Henry 45-70 reloading

[dancote]

Hello! I am a new and happy owner of a Henry Brass 45-70 which I hope to hunt deer and black bear with, as well as, shoot for fun.
I purchased the Lee loading dies and got right to it ordering from Midway both Cast Performance 405 cast bullets and Speer 400 gr jacketed. IMR 4198 and CCI LR primers. With Starline brass I loaded up both and the Speer shoot and feed nicely. The Cast Performance chamber just fine, but with the bullet seated to the top of the cannula, do not cycle up from the magazine. The large meplat nose of the bullet catches.
I'd like to shoot some cast bullets for general practice and maybe for hunting. I like the idea of saving some money as well. Can anyone who reloads a commercially available cast bullet from one of the online companies recommend and assure me that it'll feed through the Henry? I have been looking at the 405 gr bullets at Missouri and also Oregon. I like the idea of the large flat nose to create a good wound channel but need it to cycle nicely. I am reluctant to crimp above the cannula to shorten a bullet due to my limited experience in reloading and it generally changing pressures. I basically want a reasonably priced bulk bullet that I know will work well and would take game up to black bear.
Also, since I know little about it, will leading be an issue? Do I need the coated bullets? I plan to keep; velocities low as in Sharp's range as I think they will be more fun to shoot and should kill just fine at slower velocity anyway.
Thanks for any suggestions!!

Dan

[RanchRoper]

Welcome from Alberta. Enjoy the forum.

[CT_Shooter]

Welcome to the forum from CT, Dan, and congratulations on your new Henry. Several of our members reload that caliber, so I'm sure you'll be getting some advise shortly. Glad you joined us.

Hello! I am a new and happy owner of a Henry Brass 45-70 which I hope to hunt deer and black bear with, as well as, shoot for fun.

[JEBar]

first, welcome to our forum .... delighted to have you onboard .... we load for our 45-70 .... below is a picture showing (left to right) a 300 gr Nosler Ballistic Silvertip, a 400 g Barns Buster solid, and a 500 g Acme coated cast bullet .... they are lined up to show that the length from the crimp ring to the end of bullets is the same .... we have loaded bunches of each .... they all load, fire and eject as they should .... hope this helps .... be sure to follow the link below to where you can add your Henry to our community's total



http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... 46#p137446

[BigAl52]

Ive used the Missouri Cast 405 grain. It cycles in both of mine just fine. I also use the Hornady 350 gr flat point. Welcome to the forum glad you joined us. I might also mention that the Noslers that Jim uses in 300 grain are very accurate in my AW 45-70. I know they shoot well for Jim also as I have seen his range report targets.

[dancote]

Thank you all for your suggestions! I also was wondering about the leading issue as I am new to (at least target) shooting a rifle other than deer and bear season. I just never thought of this stuff and would shoot my old Marlin 32 WIN spl just once or twice a year. If I am going to do a bunch of shooting with this beautiful gun, do I need to worry about lead? Does it only occur if higher velocity loads? Do you recommend the coated bullets for that reason?

Thanks!

[BigAl52]

Leading is always a possibility. I think if it was me and you are going to target shoot I would get some of the Berrys plated 350gr and run some Unique or Universal Clays under them for that. Save those bigger bullets for hunting. No need to pound that shoulder anymore than you half to.

[Grunt67]

Welcome to the forum, and congrats on your new Henry. I can't be of much help with what you're loading. I have a 45/70, but don't
use lead. I'm loading Hornady 300 gr. JHP, IMR 4198, 41 grs. CCI LR primers. This works great for me.
Lots of guys on here load lead in some fashion or another. You can get plenty of good experienced info from them.
Have fun with the 45/70.

[dancote]

I guess another factor in the choice of bullet is that it either be THE bullet I use to hunt or, it should shoot somewhat close as I would be practicing with the loads FOR hunting. I will be shooting deer and bear so want something that would be good medicine for that. I liked the idea of the large flat plate on the Cast Performance but they just don't lift up out of the magazine without clunking to a stop due to their length. I really like the Speer 400 gr jacketed SP I have and they cycle nicely, but kind of expensive for plinking around.

Dang! But this is too much fun!

[John E Davies]

I have used both of these companies for bulk hardcast bullets, the second is especially useful for technical info.

https://www.montanabulletworks.com/bul ... e-bullets/

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/center/index.htm

For the best results you need to slug your barrel to determine the groove diameter and the size of the bullets that will perform well. Good luck and have fun.

John Davies
Spokane WA

[JEBar]

I guess another factor in the choice of bullet is that it either be THE bullet I use to hunt or, it should shoot somewhat close as I would be practicing with the loads FOR hunting.

as one who is about as old school as they come, I've long been committed to it being best to practice with what you hunt with .... getting older and the recoil from a full power 45-70 big game hunting round have forced me to rethink that philosophy .... I still believe that practicing with the rifle(s) you hunt with is very important .... practicing working the action, loading, unloading, sighting, trigger pull, etc are all skills that can be improved, regardless of the bullet being fired .... for that reason, I'm developing a Cowboy Action load for use on a range .... having one spares me the punishment, allows me to shoot a bit cheaper, and spares me the recoil .... just a thought

[brettitt41]

Welcome aboard Dancote. What OAL is recommended for your bullet you are having trouble with? I load the Missouri Bullet coated 405gn and have not had any problems at the recommended length, actually just shy of the recommended OAL.

[Grunt67]

I'm old school like JEBar. I think it's best to practice with the load you hunt with. Part of my mind set comes from my time in law
enforcement. We practiced, and qualified with what we carried.
Comes down to familiarization. Your needs may differ.
Good luck with whatever you do.

[dancote]

I was loading a trimmed ( 2.0950") brass Starline using Lyman load data for a 405 gr bullet and starting out with 30 gr IMR 4198. But, when I load the bullet down so that the brass crimps at the top of the grove, the OAL comes out to around 2.670" and snags when it tries to lift up toward the action. It does chamber fine (leaves faint impression of lands on ridge of flat plate) so I can probably shoot them off by loading as single shot.
I will look at the Missouri lead cast as they seem to be mentioned often here....
I ended up buying some more of the Speer 400 gr as I have been reading good things about them and perhaps that could be a good hunting bullet. Just kinda pricey at around 50 cents bullet when you count shipping.

[JEBar]

here is a link to a website I've found does a pretty good job locating the best prices on ammo related items ===> https://ammoseek.com/ .... most any bullet out of a 45-70 is more than sufficient for black bear, boar, and deer .... for me, the key is finding one that our Henry likes .... the one we settled on is the 300 gr Nolser Ballistic Silvertip .... we monitor Shooter's Pro Shop and stock up when possible ===> http://www.shootersproshop.com/nosler-p ... -50ct.html ..... their trajectory out to 150 yards is considerably flatter than 400 gr bullets .... no issues with lead or copper buildup ....

[bdbrown66]

Welcome, Dan.

First of all, I also use the 300gr Nosler BT's in my 45-70. They are a very accurate bullet, and excellent for deer. I push them just over 2000 fps, and have taken deer out to 180 yards so far. You might also check out the 300gr Speer JHP "Plinker" bullets. They are inexpensive, shoot good, and hold together very well. If I were hunting black bear, I would probably use those.

As for lead bullets, yes, there is a velocity threshold at which leading becomes an issue. The coated bullets raise the threshold, allowing you to push them up to about 1600fps or so. You can eliminate the leading problem by using gas checked bullets, which have a copper plate on the bottom.

Good luck, and have fun!

Brian

[brettitt41]

I was loading a trimmed ( 2.0950") brass Starline using Lyman load data for a 405 gr bullet and starting out with 30 gr IMR 4198. But, when I load the bullet down so that the brass crimps at the top of the grove, the OAL comes out to around 2.670" and snags when it tries to lift up toward the action. It does chamber fine (leaves faint impression of lands on ridge of flat plate) so I can probably shoot them off by loading as single shot.
I will look at the Missouri lead cast as they seem to be mentioned often here....
I ended up buying some more of the Speer 400 gr as I have been reading good things about them and perhaps that could be a good hunting bullet. Just kinda pricey at around 50 cents bullet when you count shipping.

At 2.670 your OAL is probably too long for proper function through the action. Check with your bullet manufacturer and see what they recommend for OAL for that bullet in a 45-70. Longest length I have seen as max OAL is 2.550. If your getting rifling impressions on the ogive when single loaded your jamming the bullet. That could lead to a high pressure situation if you are loading at the upper end so be careful.

[dancote]

Thanks for the helpful info Brettitt41! Yes..that is how long they are with brass to top of cannula groove. They are too long to cycle. I did contact the company and they said to crimp them hard at the OAL of 2.55 but I am nervous about doing so as that puts bullet deeper for possible higher pressure and also the crimp would fall on the bullet above the groove, so that might lead to the crimp failing to hold the bullet I should think. Anyway, loading to just a Trapdoor low pressure load of 30 gr IMR 4198 seemed safe and, as I said, they chamber very nicely- just don't cycle. This is why I posted so as to see what bullets others have found good for the Henry and that both chambers, cycles, and would do well on black bear.

[elrotundamundo]

When I got my Henry H010 45-70, I ordered some Cast Performance 405 grain WLN-GC and found they were too long to feed from the magazine. I had some brass from Hornady 325 gr FTX LeveRevolution ammo that came with the gun. This brass is slightly shorter than normal 45-70 brass. I found I could load the Cast Performance bullets in the short Hornady brass, and it was just enough shorter to allow the WLN-GC bullets to cycle from the magazine. I use 45.7 grains of 3031 and the load is very accurate.

[CT_Shooter]

When I got my Henry H010 45-70...

Welcome to the forum from CT., and thanks for sharing your 45-70 reloading experience with us. Glad your here.