Henry Rifle Forums

I finally had a nice day last Saturday to take "Hank" (nickname for my 45-70) to the range for dialing in my Leupold VX3 scope.
My Site Lite laser bore site had it on paper on the 1st shot at 50 yds. I made a few scope adjustments; then a few more shots
and before long I was flirting with the bullseye. I moved the target to 100 yds.

Again 3 shots, a bit of trimming on the turrets, repeat. All of my shooting to this point was in a Lead Sled rifle rest.
My results are shown from my first box of cartridges are labeled on target "set 1". I changed targets and started on a new box
of cartridges to confirm I was good from one box to another. Same brand, grain, point of aim, and I got different points of impact
shown on the target labeled as "set 2".

My scope didn't move in the mounts, my eyes are good, and I'm pretty steady with the Sled. I ran my Ripcord and bore brush through
several times between the two boxes and did not see any heavy fouling...Hornady shoots very clean in my opinion.

Is it common to see that much variance from one box to another of identical ammo?
Regardless, for an 18" barrel brush gun, I think Hank has decent accuracy to put down a whitetail at 100 yds.

Let's just say it's not uncommon with factory ammo. The reason has to do with allowable tolerances for powder charge primarily, which effects muzzle velocity and therefore flight path of the projectile. When you're pumping out millions of rounds there is unavoidable variation in loadings. Since they can't 'test' every round they have to rely on sampling from each lot, and that has it's own error of judgement as to the conformance of the lot to specifications.

PS: There is no such thing as 'identical' ammo.

let me say up front that our Henry CCH 45-70 doesn't like Levervolution ammo and neither do I .... your second target shows a pattern that could put venison in the freezer .... have you tried any other brand of ammo .. .. doing so might help you determine just how much your rifle likes FTX bullets

I had some success with the FTX bullets in my All Weather when I still had it. But CCH Henry likes the Hornady 350gr Flat point bullets with reloader 7 behind them. I agree with Gene. Factory ammo will vary box to box because a machine is loading them. I like reloading my own I can watch each shell and make sure they are all the same.

So far Hornady is all I've shot. I'd like to try something different, but for now I'll have to wait until inventories catch up and be glad I bought enough to keep me going for a couple seasons of hunting. I now understand better why many of you like to load your own. Is the Hornady brass worthy of reloading? Thanks for your valued input.

Stray Cat wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 26, 2020 8:03 am

I now understand better why many of you like to load your own. Is the Hornady brass worthy of reloading? Thanks for your valued input.

Hornady makes good brass; HOWEVER, their Leverevolution brass isn't standard length .... it is designed to ONLY be reloaded with their FTX bullets ....

Stray Cat wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 26, 2020 8:03 am

So far Hornady is all I've shot. I'd like to try something different, but for now I'll have to wait until inventories catch up and be glad I bought enough to keep me going for a couple seasons of hunting. I now understand better why many of you like to load your own. Is the Hornady brass worthy of reloading? Thanks for your valued input.

Underwood produces excellent ammo in many calibers including 45-70. They use new Starline brass, which is preferred by many reloaders. Unfortunately, they are sold out of everything just like everyone else. But here's the site for future reference, and you can also sign up for notification when it comes back in stock :

https://www.underwoodammo.com/collectio ... government

About a 18 months ago I did a chronograph comparison of .41 mag (BBSC) from Hornady and Underwood, and discovered that the heavier Underwood (210grn XTP) gave not only a faster mv, but was far more consistent than the lighter (190grn Hornady LeveRevolution). The group size on 100yd targets also showed a significantly tighter group for the Underwood. I expect you'd see a similar result with the 45-70. Here's the data:

Hornady:



Underwood:

JEBar wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 26, 2020 8:11 am

Stray Cat wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 26, 2020 8:03 am

I now understand better why many of you like to load your own. Is the Hornady brass worthy of reloading? Thanks for your valued input.

Hornady makes good brass; HOWEVER, their Leverevolution brass isn't standard length .... it is designed to ONLY be reloaded with their FTX bullets ....

That is really good to know. I wonder how may have gotten in trouble with that.

I just checked the Underwood link. Holly smokes, +P in a 45-70 My shoulder would have a serious talk with my brain if I shot one of those!
Thanks for the link Gene

Stray Cat wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 26, 2020 8:41 am

I just checked the Underwood link. Holly smokes, +P in a 45-70 My shoulder would have a serious talk with my brain if I shot one of those!
Thanks for the link Gene

I edited my post above while you were replying, to add data from a chrony test I did a while back that you might find interesting.