45-70 Colour Case Hardened, Range Report

[DWD445]

Sound like it's ALL you thought it would be and more !!
Nice report and cool range

[JEBar]

report appreciated .... I have no doubt you will get her dialed in .... you may or may not be aware that the LeverRevolution shell casings are shorter than standard .... as such you are only supposed to reload them with Hornady's LeverRevolution bullets .... for me that was a disqualifier

[CT_Shooter]

Finally got down to the range today.

Thanks for writing such a great range report and for sharing your pictures and vids. Beautiful rifle and great shooting.

[Frank V]

Supaduke, I'll bet those Trailboss loads were fun?
Thans for sharing.

[Supaduke]

Trail Boss loads are great fun. Very soft shooting and quite accurate at moderate ranges. Don't think they would have much further effective range than 100m, not without guesswork shots anyway. Nearly out of elevation at 50m. I bought a couple boxes of FTX projectiles to reload the Hornady cases and develop a hunting load so no major drama there.

I will reload some more cowboy loads in increments from 14-15gr and see how i go getting it dialled right in.

A very easy gun to shoot, even with the higher powered jacketed loads. Quick and slick to cycle. I was pretty happy with my off hand shooting as well. The buckhorn sights require a bit of practice to use effectively if you want to close up your groups. On clays however they are quite effective.

I tried to give a real and honest range report, so the sporadic shots are how it is

I saw my groups getting tighter as I developed a more consistent aiming point. Once I have the ammo worked up correctly I think 1 to 2 inch groups at 50m will be quite easy. Debating putting a scope on while I do load development.

[Frank V]

Trail Boss loads are great fun. Very soft shooting and quite accurate at moderate ranges. Don't think they would have much further effective range than 100m, not without guesswork shots anyway. Nearly out of elevation at 50m. I bought a couple boxes of FTX projectiles to reload the Hornady cases and develop a hunting load so no major drama there.

I will reload some more cowboy loads in increments from 14-15gr and see how i go getting it dialled right in.

A very easy gun to shoot, even with the higher powered jacketed loads. Quick and slick to cycle. I was pretty happy with my off hand shooting as well. The buckhorn sights require a bit of practice to use effectively if you want to close up your groups. On clays however they are quite effective.

I tried to give a real and honest range report, so the sporadic shots are how it is

I saw my groups getting tighter as I developed a more consistent aiming point. Once I have the ammo worked up correctly I think 1 to 2 inch groups at 50m will be quite easy. Debating putting a scope on while I do load development.

Something I've done to get out to longer yardages & it works quite well is to raise the front sight up into the notch of the rear sight. You are in effect holding up front sight. Handgunners have done this for years & it works quite well. I used to perch the bead of the front sight into the top of the U notch & when sighted for 100 yds this would get me to 200yds. Try it I think you will soon find hitting beyond 50yds even with light loads is not all that hard.
Let us know if you try it.

[JCN]

report appreciated .... I have no doubt you will get her dialed in .... you may or may not be aware that the LeverRevolution shell casings are shorter than standard .... as such you are only supposed to reload them with Hornady's LeverRevolution bullets .... for me that was a disqualifier

I wasn't aware of that. Does the shorter length help them cycle better?

[JEBar]

report appreciated .... I have no doubt you will get her dialed in .... you may or may not be aware that the LeverRevolution shell casings are shorter than standard .... as such you are only supposed to reload them with Hornady's LeverRevolution bullets .... for me that was a disqualifier

I wasn't aware of that. Does the shorter length help them cycle better?

not exactly sure of exactly how it works .... my understanding is it has to do with the LeverRevolution bullet .... for them to meet the overall length SAAMI specs they had to cut the shell case length .... I think the article was in the American Rifleman but can't swear to that .... it raised some issue with lining up the crimp ring and the end of the shell .... it basically said only to use the Hornady LeverRevolution bullets .... as noted, I didn't really understand what I read so I called Hornady .... I was told there is a set of dies that are made for the leverlution rounds and with them you can, without them its much tougher ....

[Supaduke]

You don't really need a seperate set of dies. I have an RCBS 3 set die and it can load them no probs. The issue is with the length of the hornady projectile. Because of the polymer tip , it makes the overall length of the round just a fraction longer. It will chamber no problem because all the extra length is right on the tip of the round.

The problem starts when you try to cycle the round out of the tube mag. The Spring pushes the round back onto the lifter as you drop the lever, but the point of the hornady protrudes into the mag just a fraction. When you attempt to close the lever and cycle the action it gets jammed and can't lift it to the chamber. Shortening the case from 2.08 to 2.03 alleviates the issue. If you have a Ruger no. 1 or similar single feed type rifle it's not an issue.

[Catherine]

Beautiful rifle!

Thank you for the pictures and range report.

Cate

[Frank V]

I'd stay away from the Hornaday leverevoloution for that reason. That & I prefer 405+grs of bullet weight.
I ran into it with the .45 Colt the other day too brass picked up at the range. Went to load it & my case belling die didn't even bell the case mouth tried to seat a bullet & nope shaved a big hunk of lead off the bullet.
Threw both of those cases away. Of course ammo manufactures would prefer we didn't reload so they aren't concerned that their brass isn't quite as long as SAAMI specs.

[Supaduke]

45 Colt is .452 - Pistol Cal
FTX projectiles are .458- Rifle cal

May have been your issue

You also do need to adjust your dies to compensate for the shorter case. I will only be reloading the FTX projies in the Leverloution spent brass so the trimming is done for me. I will save the full length star line brass for hard cast lead and maybe some hollow points at some point.

Sure there is some compromise with Leverloution but its potential for a hunting round can't be denied. I will be doing some more load development with the Henry till I find the sweet spot in powder and projectile. The hard cast 300gr seem OK but I will steadily increase weight and see what happens.

Edit: hope I didn't seem like a smart alec, but I have had no issues reloading Leverloution brass or projectiles. Perhaps your case flaring/belling slug is the tapered type rather than stepped like mine. The shorter case may not be going far enough up the taper. I would be curious to know what the issue is.

Also they don't make Leverevoloution in .45 Colt

[Frank V]

Whatever the difference is, the case was enough shorter so the flaring die (Dillon) wouldn't touch it. WW,RP, & Fed cases all work fine. I only had two so it was no big deal. From now on when I pick up brass at the range I'll check the headstamp &* case length.
Thanks.

[Rdrcr56]

After reading this thread It made me decide I needed one of these and lo and behold the lgs had one for a good price. Took it out today and shot it with my usual re-loads and am very happy with the accuracy, the rear sight ended up at its highest elevation for good hits at 100 yards so a skinner rear might work without having to change the front sight which is almost to pretty to replace it. I have a few Marlins and winchesters and the quality of this Henry is right there with the jm Marlins maybe slightly ahead.

[JEBar]

After reading this thread It made me decide I needed one of these and lo and behold the lgs had one for a good price. Took it out today and shot it with my usual re-loads and am very happy with the accuracy, the rear sight ended up at its highest elevation for good hits at 100 yards so a skinner rear might work without having to change the front sight which is almost to pretty to replace it. I have a few Marlins and winchesters and the quality of this Henry is right there with the jm Marlins maybe slightly ahead.

congrats on the acquisition .... our Henry 45-70 has rapidly become one of our favorites

[BigAl52]

Man I wish these reports wouldnt come around. I really like the CCH 45-70. I really want one bad. But I just spent a lot of money on a dog I love very much and I am having a hard time not buying one. Al

[Rdrcr56]

It's a sweet rifle you should get one, I also have a long ranger and a small game carbine and I think this one is going to be the favored child of the bunch

[Supaduke]

Glad I could help push you over the line. They really are great rifles, I have no doubt you will be very happy with yours. I'm still fine tuning my load development and will post an updated range report when I get it sorted.

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Such a handsome rifle, I never get tired of looking at it

[Rdrcr56]

I pulled the skinner sight off of a Marlin 336 and installed it on the Henry, it lines up perfect through the original Henry rear sight so it should be on the money with the original front. I also looked on the skinner web site and he recommends a .570 high fiber optic front, the original on this rifle is about .562 so off to the range tomorrow to see how it works

[Frank V]

I'm hoping it'll work well. Let us know.