Buffalo Bore 45-70 350gr JFN – Outstanding All Game Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 45-70 350gr JFN is the load to pick when you do not know exactly what you will be shooting at. At 2150 fps a 350 grain jacketed flat nose carries about 3591 ft-lbs, and Buffalo Bore describes the terminal result as a small to moderate mushroom with roughly four feet of penetration. That is a deliberate middle ground, and it is a useful one.

• Buffalo Bore 45-70 350gr JFN Overview
• 45-70 Magnum Rifle Ammo Ballistics
• Why The 350 Grain Jacketed Flat Nose Rifle Bullet Splits The Difference
• Specifications
• Rifles Approved For This Elk And Bear Lever Gun Load

Buffalo Bore 45-70 350gr JFN Overview

Buffalo Bore item 8C is the fastest load in their 45-70 Magnum line. The 350 grain jacketed flat nose runs 2150 fps for roughly 3591 ft-lbs. Twenty rounds per box.

Buffalo Bore chronographed it at 2145 fps from a 22 inch Marlin 1895 and 2060 fps from an 18.5 inch Marlin 1895 Guide Gun. Those numbers come from factory rifles, not laboratory barrels.

Three loads in this line arrive at almost identical energy by different routes. The 430 grain hard cast makes 3537 ft-lbs and does not expand. The 405 grain jacketed makes 3597 and opens past an inch. This one makes 3591 and does something in between.

The 45-70 Government was designed in 1873 for black powder and a trapdoor breech. Its case is enormous by modern standards, and once rifle actions caught up there was a great deal of unused capacity sitting in it. Buffalo Bore’s Magnum line is what that capacity looks like when someone uses all of it.

45-70 Magnum Rifle Ammo Ballistics

At 2150 fps a 350 grain bullet produces about 3591 ft-lbs, from grains times velocity squared divided by 450437. That is the highest velocity Buffalo Bore loads in 45-70 and it shows on the trajectory chart more than on the energy chart.

Four feet of penetration with a moderate mushroom is the specification that matters. It is enough to reach the vitals on an elk from a quartering angle, enough for a black bear from any angle, and it still opens wide enough to do serious damage on the way.

Recoil is heavy but the lighter bullet helps. Against the 430 grain load the difference is noticeable, and in a 22 inch Marlin most shooters can work through a box without dreading it. Users regularly report one inch groups at a hundred yards.

Trajectory benefits most from the extra speed. At 2150 fps a 350 grain jacketed flat nose rifle bullet shoots usefully flat past 150 yards, which extends what a lever gun can honestly do by a meaningful margin over 45-70 Magnum rifle ammo in heavier weights.

Why The 350 Grain Jacketed Flat Nose Rifle Bullet Splits The Difference

A jacketed flat nose expands according to how fast it arrives and how much lead sits behind the nose. At 350 grains and 2150 fps this bullet has enough velocity to open reliably and enough jacket to stop it opening too far.

The result Buffalo Bore describes is a small to moderately sized mushroom. That is not a compromise for its own sake. A bullet that opens to an inch stops at two feet; a bullet that does not open at all drives five or six. Four feet with a moderate mushroom covers more situations than either extreme.

The flat meplat does work even before expansion begins. It cuts a full diameter hole rather than parting tissue, so the wound channel starts wide and gets wider as the nose folds back.

This is why the 350 grain sits where it does in the catalogue. If you are hunting one specific animal, pick the specialist load. If your rifle needs to handle elk, bear and whatever wanders out of the brush, balanced expansion and penetration ammunition is the sensible default.

There is also a practical accuracy advantage. Jacketed bullets are swaged to tighter tolerances than cast ones, and the reports of one inch groups at a hundred yards from an iron sighted lever gun say something about how consistent this bullet is.

For an elk and bear lever gun load that has to work on more than one animal, the 350 grain jacketed flat nose rifle bullet is the one to reach for first.

Specifications

Rifles Approved For This Elk And Bear Lever Gun Load

Buffalo Bore approves this load for all Marlin 1895 rifles made since 1972, all Browning 1885 and 1886 copies, the Rossi Rio Grande, the New England Arms Handi Rifle, the Thompson Center Encore, and all falling block actions of modern steel such as the Ruger No. 1 and No. 3.

Buffalo Bore warns that this ammunition must never be fired in any original or reproduction Trapdoor action. Those rifles chamber the cartridge perfectly and cannot contain the pressure, which is exactly why the warning is printed so prominently.

Owners report using it successfully on elk, bear and bison. That range of animals is the argument for the load: one box that covers the spread rather than three that each do one thing.

Feeding through a tube magazine is reliable. The flat nose profile is what the 45-70 was built around, and the 350 grain bullet is shorter than the heavy cast loads, so it cycles easily in a Marlin or a Rossi.

Sight in with the ammunition you plan to hunt with. This elk and bear lever gun load leaves the barrel considerably faster than the heavy cast offerings and will print in a different place at a hundred yards.

Balanced Expansion And Penetration Ammunition Availability

This Buffalo Bore 45-70 350gr JFN is in stock and ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop. MAG5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer, and orders of this balanced expansion and penetration ammunition normally leave within one business day.

For maximum penetration the Buffalo Bore 45-70 Magnum 430gr Hard Cast drives five to six feet. For maximum expansion the Buffalo Bore 45-70 405gr JFN opens past an inch, and for a lead free bullet at this weight see the Buffalo Bore 45-70 350gr Barnes TSX. Approved rifles are listed by Buffalo Bore Ammunition.