grain bullets for 45-75

[Black River Johnny]

I was wondering if anyone has used 405 grain 45-70 bullets in your 45-75? I normally use 345 but a friend of mine gave me some 405.  Is that to heavy?

[Silver_Rings]

Don't know about 45-75 but the 405 grn bullets work good in my 45-60.

Silver Rings

[john boy]

Johnny, would you be planning to load the 405's with nitro or black powders?  And why would you want to use 405's?
With BP - just charge with 75grs of Fg or FFg powder
With Nitro - be sure to find a published loading data

[Black River Johnny]

The reason I was going to use them was I have a shoot next week  and have no lead left. My pal has some 405 grn bullets that he uses in his 45-70 that he gave me. I did just order some cast 345 with spg so I will have some that I can load. I still would like to know if the 405 grn is ok in a lever gun.

[litl rooster]

I have used them in my Marlin 45-70, without issues

http://www.reloadammo.com/4570load.htm

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I have used them in my Marlin 45-70, without issues

http://www.reloadammo.com/4570load.htm

Only for MODERN GUNS!  

The 1876 is still a toggle-link action.  It is "strong" but that is a relative term.  I have a great Lyman mould that drops bullets at about 420 gr. with my alloy.  I have wondered, as the difference is only about 15%.  

Luckily I don't have to experiment as I have a great mould for the factory duplication 350 gr. bullet.

BTW;  Thanks for the link Rooster (Now bookmarked), but I won,t try to extrapolate this data from a Marlin to a 1876. Nor from a .45-70 to .45-75. without somebody with more experience than I to lead the way.  You might find a crate of lemons amidst the oranges & apples.

[larryo_1]

Myself--I have to go along with Sir Charles.  I am Verry happy with my Hoch custom 350 grain mold and have only tried the 300 grain and the Hornady 350 grain jktd flat nose soft point once.  So with all my messing around it all comes back to that 350 grain bullet which is what this rifle--both old and new are/were designed around.  I think that if we all stick to what is/was designed for--for this rifle, we will be happier and one hell of a lot safer.  I know that there are those that think that bigger is better but that is really  not the case.  In my Sharps rifle that I had--I had found that it only liked one type of bullet and that was one that it had been designed around to begin with and that had been a 550 grain pure lead paper-patched bullet that really does kill very effectively as it did in the old days.  So--with that in mind--stick with what this rifle was designed for and enjoy.

[Buck Stinson]

The 350 grain lead bullet was the standard factory load for all of the old ammunition manufacturers in the .45-75WCF caliber.   You won't gain anything with the 405 grain bullet except recoil and excessive wear on the toggle link action.  These guns will take the abuse, but why would you do that.

[larryo_1]

Buck:

AHEM!  What I did and I think I have already stated this---I took the data off the rear of an old box of factory 45-75 ammo and made my own alloy to match their recommendations ie--16:1.  My rifle--fussy that it is--likes this alloy.  AND--I must reitterate here that I use my HOCH mold that is patterned after an old Lyman picture of an original bullet and my rifle likes it also.  Also--while I am blabbering here i should state that I have good luck using Swiss 1½ BP with both the 72 grain load and the 76 grain load(which is a kick in the pants(shoulder).  Both do right admirably with regards to velocities and accuracy.  Happy Trails!!!