45-70 range report

[teddybaham]

well i been kinda busy building this shooting rest yesterday. i wanted to make the whole thing concrete but its hard to mix it when you gotta bring the water too it in a bucket hahha.





 the concrete was dry enough and today i brought my 45-70 out to play. i planned on fireing more shots but i took a scope off of my 17hmr and gave it too the landownwer who lets me hunt his place. good enough excuse to buy a new one with finer crosshairs so i ended up putting it on his 30-30 for him bore sighted and sighted it in and that ate up most of my time. he has rhumatoid arthritis so he caint handle the recoil of bigger guns and im sure he woulda went through 2 boxes chasing it around since he hasnt a clue how a scope works or whow to sight one in. but i did get to pop a few through my wifes new browning a-bolt stainless hunter in .308. not really impressed with winchester ammo in these guns. im gona try some core locts soon but eventually gona work up a load for her. and fired 4 shots with my 45-70 which is quickly becoming one of my favorite guns.  
325gr lever evolutions @ 100 yards (can these be reloaded and if so any body know the recipie?)

 
top right was the 1st shot and i kinda torqed the gun when pulling the trigger
shot 2 was the dead center in the black
3rd shot was the one touching it.
i let the barrel cool and the 4th shot was the top center. with a little practice(cause i aint the best shooter) and a little tweaking this might be a shooter afterall. 

[Ten Ring]

Go to the Hornady site and they have loading data for the short cases.
 Jim

[Dinny]

Nice shooting, the 45-70 Handis continue to please. "Only accurate rifles are interesting" COL Townsend Whelen  

Thanks, Dinny

[gendoc]

yeah !!! i know a friend that does it for his sharps...
he just decreases his seat'n depth for what he normally presses at for his col.
from what i've seen, the sharps doan't know no better.

but he don't shoot the le's in his gun... only the brass with puff loads

i have not did it in any of my 70's
but it works for him  

[bikerbeans]

Teddy,

I reload the short LE cases with Lee 500 grain RNFPGCs.  The 45-70 I shoot them in has not been throated so I can only load these particular bullets to OAL of 2.48" so the short cases don't really matter.  Also, the lee factory crimp die will not work on these so I am shooting them w/o crimp.  I have only used H4198, worked up the load really slow because of the increased seating depth of the bullet.  Anyway, settled on 35 grains as the most accurate.   I would start this process at no more than 30 grains and keep a good eye on the gun and brass/primers.

Nice group by the way and a very nice bench.  Of course I am sure that the "lefties" at GBO will be filing an action againist you under the ADA.

BB

[teddybaham]

my brother in law ans sister are bith left handed, with ida thought of it when i made it. gona cover it with outdoor carpet to keep stuff from sliden off. thanks for the info guys

[spikehorn]

Nice bench, nice shootin, looks like with that group you'll be puttin some venison in the freezer come deer season

[teddybaham]

i hope so, i bought it for muzzleloader season in LA and MS its legal. at first i wasnt gona switch but its just more practical and less maintenece. being in nursing school i barely have time to hunt much less unload or clean the thing for an hr after each hunt. if i woulda bought a stainless muzzleloader id prolly be ok but mines nickel and it will corrode too. 

[spikehorn]

I graduated nursing school in September 2005 and passed my boards in january of 2006 It is deffinately intense, but very rewarding. I love my job. I would get home from clinicals about 4:00pm throw on my camos, run to my treestand and sit until dark. I was able to put three deer in the freezer that year.

[teddybaham]

nothin like readin in the deer stand.

[bikerbeans]

does the instructor mind when you homework smells like Tinks 69?

[teddybaham]

 ;Dno but she doesnt complain when i bring her sausage either

[spikehorn]

Are you doing LPN or RN?

[tacklebury]

I reload them a lot and am really happy with the performance.  I personally like between 46 & 47 grains of Reloader7, which is inexpensive and perfect for the .45-70.  I have gotten great accuracy with them shooting as low as 3/4" group at 100 yards with my BC and stock sights.  I like the pin post with the stock sights as it doesn't obscure the target as much.  I have also had tremendous luck with Hornady interlocks in the HP configuration and these are even less expensive, about $10 less a box.  My best group with the interlocks was 1/2" c-c.  The heaviest load I have used was 51.2 gr. RL7 and it was still pretty accurate, although these really push you around a lot.  Here's links to where I buy them online, although I drive up to Jay's Sporting Goods locally to avoid shipping when they are in stock.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=894708

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=699223

I have some pics of the targets if I can figure out how to upload here.  Or I'll upload them elsewhere and link here.    Unfortunately the two best groups ended up with 1 flier when I was doing my ladder, due to it being fairly windy and being on a slightly unstable bench.  The fliers are called though and I marked them when I pulled targets.  The wind was crossing from my right rear to left and I think this is was pushed most of the groups to the left.
Ok, remembered how to do the pics



Unfortunately, I was doing ladders, so didn't have an additional round to test.  I have worked up another ladder once I found these two sweet spots that goes from 46 to 47gr in .1 gr increments and my next will be from 49.5 to 50.5 in .1 gr increments to pick out really good groups.  I am hoping tomorrow will be calm and I will shoot the lower ladder.

[teddybaham]

Are you doing LPN or RN?

rn

[teddybaham]

I reload them a lot and am really happy with the performance.  I personally like between 46 & 47 grains of Reloader7, which is inexpensive and perfect for the .45-70.  I have gotten great accuracy with them shooting as low as 3/4" group at 100 yards with my BC and stock sights.  I like the pin post with the stock sights as it doesn't obscure the target as much.  I have also had tremendous luck with Hornady interlocks in the HP configuration and these are even less expensive, about $10 less a box.  My best group with the interlocks was 1/2" c-c.  The heaviest load I have used was 51.2 gr. RL7 and it was still pretty accurate, although these really push you around a lot.  Here's links to where I buy them online, although I drive up to Jay's Sporting Goods locally to avoid shipping when they are in stock.

http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=894708


http://www.midwayusa.com/viewProduct/?productNumber=699223

I have some pics of the targets if I can figure out how to upload here.  Or I'll upload them elsewhere and link here.    Unfortunately the two best groups ended up with 1 flier when I was doing my ladder, due to it being fairly windy and being on a slightly unstable bench.  The fliers are called though and I marked them when I pulled targets.  The wind was crossing from my right rear to left and I think this is was pushed most of the groups to the left.
Ok, remembered how to do the pics



Unfortunately, I was doing ladders, so didn't have an additional round to test.  I have worked up another ladder once I found these two sweet spots that goes from 46 to 47gr in .1 gr increments and my next will be from 49.5 to 50.5 in .1 gr increments to pick out really good groups.  I am hoping tomorrow will be calm and I will shoot the lower ladder.

good shooting, im gona go play at my range in the morning if alex quits dumping wind and rain on us!!

[tacklebury]

Thanks, unfortunately with the FTX groups I was shooting, I didn't keep pictures, but I am planning to do that from here on out as part of my documentation.