Hunting moose with a 45/70

[mountainman]

If everything goes right, I will be hunting moose this fall. I plan on using my 86 win in 45/70 and I was wondering what bullet weight would be best. I am currently using 350 and 405 bullets from Lazer cast and I was wondering if these would be good enough to get the job done.

Thanks

[TedH]

Welcome to the forum.

Considering the other dollars involved in a moose hunt, I certainly wouldn't pick the bullet as the place to cheap out. I'd use a 350-400 grain bullet of high quality. Not that the Lazer Cast wouldn't do the job, but there are better choices, like the 350 Swift A-frame.

[mountainman]

Could you give me an idea of what you would think a better bullet might be? I know that Garrett makes an excellent 45/70 load, but I was thinking along the line of a more traditional load.

thanks

[TedH]

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against cast bullets. I do 90% of my hunting with bullets I cast myself. A Swift A-Frame would probably be my first choice, but a cast bullet of 400 gr. or more with a WIDE meplat would be tempting too. Anything you poke a hole in the boiler with will put them down though. They are not a hard animal to kill if you put the bullet in the right place, but that can require a bullet to travel some distance through some meat and big bones if your not presented with the perfect shot opportunity.

[Jay Bird]

A new 86 or old one. 405 gr bullet w/ gas check. 40gr of reloader 7 at 1600fps-1700 fps . This is our elk load, good for new and oringinal 86's. if you have a new Winchester or Browning you could push it hotter. But no need to, this will do the job . Good Luck.

[hfcable]

a good hard cast 400 gr is fine, but if you want to use jacketed bullets consider the speer 350 gr flat nose; it is a very tough bulllet and pused at anywhere from 1900 to 2200 fps will kill any moose easily, and soots flat to 200 yds if used with the higher velocity; however a good 400 gr cast works well; killed a moose with molycoated 400 gr cast at 2000 fps; went down instantly....of course the range was less than 50 yards so most any 45/70 load and many others would have worked as well!

[Wes]

I've seen quite a few shot on my ranch here in Wyoming, 4 of them with 45-70's. The loads have been quite varied, but they all worked. Everything from 300 jhp factories to 400gr factories, and one with hard cast's. The load that I liked best was one I used on my moose years ago and it was 405 Remingtons at around 1900 fps. They don't walk away from that very far. The load that I'm planning on using this fall is with H4198 and a 405 Rem in my 1886. That is if I don't have my new 358 Win in my hands.