lead and loose penetration in my opinion and i dont what a bullet that explodes damaging lots of meat . I seen videos of 45-70 FTX bullets that shot deer and bullets broke apart ..... i didn't like that , but they are accurate with my testing . I just don't trust them on a potential charging 1,200lb bear lol
But im sure there are plenty of jacketed bullets that would get the job done , but cast bullets are pretty much the go too up here for stopping power and penetration.

Pat wrote: ↑

Tue Oct 15, 2019 5:43 pm

Both really , for the large bears we have large bore cast bullets are king of penetration and stopping power . I can adjust hardness of lead , i can shoot thousands of rounds of lead and not wear my barrels down . I like big fat meplats for hunting , there are a lot of jacketed bullets that separate from the lead and loose penetration in my opinion and i dont what a bullet that explodes damaging lots of meat . I seen videos of 45-70 FTX bullets that shot deer and bullets broke apart ..... i didn't like that , but they are accurate with my testing . I just don't trust them on a potential charging 1,200lb bear lol But im sure there are plenty of jacketed bullets that would get the job done , but cast bullets are pretty much the go too up here for stopping power and penetration.

completely reasonable, understandable line of thinking .... I've never hunted brown bear size dangerous game, so I've never thought my way through the process and I'm unsure what I'd choose for a bullet .... my initial reaction would be to look for a solid copper bullet