Posted: 6/7/2026 9:51:05 AM EDT
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I am going to set some time aside for some 45/70 reloading. No hunting so not interested in heavy loads. I have a old original Trapdoor, a 1970s H&R officers model trapdoor and a Marlin lever. I would hope to find a mild level load that would be safe in the Trapdoors but still accurate. I have lots of different powders and primers and plain lead 405s and some powder coated 405s. Anybody have some favorite loads? Thanks |
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OK, USA
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I use Reloader 7 in my 45-70, for hunting I use 405 gr. bullets, for plinking, 350 gr. ETA I load for modern 45/70 not trapdoor. |
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| I have a H&R Buffalo Classic that I load for. It shoots amazingly with the powder coated 405's from Missouri bullet company over 11grs Unique powder, Winchester large rifle primers, and Hornady brass. I'm not much of an open sight shooter, but I can consistently put 5 shots into 2.5-3" at 100 yds with that combo. It chronographs right at 1030fps with a crazy tight SD. |
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Originally Posted By Chief_10_Beers: I have a H&R Buffalo Classic that I load for. It shoots amazingly with the powder coated 405's from Missouri bullet company over 11grs Unique powder, Winchester large rifle primers, and Hornady brass. I'm not much of an open sight shooter, but I can consistently put 5 shots into 2.5-3" at 100 yds with that combo. It chronographs right at 1030fps with a crazy tight SD. I'd be interested in trying that load. I have a lot of 45/70 bullet moulds. Do you use felt wad or anything to take up case volume with this load? |
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Originally Posted By nhsport: Excellent , as it happens I just grabbed a great deal on some powder coated 405s and one of the guns I intend to load for is the H&R Buffalo Classic. Thank you Post up when you get some results. My Buffalo Classic is one of my favorite rifles to shoot. |
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For many years my go-to 45-70 plinking load was a 405 gr cast or coated bullet and 12 gr Unique. Depending on the gun I was shooting it from it would get me 1050-1100 fps. Fun to shoot and still wacked pretty hard at the receiving end. Unique also worked great in my .38-55. Here is a rabbit hole for you. Lever Gun Performance Studies |
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Originally Posted By Chief_10_Beers: I have a H&R Buffalo Classic that I load for. It shoots amazingly with the powder coated 405's from Missouri bullet company over 11grs Unique powder, Winchester large rifle primers, and Hornady brass. I'm not much of an open sight shooter, but I can consistently put 5 shots into 2.5-3" at 100 yds with that combo. It chronographs right at 1030fps with a crazy tight SD. Same thing here. I have a Buffalo Classic shooting 405 grain coated Missouri Bullet Company #1 hard cast bullets. I settled on RL-7 powder. It is quite versatile and can be used with trapdoor pressure level all the way to near African big game loads. This is a very strong action. 36-38 grains with that bullet will replicate original blackpowder loads. Fun to shoot. About 1300 fps. You can go as high as 51 grains in the Buffalo Classic with no pressure signs, and as listed in the current Lyman Manual. It chronos from our long barrels at 2100 fps! That is 4,000 ft/lbs of energy. It is has bruising recoil, however. I drilled and tapped the barrel for scout scope mounting so I could keep the Williams receiver sight. The scope rings and mount are Talley steel precision machined quick detachable lever operated return to zero design. When I want to use the target sights the scope comes off and will return to zero well within one MOA. The scope is a Burris 2-7x35 illuminated duplex handgun scope.  |
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Originally Posted By nhsport: I am going to set some time aside for some 45/70 reloading. No hunting so not interested in heavy loads. I have a old original Trapdoor, a 1970s H&R officers model trapdoor and a Marlin lever. I would hope to find a mild level load that would be safe in the Trapdoors but still accurate. I have lots of different powders and primers and plain lead 405s and some powder coated 405s. Anybody have some favorite loads? Thanks |