.45-70 Levergun Love
& Jacketed Bullets
“Something Old, Something New,
Something Loaded to Get You Through”
Tank’s Ruger Marlin SBL .45-70 with Barranti Leather butt cuff, along with handloaded and factory fodder.
The .45-70 has always been my favorite rifle cartridge — the .45 Colt my favorite handgun cartridge. These .45-caliber “brothers in arms” cartridges are brimming with enough history to fill a book on each cartridge’s exploits, and still not cover their colorful past. Both are versatile, depending on how they’re loaded, and both have three distinct power levels that maximize their performance.
The year 1873 was particularly special. The .45-70 and .45 Colt were developed as cartridges for the US Military, giving us over 150 years to fine-tune, experiment and determine what these cartridges can do.
Lastly, both cartridges excel with cast bullets. A huge bonus for fellow lead-heads. For the following loads, I’m using data specifically for Marlin 1895 lever guns and their equivalent.
Some shooting results with mentioned loads.
Levergun Fun
The first levergun I ever shot was a Daisy replica 1894 BB gun. Since that moment, I got my first centerfire levergun, a Marlin 1895 .45-70 over 35 years ago. This gun ignited my journey and love for big-bore cartridges. Since that first levergun, another three or four — or more .45-70s have been added to the collection. I really put the horse before the cart, casting bullets and loading .45-70 cartridges before ever owning a rifle to shoot them with. No sense wasting time!
Bufalo Bores 8C would be an outstanding “do everything” load for most shooters.
Mold Choices
My bullet mold choices were the RCBS 300- and 405-grain radiused flat-nose, gas check-designed slugs. I’d size them .460″ and used Veral Smith’s LBT blue lube for lubricant. My pet load, one I still use today, consists of 50-grains of Alliant ReLoader 7 for the 405-grain slug and Alliant 2400 or IMR 4198 for the 300-grain bullet. Later, I obtained a Rob Applegate mold, dropping 430-grain, long, flat-nosed, gas-check slugs. Rob picked up where Veral Smith left off during his absence from mold making.
Tank’s 30+ year old handloads shot very well in the Ruger Marlin SBL.
Jacketed Bullets
Back in the early 90s, Midway offered components from Remington. I’d buy both .458″ 300- and 405-grain bullets by the bags full. They were relatively inexpensive at the time, so I stocked up. My 300-grain favorite load was 51 grains of IMR 4198 and the 405-grain bullet got the same 50 grains of ReLoader 7. Velocity averaged 1,956 fps and is capable of sub one-inch groups at 100 yards.
As a matter of fact, the 300-grain loads I shot for this test were loaded back in 1993 — accounting for the “old” segment of this story. Like fine wine, age did nothing but improve the quality. Remington bullets are a simple cup/core design, but hold together very well on game — that is, if you ever recover the bullet. Most bullets exit on broadside shots on deer-sized game.
Bill Noody’s .458 400 grain bonded heavy jacket bullets are made for tough critters like bears and shoot accurately.
Something New?
I know, traditionally I like using tried and true components, but every now and then something new comes along that needs testing. Northern Precision Custom Bullets are case in point. Owner and one-man manufacturer Bill Moody enthusiastically told me of his bonded 400-grain .458” bullets.
Bill’s Bonded Core Guide bullets are a favorite among bear guides up north for their consistent and perfect performance. Again, I went with 50-grains of Alliant ReLoader 7 stuffed into primed Federal brass. This load shoots 1” 100-yard groups all day long with velocity going 1,900 fps.
LEE’s Classic Turret press was used for loading the Northern Precision bullets.
Something Loaded
My all-around pick for a factory load would be Buffalo Bore’s 350-grain jacketed soft point load, 8C. Owner Tim Sundles states this load is easily capable of taking game from Cape Buffalo, on down. The heavy jacket doesn’t expand much, which is good for penetration. These loads were very accurate in my gun, shooting just over an inch at 100 yards for 3 shots, with an average velocity of 2,010 fps. Another good load I like and should mention from Buffalo Bore is the one I used to kill a Cape Buffalo with a single shot. Item 8DG is a mono metal 380-grain solid copper slug with a large meplat (WFN) and velocity of 2,051 fps from my levergun.
Close up of Buffalo Bores 8DG Tank used to kill a Cape Buffalo with a single shot.
You couldn’t ask for better performance.
Shooting
The gun used in testing is the same Ruger/Marlin SBL 1895 .45-70, with 19.1” barrel. The gun is stainless steel with a grey laminate stock and forearm. It’s the gun I took to Africa with me just over a year ago. In Africa, I used it solely with the Skinner Sights Peep Sight rail in tandem with their Bear Buster front sight.
The plan was to use peep sights for the Cape Buffalo, then add my Skinner Sights 1-6X24 scope for all other game. The problem was, I liked the Peep Sight setup so much that I stuck with it, never adding the scope.
When packing my guns to head home, I re-mounted the scope using its Talley QDR rings. I never checked zero since this test, and as you can see, they were pretty darn close to being on. I really like the Skinner Sight/Talley ring combination, making for a perfect levergun partnership.
The proof is in the pudding — as they say.
Jacketed Perfection
While loving cast bullets, jacketed bullets have their place. The bullets mentioned here are top performers on game, are accurate and will get the job done. If you’re getting bored with your scope bolt-action rifle, try some levergun action. You just might be surprised by how much fun you have shooting one!
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