[Satchmo]

Hi All,

I plan on starting reloading 45-70 for my 1895GBL. As of right now I plan on buying Lee brand items due to personal preference:

-- Lee Precision Classic Turret Press Kit
-- Starline Brass
-- Oregon Trail Laser-Cast™ .45-70 Rifle Bullets - 405 grain
-- Unquie - Alliant Smokeless Powder
-- CCI® Primers - Large Rifle
-- Lee Pacesetter Rifle Die Sets - 45-70 Government
-- Lee Factory Crimp Dies (Rifle) - 45-70

The kit comes with a "everything I should need" (minus calipers). I also plan on using the press as a Single stage till I get comfortable reloading. I'm choosing the 405 grain since that is the only thing I have shot out of gun so far (HSM 405 grain). I don't know much about primers & powder, any advice? Is there anything else that I would need to get started? Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Judson]

Hey Satchmo - are you new to reloading or just new to reloading for the .45/70? What manuals do you have and have read?

 

[sgt_zim]

45-70 is pretty forgiving on a lot of things. RL-7 seems to work best for me, no matter what bullet I shoot, from 325 FTX to 525 Piledriver.

COAL doesn't have to be spot on, crimp should be light, and even powder charge only needs to be accurate to within .1 or .2, and with RL-7, I always seem to get about 1.5 MOA (with obligatory fliers), no matter what velocity and no matter what bullet weight, as long as it's RL-7 underneath

this is 40 vs 41 gr of RL-7 and Missouri Bullet Company Buffalo #1 405 gr

 

[Satchmo]

I am new to reloading altogether. The Kit comes with a "Modern Reloading Second Edition", but I plan on getting 1 or 2 more for info. Any recommendations on manuals? I have done a little digging, and I see people point out Lymans.

 

[sgt_zim]

Lyman's #49 and #50. Might look at a membership at loaddata.com. They have oodles of 45-70 recipes.

 

[Satchmo]

I'll check out the loaddata web site. Thanks for the references. As for the equipment listed, am I missing/needing anything else?

 

[Scorpiusb]

If you are in need of reloading trays, I got mine from Amazon. They are for shotgun shells but fit the 45-70 perfectly. They are the 20 gauge version. Amazon shows a picture of three but they are sold as 1 each.

Copy and paste this...

MTM ST-20-40 20-Gauge 50-Round Shotshell Tray

 

[Scorpiusb]

You might want to think about a bench mounted powder measure too. I like to weigh every charge and that is hard to do when the turret mounted powder measure is dumping the powder right into the case...

 

[Judson]

Like Scorpiusb I also weigh every charge. There are many electronic scales available. Since you are using Lee equipment, does the kit come with their balance scale? It is inexpensive and accurate, but tedious and slow. How will you be cleaning cases? Does the kit come with the appropriate tools to camfer/deburr cases and trim them to length?

 

[Ojaileveraction]

ABC's of Reloading and a copy of 1Book, 1Caliber, for 45-70, by Load Books USA.

 

[Scorpiusb]

It looks like the kit comes with the basic case conditioning tools but you will need to add the case holder and length gauge specific to 45-70...

https://leeprecision.com/gage-holder-45-70-govern.html

 

[Travlin]

If you are not going to load to maximum pressures then you should invest in the Lee powder dippers. Of course always check the measures with a good scale. Also you can make your own dippers using empty pistol cases with a wire handle. I have a powder measure but almost never use it. To me the dippers are quicker . For what it's worth that has worked for me since 1969. Also check out the LYMAN CAST BULLET HANDBOOK.

 

[V1Rot8]

I personally found the "ABC's of Reloading" to be a very good read as a starting point. It explains the steps and the pitfalls in each step. It's an easy, fast read and very informative. Check it out. The 45-70 is what I learned on. It is very forgiving (for working with high explosives...)

Tim

 

[67404]

Hi All,

I plan on starting reloading 45-70 for my 1895GBL. As of right now I plan on buying Lee brand items due to personal preference:

-- Lee Precision Classic Turret Press Kit
-- Starline Brass
-- Oregon Trail Laser-Cast™ .45-70 Rifle Bullets - 405 grain
-- Unquie - Alliant Smokeless Powder
-- CCI® Primers - Large Rifle
-- Lee Pacesetter Rifle Die Sets - 45-70 Government
-- Lee Factory Crimp Dies (Rifle) - 45-70

The kit comes with a "everything I should need" (minus calipers). I also plan on using the press as a Single stage till I get comfortable reloading. I'm choosing the 405 grain since that is the only thing I have shot out of gun so far (HSM 405 grain). I don't know much about primers & powder, any advice? Is there anything else that I would need to get started? Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Satchmo,

Here is a link to a "Sticky" post in the Reloading Forum. I am sure you will find load data.

As far as equipment, a single stage press from any maker is good.
Any die mfg is good. No need for a Lee factory crimp die with the intended bullet.

Any large rifle primer and best performance with plain base cast bullets will be 1,700 fps and less. See the many reference materials in the link below for guidance.

Welcome to the "load you own" crowd.

Your choice of powder is one that required good loading technique. You can put 3 to 4 times the amount of powder in the case without overflowing the case. If you use Unique, be sure to have one tray of primed brass and a different tray for charged cases. On top of that, take a flashlight and look down the case mouth in the charged tray to ensure all have the same amount of powder before putting a bullet over the charge. Unique is a good powder option for low to mid velocity loads in the 45-70. Unique will produce original black powder ballistics loads without all of the cleanup. Good safety practices to ensure you do not double charge a case are critical!

https://www.marlinowners.com/forum/reloading/281290-line-free-load-data-references.html

 

[Youper]

Hi All,

I plan on starting reloading 45-70 for my 1895GBL. As of right now I plan on buying Lee brand items due to personal preference:

-- Lee Precision Classic Turret Press Kit
-- Starline Brass
-- Oregon Trail Laser-Cast™ .45-70 Rifle Bullets - 405 grain
-- Unquie - Alliant Smokeless Powder
-- CCI® Primers - Large Rifle
-- Lee Pacesetter Rifle Die Sets - 45-70 Government
-- Lee Factory Crimp Dies (Rifle) - 45-70

The kit comes with a "everything I should need" (minus calipers). I also plan on using the press as a Single stage till I get comfortable reloading. I'm choosing the 405 grain since that is the only thing I have shot out of gun so far (HSM 405 grain). I don't know much about primers & powder, any advice? Is there anything else that I would need to get started? Any pointers would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Buy the Hornady reloading manual. Use their 300 gr. or 350 gr. FP bullet with an appropriate powder. You do not want Unique and cast lead. After you have done this for a while experiment with other stuff.

 

[furlong222]

another reason for - NO UNIQUE - you should use a powder that will overflow the case if you double charge one....you could double charge with unique and not know it till your fingers were missing...always err on the side of safety - pistol powders in a rifle should be left to the experienced reloaders - another 2c

 

[sgt_zim]

There are SO many powders that work well for 45-70
Alliant powders
RL-7
RL10X

Ramshot/Accurate powders
X-Terminator
Accurate 2230
Accurate 2015
Accurate 1680
Accurate 2496


Hodgdon
H322
H4198

IMR
IMR 3031
IMR 4064
IMR 4198
IMR 4227

And this is just the Short List.

Unless you're doing trap door loads, I think every one of these powders will overflow on a double load, or at least fill the case so high you won't be able to seat your bullet to the proper depth.

This is a fun gig, but you gotta stay safe.

 

[GITU1]

If you plan to load single stage and weigh each powder charge a powder trickler works well. A good rule to live by is to only have "ONE" container of powder (the one you are using) out on the bench while loading!!!! Many good reloaders have been injured or had near misses by accidentally grabbing the wrong powder.

 

[Golphin]

I am new to reloading altogether. The Kit comes with a "Modern Reloading Second Edition", but I plan on getting 1 or 2 more for info. Any recommendations on manuals? I have done a little digging, and I see people point out Lymans.

The Lee book is a good one and has some great reading for someone starting to reload and also a good variety of loads for different powders and bullets. Other books like the Hornady are good but will show loads for Hornady bullets. I have many manuals and like the Lee , Hornady and Sierra manuals the best. You will be fine starting out with the Lee.

 

[Sevastopol]

there are so many powders that work well for 45-70
alliant powders
rl-7
rl10x

ramshot/accurate powders
x-terminator
accurate 2230
accurate 2015
accurate 1680
accurate 2496


hodgdon
h322
h4198

imr
imr 3031
imr 4064
imr 4198
imr 4227

and this is just the short list.

Unless you're doing trap door loads, i think every one of these powders will overflow on a double load, or at least fill the case so high you won't be able to seat your bullet to the proper depth.

This is a fun gig, but you gotta stay safe.

5744 also.