45-70 300grcast load with Unique

[JerryB]

Has anyone here tried a 45-70 load with a 300 grain cast and some Unique? I am looking for a light load for 50 yards or so. I found a sack of 300 grain cast in a box that my son bought several years ago. Since I have about 65 pieces of brass I found the other day I figured that I might load some light loads with the little 300's.Looked on the net last nite and found a few loads and a few nuts too. My manuals don't give any loads with Unique.

[Sixgun]

11 grains, loose in the case, for about 1000 fps. It's subsonic, hardly no recoil. 11 grains of Unique can be used with any grain cast bullet and is the most accurate. If any 45-70 does not shoot with this load, get rid of the gun.----6

[wvfarrier]

Amen and well said.

[JerryB]

Thanks Sixgun, I'll load some up in the morning and give them a try. I loaded 5 rounds this afternoon with 12 grains of Unique and the 300 grain plain base bullets, after loading some 500 grain 45-70's last week the 300 looks kinda small.

[Sixgun]

Jerry,
The old loading manuals. (1930's-1950's) list 11 grains as a minimum, but if your careful, you can go to 7 or 8 grains. You ought to try 4 grains of Bullseye----cat sneeze

By careful, I mean that when you go below suggested starting and it's real cold outside and you have the gun pointed down, sometimes you will get a hang fire with the bullet getting stuck in the bore. No biggie----just use a rod to pound it back down instead of another bullet pushing it out. Some guys will use Kapok to keep the powder close to the primer but I never fooled with that. 40 years later and I still have most of my fingers ----6

[JerryB]

Thanks again for the good info, I'll stay at 11 grains for what I want.

[Grizz]

11 grains, loose in the case, for about 1000 fps. It's subsonic, hardly no recoil. 11 grains of Unique can be used with any grain cast bullet and is the most accurate. If any 45-70 does not shoot with this load, get rid of the gun.----6

want to double-check, will this load expel a 525 gr bullet too?

I have the same bullet design in 325, 425, and 525. It would be fun to chrono that load and compare the POI

thanks for the load, I saved it for reference

[Sixgun]

11 grains, loose in the case, for about 1000 fps. It's subsonic, hardly no recoil. 11 grains of Unique can be used with any grain cast bullet and is the most accurate. If any 45-70 does not shoot with this load, get rid of the gun.----6

want to double-check, will this load expel a 525 gr bullet too?

I have the same bullet design in 325, 425, and 525. It would be fun to chrono that load and compare the POI

thanks for the load, I saved it for reference

Sure will Grizz. I learned this from reading the late great Frank Marshall's articles. He said that back in the 1930's, it was common practice to load any cast bullet in 45-70 with 11 grains. He met this old Indian with a beat up Trapdoor and this Indian used that load with the infantry 500 gr. bullet to kill moose, deer, and bear.

That's an author to look up and read what he wrote. I learned more from this guy with cast bullets than I did with Elmer, Charles, Skeeter, and everyone else put together. My good friend Jack Kort turned me on to him to which I am grateful.-----6

[3leggedturtle]

11 grains, loose in the case, for about 1000 fps. It's subsonic, hardly no recoil. 11 grains of Unique can be used with any grain cast bullet and is the most accurate. If any 45-70 does not shoot with this load, get rid of the gun.----6

What Mr. Six said. I shot that load out of a 5lb T/C Contender carbine and recoil was a very nice girly type of push.

[Barcelona Rick]

JerryB....10 grains of Unique seems to be a good starting point for cast...have you ever looked at the CastBoolits Forum ? Neat data there...

rick

[JerryB]

I have done some reading on Cast Boolits a couple of times just never signed in yet.

I tried to find Frank Marshall and all that I could get to come up was Frank Marshall Davis and I don't reckon he has anything to say that I want to read.