If you could shoot only one bullet for 45-70.

[Sergeant Stadanko]

Which is better the Flat nose or the round nose in the Hornady 350 gr. interlock? Going to be shooting out of a new Marlin SBL. The 45-70 is a new beast for me

I have a box of 500 of the flat nose Hornady bullets that I use in my .450 Marlin and 45/70. I really like them and have had really good luck with them in both calibers.

 

[elj1973]

I have a box of 500 of the flat nose Hornady bullets that I use in my .450 Marlin and 45/70. I really like them and have had really good luck with them in both calibers.

What kind of velocity are you running them and do you feel they expand to much?

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

I tend to try to find one bullet that works and shoot it a lot, and I am on the hunt for one for my Marlin 45-70 XLR. It is scary accurate with Hornady's 325 gr. flex tips with no mods to the factory configuration. I am comfortable shooting out to 200 yards, which covers 98% of the scenarios of where I hunt. Now I want to see if I can find an all rounder bullet beyond the FTX.

Besides punching paper, I hunt deer and elk. I was thinking something around the 350 gr., around 1500-1600 fps. The age old issue of compromise - managing recoil, keeping it reasonably flat and getting the most benefit for the kill. I am happy to buy factory bullets, but am considering casting my own. As much as possible, I am trying to manage costs so that I can shoot as much as possible.

I have considered Hornady 350 gr. round points, but then wondered if this is the time I should really force myself to cast and build my shooting capabilities around a bullet that I can make. Ideally if I go the cast route, it would be nice to buy some to try first to see how my rifle likes them. And of course, if for some reason I can't do any casting, I can revert to buying them.

So for my shooting situation and hand loading, if you could only shoot one bullet what would it be? Any thoughts or suggestions?

17HMR

 

[Sergeant Stadanko]

What kind of velocity are you running them and do you feel they expand to much?

I'm running right around 2000fps and haven't experienced any over expansion issues to date. I've taken two large cow elk with the .450 at around 150-180 yards, and they both dropped where they were. Haven't recovered any bullets, as they were pass throughs with silver dollar sized exit wounds.

 

[elj1973]

I'm running right around 2000fps and haven't experienced any over expansion issues to date. I've taken two large cow elk with the .450 at around 150-180 yards, and they both dropped where they were. Haven't recovered any bullets, as they were pass throughs with silver dollar sized exit wounds.

Thank you, sounds great,