cup rating 45-70

axis223

New member
im looking to load 45-70 300gr or 350gr and see the cup on hodgdons.com goes up a lot for certain powders. I want to load for a single shot which I hear can take marlin loads but don't want to have a kaboom.

should I stick with a lower cup for this rifle?
 
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If you don't say what rifle it is, nobody will know how to answer. The Ruger single shot rifles are known to be able to tolerate even higher levels than a Marlin 1895 will in this chambering, but if my single-shot was a trapdoor Springfield, I'd have to go lower than SAAMI standard, not higher.
 
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Some books give three pressure limits . Factory loads are only 18,000 cup for safety in a trapdoor. Strongest rifles are Ruger #1 and Browning 1885, followed by Marlin. For most hunting factory loads are all you need !
 
SAAMI maximum is 28000 CUP or Ppsi.
I think that would be plenty for an inexpensive single shot and would not load it to 39000 like Hodgdon shows for "lever actions" meaning modern Marlin 95.
It will get you a 300 at 2000+ fps.
 
The link mehavey provides in post #5 is really quite good including the individual who contacted CVA looking to classify his rifle. CVA seemed to feel the lever gun loads were fine for their rifle. Been a long time but when I did load 45-70 it was for a Springfield Trapdoor and even with those loads it was not a rifle you wanted to shoot wearing a T-Shirt on a summer day. The recoil was stout.

The only somewhat downside to the 45-70 Government is the curved trajectory but inside 150 yards that is not really an issue. Your goal is to take deer in Ohio which most shots will likely be well inside 100 yards. You really do not need hotter loads and the Trapdoor loads would likely fare well for your intended application. This way you do not beat up yourself or your rifle. The deer will be just as dead and just as fast.

Just My Take
Ron
 
You can try 300 jhp, 57.3 varget. What I'm loading this year, 1" high at 100, 2" low at 150, -10 at 200. I'll crono it Friday. The .3 is mostly entertainment. 56 to 58 had little effect at 100. 57 had the better group. Ymmv.
 
'CUP' means Copper Units of Pressure. It's just a method of calibrating pressure, literally, by means of a wee copper cup and measuring how much it was crushed. This stuff is explained(in plain American English) in the reference chapters of your manual.
"...a single shot which I hear can take Marlin loads..." It's not Marlin loads. It's Modern Rifles or Lever Action loads. That single shot you heard about would be a Ruger No. 1(no longer available, new, in .45-70. Starts at about a grand, used.). A Ruger No. 1 is far stronger than any Marlin lever action will ever be. A Ruger No. 1 can handle .45-70 loads that are close to .458 Winchester with no fuss. A Marlin or any other lever action will be blown to smaller pieces(the gasses usually blow out the bottom of a lever action. Might completely destroy one.) with those loads. Your CVA cannot use those loads.
 
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