What to buy?, any pet reloads?

Anthing you think is a big bore

Moderators: Regnier (gunrunner), JohnK, Sure-Shot

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Limey
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Joined: Sun Jun 19, 2005 8:26 am
Location: France

What to buy?, any pet reloads?

Post by Limey »

I'm an English man who has left England to go live and work in France....we now own and run our own holiday business, check us out at http://www.la-janais.com....
There were many reasons why we left, just one of them was as a law abiding citizen who had legally owned, shot, hunted and reloaded for over 20 years (...one of my guns was a .44mag Marlin....a real nail driver...I miss that gun...) all us UK shooters had our guns confiscated by the government following a serious shooting incident...now all the legal guns are gone and just the outlaws have them and shooting crimes are running out of control over there!
Anyway...I now live in a country where I can legally own and shoot as a responsible citizen and next month I am sitting my hunters exam....A written theory test followed by 3 practical tests....I have been studying really hard...language barriers to over come and loads of new legal stuff to understand, any way, fingers crossed I pass!
Now to the point....we have wild boar and deer living around us and I want to get a Marlin .45/70 to relocate some of them to 'live' in our freezer!!! So, what model is recommended?...long barrel?...shorter barrel?....any pet loads?...how about hard casting rather than jacketed?...what weights etc...I have been out of shooting for about 8 years now....what is this new .450 Marlin round I have seen mentioned?....(I'm even going to have to get new reloading gear as all that had to go as well....I still have to think of a way of justifying the expense to the wife yet!)....over here normal shooting distances are 50 to 100 metres so 'next county shots' are not required....(the legal maximum range to take any game over here is 300 metres max)...my budget is tight so exotica is out and hopefully I'll find a good condition used gun. Thanks in anticipation for any positive responses, safe shooting, cheers from Limey.
I'm an English guy now living and working in Franc. Me and Pat, my wife, gave up a lifetime of 9 to 5's to come and live in France running our own small holiday business. , safe shooting to everybody
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SteveW
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Post by SteveW »

While I also have the calibers you mention, I have a fondness for the 444 and can offer some accurate loads for that one.

For 45-70 and 450 loads & general discussion of same, see also: http://www.marlinowners.com and read posts on the Big Bore forum. One of the contributors is a fellow going by 'ChrisWildhunter'. He says he has a gun shop in France, and you & he may have some things in common.

Best regards! Steve
I am really not an expert - distinguished or otherwise!!
Sure-Shot
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Post by Sure-Shot »

At the ranges you have listed almost any of the available ammo and barrel lengths will work. So first try holding one in your hand to check which balances best for you. If you have brush thick timber then the shorter the barrel the easier to get around without hanging it up. The 405 grn at lower velocities will work great. Can you find a tire shop that will give away their wheel weights I would start with a mould and make your own. Wheel weights dropped in water right out of the mould are plenty hard to avoid leading issues. Try and get a mould that drops .003 over bore and keep the velocity under 1600 and it will work great. Flat or round nose are equally useable/acceptable. Let us know what types of powders you have access to and we will be happy to share some loads.
GBOT, GBUSA
Limey
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Location: France

Thank you for links and feedback

Post by Limey »

Thank you to Sure - Shot and SteveW for posting some feedback and the web link, I will be checking that out right after this e-mail. Until I pass my hunting license test I cannot buy anything bigger than a .22....bizarely you can legally buy that calibre (rifle not pistol and ammo without restriction or need of a license) I currently own a Winchester .22 Mag. and I legally own a couple of shotguns I brought from the UK with me, a Winchester side by side Model 23 and a single barrel Biakel.....you can buy a shotgun over here without a license, you just need to let the local townhall know you have it but with out a hunting or a target shooting license you cannot buy cartridges.....fairly neat catch eh?...also got to show your license to buy any reloading stuff so you can't sneak round it that way either!

When I get my hunting license I will be down pestering the gun shop in Nantes for a suitable rifle and pestering my wife to free up a bit more pocket money!!!....oh!...by the way I forgot to mention all ammo used for hunting must be expanding...no solid stuff allowed so on reflection I guess this will eliminate the use of any cast heads......any recomendations on jacketed hollow points?......Sorry, I have'nt checked out powder types available yet but I believe most American powders are available plus the European ones as well.

Safe shooting

Limey
I'm an English guy now living and working in Franc. Me and Pat, my wife, gave up a lifetime of 9 to 5's to come and live in France running our own small holiday business. , safe shooting to everybody
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SteveW
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Post by SteveW »

Sir,

Odd gun laws, indeed! No cast? Well, for 45-70, Remington makes a 405 grain jacketed soft point bullet that is quite popular. For a 44 mag or 444, Hornady makes a 265 grain jacketed soft point that I have used for hunting & competition. There are some good 44 cal 300 grainers around, as well. I lke Sierra's. Some popular powders are Reloader 7 and Hodgdon H322 for 45-70. WW296 is a good choice for heavy 44 mag loads. Everyone has different preferences, but I have always liked a heavy bullet. You find a really irate wild piggy, I've feel it's well to 'settle his hash' with the 1st shot.

I find it ironic you went with a Win shotgun - In Europe, I would have been looking for a bargain in a Rigby way. :wink: I've never tried the Russky shotguns, but I shoot several of the Russky milsurps, the oldest being a 1917 Peter the Great 1891.

Best regards! :D Steve
I am really not an expert - distinguished or otherwise!!
marlin1881
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Location: Colorado Front Range

Post by marlin1881 »

For jacketed bullets, I've had very good luck with the Hornady line, specifically the 300 and 350gr in 45/70. H4198 makes a mighty fine load with those bullets.
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