Lever action 45-70 loads with Barnes TSX and Hodgdon

[Franco]

Whenever possible I stick with Hodgdon powders because I have a lot of them and excellent results in all calibers. I will be adding 45-70 to my reload schedule once I acquire (shoot) enough brass. I bought 300 gr Barnes Triple Shock bullets but can't find Hodgdon powder load data for them. The Barnes website lists Vit N120 but nothing for Hodgon relative to the TSX bullet. Barnes does list a Hodgdon load for their "regular" 300gr FN but I don't want to rely on that because the TSX bullett is much longer than the standard so there might be huge condensed load issues. The Hodgdon site only lists the Sierra or Speer bullets. Any help would be appreciate. I would like to load them close to the max for hunting purposes.

 

[GooseGestapo]

I've seen data in Handloader magazine. Can't remember issue however.

H322 or H4198 should fill the bill.

Send Hodgdon an e-mail....

 

[fireman 9731]

First off, the 45-70 is a fairly forgiving round when it comes to reloading, but of course, when you are working up to max load for hunting you should be very careful.

That being said the load data listed for their 300gr FN bullet would probably be safe starting point. They list a beginning charge of H4198 at 49.5grs and a max of 53.5grs.
Barnes then lists a load for the 300gr TSX in the RUGER #1 ONLY loads with a beginning charge of H4198 at 52.5grs and a max of 57.5grs(compressed).

There is some overlap there to show that the data for the 300gr FN bullet can be a starting point for the TSX. Just start a few grains low and work your way up as usual.

With all that info comes one problem though...

Nobody recommends loading pointy bullets in a lever action gun because of the tubular magazine. It can potentially lead to the recoil of the rifle causing a bullet tip to set off the primer in front of it causing one heck of a runaway kaboom situation.

 

[Kernel]

How long is the 300 gr TSX vs. a standard FN?