Elk hunting with 45/70

[bdyal1972]

I use the Hornady 250 Monoflex in my 450 Rigby & 458 Lott, a bit faster than the 45-70 to be fair

I use them to keep the projectile weight down to reduce recoil & increase velocity for flatter mid range performance

Being a solid copper projectile they hang together, give great penetration & amazing terminal performance

I bet that would be awesome in 45-70!!!

 

[DCAN]

Hornaday FTX 325gr is hard to beat. This one killed a 225lb bear this spring. Recovered under the skin on the opposite side. Going to give the Barnes hollow point a try on fall bear. A friend who I load for is at something like 15 bear, all killed with the 325 FTX. All shot at 100 yds or less, all died within 20-25 yds.
I also hunt Oregon's jurassic jungle. If you ever get near the central coast let me know, we can go out and burn some powder.

 

[Charles Keethler]

I shot a bison apprx. weight 2000 lbs. at around 125 yds. 405 gr Buffalo Bore flat nose 2000 flps muzzle found bullet next to skin on opposite side toke 4 to 5 steps doa toke top off heart no lungs left . Shot small white tail buck with 325 Hornady drt. Yes I like 45-70. It kills.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

 

[MZmoose]

I don't have a lot of experience on game with my 45-70 but have found the hornady felx tips to blow up on 10L water jugs inside of 50 yards. The jug explodes with no exit and all you find is shrapenel. I now shoot 405 gr lead cast bullets with a big meplat (I think they actaully drop closer to 380 gr) that will still give good hydraulic shock and still penetrate. Not to open pandoras box but there are quite a few stories of guys who have had the flex tip bullets fail at close range. I have shot a small black bear with a 300 gr winchester ballistic siver tip at about 50 yards and it perferomed perfectly with a 2" exit wound after passing through the lungs. The bear went about 30 yards down hill.

I too have found the 325 FTX to be too soft at 45/70 velocities up close. But it works great at 1700 fps MV out of my .458 Socom on wild pigs. Only recovered one bullet, it passed thru a pig and smacked another and fell on the ground. Personally I would go with a 400 gr bullet for elk.

 

[DCAN]

Barnes bear medicine for the Fall. Different powder, different bullet, but for some reason they shoot to the same POI as my loads with the Hornady FTX's.
I'm looking for a 350-450gr lead bullet to play around with. I someone has one which has proven itself on game, I'd appreciate hearing about it. Thanks in advance.

 

[bigngreen]

The 350 round nose and 405 flat nose do not work well on deer size game consistently, they plug holes through them but not enough resistance to make them really do the job but on elk they were OK.
I ran the 520's for heavy timber, you could just track on a bull and pull the trigger and not worry about trees, blew through good sized pines then through elk.
I ran everything hard in a custom Mauser 98 bolt gun, had to give it up after detaching my retina though.

 

[netman]

If you cast your own I would highly recommend the 330 Gould HP bullet. I think my mold is a Lyman.
You wanna talk about plastering deer. I cast mine from soft lead for whitetails. I'm certain that you could cast them with harder lead for elk.
I also have a 405 wfn gas check mold made by Ranchdog on another forum. That's a wonderful bullet.
I've got several other molds but their for BPCR shooting.

 

[memtb]

If you cast your own I would highly recommend the 330 Gould HP bullet. I think my mold is a Lyman.
You wanna talk about plastering deer. I cast mine from soft lead for whitetails. I'm certain that you could cast them with harder lead for elk.
I also have a 405 wfn gas check mold made by Ranchdog on another forum. That's a wonderful bullet.
I've got several other molds but their for BPCR shooting.

I went with a 430 grain, wide metplat cast bullet for my Marlin 45-70. I haven't used it on an elk yet! It's standing in line behind my 460 S&W running 400 grain wide metplat cast bullets .....which hasn't been "bloodied" yet! memtb

 

[TexasSportsman]

The bullet is a heavy one and a trajectory like a rainbow. Will you be using a scope or Lyman flip up tang sights, flip up ladder sight or scope?

 

[David Emerson]

Woodleigh makes a 405 bonded that is deadly.

 

[Hespco]

Have been casting & shooting my own bullets in the 45-70 since 1964. It may not sound so glamours as some of the new copper bullets, but the tried & true 500 gr cast at around 1200 fps will generally pass length wise thru an elk out to about 150 yds. If you think this is a puny load I recommend you give it a try. I believe it will amaze you how well it covers 150 yds. This is a load that will easily take a 2000 lb buffalo. No joke a real power house.

 

[bdyal1972]

Reminds me of clint smiths video with his sharps....


"IT AINT FOR SISSIES!!!"


LOL

 

[bdyal1972]

The bullet is a heavy one and a trajectory like a rainbow. Will you be using a scope or Lyman flip up tang sights, flip up ladder sight or scope?

Peep sights and 30" barrels are UNDERRATED!!!