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45-70 On Deer

griz
Anyone here tried any of the low pressure factory 45-70's on deer? These would be the ones loaded for the old lever guns and springfield trapdoors at about 1250 muzzle velocity.
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11 comments

Date Votes
  • slumlord44
    Never tried them personaly because rifles are not legal here in Illinos but they should definately be more than adequate for deer.
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  • catpealer111
    I tried this season to use my 45/70 Marlin 1895 on white tail. I'm sure it'll take one down.
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  • idahoducker
    The original (black powder) 45-70 got about that velocity. Lots of buffalo fell to those so I think it'll do fine on a deer.
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  • kevind6
    I had several boxes of .45/70 shells given too me loaded with 45 grains of 3031 pushing a Speer 400 grain bullet. I took it out deer hunting with my Remington Rolling Block replica and ended up killing a nice mature muley buck at about 300 yards. I did notice I had a lot more bullet drop than what I anticipated so I looked up the load and found it to be rather mild even for the old trap doors. Regardless, the load did it's job and the venison is fine.
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  • jonk
    It's all about energy. With the weight bullet in question, even modest velocity is going to translate into a heckuva lot of knock down power.

    I've got a .58 cal civil war replica muzzleloader with a 510 gr bullet I plan on using hunting this year. I chronographed the bullet, it's moving about 1000 fps with my most accurate load (60 gr of FFFG... yes I know in theory a .58 would do best with FFG but I won't argue with accuracy) and even that I have no doubt will not only KILL a deer but absolutely prove devestating.
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  • tsr1965
    quote:I have several 45-70 rifles...including an original 1886, and a Browning 1885 BPCR, and a Winchester labled, Miroku made 1886 takedown. I have worked up a smokeless load of 32 grains of IMR 4198, and a Missouri bullets #1 Buffalo in 405 grain bullet. The load Mimmicks the original load. I killed a whitetail this year at a lasered 227 yards with the 1885 BPCR...there was no tracking involved.


    Its not totally about the energy...it is momentum. Energy uses the velocity twice, and is biased toward higher velocity. Momentum is velocity times bullet weight. The Taylor Knock Out factor applies nicely here where it also takes into account bullet diameter, then divides by 7000(some say to make it a more managable number of two or three digits, but consequently there are 7000 grains in a pound too.). There is a very interesting article about popular hunting rounds and the TKO factor in the most recent issue of Fur, Fish and game magazine. As far as the TKO goes, the 45-70 with the 405 grain load rates better than the 300 Win. Mag. for dangerous game...easily.

    Best
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  • agostino
    There is no better round for hunting in the woods. And the rapidity of bullet drop adds in a safety factor.
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  • chiefr
    Took a deer many years ago @ 100 yd with factory low velocity 405gr. Knocked deer right off its feet.
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  • rovernut
    I've used my browning 1886 with both the 300 grain hp from remington and 350 s.p from hornady. both at about 1700fps. they perform well on mule deer and antelope, having taken both out to 200 yards. the 300 grain pill really opens up and seems to double back on it self, seldom exiting the animal. the 350 is a lot tougher, meant for the .458 Win I think, and hardly expands on anything less than elk.
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  • XXCross
    As they used to say " you can eat right up to the bullet hole".
    Great ctg for deer if you learn to live with it's limitations.
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by griz
    Anyone here tried any of the low pressure factory 45-70's on deer? These would be the ones loaded for the old lever guns and springfield trapdoors at about 1250 muzzle velocity.

    Haven't personally tried it, but as already mentioned, the "ordinary" 45-70 used to be a standard load for BISON, which weigh between 900 and 2000 pounds.

    Enough for a 200 lb deer? I'd hope so!

    If you want more reassurance, compare:

    "Low pressure" .45-70 fires 400 grain .45 caliber bullet at 1250fps.
    "Ordinary" .44 magnum fires 240 grain .43 caliber bullet at 1450fps.
    "Ordinary" 2-3/4" 12 gauge shotgun fires 1 ounce (eg 437 grain) .72 caliber slug at ~1450 fps.

    So if you think a .44 magnum round or 12 gauge shotgun slug are enough for a deer, then you ought to be good to go with a "lowly" .45-70.

    Only caveat here is that the relatively slow velocity means you're going to get a rainbow-like trajectory with fast dropoff at long distances. If you're going to take a shot past maybe 100-125 yards, you'd be best knowing the range exactly as well as the bullet drop to compensate.
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