I just bought a Browning 1885 Traditional Hunter in 45-70, and want to shoot it with Black powder loads. How much Goex or Swiss BP should I load under a home cast 405 gr bullet? Should that powder be measured and thrown with my muzzleloader adjustable measure? Thanks!

All the FFg that you can get in the case and still compress about .100-.250" is the proper load. Many guys use a 24-30 inch drop tube to settle the powder as it's being filled.
Just remember......NO air space between the powder and bullet.


For the experts, see:

http://www.shilohrifle.com/forums/

http://bpcr.net/index-a.htm

I load 65 grains of GOEX "cartridge" black powder in Remington 45-70 cases. I drop the charges down a 24" drop tube on a Lyman #55 bp measure. Next I place a .030 Walters wad over the powder and compress it about 2/10 inch - just enough for the seating depth of the bullet (this will involve a little math). I cast bullets from Lyman's 457193, 405 grain mold. With a Tin-Lead alloy of 1 in 30, my bullets weigh 416 grains. The OAL of the cartridge cannot exceed 2.550 inches for lever action rifles. My chonographed velocity is 1150 fps out of a 22" barrel.

For best results and most consistent loads you need to obtain a compression die. I also prefer a separate taper crimp die rather than crimp with the seating die.

Find your overall length with your bullet just touching or just off of the lands,figure how far your base of your bullet is from the case mouth, for your starting load figure how much powder it takes to get that point after drop tubing your powder .
add a wad & seat your bullet your starting load will be compredssed the thickness of your wad
you may need a compression die , if you start compressing heavily with your bullet you will start deforming your bullet,the more compression the more deformnation .
after each increase in powder charge check to see that your round chambers.
When using a compression die also check to see that your round chambers after each increase in your powder charge,if you over compress you will bulge out your brass & it wont chamber.
one way of setting a compression die is to pull your bullet out after seating on top of compressed powder colom & wad & set compression die to just touch wad
To pull bullet I remove die from press run bullet up through top of press & grab with pliers

If this is to be a hunting load seat bullet to cover all grease grooves so you dont end up with your lube picking up a bunch of dirt use this length to figure the seating depth

Untill you get a powder measure suitable for BP you can use the measure from your ML
I would suggest that you use it into a scale pan & trickle to desired charge then drop tube for best accuracy
if you are only loading small ammounts it would work just fine

Thanks for the input Guys...I was thinking of using a length of brass tubing 24" long w/funnel as a drop tube. What diameter works the best?

The 45-70 got its designation because it was a 45 caliber bullet with 70 grains of black powder .

My drop tube is 3/8 tubing ,size don't realy matter just has to fit inside case or be flared to fit over
for mine I have it attached to a bargin bin C clamp with 2 hose clamps,this also allows for E Z higth adj and E Z removal from your bench when not in use .
I just slip it on the end of the bench out of my way when not using along with my powder measure
About 1/4- 3/8 in from the bottom of my tube I have a plastic cap , a 35mm film cap will work fine , below that I have a pice of scrap leather ,I used a 38 special case as a punch to punch a hole in it, I hold my case against the leather & it keeps any powder from bouncing out while I am droptubing
Plastic reloading funnel is taped to top of tube , I wipe the funnel with a dryer sheet
this eliminates any powder sticking

The 45-70 got its designation because it was a 45 caliber bullet with 70 grains of black powder .

That was fine with the original balloon head cases, but 70 won't fit in modern brass.