Never tried that particular brand but most of what I shoot are 350 grain bullets and they work great.

 

I have never shot any of those. I like my cast rounds for hunting, either the 405gr or the 465gr. But be sure and do just as if you were loading a cast round. work the powder charges up till you find the most accurate round for his rifle.

 

Moki, if I'm not mistaken, that bullet, if crimped in the cannelure, may have too long of an OAL for the Marlin.

Of course, a Lee FCD would fix that.

I do highly recommend the 300 grain UniCor, now known as the Plinker. It is a HotCor design and is able to withstand fairly high velocity and will feed very smoothly through an 1895 with the crimp in the factory-supplied cannelure.

 

Moki, if I'm not mistaken, that bullet, if crimped in the cannelure, may have too long of an OAL for the Marlin.

First post here...

This is absolutely correct. I JUST went through this exercise. I loaded some of these for my 1895G. The first run was loaded to the cannelure, but not crimped. I tried to cycle them and they wouldn't even load. I had to shorten them considerably. I believe these pills were intended for another caliber rifle, maybe the 450 Marlin.

 

Chances are if it is smaller than trex it is going through it. I like them speer 400gr with 3031 1700 fps.

 

Mic McPherson swears by the hot-cor 350 HCFN bullets. I use them in my 1895gs 45-70 he built for me a couple of years ago. Check the OAL on one loaded up, as I recall the OAL was a bit long for the Marlin action( I'm thinking they were about 2.600-2,650). It works fine in my rifle because I had the action lengthened to 2.750 so I had no problem with them. I don't have any on hand or loaded right now to check the OAL, sorry they are hard to come by so use them sparingly. Mic recommended running them @2100fps for proper expansion. Mine ran about @2050fps over a crony after a lengthy work up which was enough for me. Took a deer that same year and the bullet passed right through and left a nice 1/2inch entrance hole and about a 3/4inch exit hole as I recall. Take away here is the hot-cor is a very tough bullet and you might have to seat it a bit deeper with a good crimp to get it to cycle. Are they better than lead cast? you decide, let us know how it works out for you.
JB

 

I believe that the 350gr Speer bullet was designed for the 458 Win mag and is built too stout for expansion at 45-70 velocities.

The Speer 400 gr JFP bullet is intended for use in the 45-70, is very accurate in my 1895 and expands well at 1,650 ft/sec.

`

 

I use the 400 gr Speer bullets. I have been unable to find any for over a year. I have been trying to find the deep curl 240 gr. Speer 44 caliber jacketed hollow point bullet for almost 3 years. Is Speer still in the reloading bullet business?

 

I heard that dodge! Man they are hard to come by these day's. as far as I know they are still in the business.

 

Just got back from a combo turkey/pig hunt last night (photos not yet available but soon...). I loaded that bullet to just over 1900 fps from my guide gun. 60 yard head shot entered just in front of right ear and exited just above left shoulder. Exit wound not appreciably larger than caliber so little, if any expansion. This and the Hornady JRN give me the best accuracy. I chose this one because I was anticipating some shoulder shot and didn't want any expansion so as to minimize meat loss. It performed just as expected and struck at POA. DRT!

Tim

 

They have a decent front end. If you load them for accuracy I bet the metplat and weight do all the work you need. Maybe not ideal expansion but it is going to be a big hole and a bigger hole regardless. Especially if you can't find what you want!

 

I don't have a OAL problem with them. I use a FCD and set them to 2.56".
(Just a fleeting tho't-- if you used them in Hornady brass, could you crimp at the cannelure and stay within OAL limits..?)

Tim

 

Those are meant for the 458 Win mag BTW. Very tough bullet might NOT get any expansion pending on velocity

 

Thanks for the info I will be passing on these bullets going to load him hard cast and have some 405gr .32" jacketed bullets made up instead.

 

double tap

 

yep, that is the Win Mag bullet, if you don't drive them hard, the will not expend too much. I run them at 2500fps in the .458. Needless to say, a bit too hard a bullet for deer... but if you have brown bear, elk or moose will be a great bullet

 

I'm looking at giving these bullets a try Speer Hot-Cor .458" 350gr HCFN #2478 for all round hunting deer, black bear, elk, moose etc.

I'll be loading them for a friend of mine in his 45-70.

Does anyone have any experiences hunting with this bullet?

He was wanting 405gr jacketed bullets but I can't find any around.

350 Speer FN my bullet for years in the Marlin Guide Gun and now Trapper with 48.0 of IMR 4198 very accurate and excellent weight retention for Alaska hunting at 1800 to 2000 fps. Tougher than the 350gr Hornady RN. Seat bullet at 2.600” and apply crimp with Lee Factory Crimp Die . Performance on game is similar to that of a bonded bullet !

 

I'm looking at giving these bullets a try Speer Hot-Cor .458" 350gr HCFN #2478 for all round hunting deer, black bear, elk, moose etc.

I'll be loading them for a friend of mine in his 45-70.

Does anyone have any experiences hunting with this bullet?

He was wanting 405gr jacketed bullets but I can't find any around.

I had trouble seating these boolits to the 2.6 depth. They kept falling into the shell. A friend of mine has a resize dye and is going to try some.

 

I recently bought a box of these from Speer for future reloading not realizing the length. I have not jumped into the reloading game yet but have all the equipment, primers, powder etc. My question is if I purchase the Lee Factory Crimp die these can be used in my 45-70? I realize in todays world components and ammo are in short supply but if I can make these work it would be better than nothing until or if things ever get back to normal.

 

I have found some that have used them in their 45/70 lever guns, but they crimp above the cannelure. They will not expand at the slower speeds, so they will be like shooting a cast bullet I did the same thing and bought 2 boxes a while back.

 

Has anyone tried using them in shortened (FTX) length brass?