45-70 for trapdoor's

[deadeye]

Anyone load for Springfield trapdoor, what's your favorite load? I picked up an 1884 Springfield that is in pretty damn good shape for the age (very early1886) I'm planning on 300gr lead to start with but may go to 400gr. Been a while since I was loading this cal. for my Marlin guide gun and don't plan on using it for deer or elk like I did the marlin.

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[Twodogs]

12gr of unique with a 400 gr cast bullet.

 

[Quirt Evans]

Probably near impossible to get 5744, but ~25grs of it behind a 405gr slug basically duplicates the original cavalry carbine load from the 1880s.

 

[Certaindeaf]

"The Load" is 13 Grains of Red Dot"

 

[ORhutner]

IMR3031 with 350, 405 and 500 grain have all shot great in my trapdoor. Look up trapdoor safe loads in your respective reloading manual. Using T&B polymer coated bullets.

 

[Old Warrior]

I have an 1884 carbine production year 1887. I load only 405 soft cast hollow base lead as in the original ammo. I put that on top of 55 gr of Swiss 1.5. The type of rifling in those doesn't like jacketed ammo.

 

[Member 55555]

I've never loaded anything but black powder in mine: 40-50 grains of 2f behind a 405 grain lead bullet.

 

[Old Warrior]

I've never loaded anything but black powder in mine: 40-50 grains of 2f behind a 405 grain lead bullet.

That's what I have been shooting in my "old warrior" until now, but am wanting to try my hand at shooting some steel. And some steel shooters use duplex for accuracy at long range.

 

[orygun]

My first 45-70 was an H&R Trapdoor Carbine. It was a lot of fun, but not the choice for "hot rodded" loads, which is what I wanted to do.
However I did have it for a couple of years and loaded a bunch of 405gr cast and jacketed bullets over 3031. They were very pleasant to shoot. I carried it hunting a couple of times, but never saw anything to shoot it with.
Then I bought a Browning B78 and the fun began!

 

[SuperBreed]

Ive used h4895 with good results using 405gr caste. Someone else posted it "The Load" works pretty good for lead. Don't know about pressure levels with that though. I shoot out of a Uberti high wall. When I first started loading for it, I was using trapdoor data with h4895 and the 405 grain caste. Now I load Rem 405gr SP with h4895.

 

[Old Warrior]

My first 45-70 was an H&R Trapdoor Carbine. It was a lot of fun, but not the choice for "hot rodded" loads, which is what I wanted to do.
However I did have it for a couple of years and loaded a bunch of 405gr cast and jacketed bullets over 3031. They were very pleasant to shoot. I carried it hunting a couple of times, but never saw anything to shoot it with.
Then I bought a Browning B78 and the fun began!

That H&R is a nice rifle. Has a great barrel with modern style rifling. The old trapdoor has a 3&3 50/50 bore, that meaning it has 3 lands and 3 grooves and the total land and grooves are 50% each of the bore diameter. That being said it isn't good for jacketed bullets. Springfield made the rifle and ammo for each other, and the old trapdoors that people complain about how bad they group, are trying to make it shoot good with something it wasn't made to shoot. One in good condition is capable of shooting 2 MOA groups at 200 yds and even better with duplex loads. It has a 1400 yd sight on it and according to Arsenal records they were quite capable of shooting accurately at that distance.
Like that Browning. When I live in Kentucky there was a group of 78 guys that got together for shoots and it was indeed fun.

 

[oilybore]

Anyone load for Springfield trapdoor, what's your favorite load? I picked up an 1884 Springfield that is in pretty damn good shape for the age (very early1886) I'm planning on 300gr lead to start with but may go to 400gr. Been a while since I was loading this cal. for my Marlin guide gun and don't plan on using it for deer or elk like I did the marlin.

Please read or look up information about a book called Loading for the Trap Door Springfield by Pat Wolf This gives you a very in depth guide and instructions on how to replicate the original military loadings of the era but basically it comes down to using very soft lead and using black powder to really be accurate with it Message me if you have any questions i'm very interested in all of these rifles

 

[1911Fanatic]

The 1884 I just gave my son for his birthday is going to start off with the Steiner Trapdoor ammo until he can start reloading. It's actually quite reasonably priced.

 

[BoringCruffler]

"Steinel".

Not meaning to be spelling police, just to make it easier to find...

45-70 Ammo for Sale 405gr Springfield Trapdoor Safe Loads

Buy 45-70 Govt Trapdoor ammo loaded safe for Springfield Trapdoor rifles. 405gr RNFP cast bullets, low-pressure 17,000 PSI loads, reliable performance, and new Starline brass.

steinelammo.com

I bought a couple boxes a while back, but I disagree that $2.35/round is reasonable when a Lee Loader can usually be found around $40 (gave about $20 for mine but that was decades ago, and I get that). Lead 405gr bullets are 100 for $40, and it's not like .45Gov brass ever wears out with these older style loads. I figure my 'plinking' loads cost about 55¢/ea.

If factory is really your only option, look for HSM (hsmammunition.com). With a little looking, I usually find them around $1.40/round for the Trapdoor loads.

Best wishes for fun old shooting ,

BC