Garrett Cartridge Co.  .45-70 +P

Randy Garrett of Garrett Cartridge Co. was kind enough to send me some of his +P .45-70 ammunition to test.  Garrett has been known for quite a few years as a producer of high-quality Heavy ammunition for the .44 Magnum and the .45-70.  I had never had the opportunity to use any of the .45-70 ammo though, until my friend and hunting partner Mike Harmon won a Marlin Guide Gun in a raffle last year!  Now I had access to a perfect test vehicle thanks to Mike and his luck.

Garrett's .45-70's come in a nice package.  A re-useable plastic ammo box with appropriate warnings on the front that these are NOT for use in older rifles, trapdoors and other weak guns.  They are plainly marked as being "+P" ammunition.  The ammo is made up on Federal nickel-plated cartridge cases and have the look and feel of quality. 

There are 2 loads - the "light" 415 gr. cast bullet at an advertised 1850 fps, and the "heavy" 530 gr. bullet (yes - that is not a typo) at 1550 fps.  The 415 gr. bullet is a nice design flat-point that should work well on anything.  It's design would be good for long-range shooting as well as most any game you are going to hunt with this cartridge.  The 530 gr. bullet reminded me of the LBT WFN design with it's wide flat nose. Randy Garrett corrected me on it. Apparently it came from a design dating back into the 1940's! Called appropriately the "Hammerhead", I am sure it would hammer anything shot with it. In the light Marlin Guide Gun it hammered me.

The Hammerhead 530 gr. bullet is over 1 1/4" long.....longer than a lot of loaded ammunition!  It has two grease gooves and is gaschecked as is the "light" bullet.  They both are seated with quite a bit of case tension - as they should be - which I discovered when I went to pull the bullets for pictures.  It took some hammering to get them out of the cases with the inertia bullet puller.   Again, that is how is should be.

Firing these loads in the light Marlin Guide Gun was quite exhilarating.   Have you seen the little Taco Bell dog on TV who says, "Hurt me"?   He should shoot some of these!  They are not designed for an afternoon of plinking or target shooting while seated at a bench.  These are serious loads that are intended to be fired while standing on your hind legs.  Mike said that after the 5th or 6th shot from the bench I would give an audible grunt .... of course at my age I make strange noises anyhow.....  Let me state that I did not use a padded shooting jacket like I was advise to, nor did I sandbag the gun with some shot like Taffin told me to.  Some day I may learn to listen...

Shooting them offhand was much more pleasant.  Your body rocks back and the recoil is dissipated differently than when seated.  I imaging that if you had some large hairy creature with sharp fangs and claws coming at you the loads would be comforting.  Of course, it might look strange you toting a long .45-70 rifle around Chicago.  I am sure that they work very well in Alaska or Africa also, or where ever they are put to use.  

Accuracy was in keeping with the appearance of the ammo - quality!    I only fired at 25 yards while chronographing, but cutting the same hole was common for 3 shot groups.  I have no doubt they will work well to the ranges they are intended for. I would love to shoot some of these on the 400 yard rocks, and will do so as soon as I get a chance.  While the 415 gr. bullet has a better design for flight I am sure the 530 has enough weight that it will work well to 500 yards and beyond.

Velocity from the short Guide Gun was under advertised velocity which is normal since I was firing them from a carbine-length barrel and not a rifle.  The short barrel gave velocities in the ranges that I figured they would, losing less than 100 fps of what these loads will do from the normal rifle-length barrels.   Garrett includes the pressure graphs from each load with the cartridges, a nice touch. 

415 gr. from the Marlin Guide Gun = 1790 fps average
530 gr. from the Marlin Guide Gun = 1460 fps average

I recommend the Garrett loads to you lovers of the .45-70.  Just make sure you have the proper firearm to shoot them in.  I do not think you will be disappointed with them at all.

You can visit Garrett Cartridges online, see their products and read about their use by clicking HERE.