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460 s&w vs. 45/70

260
what are the advantages /difference between the two??
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6 comments

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  • tsr1965
    The 460 is more compact, and a lot higher pressure. Can actually outperform most 45-70 loads. By the came token you can shoot 454 Casull, or 45 Colt loads in the 460, and you can't in the 45-70.

    The 45-70, is an extremely popular golden standard. The 460 is still in its infancy.

    Best
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  • CS8161
    I was out at the range and a 70 year old guy had a brand new BFR revolver in 45-70 that he wanted to try out. He had picked up some ammo at a gunshow but what he bought was the HOT loads, 400 grain bullet at 2100 FPS....when he dropped the hammer on the first round, you can see the gun torque in his hand and the recoil brought the revolver up over his head. He managed to hold onto it but his hand was bleeding all over the gun. Not a pretty sight. Needless to say, he did not shoot the rest of the ammo he had bought, he took it to a friend that reloaded and had him pull the bullets and redo them with a lighter load.
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  • 260
    i shoot a 45/70 with the hornady lever evolution 325 gr. bullet. in the 14" contender. yep, it is not for the recoil sensitive.. lol.
    i was thinking about the 460. if there is nothing really to gain ... i'll just save my $$ for snuff.
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  • gruntled
    Go to the 16" barrel with the tamer slots & it becomes a nice creamcat. (Well sort of.)
    The same loads in my Ruger #3 rifle hurt much more. (That steel curved buttplate doesn't help.)

    It looks like there is some sort of automatic censor at work here. I did not say "creamcat".
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  • dfletcher
    quote:Originally posted by 260
    i shoot a 45/70 with the hornady lever evolution 325 gr. bullet. in the 14" contender. yep, it is not for the recoil sensitive.. lol. i was thinking about the 460. if there is nothing really to gain ... i'll just save my $$ for snuff.


    Same here - I had a 12" Contender barrel, just a touch too much for me so I went with the 14" bbl. I'm not recoil shy & use 405, 375 H & H handgun barrels with no problem. Hodgden posts an H4198 load that gets 2,100 fps with a 300 JHP and that's something else to shoot. The 460 posts about 150 fps less with the same weight. Not sure on the heaviest a 460 will shoot, I've seen a few loads for the 45/70 that use a 500 grainer but I figure about 405 is the usual heaviest used.
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by 260
    what are the advantages /difference between the two??

    TSR has it in a nutshell.

    The 45/70 is an old black powder RIFLE round, used to hunt buffalo, among other things. The name is from the original load with a .45 caliber projectile, loaded with 70 grains of black powder.

    The .460 is essentially a super-magnumized .45LC (originally black powder) pistol round designed specifically for the Smith and Wesson X frame (ie gigantic) revolver.

    What's the difference?

    Well, unlike the .45/70, the .460 is a modern smokeless pistol round specifically designed to be shot from large heavy revolvers. It runs at much higher operating pressures than .45/70 (over 50k PSI for the .460 vs. 28K PSI for the .45/70).

    Consequently, the .460 is a shorter overall cartridge, and also potentially more powerful from a pistol than .45/70.

    Also, since the .460 is based on the old .45 (long) Colt pistol round, revolvers that take it will also safely fire .45 LC and .454 Casull rounds from the same gun.
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