Black powder loads in a 45/70 Marlin.

[tim56]

Anyone shooting black powder in their 45/70 lever action rifle.?? Iv got a 1895 sbl in 45/70 and have been looking to replace my Sharpes
with something a bit lighter. After several weeks looking for a good rolling block at sensible money im getting no where. I once had a
Marlin cow boy in 45/70 with the 26" hexagon barrel but never shot b/p through it. Theres video's on youtube of folks doing it but not
much information about clogged chambers etc so has anyone any first hand experience.??

[thibben]

Tim

I have shot BP cartridge, all be it 'pistol' size in a level gun for CAS in the US, you do get debris in the action so cleaning is necessary.

But I've no direct experience of BP loads 45-70 in a lever, I do shoot BP in a 45-70 single shot, My loads shoot 'clean' as in there is no debris that drops into the action requiring it to be broken down/cleaned, but extraction is at a more leisurely pace compared to a lever, there is 'some' loose crap in the fired brass, but not a lot, this could end up in the action?

Any particular reason for BP in the lever?

T

[tim56]

Hi T, Iv shot b/p in Rolling blocks and Sharpes for years in 45/70 and 45/90. My last one, the Sharpes was just to big and heavy for anything
other than shooting off a rest so I sold it. Iv now got my ticket back to buy a replacement but im not finding anything that takes my fancy.
Watching shooting videos on youtube there seemed to be quite a lot of folks shooting b/p in Winchesters and Marlins etc. Iv got a Marlin SBL in
45/70 so thought why not give it a go.! I shot 10 rounds of 55 grains of TS2 with a home cast 405 grain bullet lubed with wonderlube yesterday
and it shot really well. Fairly stiff recoil given the lightish gun but a really nice round to shoot. I pulled the lever and bolt out on range and put
a couple of patches through but to be honest I was surprised how easy it was to clean, far less fouling than with the 34" Sharpes.