The .45-70 Government is a rimmed, straight-wall centerfire rifle cartridge adopted by the United States Army in 1873 for the Springfield Model 1873 rifle — the name records a .45-caliber bore, 70 grains of black powder and a 405-grain bullet — and it is loaded today with smokeless powder for big-game and dangerous-game hunting in lever-action, single-shot and bolt-action rifles.
This page is the ballistics record for the 45-70 loads Hill Top Armory carries. Every velocity, energy and trajectory figure below comes from the company that loaded the cartridge, checked on 20 September 2026. Where a maker publishes nothing, the row says so rather than being filled in.
Read the barrel before you read the chart
The 45-70 is the cartridge where a ballistics chart most often misleads, because the makers who load it do not all measure the same way.
SAAMI’s centerfire rifle standard, ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4, sets a standard velocity-and-pressure test barrel for the 45-70 Government of 24.000 inches (609.60 mm), and states that exterior ballistic data for centerfire rifle cartridges is based on that length. The same standard is blunt about what that means for you: sporting rifles are built to looser dimensional tolerances than test barrels, and there should be no expectation that test-barrel velocities can be duplicated from a test using firearms. SAAMI also allows a tolerance of plus or minus 90 fps on its own tabulated values.
Buffalo Bore does not use a laboratory barrel at all. It chronographs its 45-70 ammunition in factory-stock rifles and names them, and for the loads below the reference rifle is a Marlin 1895 with a 22-inch barrel. Remington, Underwood and Grizzly Cartridge each publish a muzzle velocity for their 45-70 loads and no test barrel length at all.
A 22-inch figure and a figure whose barrel is not stated are not a comparison. So the muzzle data is split into two tables here, each headed with the basis its maker actually publishes, and no figure from one is set beside a figure from the other.
45-70 ballistics chart: Buffalo Bore, 22-inch Marlin 1895
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Load | Item no. | Bullet weight | Bullet | Muzzle velocity | Muzzle energy | Test barrel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 45-70 Magnum – Lever Gun | 8B/20 | 405 gr | J.F.N. | 2,000 fps | 3,597 ft-lb | 22 in |
| 45-70 Magnum – Lever Gun | 8A/20 | 430 gr | LBT-LFN | 1,925 fps | 3,537 ft-lb | 22 in |
| 45-70 Magnum – Lever Gun | 8D/20 | 500 gr | FMJ-FN | 1,625 fps | 2,931 ft-lb | 22 in |
| 45-70 Low Recoil – Standard Pressure – Full Power | 8H/20 | 430 gr | LBT-LFN | 1,550 fps | 2,294 ft-lb | 22 in |
Provenance: bullet weight, bullet designation, muzzle velocity and muzzle energy in this table are Buffalo Bore’s published figures for items 8A, 8B, 8D and 8H, read from Buffalo Bore’s own item pages on 20 September 2026. The 22-inch Marlin 1895 is the rifle Buffalo Bore names on those pages. Buffalo Bore publishes no ballistic coefficient for these items. Hill Top Armory has tested none of them.
45-70 ballistics chart: loads whose maker publishes no test barrel
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| Load | Item no. | Bullet weight | Bullet | Muzzle velocity | Muzzle energy | Ballistic coefficient | Test barrel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Underwood 45-70 Government +P | 916 | 300 gr | Jacketed Hollow Point (InterLock®) | 2,350 fps | 3,678 ft-lb | 0.197 (G1) | Not published |
| Remington Core-Lokt Tipped Lever Gun | R21430 | 300 gr | Core-Lokt Tipped | 2,100 fps | 2,937 ft-lb | 0.197, drag model not stated | Not published |
| Underwood 45-70 Government | 915 | 300 gr | Jacketed Hollow Point (InterLock®) | 2,100 fps | 2,937 ft-lb | 0.197 (G1) | Not published |
| Grizzly Cartridge 45-70 +P KODIAK® Bonded FP | GC45/70+P4 | 405 gr | KODIAK® Bonded – Flat Point | 2,000 fps | 3,597 ft-lb | Not published | Not published |
| Remington High Performance Rifle | 21463 | 300 gr | Semi-Jacketed Hollow Point | 1,900 fps | 2,405 ft-lb | 0.213, drag model not stated | Not published |
| Remington Core-Lokt, reduced pressure | 29473 | 405 gr | Core-Lokt Soft Point | 1,330 fps | 1,591 ft-lb | 0.281, drag model not stated | Not published |
Provenance: every figure in this table is the maker’s own, taken from Remington, Underwood Ammo and Grizzly Cartridge product pages on 20 September 2026. Underwood labels its ballistic coefficient G1; Remington publishes a coefficient without naming a drag model, and that is recorded here exactly as published. The “Not published” cells are findings, not omissions. Hill Top Armory has tested none of these loads.
45-70 downrange: Remington’s published grid
Remington publishes velocity and retained energy at range for all three of its 45-70 loads on this page. The three rows below are Remington’s own figures produced on Remington’s own equipment, so they are consistent with one another; because Remington does not state a barrel length, they still cannot be set beside the Buffalo Bore table.
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Load | Muzzle | 100 yd | 200 yd | 300 yd | 400 yd | 500 yd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core-Lokt Tipped Lever Gun 300 gr (R21430) | 2,100 fps / 2,937 ft-lb | 1,723 fps / 1,978 ft-lb | 1,402 fps / 1,310 ft-lb | 1,162 fps / 899 ft-lb | 1,016 fps / 687 ft-lb | 924 fps / 568 ft-lb |
| High Performance Rifle 300 gr SJHP (21463) | 1,900 fps / 2,405 ft-lb | 1,575 fps / 1,653 ft-lb | 1,305 fps / 1,134 ft-lb | 1,111 fps / 822 ft-lb | 993 fps / 657 ft-lb | 913 fps / 556 ft-lb |
| Core-Lokt 405 gr, reduced pressure (29473) | 1,330 fps / 1,591 ft-lb | 1,168 fps / 1,227 ft-lb | 1,055 fps / 1,002 ft-lb | 978 fps / 860 ft-lb | 918 fps / 758 ft-lb | 869 fps / 679 ft-lb |
Provenance: Remington’s published velocity and energy arrays for item numbers R21430, 21463 and 29473, read from the chart data in Remington’s own product pages on 20 September 2026. Remington publishes nothing beyond 500 yards for these loads and neither does this page.
45-70 drop chart, 100-yard zero
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| Load | 50 yd | 100 yd (zero) | 200 yd | 300 yd |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core-Lokt Tipped Lever Gun 300 gr (R21430) | +0.5 in | 0 in | −10.4 in | −38.7 in |
| High Performance Rifle 300 gr SJHP (21463) | +0.7 in | 0 in | −12.7 in | −45.9 in |
| Core-Lokt 405 gr, reduced pressure (29473) | +2.1 in | 0 in | −23.9 in | −78.7 in |
Provenance: Remington’s published trajectory arrays for the same three item numbers, checked 20 September 2026. The zero range and the 1.5-inch sight height are Remington’s stated conditions and travel with the numbers; a drop figure without them is unusable.
Buffalo Bore item 8B, full exterior ballistics
Buffalo Bore publishes exterior ballistics charts at several nominal muzzle velocities and tells you to pick the one closest to what your own rifle chronographs, because two rifles built the same day will not agree. For the 405-grain item 8B, the chart at 2,000 fps is the one that matches the load’s published muzzle velocity.
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Range | Velocity | Energy | Bullet path |
|---|---|---|---|
| Muzzle | 2,000.0 fps | 3,596.5 ft-lb | −0.75 in |
| 100 yd | 1,665.7 fps | 2,494.7 ft-lb | 0.00 in |
| 200 yd | 1,380.9 fps | 1,714.5 ft-lb | −11.93 in |
| 300 yd | 1,164.0 fps | 1,218.1 ft-lb | −42.24 in |
| 400 yd | 1,027.2 fps | 948.8 ft-lb | −98.18 in |
| 500 yd | 939.2 fps | 793.1 ft-lb | −187.01 in |
| 600 yd | 872.6 fps | 684.7 ft-lb | −315.25 in |
Provenance: Buffalo Bore’s published exterior ballistics chart for item 8B at 2,000 fps, read from the item 8B page on 20 September 2026. Buffalo Bore’s chart stops at 600 yards and so does this table.
What the numbers mean for a shot
Every 45-70 load on this page is a heavy, blunt, slow bullet, and the tables tell the same story three times: enormous energy up close, a trajectory that falls off a cliff past 150 yards, and retained energy that stays useful far longer than the trajectory stays convenient.
Take the Remington Core-Lokt Tipped Lever Gun 300 gr, the flattest-shooting load here. Zeroed at 100 yards it is 10.4 inches low at 200 and 38.7 inches low at 300 — a hold most shooters will not make on game without a rangefinder and a dialled turret. Remington also publishes a 200-yard zero for it, which puts the bullet 5.2 inches high at 100 and 23.2 inches low at 300. Energy is the reason people accept that arc: 1,310 ft-lb still on the bullet at 200 yards, and 899 ft-lb at 300.
The Remington High Performance Rifle 300 gr semi-jacketed hollow point starts 200 fps slower and pays for it immediately: 12.7 inches low at 200 yards against the Tipped load’s 10.4, and 1,134 ft-lb at 200 against 1,310.
The Remington Core-Lokt 405 gr reduced-pressure load is the trade the 45-70 has always offered. At 1,330 fps it is 23.9 inches low at 200 yards, nearly two feet, so it is a 150-yard proposition in practice. It is also the only load on this page that Remington marks as loaded below service pressure, and its heavier bullet gives up velocity far more gently: it leaves at 1,330 fps and is still doing 869 fps at 500, while the 300-grain Tipped load falls from 2,100 to 924 over the same distance.
At the heavy end, Buffalo Bore item 8B makes 3,597 ft-lb at the muzzle from a 22-inch Marlin, and the maker’s own chart shows 1,714.5 ft-lb still there at 200 yards with the bullet 11.93 inches below a 100-yard zero. The 500-grain item 8D gives up 375 fps and 666 ft-lb of muzzle energy against it, and Buffalo Bore classifies that one as a non-expanding solid built for straight-line penetration rather than a load for lighter game.
Recoil is the other axis. Buffalo Bore built the 430-grain Low Recoil load around the same bullet as its 430-grain Magnum load at 375 fps less, which is 1,243 ft-lb less muzzle energy — and it is the only Buffalo Bore load in the table the maker describes as standard pressure, inside the SAAMI limit. If a light lever gun is beating you up with full-power 45-70, that is the mechanism by which a lower-recoil load fixes it.
The Underwood 300 gr InterLock and its +P version are the cleanest illustration on the page of what pressure buys, because they are the same bullet from the same loader: 2,100 fps and 2,937 ft-lb standard, 2,350 fps and 3,678 ft-lb as +P. That is 25 per cent more muzzle energy, and a load the maker restricts to a named list of modern actions.
Intended use is the makers’ own and it is the ceiling on what any of these loads should be recommended for. Remington classifies all three of its loads here as Big Game. Underwood lists medium and large game for the 300-grain InterLock loads. Grizzly Cartridge lists deer, bear, elk and bison for its 405-grain KODIAK® Bonded. Buffalo Bore sells its Magnum line as dangerous-game ammunition.
Twist rate, chamber and pressure
Twist rate. SAAMI’s cartridge and chamber drawing for the 45-70 Government specifies six grooves and a twist of one turn in 20.00 inches (508.0 mm), right hand, marked optional. Bore diameter is .450 in, groove diameter .456 in and bullet diameter .458 in. SAAMI’s own velocity and pressure table for the cartridge runs from 250 to 405 grains on that twist, and no maker of the loads on this page publishes a twist requirement of its own for any bullet weight, up to and including the 500-grain load.
Chamber and case. SAAMI gives a maximum case length of 2.105 in and a cartridge overall length of 2.490 in minimum to 2.550 in maximum. The 45-70 is a rim-breeching straight-wall case and headspaces on the rim.
Pressure, and why “+P” on a 45-70 box is not a standard. SAAMI sets the maximum average pressure for the 45-70 Government at 28,000 psi by transducer and 28,000 CUP by crusher, with a maximum probable lot mean of 28,700 and a maximum probable sample mean of 29,800. There is no SAAMI +P standard for the 45-70 Government. The only centerfire rifle cartridge carrying a +P standard in ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4 is the 257 Roberts +P. When Buffalo Bore, Grizzly Cartridge or Underwood mark a 45-70 load “+P” or “Magnum”, that is the loader’s own step above the industry ceiling, not an industry standard. Buffalo Bore and Underwood each publish a list of the actions their high-pressure 45-70 may be fired in. Grizzly Cartridge publishes no such list on its product page for the 405-grain KODIAK® Bonded, so a “+P” mark on that box is a question to put to the loader before you fire it in your rifle.
Platform limits, which are the part that matters. SAAMI publishes one cartridge drawing for the 45-70 Government, so every cartridge on this page is dimensionally the same round and will chamber in any 45-70 rifle. They are not all safe in any 45-70 rifle.
Buffalo Bore states that its 45-70 Magnum – Lever Gun items 8A, 8B and 8D generate far more pressure than SAAMI-spec 45-70 and restricts them to Marlin 1895 rifles made since 1972, Browning 1885 and 1886 rifles and copies, the Rossi Rio Grande, the New England Arms Handi Rifle, the T/C Encore, modern-steel falling blocks such as the Ruger No. 1 and No. 3, Shiloh, Christian and Pedersoli Sharps, Henry lever actions, CVA centerfire rifles, Winchester 1886 rifles made since 1915 and Siamese Mauser bolt actions. Buffalo Bore says plainly that these loads must never be used in any original or reproduction Trapdoor action. Underwood publishes the same restriction for its +P 45-70 and names a near-identical list.
The Trapdoor limit reaches further than the +P loads. Buffalo Bore warns against firing even its standard-pressure 45-70 — ammunition at or under the SAAMI 28,000 ceiling — in an 1873 Trapdoor Springfield or a reproduction, on its stated view that the action can be damaged above roughly 20,000. Underwood marks its standard-pressure 45-70 the same way. If your rifle is a Trapdoor or a Trapdoor copy, none of the loads on this page is the right ammunition for it; the low-pressure black-powder-equivalent loads built for that action are.
The Remington Core-Lokt 405-grain item 29473 is the opposite case. Remington labels it Reduced Pressure, which is why it makes 1,330 fps where SAAMI’s own table lists 405-grain 45-70 loads as high as 1,600.
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| Bullet weight | Instrumental velocity | Maximum average pressure |
|---|---|---|
| 250 gr | 2,025 fps | 28,000 psi / 28,000 CUP |
| 300 gr | 1,830 fps and 1,880 fps | 28,000 psi / 28,000 CUP |
| 325 gr | 2,030 fps | 28,000 psi / 28,000 CUP |
| 375 gr | 1,490 fps | 28,000 psi / 28,000 CUP |
| 405 gr | 1,150 fps, 1,320 fps and 1,600 fps | 28,000 psi / 28,000 CUP |
Provenance: SAAMI’s published velocity and pressure data and its standard velocity-and-pressure test barrel drawing for the 45-70 Government, both from ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4, Centerfire Rifle, checked 20 September 2026. These are recommendations for ammunition producers at the time of manufacture, measured on SAAMI test equipment, and SAAMI states they should not be expected to be reproduced from a sporting rifle.
45-70 vs 444 Marlin: the SAAMI comparison
These two lever-gun cartridges get compared constantly and almost never on the same basis. Buffalo Bore chronographs in a Marlin 1895; Remington publishes from a barrel it does not name. ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4 measures both in a 24.000-inch standard test barrel at the same instrumental distance, so it is the only place the two numbers belong in the same table.
The pressure row is the one that explains everything else.
Scroll the table sideways for the remaining columns.
| SAAMI specification | 45-70 Government | 444 Marlin |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum average pressure | 28,000 psi | 42,000 psi |
| Standard test barrel length | 24.000 in | 24.000 in |
| Test barrel twist rate | 1 turn in 20.00 in | 1 turn in 38.00 in |
| Test barrel groove diameter | .456 in | .430 in |
| Middleweight reference load | 300 gr — 1,830–1,880 fps / 2,230–2,354 ft-lb | 240 gr — 2,320 fps / 2,868 ft-lb |
| Heaviest reference load | 405 gr — 1,150–1,600 fps / 1,189–2,302 ft-lb | 265 gr — 2,100–2,400 fps / 2,594–3,389 ft-lb |
The 444 Marlin is standardised at 42,000 psi and the 45-70 Government at 28,000 psi. The 45-70 gives away half again as much pressure and still matches it on energy, because it is throwing a .456-inch bullet of 300 to 405 grains where the 444 throws a .430-inch bullet of 240 to 265. SAAMI attaches a footnote to the 45-70 alone, recording that its calibration band departs from the standard guidance because of testing done on ammunition loaded to 18,000 psi — the original trapdoor pressure, still inside the standard more than a century later. That is why 45-70 ammunition is sold in tiers, and why a +P load and a trapdoor load are not interchangeable.
The twist rows matter too. SAAMI specifies one turn in 20 inches for the 45-70 and one turn in 38 inches for the 444 Marlin, so the 45-70 is the one standardised to stabilise long, heavy bullets.
We stock the other side of this comparison too: 444 Marlin ammo, 450 Bushmaster ammo.
45-70 ballistics questions
Is a 45-70 more powerful than a 444 Marlin?
On SAAMI’s own reference figures, yes at the top end. A 405-grain 45-70 at 1,600 fps computes to 2,302 ft-lb and a 265-grain 444 Marlin at 2,400 fps to 3,389 ft-lb, so the 444 wins on reference energy while the 45-70 wins on bullet weight and frontal area. Commercial +P loading changes the picture completely: Underwood publishes its 300-grain +P 45-70 at 2,350 fps and 3,678 ft-lb, which is above every SAAMI reference figure for either cartridge, and it belongs only in the strong actions Underwood names.
Is a 45-70 more powerful than a 30-06?
It carries more muzzle energy in its heaviest factory loads and loses the comparison everywhere else. SAAMI’s reference 30-06 Springfield runs 150 grains at 2,740–3,080 fps, computing to 2,500–3,159 ft-lb, from a cartridge standardised at 60,000 psi. The 45-70 reaches similar energy at 28,000 psi with a much heavier, much blunter bullet, which is why it sheds velocity so quickly: Remington’s 300-grain Core-Lokt Tipped is down to 1,310 ft-lb by 200 yards.
What is the effective range of a 45-70?
No maker publishes one. The published data does run further than most people expect: Remington charts all three of its loads to 500 yards, and Buffalo Bore publishes item 8B to 600 yards, where it reads 872.6 fps and 684.7 ft-lb. What the same table shows is why the practical answer is much shorter — that 600-yard figure comes with a bullet path 315.25 inches below the line of sight.
How far does a 45-70 drop at 200 yards?
With a 100-yard zero, Remington publishes −10.4 inches for the 300-grain Core-Lokt Tipped Lever Gun, −12.7 inches for the 300-grain semi-jacketed hollow point, and −23.9 inches for the reduced-pressure 405-grain load. Buffalo Bore publishes −11.93 inches for item 8B at a 2,000 fps muzzle velocity. All four figures assume the sights sit 1.5 inches above the bore line.
Why is Winchester 45-70 missing from the chart?
Because Winchester does not publish figures for it. Its 45-70 product pages state that there is no ballistics data available, checked on 20 September 2026, so there is no manufacturer number to put in a row. A velocity for those loads would have to be borrowed from somewhere Winchester did not put it. The same rule removed every load whose published energy did not reconcile against grains times velocity squared divided by 450,437: all ten loads that remain agree with their makers within 0.04 per cent.
Does a 45-70 have more recoil than a 30-30?
Recoil is not a published specification for either cartridge, and it cannot be computed from a ballistics table: free recoil depends on the weight of the rifle and the mass of the powder charge, and no manufacturer on this page publishes either. What is published is the input. A 45-70 launches 300 to 500 grains; a 30-30 launches 150 to 170. Anyone quoting you a recoil figure in foot-pounds has supplied a rifle weight of their own.
Where to buy these loads
Every load in the tables above is stocked at Hilltop Armory. Browse the full 45-70 ammo range, which carries makers beyond the ones charted here — the tables are limited to loads whose manufacturer publishes figures that could be verified, not to everything on the shelf.
