My Marlin 45-70 rocks black powder.

[Ugly Sauce]

Maybe this should be under "blackpowder"...? But she's not a black powder rifle. Anyhow, I have two antique Model 1873 Springfields, and I don't want smokeless powder finding their way into them, so I shoot my BP loads in the Marlin also. Group #1 and #2 were sight in/sight adjustment shots. #3 is the group. The load is a 400 grain Speer JSP, over 80 grains of 3f Swiss powder. 100 yards. I shoot the 80 grain load in my Springfield rifle also, and a 400 grain cast bullet over 72 grains in my carbine. I don't find the recoil of 72 grains or a regular rifle load in my carbine objectionable at all. But back to the Marlin, I was surprised it would shoot BP loads this well. It's an older, pre-safety Marlin. She ROCKS!

 

[If1HitU]

That is good shooting.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Peep sights rock too.

 

[Charlie98]

I'm not into the Holy Black, but I've seen some excellent accuracy out of it. Just don't forget to scrub that bore when you get back to the fort!

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Amen. One nice thing about black powder cartridges, is that the fouling does not get into the action. Clean up is easy peasy.

 

[StrawHat]

If you are not using a pull through to clean, build a cradle to hold the rifle upside down. The bore gunk will fall out when you push it through. Even if you are using a pull through, upside down is still a good idea.


Kevin

 

[792mauser]

My 1895cb loves trailboss loads and full power heavily compressed 3Fg loads, topped with swaged 410gr paper patched .46 cal projos.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

The Speer bullet seems to leave a minimum of fouling, I'm guessing the jacket scrapes much of it out shot to shot. Just a guess. I bet Trailboss works well in the .45-70. But I have a strange paranoia about any smokeless load getting into my Trapdoors. And, I'm not sure the accuracy of the BP load I'm shooting in the Marlin can be improved much. Considering all the buffalo dropped with the .45-70 in the past, I'm pretty sure 80 grains will kill just about anything. I did go through a "magnumtitus" phase many years ago when I first got the Marlin, but I'm over it now. In the trapdoors, I shoot a lead bullet and those don't really seem to foul badly. Good compression seems to make the BP burn quite a bit cleaner.

 

[DocRock]

Nice group. The Marlin is a lot easier cleaning than the Winchesters.

80 grs? What kind of compression are you using?

 

[Ugly Sauce]

Thanks, that rifle is very accurate, especially with the peep sights. Not sure on the measurement of the compression, (but quite a bit) once I get it right I make a "gauge" out of a piece of dowel, and use it to get the right amount. The Speer bullet is quite short compared to a cast 400 grain bullet, and does not require a wad under the bullet, so that facilitates getting that much powder in the case. In contrast, 75 grains is the most I can get under a cast lead bullet, although 72 is my standard load. Also, as you may guess, I compress the powder with a homemade die or die insert, in a separate step, as trying to do it with the bullet would deform it badly. (don't ask me how I know that!)

 

[StrawHat]

A bit of a pain, but dropping the charge in increments and compressing each flight will get even more powder in. It will also be more uniform compression throughout the column.

Kevin

 

[3Crows]

I shoot Trail Boss loads though my Guide Gun but I am not into the mess of black powder though I see no reason it should not do very well in a Marlin 45-70 of any vintage.

 

[1KPerDay]

That’s better than I can shoot a modern cartridge using a scoped bolt action rifle.

 

[Ugly Sauce]

I mostly credit the rifle, and the peep sights, which also give it a very long sight radius. But I've always liked open sights best and have always used them, with a few walks on the dark side with scoped sighted rifles. But I have attended quite a few Appleseeds, and when I went to College the ROTC offered a rifle marksmanship class every quarter, so I took it....every quarter. !!! They had a nice indoor range in the basement of the ROTC building, and at that time the class was open to all students. Now only ROTC students can take it. It was really cool to go to class, suit up, and shoot for an hour while at school.