Please don't take my comments as trying to rain on your parade. Switching from GG to PP bullets is usually not as simple as just loading with PP instead of GG. As your questions are in the context of hunting, you may want a bore diameter patched bullet if you are shooting black powder so you can chamber a second round in case you need a followup shot on game. Also, consider using a lube wad in your wad stack so that second shot has the barrel fouling softened by the lube of the first shot. Make sense?
Now if you want to shoot PP with smokeless, I have no advice to offer.

40-70 Ballard, PP 370 gr bullet at 100 yards.

I am loading the .40-70 SBN with paper patched bullets for an original Rigby single shot stalking rifle chambered in that caliber.

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My rifle has a groove diameter of .411".  For these hunting rounds I am patching to groove diameter.  I know that is anathema to most shooters here, but it was British express rifle protocol.  It also seems to be correct for this rifle.

My load is:
* 70 gr. of Olde Eynsford 2F, the powder compressed just below the base of the neck;
* a beeswax foundation wad set on the powder;
* a 3/16" thick grease cookie;
* 330 gr. swaged .399" paper patched bullet; I source this bullet from BACO.  This is the diameter of the un-patched bullet.  With patch it is up to groove diameter.
* WLR primer;
* 2.925" OAL.

Take note of the lack of cardboard or plastic wads.  My bullet is seated right on the grease cookie.  There's a story as to how I arrived at that practice.  The grease is segregated from the powder charge only by the beeswax foundation wad.  That's enough, and it lets the flame disburse lube through your barrel.  My lube cookie is a homemade recipe that seems to duplicate SPG.  A cookie made from SPG should work as well.

This load is accurate and does not foul the barrel. It chronographs at 1521 fps.

By "accurate" I am referring to good hunting accuracy.  This load will consistently group at slightly over 2" at 100 yards with the open express sights - no blowing, no wiping, shot after shot.

I can shoot 20+ rounds without accumulation of fouling.  The 21st cartridge chambers just as easily as the first.  I am confident I could shoot 100 rounds without blowing or wiping, and without any loss of accuracy.

There's a long thread about this rifle on another forum with lots of photos and a long dissertation about how I finally figured out what cartridge it was chambered for.  Some people might find that thread interesting.  Be sure to read the whole thread, as it spans a number of years.  Final load development is way down in it.  (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)  It's worth looking just to see detailed photos of this extremely rare and exquisite rifle.

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I would think a similar loading protocol would make good hunting ammunition for your .40-70 SS.

Curl

Does your Rigby have an angled firing pin or does it use a transfer mechanism of some sort. Whatever, it is a great looking rifle.

See it has a nice, long upper tang. Easy to d&t for a good MVA or other rear sight with a Hadley eye-cup. Could also d&t the barrel for a scope. Am sure that neither would affect its value. 

Please excuse me whilst I wipe the drool from my screen.

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Yes, it would be quite the candidate for a Nightforce 4-14 50mm whizbang sniper scope. 

Curl

SSShooter wrote on Feb 17^th, 2020 at 5:40pm:



The rifle does have a story behind it.

I'm not trying to direct traffic away from this forum, but the long story about this rifle is set out in my posts in the thread linked above, which I have also linked immediately below:

CptCurl wrote on Feb 17^th, 2020 at 7:32am:


That was a thread I wrote back in 2012, but it continued into 2018 (mainly because I got frustrated with the rear sight having been monkeyed with).  In the end, a new rear sight made by a master put everything right.

The article is already written.  It would be quite a bit of work to try to transfer all that information over to this forum; thus the link.

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Curl