Would like to hear from anyone using a 45/70 single shot and using Black Powder.  535 grain bullet in a Sharps.

I agree with JKR. The heavies were made to pass thru buffalo. I have harvested several deer with a light 45/70 load and the Ideal 330gr 456122 Gould’s Express hollow point bullet cast soft. Most were still pass-thru’s. None went more than 50yds. Very little, if any, meat loss at low end velocities.

I hunted twice for plains game in South Africa with a Shiloh Sharps and smokeless ammo loaded to ~1350 fps (to eliminate any potential issues with black powder cartridges and eliminate the need for frequent cleaning).  535 grain bullets, 1:20, from a Fred Leath mould, with a flat cut on the tip.  First trip, 1/4" flat, resulted in recovered bullets with penetration ~28" and expansion to 3/4"-7/8".  Second trip, 5/16" flat, resulted in penetration ~24" and slightly more expansion.  Probably overkill on all but kudu and wildebeest, but killed everything quickly and reliably.  A high broadside lung shot on a wildebeest from 50 yds. resulted in spurts of blood visible as the rifle came out of recoil, and movement after the shot of only 15 yds. or so.

The Kaiser wrote on Oct 29^th, 2023 at 8:04pm:


Deer are pretty small boned animals, and almost anything in a 535 gr. .45-70 with a full load of 2fg is going to be easy to bring one down with. Shouldn't need any special alloy or compressed charges for deer. Just whatever load is the most accurate in your Sharps.
I've not taken a deer with this heavy a bullet, but I've taken them with lighter 405 gr. cast lead, and at 1350 fps at 80-130 yds. they drop in their tracks.