45/70 in a sharps

[slk]

What would the best cartarige be for hunting with a 45/70 in a sharps type rifle with a 34" barrel. Also what would be the economical way to target shoot with these guns. I do reload most of my other calibers, but what is the best combination to reload for these.

Thanks
Steve

[JLA]

500 gr bullet or heavier at not more than 1400 fps. Blackpowder or a substitute would be ideal. if you do decide to use smokeless, load with trailboss or XMP5744, and stick with trapdoor level loads. The .45/70 will propel a 500 gr bullet through 2 bull elk and probably still end up in the dirt on the other side of the second bull at 1400 fps so theres no need to hotrod them.

[oldreliable45120]

I have a C.Sharps in 45-120 and I use a 600 gr paper patch bullet,or 535 gr postell.I have use the postell with some heavy doses of smokless. If its a Shiloh or a C. Sharps it will be fine with mid to heavy smokless powder. just give the Mfr a call to make sure. With that said IMR-4198 always gave me good results in my 45-70 Rolling blocks with 300 gr HP or the Lee 500 grain pointed bullet. It has lg grease groves the holds plenty of lube

[quigleysharps4570]

Still interested in some smokeless or blackpowder loads?

[gyrfalcon]

What would the best cartarige be for hunting with a 45/70 in a sharps type rifle with a 34" barrel. Also what would be the economical way to target shoot with these guns. I do reload most of my other calibers, but what is the best combination to reload for these.

Thanks
Steve

On the economic side of things, Berry's has 45-70 350gr RS (http://www.berrysmfg.com/product-i14737-c34-g8-b0-p0-45_70_350gr_RS_.458.aspx) plated bullets that are pretty good if you're not into messing with lead molds. Picked up a bunch of them at Cabela's when they had a 20% off reloading components sale on memorial day.

Just don't push them too fast, and they're great for target shooting.

[Steve E]

I have a 45/70 Sharps and Rolling Block and both of them shoot fairly well with a Lyman 475 gr. bullet(cast from Wheel Weight) over 26 gr. of XMP5744 for fantastic accuracy out to 300 yds so far and it is easy shooting to the shoulder.

Steve E.........