I shoot .45-70 bullets from 300 to 405 grains. I don’t complain about the recoil of any of them. I don’t need to use a 400-grain bullet out of my .45-70 to kill a deer, but I will say that of all the different bullet/powder combinations I use, the 400-grain Speer JSP is consistently the most accurate. In the pic, that’s a 5-shot group.

 

I really like your group I have not tried the newer powders I have had real good luck with the older powders and never had idea of switching . The way it looks i might have to try some just to have a backup.

 

I load .45-70 from .300-grain to 535-grain and it's my favorite cartridge to load for. I'd say 300-grain is tied with 405-grain for the most shooting I do. I do shoot at least 100 rounds of .45-70 each week if not more for fun or while testing rifles for the top lever gun companies. I personally love recoil and I'm almost 70. I don't understand why so many people are afraid of the .45-70 recoil.

 

Wow you got the dream job. I assume that those companies pay for your supplies.

 

When I was young and dumb I was into the latest whiz bang barrel burning retinal detaching magnum cartridges... and sought to hot rod existing cartridges to obtain the maximum performance. Now that I'm older I don't understand the desire to hot rod a cartridge that doesn't need to be. There's nothing wrong with a 300 grain bullet at 1800 fps, a 405 grain at 1350 fps or a 500 grain bullet at 1250 fps. The old time cartridges kill by mass, not by velocity. A lot of shooters are fascinated by flat trajectory and the possibility of hydrostatic shock....both of which are nearly unobtainable with a 151 year old cartridge.

Bottom line is to each their own as long as they are being safe. East coast hunting where shots rarely are necessary over 100 yards is different than western hunting where your shots are going to be a lot longer. If your shots are expected to be routinely over 200 yards.... I might suggest a different choice in calibers.

If you need more power than a 45-70, perhaps you should look into purchasing a 450 Marlin or a 458 Winchester Magnum.

 

I shoot my 45-70, my 450 Marlin, and 458 WM reloads all done at the minimum charge for safety. I’m just out to have fun and 300-500gr of lead will slap a gong and water jug at any velocity. If I go to Africa I’ll bring my $300 boxes of factory ammo for the 458, if I go to bear country I’ll bring the factory hornady ammo for my 450. I’ll leave those hot loaded rounds for the people that can afford the powder, and if people don’t like the recoils they can always shoot the 6.5 needmore

 

The 45-70 was developed with the 405 gr. & 500 gr. lead alloy bullets. Those two projectiles decimated the bison herds, outlaws, in-laws, Native Tribes, and whomever or whatever happened to be on the receiving end of one of those bullets. I never complained about recoil except to make "note" of it when working up loads in my 1895 Cowboy - shooting that rifle/cartridge from the bench can be challenging. I just strapped on my PAST recoil shield and continued on with load development. No problems here. I've never noticed any recoil when I'm hunting!
I load two bullet weights for the Marlin. The 405 gr. RNFP for hunting/practice and a +300 RNFP for plinking/woods walking. The 500 gr. bullets propelled by Holy Black are for my Sharps and that's all she gets, but from a 12.5 lb. rifle, even those are shot without any issues.
The 45-70 "made its bones" with lead alloy bullets. I've worked up some loads with 400/405 gr. jacketed bullets. They didn't shoot any better than my home cast 300/405/500 gr. projectiles and certainly didn't kill anything "deader". My stock of jacketed bullets was sold off a year or so ago since my cast bullets have been so effective on the whitetails and feral hogs that I've shot.
So, back to your original question regarding recoil - no complaints here.
I just recognize and realize that the laws of physics will not be denied and shooting heavy (for caliber) bullets at moderate velocity or light (for caliber) bullets at high (?) velocity is gonna produce more thump - at BOTH ends of the rifle!
There's lots of reasons the 45-70 is still going strong, even after +150 years and recoil sensitivity ain't one of them!

 

No complaints from me. I prefer 400+ grains and heavier. Recoil is a non issue for me.

 

I have never quite understood the 'more recoil is more fun' concept. Recoil is the enemy of accuracy and precision. I have taken a bunch of elk with my 1895 Marlin .45-70 loading the 300 grain Barnes Original to 2200 fps, mostly 80 to 120 yards, bit there was one at 340, I knew the terrain and the range. Recoil is significant, 10 -20 rounds is plenty for an outing. I have a range, out 600 plus, 1000yards, though mostly shoot 100, 150, 200 yards and shoot several times a week. I find mild loads in most rifles 45-70, .358 Win, .308, .32 Special to allow many more rounds down range without discomfort. I suppose it might be thrilling to shoot 'BIG RECOIL' at 'THE RANGE' a few rounds a couple times a year, but I notice most of the guys shooting for REAL accuracy try to reduce recoil. How you set up for recoil can make a difference, heavy rifles, shoulder padding, body weight(recoil resistance) all come into play. An 8 lb hunting rifle is quite unpleasant compared to a 10 lb rifle in a LEAD SLED.

 

I am not trying to be smart but would somebody explain to me why you guys are throwing 400 + grain bullets and complaining about recoil ? What is your need for this . I cannot imagine what a box of 400gr’s are compared to the 300+ Gr’s .i like the .45-70 for the bark and recoil so I load mine hot, just 10 Gr under the .458 for the .45-70 caliber and powder if that is not enough I go to .458. The above bullet I use is the 300 Hornady and my 300 Gr cast for both guns and I get plenty of bark and recoil all I am asking is for an explanation . Happy shooting

If you enjoy the recoil and bark so much, why are you shooting those overly light bullets? Get some 550gr slugs and let them rip!

 

Recoil can be soft with 405grs. Never seen a need to change and if hunting the SD gets pretty low with some of the lighter bullets. Lowest I would ever shoot are 350gr.

 

I max powder load with 300gr Hornadys and recoil is no fun. I'm not worthy of posting in this manly thread!

 

I did once load up 405gr lead over Ruger 1 levels of H355. Had no clue what I was doing and was brand new to reloading. The 1895 handled it like a champ though, and holy cow the recoil was something to behold

 

After 5 shoulder surgeries I have the right to complain about recoil. It still doesn't stop me from shooting though.

 

The bullets I was shooting in the 1895CB were 300 gr Sierra's and they were loaded hot enough to kick real good. The 400 Speer SPFN I was shooting today are not loaded as hot and do not kick as bad. Why do you worry what others are doing? We are not all the same. Some of us like to play around with many combinations of powder and bullets in many calibers. I do not own or want to own a 458 win but don't question why others do.

 

I regularly load 300-405 grain in the 45-70. I generally don't load them very hot, as I have several rifles other than Marlins that need lighter loads. Trapdoors, Sharps, and Remington rolling blocks do not need to be hot rodded. Hornady 300 grain for some hunting, and 405 cast lead for everything else.

As far as cost, it seems to me that 405 cast lead is considerably cheaper than 300 JSP.

As for recoil, I don't necessarily enjoy it, but it is part of the game.

 

I have tried Berry's plated 350 grain bullets with 25 grains of Hercules/Alliant 2400 stuffed with toilet paper to hold the powder down. Now use Vegetable wads at .460 diameter with the same load for plingking.

 

Try this, my dangerous game protection

540 gr hardcast

 

The Garrett 540 gr +P at 1550 fps generates a little over 2800 ft.lbs of energy and at first thought it appears wholly inadequate for dangerous game like the 'Black Death', elephant and hippo. But, your load with put all of those dangerous boys down with authority. Nothing can stop that hard cast bullet. Big hole going in and big hole coming out the other side. I really like your scout set-up.

 

MagnumMadness,

Some years ago, when I was much newer to the 45-70, you gave me 20 of your 300g bullets. Anyway, I loaded them according to your recipe. (I'm away from home right now and can't look it up at this moment, but I do have it.)

Wow! I didn't chrono them, but their recoil is way heavier than my 405g cast at 1600 fps and even at 1700fps. If those are the regular diet for your 45-70, (a Mauser bolt action if I recall), I can attest that you like your loads hot, and you must enjoy your recoil. My 405's at 1600 fps and even 1700 fps are much easier on my shoulder.

I would liken my 1600 fps 405g loads to moderate loads fired from my Mossburg pump. And less than buckshot and slug loads.

Does the 45-70 have recoil? Yes. But loaded to levels where the recoil is comparable to that of a 12g shotgun, it will effectively handle any game animal that walks the woods in North America.

And there's still room to increase the power if you want a heavier bullet and/or crave a heavier recoil.

All the best, sir,

HIKayaker

 

With H335, I could creep up on 2000 fps with a 400 grain Speer. Recoil was brutal in my H&R and both of my Marlins. The max load of Imr 4198 and a 300 grain bullet at nearly 2400 FPS was no better…maybe worse.

Then one day, I killed a huge sow with a 405 cast and 15 grains of Unique. That soft shooting bullet slammed through that big old sow. She had matching blood trails about three feet apart (coming out both sides) for about 30 yards. It was so much blood it almost didn’t seem real.

After that, I shoot hogs and deer with Trapdoor level loads and they work. I do have some 2000 FPS 300 grain loads if I need a little flatter trajectory. They are peppy but not brutal.

 

I stuff my 45-70 brass with all the 1-1/2 Swiss it will hold. The 500 hundred grain round nose Government profile bullet is for the Trapdoor. The 535 grain Postell goes in the 1885 High Wall. They will do to hit a steel buffalo about half a mile away.

 

I hunt and shoot with mine using 465gr hard cast and the deer and elk have never had a complaint. The recoil has never bothered me and I'm 78yrs.

 

Skyhunter and Ol_Tanker wrap it up. It is not about recoil for a lot of shooters: BPCR, Creedmoor and Gong shooters have a long range objective. I like a Ranch Dog 350 for plinking and it does fair for longer ranges. But when I was shooting in the three venues above my Postell was 486gr and I ended with a 525gr Money bullet in my Cody Ballard. I wore a shoulder pad for the heavier bullets and scores reflected improvement.

 

For my GBL & SBL 400gr Barnes Buster handloads @ ~1700 fps mv for maximum straight line penetration on Moose, Elk & Bear. Factory ghost ring sight on my SBL works pretty good. My SBL has a threaded muzzle so I got a muzzle brake for it, an accessory more than a necessity.

 

my days of self abuse are over. when I was 15 I got on a hunt woodchucks with my fathers win 70 super 458 mag with 500 gr bullets kick. a 45-70 kills fine at or just above B/P vel. nothing wrong with more power. but if your older check with your eye doctor, a retina can be detached by heavy recoil.

 

Oh I’ve already ended those days, and this rifle has gone on to a new home. In fact the majority of my Marlin collection has been liquidated and replaced with less expensive firearms. All I have left of what was about 15 Marlins is my 375 and 30-06. The others have either been sold completely to not be replaced (357, 35 rem, 44, 444, 450) or been sold and Henry or Rossi’s bought in there place. My bank account looks much better now and I still got a rack of cool guns to take deer and plink plates

 

I have several 1895's and one of them is setup specifically as a fishing rifle to be taken to Alaska, it shoots the
Garrett +P 540gr Hammerhead. Not really fun but never complain because it is what it is and if the time comes to use it, I'll never notice recoil. Several years ago I acquired a Ruger Stainless Hawkeye Alaskan in .375 Ruger, I set it up with a .300 grain bullet handload. It has quite a bit more energy and recoil than the 45-70, I don't plink with it, but I don't complain about recoil either, because if the time ever comes for it's use my mind will be focused on something else.

 

I shoot 340,405,490. All at 1400fps.
Why because I want to.

Charles