Thread: 45/70 projectiles

Morning Y'all; Cannon Fodder.... my son & I hav been using Hornady Sub-X 45 cal 410 gr at around 1,000 fps with Starline brass , Winch standard primers &
11.5 gr Ret Dot with Good results . Very Pleasent to shoot & the 405 gr Black cast projectiles from Delta Mikes shoot so close to their impact we can sight in & recheck with the cheap black cast & save the Sub-X,s for Deer/Pigs. Expansion isnt Super Great with the Sub_X but the initial diameter is Considerable to begin with. For Supers ; weve tried the FTX 325 gr Hornadys but even tho they did the job ; i expected abit more of double blood trails the size of your finger coming from the Reds & Sika . Stacy at Hamills Tauranga had a lonely packet of Speer 400 gr Flat Nose with lots Lead showing that weve been pretty Happy with . Starline Brass, Winchester Standard Primers & 2207 gives 1,900 ish fps which is very unpleasent at both ends of the Begara single shot but the deer find it worse .. We have now run out of Speers. Has anyone got any dusty, lonely packets of those 45 cal Speers that we can pay for to Rehome? Does anyone have any other recommendations for Fast projectiles in the 45/70 thats obtainable? What kind of speeds are the Bullet Casters getting out of their favourite Lead Cast 400 gr ish bullets? I have thought about Casting but time constraints & amount we use a year seems to make it unfeasable. Willing to buy/try some Home cast from some forum members if they think they have a pretty good Shape. Welcome your Feedback

Im new to the 45/70 so nothing i say could be called expert advice but no one else has tried to help.
Ive been thinking the 410 sub-x at super speeds might be the go.
1st deer i shot with the 300gr hornady hp was bang flop with everything in the bullets path munched away. Effective.
2nd a sika yearling with the 325gr FTX behind the shoulder lung only shot ran 45yd with a massive blood trail with deer motor parts all over the ground. Effective.
As i am now hunting 300-400lbs stags i wanted an expanding bullet that would penetrate big i used the American forums to decide on the 350gr hornady RN. Consensus was end to end penetration on big bears.
Well last weekend i think i finally had honest bullet failure.
12-15 inch penetration with the bullet blowing up. Going to keep using this load to see.
I also have some 300gr barnes x that will be worth a crack.
Or just use my 338/06 imp with its 250gr stag killers

Your right about the potential of the Sub-X at Super speeds if Hornadys Hype is anything to go by. Their Podcast on the 45 Cal Sub-X.s says they were Impressive against their normal gelatin rifle blocks. The problem with that ,is differenticating at a glance then the Sub Loads from the Super Loads , and if you get it wrong the POA at 50m is guna be 6 MOA out. A totally different looking projectile is reasonably foolproof

I don't think it's going to matter too much what you use.they bore a pretty big hole and let lots of daylight in and red stuff out. The above bullet failure came out of dead animal..... Bullet didn't fail,it did its job.350 going fast??? Will break up,slow it down and it won't,slow it too much n be a .45 calibre hole.flat point supposed to hit harder than round.all I KNOW is on wallabies it looks like an apple corner has been used. A big empty hole with nothing inside it,thirty years of shooting them with all manner of guns n loads I haven't seen a result like that before and everything I've hit with 45/70 is the same.

Found 6 of them and about 20 350gr. Off hunting so I'll have a better look and pm you tues or wed.

Dont be afraid to load heavier projectiles and drop back the powder. You can easily push a powdercoated 300gn cast projectile to 2000ft/s but seriously.. zero reason to imo.
I'm currently sitting happily on 1730ft/s with a 410gn med flat metplat type bullet with gas check (cut down brass to 2.040"/FTX crimper to better seat the bulkier pc projectiles).

Shoots wonderfully. I'm still mapping out the fall of shot but as of yesterday i have the solids and deep hollowpoints
confirmed at 26, 50 and 100m. I'm lazy and i only use 10 rounds each for that but why waste primers right?

Up close at 26m the 45-70 can group like a .22lr and they're both prone to being pushed about by the wind out past 100m. But that's half the fun I reckon

Flat point /truncated cone, should give you a lot better wound channel than Round nose, yes? What Elmer Keith was all about, right?

correct.....more of a shockwave going outwards,round or pointy can poke through easier....is the theory.
as said earlier,its like an apple corer has poked through stuff..a big empty hole with NOTHING inside it

So we All agree Flatpoint type nosed bullets Most favourable for the 45 cal for shock impact. Getting back to the lines of the original question then….. if I don’t cast & minimal .458 cal bullets coming into nz at mo…… where can I get some?

I used to buy hornady ftx or monoplex from either Delta Mike's or Reloaders Supplies.

Originally Posted by Avopik

So we All agree Flatpoint type nosed bullets Most favourable for the 45 cal for shock impact. Getting back to the lines of the original question then….. if I don’t cast & minimal .458 cal bullets coming into nz at mo…… where can I get some?

Plenty of guys on here casting them.