45-70 Powders

[snuzzo29]

Anyone have a favorite powder for the 45-70? Looking to load both Marlin and trapdoor loads for range use. I have a new Marlin Guide Gun on the way and I am gathering supplies to reload for it. I was looking at N130 as possiblity with 350gr Berrys plated. I currently have IMR 3031 on hand that would work but only a few pounds of that left.

 

[onlybrowning]

H4198 is a common one, and seems to be in stock at most places recently.

 

[Colorado Cowboy]

When I shot smokeless in my 45-70, I use 3031 .

 

[Live_weighT34]

I’ve been using 3031 and IMR 4198 shooting Speer hot cores, Speer 400gr JSP and Hornady 410 SubX. My 1886 shoots anything with 3031 the best

 

[mudslinger021485]

Reloader 7 works well and is still available

 

[cubdriver84d]

H4198 here.

 

[GoatPackr]

Several good ones mentioned above. I found AA1680 to be the best. My 26" Marlin cowboy pushes a 250 grn Shock Hammer at 2600 fps
Found the load on Barnes web page under 45-70 load data

 

[Slickhill]

H4198 or H322 when you want to pretend Jurassic Park is a real thing. The Elmer Keith load of 53gr of 3031 under a 400 kills on both ends too.

For milder loads H4895 is a good one. Unique and 2400 both are capable of very good reduced loads with cast bullets if you’re interested in such things.

 

[4570neal]

H322 or IMR 3031 underneath a 400 gr. Cast bullet will stop anything on the USA soil.

 

[RME]

Several good ones mentioned above. I found AA1680 to be the best. My 26" Marlin cowboy pushes a 250 grn Shock Hammer at 2600 fps
Found the load on Barnes web page under 45-70 load data

Good to know, I just bought a jug of 1680 for something else and have a 45-70 I haven't started loading for yet.

 

[NorthIdahoDude]

I run Blue Dot in mine, actually. 300 grain Hornady's around 1900 FPS with load data carefully worked out in QuickLoad and worked up to slowly with a chronograph. Burning less of a fast powder makes for less recoil (thus more fun to shoot), and 1900 FPS 300 grain .458 bullet would still be pretty deadly on deer or somesuch if I ever took it hunting (I almost certainly never will).

If you enjoy the feeling of a lot of recoil, H4198 is probably one of the best things out there for it (AA2200 can run em pretty fast also). In a modern rifle, H4198 will get you a 300 grain bullet up near, or beyond 2500 FPS, which will not be much fun to shoot if you don't like recoil.

 

[Hal4son]

IMHO Trail Boss and cast bullets make a fantastic combination for cheap and fun target shooting. Significantly lower powder drops makes a couple pounds of powder go a lot further.

I'm particularly interested in @NorthIdahoDude Blue Dot loads. I'd want to tone those down to about 1,400 fps.

Discontinued SR4759 made a great 45-70 powder with lower than average drop weights.

The 45-70 shoots well with a wide range of powders. That makes it a really good round for burning up oddball partial cans that are just sitting on the shelf. Otherwise pick a target velocity, then pick a powder that'll get you there. The OP appears to be looking for mild target loads. With that criteria in mind I'd be looking at lower powder drops.