New Gun for me too!

Was out with some friends and stopped at a gun shop that would let you test fire used guns for a small fee. A friends wife wanted to shoot a Blackhawk (44 mag) that she had them set aside the day before. I asked about trying a 15" Encore in 45-70 that they had on the shelf (the only SP that I saw), mostly just so I could say I had shot a 45-70.
I have to say the encore fit like a glove and balance was great. After putting 4 shots in one small ragged hole from a standing position I was grinning from ear to ear and put it on lay-away until I get my purchase permit. New gun for me to play with this spring! The other thing I learned was that grip/frame on the Blackhawk was way to small for me to shoot comfortably and the 45-70 was much more enjoyable. I might have to start expanding my hunting activities to neighboring states so I can use this and my Contender this fall.

Can you not use it there in Mississippi?

I have a 45-70 barrel from SSK since the 80's.[reg contender 14"] They can be loaded pretty heavy even in the old model contenders design. I remember asking JDJones how effective would it be on whitetail. His reply was that I would be able to see when the bullet connected. The first deer I shot was a doe approx. 135 lbs. The deer upon impact took 4 steps sideways and fell over. [He was not kidding] I was loading a 400 gr Speer at 1300 fps. Since those days I really don't feel the need to use anything heavier than the 300 gr jacketed bullets.

Hope you enjoy the gun, it looks real good. Classic caliber.

I'm up in Minnesota. We can use a centerfire pistol during firearm deer season, but with the current population, you are only allowed one deer a year in nearly all of the state.

I'm excited to start playing with the gun and reloading for it. With no muzzle break, I'm sure I'll reach my limit before I limit out the potential of the cartridge and the platform. I've got a lot of family in Alaska and hope to head that way for a moose hunt in the next couple years. In the mean time I'll work on putting big holes in deer and maybe even some hogs if I can organize it.

I'm actually going to be in Montana on a family trip just north of WY-SHOT this summer and plan on taking my contender with 30-30 and 17hmr barrels to see if I can stretch their legs on some P-dogs. I think the Encore will have to come with.

On a similar note I was wondering if anyone had any experience using some of the bullets designed for 458 SOCOM in the 45-70. the published velocities for the SOCOM are similar or a bit slower then the published 45-70 rifle velocities so they should function well. I was thinking that some of the Barnes bullets might be fun (and expensive) to play with.

Karl,

Congrats, looks like fun. I do not have a single shot 45-70, but do have the Socom and a Guide Gun. But I think that yes, toying with Socom bullets would be a great idea. You've probably figured out that if not running hard cast lead, you end up with a small selection of 45-70 bullets designed for levers, or a broader selection of bullets deigned for the win mag. The lever gun bullets are poor in the BC department, and the win mag are over designed for the 45-70.

Craig

Now ya got a real "hand cannon". If you don't wannt beat yourself up too bad, a nice 350ish grain hard cast or solid with a wide meplat running at around 1,500 fps will do all that need doin' on any game on this continent. Enjoy!

KARL,

Come to Virginia this fall. You can keep getting deer as long as you keep buying tags. My brother in law says North Carolina treats deer like varmints, so he stays busy in the fall too.

Nice find with the 45-70 Encore. It will balance better than my BFR and even Hornady Leverevolution bullets do the job on deer.

Good find! My all time favorite "rifle" handgun round! I've had three .45-70 handgun length barrels in Contender and Encore. All of them were very accurate with a variety of 300 gr JHPs over H4198. I got rid of the Contender barrels since I prefer using lighter rounds in them. It was fine to shoot in Contender I just take it easy on those frames.

In 2012 I did a bullet test with a .45-70 using 300 gr JHP Hornadys and 300 gr Nosler Partitions. I also tested 220 gr and 270 gr bullets in 375JDJ. It was a pretty tough test using particle board, catalogs and water jugs. Of coarse the Partition did well but the 300 gr Hornady really impressed me. People always talk about it being good for deer sized game but I think it would work on larger game too. It outperformed the 270 gr 375JDJ bullet which has been used to take some very large game. I still haven't taken anything with a .45-70 (other than a snowshoe hare with a 405 gr bullet using a Marlin 1895). I'll practice with it all summer and plan to use it but when season rolls around I'm usually in the mood for a revolver or a muzzleloader.

The test was done using my 12" .45-70 Encore barrel. For some reason the link doesn't show the inch symbol (") now. All the numbers listing the thickness of catalogs/particle board used and amount of penetration were in inches.

Here's a link to the test I did.
http://www.handgunhunt.com/forum/ubbthre...true#Post118083

Karl, you're in trouble now. You know those barrels multiply faster than rabbits.

X2

Funny how that happens.

I am well aware how contender barrels multiply

I really enjoy shooting the 45-70. I have one in a contender barrel. Its always fun to pull out in a crowd.

Thanks for the comments all. Thanks for the link to your investigation pab1. (side note, how do you search for 45-70 using the search function? I tried "45-70" and didn't get anything). I got some info back from Barnes wrt 0.458 cal bullets that I thought I would share. The minimum velocities listed are to start bullet expansion, but for optimal expansion add 100-200 fps. The bullets are tested to the upper limit velocity and must retain 100% weight (excluding plastic tip) at that velocity.

Barnes bullet #30640 and #30642 for the 458 SOCOM are the same bullet with suggested impact velocities of 1100-1900. They suggest using the load data for the 300gn TSX FN for guidance with the #30642 but realize that available case volume will change!

the following are all TSX bullets
#30629 250gn FN 1150fps ? 1600fps
#30615 300gn SP 1600fps ? 2300fps
#30630 300gn FN 1150fps ? 1600fps
#30617 350gn SP 1600fps ? 2300fps
#30619 450gn SP 1500fps ? 2200fps
#30622 500gn SP 1400fps ? 2200fps

Update!
So After a few shots of the Leverlution loads this spring at the range, I sent it SSK for a fishgill break. Much more enjoyable to shoot with a break (also fun to pull out at the range next to some yahoo blasting off with an AR and no brass catcher). Barrel length is a bit over 13" with ~ 1.5" of break.
I spent some time playing with the Hornady 300 gn bullets (#4500) and was really worried when the best 100 yard groups were ~ 6" or so. Last weekend I headed out to the range with a bunch of the Barnes 300 gn 458 SOCOM bullets over RL 7 and found that 43 and 44 gn loads resulted in nice ~1.5" groups at 100 yards with velocities of ~1800fps (other powder loads opened up to 6-8"). I think that will make an excellent hunting load for this fall.

Some of the other interesting things I learned are that the throat in most factory 45-70s is nearly non-existent. If I ever get to the point where I need (I guess want might be a better word) to get more out of the gun, I could lengthen the throat by 0.25 inches to increase the powder capacity and get an extra ~100+ fps according to Quickload. From what I have read and been told by JD at SSK, many of the factory chambers won't allow for the use of 500 grain bullets (Hornady bullets) due to lack of throat. Unfortunately the SSK chamber only lengthens the throat by 0.060 or I would have had them do it. Now that I've seen that the gun will shoot, I'm looking for a spring kit and some of the other suggestions that have been posted recently to tune up an encore.

I bet that gun turns some heads at the range when you fire it off.

LOL!! I bet your right!

More fun to shoot than a barrel of badgers.

Definately!
It makes the 30-30 feel and sound like a rim fire, but still quite manageable (and fun) with the break.

SWEET!

Love taking my SW 460Magnum PC 10 1/2'' with Brake to
Shooters now and then...When l LIGHT UP that 460 all
stop and take notice.. Esp the kiddies with their ARs.
l don't know whats more intimidating about that gun.
The noise from the muzzle blast, or the CONCUSSION that
follows when shooting factory Hornady FTX ammo @ 2400FPS