Henry Rifle Forums

My Henry 45-70 was beautifully shooting excellent groupings with Hornady Leverevolution 325 grain and HSM 430 grain +P Bear Loads but the impact to my shoulder kinda got me to buy a couple boxes of 405 grain cowboy loads. Recoil is soooooo minimal but wow accuracy was horrible. Like really all over the place. Kept checking my scope to make sure it wasn't loosening up (again lol). Any happy middle ground here? I'm seriously thinking about getting into reloading just for this rifle. Also read that continually shooting lead isn't all that great due to build up in the rifling and chamber? And shooting jacketed stuff after a lot of lead is dangerous.

Any and all help would be so appreciated!
D

I went through this same process with our Henry CCH 45-70 .... HSM Cowboy Action loads worked well but I don't choose to fire cast bullets .... we do reload our ammo and have found both a hunting and a fun to fire load with Nosler 300 gr Ballistic Silvertips

I must have loaded nd shot at least 8,000 lead rounds thru my firearms without any problem, have only run lead thru my Henry and my Uberti revolver both 45c, 38/357, 40s&w, 9mm, 45acp are all fed a steady diet of hand rolled lead with out any problems. If your worried about leading there are threads about prevention and cleaning and if your afraid to shoot lead get coated bullets, a good source is Missouri bullets, T&B bullets and there are many others. Lead was used for ammunition for over 100 years before jacketed bullets came to be.

As above, if you're shooting the right lead loads, leading should not be an issue. My experience with cowboy loads in both revolvers and rifles is that accuracy is mediocre, but accuracy is not what cowboy loads are all about. If you're shooting for group size, factory cowboy ammo is not the way to go. Light standard factory loads are more accurate.

An excellent factory load if you can still find them, is the standard Remington 405 grain Core-lokt. This is more or less the standard trapdoor load that has been around as long as there has been a 45-70 smokeless. I used to shoot these in my light Contender carbines and had no problem with the recoil and accuracy at 50 yards was excellent, BUT these are insanely expensive as factory ammo goes. Not a long range load, for sure, but a lot of game has been taken with this load over the years.

As for reloading, that's really the only practical way to shoot the 45-70 and be able to afford it. One reason we sold off our 45-70s.

North Country Gal wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:41 pm

As for reloading, that's really the only practical way to shoot the 45-70 and be able to afford it. One reason we sold off our 45-70s.

True story

I don't think lead is the problem, like ol'pole said they were shooting lead long before the jacketed stuff arrived on the scene.
Ioad for every centerfire firearm I own and have no problems. Henry, Rossi, Winchester, Marlin, Rugers, S&W you name it.
25-20 all the way up to 444, reloading is definitely the best. Then you can taylor your loads to each particular firearm.

RP

Im not sure about jacketed after lead being dangerous. I have never heard that and I have been loading for over 40 years. I have loaded many a 45-70 shells and quite a few 45-100 BPCR shells. Agree totally with NCG. Reloading is the only way to go when loading 45-70.

Whatever caliber/cartridge, when using lead, don't over do it. Mid loads and you'll be fine.

Bullet diameter makes a Big difference also.

RP

A 405 gr. cast lead bullet loaded for around 1200 FPS out of your rifle is about all you need for most things from shooting steel to big critters and will be easier on your shoulder. That Hornady FTX 325 ammo packs a good punch at both ends!

My 45/70 has only ever fired 5 jacketed rounds, 3 for me to see where it was shooting from the factory and one each by my son and a mate that were with me at the time.
For plinking loads I use lee 340gr at around 1200fps have tried 3 different powders and 2 of them will put 5 shots under 1.5" at 50 the 3rd wouldn't do better than 3" no matter what I tried.
The other load I have uses a NOE 405gr, as a HP it weighs 370gr driven at over 1600fps it has proven adequate for any game I hunt. It will put 5 shots under 2" at 100 with either the HP or FP

And the winner is...
Hornady Leverevolution. These will put meat on the table! Problem is I love the cowboy loads that kick way less but couldn't keep them within a 8 inch group at 50 yds. I'm determined to start reloading so I need advice on a happy medium here. The Hornady bullets are expensive and forces me to use the shorter cartridge. Don't like that. I have a bunch of normal 45-70s so need to figure out a decent bullet and powder combination.

heck check out the reloading section, you may find what your looking for in there.
If not ask and I'm pretty sure one of the many that load for that cal. will speak up.

RP

For sure, bullet diameter is very important with lead!!! Undersized bullets or improper alloy can destroy accuracy. At the very least slug your barrels with a dead soft round ball, there are instructions online.Unless you are very lucky, one load is not going to work well in all your guns. Here is a source for oval fish sinkers if you don’t want to look locally… https://www.beartoothbullets.com/bulle ... n=slug.htm

I like cowboy loads for casual plinking, using Trail Boss so I cannot possibly get a double charge. OTH I don’t like using lead for a lot of reasons. I don’t like handling it or being exposed to fumes when shooting. This is a purely personal choice…

If you shoot a .45/70 more than a couple of boxes per year you need to reload. I quit that caliber because of shoulder pain, and switched to .44 Mag.

John Davies
Spokane WA

Agree on slugging the barrel if you want to shoot lead. What powder do you have available in your area?

Just getting started in reloading so not sure what powders but I'm just outside Seattle and there are lots of Bass Pros and Sportsmans Warehouses around me. Not understanding the "egg" sinkers at all. (Newbie lol)

Kissmybrass wrote: ↑

Sat Jul 17, 2021 3:38 pm

Just getting started in reloading so not sure what powders but I'm just outside Seattle and there are lots of Bass Pros and Sportsmans Warehouses around me. Not understanding the "egg" sinkers at all. (Newbie lol)

LOl, that is why I said instructions on “slugging a barrel” are online. You drive a soft lead slug (round ball or a sinker) through from one end to the other and measure it. You need to get a reloading 101 book, I really like the “ABCs of Reloading”, but there are many others.

https://www.amazon.com/ABCs-Reloading- ... 245&sr=8-2

John Davies
Spokane WA