What type of powder do you intend to use? Black powder/Pyrodex? Or a light pressure smokeless like Trail Boss, 4198, etc. A lot of components you decide to use will depend greatly on the weight of the bullet you decide to use. You can use anything from about 225gr up to and including 450gr+ lead bullets. What velocity do you want to send these bullets down the pipe at? Are you plinking? Target shooting? Or hunting with this gun? Are you going to use it for Cowboy style shooting? If you can't tell the 45-70 is a VERY versatile and fun cartridge to reload for.

Be very careful with reloading for this cartridge, however. There are basically 3 distinct levels of loading depending on your gun. The lower levels require light pressure loads such as for antique lever guns that were designed for black powder/Pyrodex only. You can reload light smokeless loads as well using something like Trail Boss. If you are into nostalgia then you might like this type of loading.  Then there are the mid pressure loads for modern lever actions such as your Marlin. But there are also high/very high pressure loads for guns designed for high pressures such as the Ruger #1 and T/C Rifles. I would not attempt to load this high for your Marlin even if it is a modern firearm. Lever actions are not designed for the maximum pressures you can obtain with this cartridge and modern propellants. Also, if you decide to reload using black powder and/or Pyrodex, I would suggest talking to someone experienced with reloading with these types of propellants or read Lyman's Black Powder Reloading Manual BEFORE reloading as there are certain precautions you must take reloading with these propellants that don't apply to smokeless propellants.

Have fun with your new cartridge! It is literally a BLAST!!!!

What type of powder do you intend to use? Black powder/Pyrodex? Or a light pressure smokeless like Trail Boss, 4198, etc. A lot of components you decide to use will depend greatly on the weight of the bullet you decide to use. You can use anything from about 225gr up to and including 450gr+ lead bullets. What velocity do you want to send these bullets down the pipe at? Are you plinking? Target shooting? Or hunting with this gun? Are you going to use it for Cowboy style shooting? If you can't tell the 45-70 is a VERY versatile and fun cartridge to reload for.

Be very careful with reloading for this cartridge, however. There are basically 3 distinct levels of loading depending on your gun. The lower levels require light pressure loads such as for antique lever guns that were designed for black powder/Pyrodex only. You can reload light smokeless loads as well using something like Trail Boss. If you are into nostalgia then you might like this type of loading.  Then there are the mid pressure loads for modern lever actions such as your Marlin. But there are also high/very high pressure loads for guns designed for high pressures such as the Ruger #1 and T/C Rifles. I would not attempt to load this high for your Marlin even if it is a modern firearm. Lever actions are not designed for the maximum pressures you can obtain with this cartridge and modern propellants. Also, if you decide to reload using black powder and/or Pyrodex, I would suggest talking to someone experienced with reloading with these types of propellants or read Lyman's Black Powder Reloading Manual BEFORE reloading as there are certain precautions you must take reloading with these propellants that don't apply to smokeless propellants.

Have fun with your new cartridge! It is literally a BLAST!!!!

Hi Inspector,
I was looking at something in the low to mid range velocities with this gun, didn't want to go or attempt any crazy hot loads, just something to use for target and hunting. Was planning on using either the 350 gr. or 405 gr. bullets with modern smokeless powder.

Missouri bullet company, Laredo Bullets. Laredo's 405 lfp work well for me.

I agree with carcass. I buy most of my lead bullets from Missouri Bullet Company. WGS carries them locally but you can obtain them cheaper by ordering them directly. My friend swears by CB Bullets but I am not terribly impressed with them. Oregon Trail makes awesome bullets but they are more expensive.  All are available online.  You might even consider casting your own. When I retire I will start casting my bullets. For cases I suggest Starline Brass. They offer new brass at reasonable prices. It might be difficult to find once fired brass but it isn't impossible. For primers you will need large rifle primers. Since the cartridge and rifle are not sub MOA I would suggest whichever brand you can find locally. I have had good luck with CCI, Remington, WInchester and Federal. As far as powder is concerned right now it is tough to find anything except Pyrodex. But again, if you decide to reload with black powder and/or Pyrodex there are some safety precautions you must know about before you reload. I like Trail Boss for light to medium loads. But there are quite a few others that will work. Maybe LEVERevolution? Not sure if this will work with the 45-70 cartridge. The possibilities are almost endless.

Let me know what you end up reloading.

I agree with carcass. I buy most of my lead bullets from Missouri Bullet Company. WGS carries them locally but you can obtain them cheaper by ordering them directly. My friend swears by CB Bullets but I am not terribly impressed with them. Oregon Trail makes awesome bullets but they are more expensive.  All are available online.  You might even consider casting your own. When I retire I will start casting my bullets. For cases I suggest Starline Brass. They offer new brass at reasonable prices. It might be difficult to find once fired brass but it isn't impossible. For primers you will need large rifle primers. Since the cartridge and rifle are not sub MOA I would suggest whichever brand you can find locally. I have had good luck with CCI, Remington, WInchester and Federal. As far as powder is concerned right now it is tough to find anything except Pyrodex. But again, if you decide to reload with black powder and/or Pyrodex there are some safety precautions you must know about before you reload. I like Trail Boss for light to medium loads. But there are quite a few others that will work. Maybe LEVERevolution? Not sure if this will work with the 45-70 cartridge. The possibilities are almost endless.

Let me know what you end up reloading.

Have you tried the 300 gr. from Missouri Bullet Co. ?     If so, how did you like it compared to the heavier bullet weights?

Thanks,
Dan

Sorry, I have not tried the 300gr  bullet. I prefer heavier bullets such as the 400-405 which is the original black powder load.

 Unless I am missing something ... Which I might be cause I did just skim over the comments and i aplogize if i did. Why is everyone talking about  black powder and other low velocity powders? If I read correctly you purchased a modern guide gun in 45-70 by Marlin. I have got one for a backpacking in the Northen Rockies.. If you want that lead chucker to hum use modern smokeless powder. Its called a guide gun because it's carried by guides to drop brown bear, moose or anything threating life or limb. It's not an ole trapdoor or rolling block that you have to worry about the barrel and pressure issue's. Marlin's action is strong of course I'm not saying load her to hilt and be dangerous, but you don't need to pussy foot around her. My personal favorite is an old stand by IMR3031, performs amazing in the straight walled case of th 45-70 with heavy grain weight. It's in the middle of the burn rate chart and has been used in the 45-70 really since the introduction of the powder back in 1916. You have to remember when loading for the 45-70 your going to find two sets of reloading data. Most IMR reloading data books have the reloading for 45-70 for the trapdoor rifle. Usually trapdoor is put in parentheses next to the data. So for safety reason if you load your modern rifle using modern powder to data that would be acceptable for the century old trapdoor you won't have any problem. I like 48.5 grains of IMR 3031 using Starline brass with Remy large rifle primers and with either Remington 300 SJHP or Remington 405 SP both perform very well and drops pigs like a sack of potatoes. @100yards it's shooting 2" groups and performs very well out to 200 yards. With a +3 @. 100 yards MPBR(max point blank range) is just about 189 yards. Unfortunately most data and Sami specs are inline with the old trapdoor loadings again for safety and legal issues, they didn't want to cause a mix up. Really the modern 45-70 rifles are very comparable to 450 Marlin loadings. Congrats on your purchase one of my all time favorite rounds.

Unless I am missing something ... Which I might be cause I did just skim over the comments and i aplogize if i did. Why is everyone talking about  black powder and other low velocity powders? If I read correctly you purchased a modern guide gun in 45-70 by Marlin. I have got one for a backpacking in the Northen Rockies.. If you want that lead chucker to hum use modern smokeless powder. Its called a guide gun because it's carried by guides to drop brown bear, moose or anything threating life or limb. It's not an ole trapdoor or rolling block that you have to worry about the barrel and pressure issue's. Marlin's action is strong of course I'm not saying load her to hilt and be dangerous, but you don't need to pussy foot around her. My personal favorite is an old stand by IMR3031, performs amazing in the straight walled case of th 45-70 with heavy grain weight. It's in the middle of the burn rate chart and has been used in the 45-70 really since the introduction of the powder back in 1916. You have to remember when loading for the 45-70 your going to find two sets of reloading data. Most IMR reloading data books have the reloading for 45-70 for the trapdoor rifle. Usually trapdoor is put in parentheses next to the data. So for safety reason if you load your modern rifle using modern powder to data that would be acceptable for the century old trapdoor you won't have any problem. I like 48.5 grains of IMR 3031 using Starline brass with Remy large rifle primers and with either Remington 300 SJHP or Remington 405 SP both perform very well and drops pigs like a sack of potatoes. @100yards it's shooting 2" groups and performs very well out to 200 yards. With a +3 @. 100 yards MPBR(max point blank range) is just about 189 yards. Unfortunately most data and Sami specs are inline with the old trapdoor loadings again for safety and legal issues, they didn't want to cause a mix up. Really the modern 45-70 rifles are very comparable to 450 Marlin loadings. Congrats on your purchase one of my all time favorite rounds.

You basically just said the same things I did. The only thing I didn't say is to load the cartridge up with a heavy smokeless powder load. I called your "Heavy" load a rnidrange load because that is what it is. The Marlin is a modern firearm but it is still a lever action which by todays standards is not as strong as a bolt action and some other types of modern actions. I called your heavy load a mid range load because of liability and danger issues. And because it is the truth. You see the cartridge was designed originally to be loaded to the hilt and compressed with 70 grains of black powder measured by volume, not weight. Hence the -70 in the cartridge designation. Your "Heavy" load comes no where close to filling the case with powder. Because smokeless powder is measured by weight it is too easy to confuse things and load the cartridge with 70 grains of smokeless powder. Which as I mentioned in my earlier post only a gun such as a modern bolt action, T/C, or Ruger #1 can handle. You do that with your Marlin and you won't own a Marlin for very long. The OP was asking intelligent questions and was obviously new to reloading this great cartridge. I wanted to make sure he understood the difference between the 3 basic loadings available to him without saying to load it "heavy". Too many people have misunderstood another's intentions on forums and we are talking about something that can be dangerous if misunderstood. I prefer not to give actual loading data on a forum unless I know it is safe under all conditions. Which brings me to the other dangerous thing I mentioned. Most people don't know that you have to load black powder to the top of the cartridge or if you want to use a reduced load you must fill the cartridge with a filler such as corn meal. If you don't fill the cartridge up to the top with black powder and or black powder and corn meal the Marlin may not be able to handle the extremely high pressures created by a partially loaded black powder cartridge. Which is why I recommended he read the Lyman manual on reloading black powder if he ever decides to reload with Pyrodex/black powder.

Modern cartridges are designed to take a full charge of the correct powder. Generally speaking. But one can reload the 45-70 to pressures higher than ones gun can take because of its black powder heritage. There is a reason why the powder companies are so careful how they present the loading data to people.

I am not trying to criticize you nor tell you how or what to type in a forum. I didn't really want to get into this detailed discussion. I was just trying to open the OP's mind to being carefull while reloading this cartridge because the potential for danger is there. And your comments I felt were a bit reckless. 

Aloha again i apologize for not reading fully all the post before posting i did have a bit of a knee jerk reaction. I have that knee jerk reaction because i've had to listen time and time again over the last 15 years about the lack of performance of the 45-70 and how outdated such a round is. Many like to keep such a round as it was originally loaded which is perfectly fine. I made the mistake of letting my passion get the best of me. You are correct the load i enjoy is a midrange load if you were referring to the bullet weight of said round. The load of 48.5 of IMR 3031 is actually half of grain over the starting load but its what my guide gun loves.  I wasn't referring to the load as heavy to clarify i was referring to the load as heavy in reference to using IMR 3031 with bullets in the 300 to 405 grain range. Using bullets in this range is a heavy load for a powder in the middle of the burning rate like IMR 3031. I understand you were trying to get across  about the difference but i was not i was very clear and not reckless about what i thought. Just so your aware 48.5 grains is close to filling a 45-70 case using said powder. 54 Grains of IMR 3031 is considered a compressed load. You'd never be able to get anywhere near 70 grains in the case but thats beside the point i don't see why you even went in that direction. In my post i never mixed the two that being black powder and smokeless sir. All i said was if you'd like to get decent performance out of a lever action with a 18.5" barrel that is the guide gun use smokeless modern powder. Yes black powder has to be used under compression to avoid the spike in pressure and for a nice complete burn but that had nothing to do with what i was trying to get across. You kept referring to originally loads and originally bullet weight but what he has is not originally in anyway its a 18.5" barrel pack gun. Hell 45-70 405 was the originally load but even that is a little misleading you know there were many different loadings for the 45-70 many of them can be found in JS and Pat Wolf's book on the loading the 45-70 for rifle and carbine.Yes detail about particular loads was not what Irishd asked for and again i apologize for knee jerk post. I don't see where i was reckless is anyway I've always been very careful answering reloading questions. I don't see anything i said as dangerous. I only gave one load data and that load dat i gave is very safe. Only time i used the word "heavy was referring to the bullet weight in conjunction with IMR 3031 powder. I will do my best to make sure next time i don't let my love for the tried and true 45-70 fog my post reading skills!! I am sorry. Irishd everything inspector originally posted was spot on.