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Old October 11, 2012, 07:13 AM   #1
My Toy
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Oregon Trail Laser Cast in 45-70

I am ready to plunge into loading lead bullets in 45-70 (up to now I've been strictly a jacketed bullet shooter). I'm not really interested or have the time to cast my own. I see Midway has Oregon Trail Laser Cast 405 gr FP (.459 dia) in stock and ready to ship. Before I order 250 of these thought I might ask what anybodies experience with these bullets was.
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Old October 11, 2012, 09:00 AM   #2
totaldla
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Depends on the firearm

Depends on what you shoot them with. A fair number of Marlin Guide Guns have a generous bore and won't work well with the .459" Oregon Trail bullet.
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Old October 11, 2012, 10:10 AM   #3
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Totaldla actually it is a Marlin Guide gun I will be loading for. Can you make any suggestions of larger dia. commercially available cast lead bullets to use?
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Old October 11, 2012, 11:09 AM   #4
steveno
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My Ruger #1S wouldn't shoot any plain based cast bullet regardless of diameter. however a cast bullet with a gas check shot very well.
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Old October 11, 2012, 12:56 PM   #5
KevTac
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I have two 1895 SBL's and they both shoot OTLC's great. Best thing to do is slug your bore and see exactly what you're dealing with.
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Old October 11, 2012, 01:40 PM   #6
Edward429451
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I've no experience with that exact bullet from LC but I have tried their 44's and 45's and they are good bullets. I would expect their 45/70s to be just as good.

I have a Marlin GG and it works great with .460 boolits. I have found some commercial 45/70's to be .4575 so check whatever you get with a caliper to make sure. The PMC 45/70 cowboy loads (ammunition) is .457 also. You don't want to run .457 through your GG, ask me how I know...
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Old October 11, 2012, 04:00 PM   #7
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I have that same gun and have tried the oregan trail 405 gr, they claim to have a bhn of 22, which is way high, but they shoot fine and I have not noticed any leading. I did decide to switch to missouri bullet co. because of their bhn optimized 18 bhn, I also like their prices at missouri. but for higher loads for wilderness self defense and hunting I would load some of the OT's gas checks, which have the added benefit of scrubbing the lead out of the barrel after a day at the range with cheaper non gas check bullets.
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Old October 11, 2012, 05:07 PM   #8
DFrame
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My ruger #1 and my old H&R both shoot just fine with the lasercast 405 grain bullet.
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Old October 11, 2012, 07:41 PM   #9
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My 2011 1895 GBL worked OK with the Missouri 405's but works better with Pennsylvania 405's (why are all of these bullet companies named after states?). Both shoot to about 2.5-3 inches at 100 yards out of my rifle but the Missouris do it with 35.0 grains of 3031 and unburnt powder in the action, and the Penns do it with 38.0 and no unburnt powder. Again, just my experience with my rifle.

FWIW my bore slugs at .4579. MO bullets measure at .4585 or at least mine did. Penns measure out at about .460 which is why I believe they did better for me.

-cls
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Old October 11, 2012, 09:22 PM   #10
totaldla
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A lot of Guide Guns, (mine included), work best with .460" diameter bullets. I used to buy unsized, unlubed 405gr fodder from Oregon Trail, and lube and shoot them. They ran .461" give or take a sneeze. I can stop and pick them up so I save on shipping.
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Old October 11, 2012, 10:47 PM   #11
Ralph Allen
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http://westernbullet.com
They have a good selection of cast bullets both gas checked and non. Missoula, MT address. Reasonable prices and good service. Watch out if you order some BIG ones, unless you have Charles Atlas shoulders and want to hunt D9 dozers.
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Old October 12, 2012, 11:46 AM   #12
jo-jo
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45-70 lead bullets

I have been using- Bills Cast Bullets- 300gr in my 1895 Guide gun,they are great and no leading probs. Go to billscastbullets.com for info.
They are in Minneapolis Kansas. Prices are very competitive.
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Old January 18, 2013, 12:56 PM   #13
CyberRon
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Where can I find load data for these or other hard cast bullets? Aside from 45-70, I shoot 454 Casull, 45 Colt (same gun), 9mm, and 40 S&W.

For economy sake, I want to load and use hard cast bullets for these, and need good load data.
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Old January 18, 2013, 05:21 PM   #14
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one place for load data other than the powder company website is reloadersnest.com. they have a a good data base of all cartridges.
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