Hot 45/70 loads?

Originally Posted by sestoppelman

Methinks Puckett may be celebrating a bit early this year!?!?!?! A .45-70 cannot drive a 350 gr bullet to 3200fps, just simply cannot be done. He is pulling our leg! Ha Ha Bob, good one!!

Ok maybe it was 2300 I'm getting old and the memory may not be that good. So what I'll do sence I've taken the next week off for deer hunting is see if I can find some of my old notes and try the loads with my new chorny this was a long time ago and I wasn't smart enough to not risk my life with some wild loads, had my first reloader and figured powder is powder lucky to still be alive. like I said before, start with the book and work your way up I have found that in most of my cases the book max is a minimum maximum for me as they have no idea what shape your rifle is in. but again as I say don't do as I do, do as I say, start with the book.

A good 45-70 thread can usually bring out the worse in me. Thankfully it was Christmas and I remained restrained.

BTW I do not believe even a 460 Weatherby can reach 3200 FPS with a 350 grain bullet.

Merry Christmas and enjoy your week of deer hunting.

Mike with no doubt you are right I can't find any of my old notes (smart enough to throw them away so I wouldn't try something stupid like that again) I just remember they were out of range on any book that I read and I have loaded to many bullets and had to many numbers running through my head not get some of them mixed up also why I don't give the load data until I verify it first. My hunting load that I shoot in my 1874 using IMR 4198 is 52.4gr with a laser cast silver alloy bullets .459 average speed is 2183fps. This is a safe load for my rifle and still leave teeth in my head and will work on most game within the law heck the 458 Win Mag loaded with IMR 4198 65gr and a 350gr sp only gets 2378 fps.

Yeah Bob, about the best a .45-70 is gonna do with a 350gr, is probably 2300 or so (and only in a Ruger #1 or modern bolt gun, not a Sharps!), and thats over 4100 ft/lbs of energy! I dont think most of us are so adventurous that we want to even go that far! Your Sharps load seems plenty warm for that gun, good though they may be. The Sharps design was never meant to handle pressure like that. While the new made ones are made of much better steels than the originals for sure, its still pretty warm.

Not being a reloader or gunsmith, can you explain the above reference that even a modern sharps cannot handle the pressure?
It would seem to me that the relatively massive barrels and monoblock type action would be plenty strong?

Look in any reloading manual and you wont find the Sharps replicas listed in the strongest action section. The rifle was designed to shoot black powder loads of less than 20k pressure. Not to say it wont handle more but it wasnt designed to do so. Any body trying to make a Ruger No.1 out of a Sharps is playing with fire. While the gun may not blow up or be obviously damaged by occasional hot loads, eventually it will loosen up to the point where excess headspace becomes a problem due to the battering it takes over time if loaded regularly with the hot stuff.

Just my opinion based on 45 years of reloading and research, however I am no gunsmith or metalurgist and opinions as they say 'may vary', and just like a-holes everyone has one!

Gotcha....
While I have shot some of the commercial "hot" loads from mine, I certainly wouldn't want to loosen it up by exceeding it's specs.
After all, I DID buy a 45/70, not a Weatherby.
Thanks for the info.

Guys I beg to differ but I've shown you where my sharps 1874 shoots at 2183 fps and this is my normal load I have exceeded that by a good bit just get a little nerves doing it, I like keeping my right shoulder on the right side. a modern 45/70 falling block not trap door or lever action rifle can handle it. but you have to shoot what you feel compfy with, with me I keep mine at the 2200 fps level and my right shoulder is still on the right side.

Well have at it Bob! Your load generates over 3700 ft/lbs of energy which is way more than the design was ever meant to shoot. I dont think that load is outrageous but its more than I am going to push my Sharps. Enjoy!!

Yup, load em to the max. Nothing bad ever happens when you do that sort of thing.

Not in my Sharps - I paid too much, and I am used to the present arrangement of my appendages.

Okay folks, here's what I got from C. Sharps.
Make of it what you will...

"Buffalo Bore makes 45-70 loads to several different pressures. We
recommend using loads in the 28,000 to 30,000cup range which is about
everything you can buy off the shelf. Some of the "magnum" 45-70 loads are
loaded to 40,000cup, and are recommended for the #1 rugers, or bolt action
rifles. We do not recommend these in our rifles." CSA

Thanks for asking them about it. Sounds about like what most of us figured.
Are you reading this BOB?

I knew that the the "New" sharps are made with stronger materials.
Even within those parameters, the highest recommended loads aren't fun to shoot - they flat out hurt!