I've posted this on some other forums but figured this would be a good place to get advice too.

A little bit of background; A few weeks ago I purchased some Aardvark 405 gr .459" bullets at a local shop. I loaded up a dummy cartridge and found my Marlin 1895 would NOT chamber them easily as the bullet would engage the throat/lands prior to being fully seated. I trimmed the case to minimum and seated the bullet as deeply as I could and still crimp in the groove. It didn't solve the problem. My next attempt was to try a 2.490" that my Accurate Arms loading data says is the minimum length for all the bullts listed on the page (300-500 grains). It didn't work either.

The 405 gr Aardvark bullets do NOT feed well in a friend's 1895 guide gun or his Sharps either. In all the bullets engraved on the lands prior being fully loaded in the chamber.

In order for this bullet to seat easily in my 1895 (like all the other bullets I've used do) it requires an OAL of 2.460". My Accurate Arms Reloading Data has a Minimum Overal Length for the 45-70 (all cartridges) at 2.490"

Now for the meaty part of my question. I assume all risk in any advice I take here but your insights and experience are GREATLY appreciated.

To seat the bullet at a functioning OAL the bullet would project .365" beyond the case. About .615" would be inside the case which would still be less (by my calcuations) as another brand's 500 gr bullet for 45-70.

I now own a LEE Factory Crimping Die so I can easily crimp the bullets in place now. Is it likely these could be shot safely with Trapdoor Loadings?

Thanks in advance

My new Sierra manual shows a trim length of 2.095. Thats quite a bit more and might get the job done.

Miss read your thread. I was looking at trim length, not OAL. My books only show a max. AOL of 2.550 Maybe that bullet ogive is not suited for the 45-70 chamber.

I would not worry a lot about seating them 0.030" deeper, if I read your post correctly. A Marlin 1895 will handle the SAAMI loadings, and quite a bit more.

Heavy bullets with big, wide ogives require deep seating, regardless of where the crimp groove is located. You can crimp cast bullets anywhere on the bullet ogive needed for proper functioning, but a rolled crimp may strip lead from the bullet when firing. A tapered crimp would be best for this application.

As Gismo suggests, trim cases to the minimum length and carefully bell the mouths just enough to seat the bullets. Seat deeply enough to assure land /rifling offset and carrier/lifter functioning and apply crimp. Powder charges need to be considered with deeply seated bullets to avoid bulged cases.

When the case is stopped from going further foward in the chamber by its rim, the rifling begins a fixed distance forwarrd of the case mouth. A bullet that is a cylinder (straight wadcutter) must be seated to have no more than that distance protruding from the case mouth before it touches rifling, and will be nowhere near maximum OAL when it does. A bullet with a long sharp cone point may be well beyond maximum OAL without touching the rifling at all. OAL is intended for magazine compatibility, not rifling fit. You can get a Stoney Point tool for determining seating depth to avoid the rifling, or you can search this or other forums for several improvised methods of doing it.

Figure that with smokeless powder, you will have to reduce the charge very roughly one tenth of a grain for each 1/100 of and inch you seat the bullet deeper to maintain pressure. This is very approximate and changes with powder, but gives you a rough idea what you are looking at.

Nick