March 7, 2025

The 45-70 and 700X powder

700X is a fast shotgun powder that also gets used for Pistol loads.

Some people have used it for the 45-70 to give light loads. This may or may not be a good idea. These loads are not in the books.

Titegroup is a fast pistol powder that quite a few people are using for reduced 45-70 loads. There are published loads for this from Hodgdon

One aspect of this is having a small amount of powder in a big case and getting proper ignition. Titegroup loads for pistol are already just a pinch of powder in a big case -- so Titegroup is engineered for this.

Sometime you hear about using a "wad" of dacron (or even a sheet of toilet paper) to keep the powder near the primer. I have been strongly advised against this for 700X.

The low velocity tables show 10 grains of 700X and 350g bullet giving 1080 fps. The same velocity with the 405 grain bullet.

Danger!

Any time you are trying things that aren't as per published load data, you are taking risks.

My first tests

I loaded 10g of 700X under some 350g Berry's plated bullets (5 of them). Average velocity for 4 was 894 fps. Compare this to the 1082 fps reported by the guy shooting lead bullets. Is this the difference between lead and plated? I plan to load 12 grains next time (where he got 1205). I also want to load some 405 grain lead bullets I have with 10 grains of 700X and see what that produces. I have about 750 of these.

More tests

I tried the same 10 grains with a 405 grain bullet, then 12 grains with the 350 Berry's. 
700X 350gr Berrys -- 10 grains  894 fps
700X 350gr Berrys -- 12 grains  1028 fps
700X 405gr Cast   -- 10 grains  1022 fps
Notice that the lead bullet, even though it is 55 grains heavier, still goes faster with the same charge of powder.

Some 700X pistol loads

I wanted to check some of these as a reference point for the 10 grains of 700X I am using for my 45-70. 
.38 SPL  110g JHP -- 4.1 to 4.6 grains -- Lyman 50
.357 Mag 90g lead -- 6.0 to 8.3 grains -- Lyman 50
.45 ACP  200g lead - 4.0 to 5.2 grains -- Lyman 50
Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Computer Info / tom@mmto.org