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The used Beretta 45-70 DR that I recently purchased was said to be regulated with 300 grain handloads at 1600 fps and at very close range, it was effective on a 300 pound feral hog boar.
However, the regulation was not satisfactory from 50 yard bench rest testing. Further testing showed that each barrel was sub minute of angle accurate, so the gun should have potential. I booked an appointment with a proven gun maker to regulate the gun but that would be several months in the future. So, what to do now?

I examined several 20 round boxes of my commercial ammo stash and selected a few types to shoot to see if one would help determine a starting place for handloading experimentation. Of that, the first to be tried at the range was Hornady 325 grain at 2000 fps. This ammo is a proven killer of big game, but would not group well in my rifle.

The next in line was Remington Green Box 405 grain JSP. Voila!
Two R&L cycles and there appeared a 4 shot 2 inch group level with the Bullseye! It was 4 inches to the right and easily corrected with a sight adjustment. Th rifle is now shooting a good hunting group that can be adjusted for range as needed.



Yes, I was very lucky, but wanted to shoot 400 grain ammo anyhow.

Congratulations. Now buy a lifetime supply of it since Remington ammo is in a state of flux!

It surprises me that Beretta made a double in .45-70, but it's a great cartridge for that application.

That is good advice and I am already shopping.

I have a lot of 45-70 brass, 100 Remington .458 JSP 405 grain bullets and may buy some .458 400 grain Speer bullets and plenty of powder, so I plan to shoot mostly hand loads.

BTW, this is my first Beretta firearm, so I am learning as I go. So far, it seems to be well made, smooth to operate, and has nice features like articulated front trigger, articulated cross bolt, and graceful metal and stock work. Very accurate barrels too; both will put bullet after bullet into the same hole if the shooter does his part.

Hope you work on those hogs big time with it.

Those cheek panels are very long, and sharply defined ..... much like a Merkel except even longer. I'd be surprised if they wouldn't hit my hand a bit in recoil.

Best, SRH

Beautiful gun and some out-of-the-box thinking to get it dialed in.

Rubberhead,
some motivation for the "out of the box" was due to long wait times for a qualified DR smith to do re regulation and the approximate cost of thereof.
Plus I have had good success loading 400 grain ammo for my .405 DR which was well regulated for 300 grain Hornady ammo.

Stan - recoil is very light so fR with wimpy 300 and 400 grain loads and well designed rifle. I have ordered some 1600 fps 400 grain ammo for fun testing and that WILL kick a bit more.

Getting more interesting!
A friend donated two boxes of 350 grain .458 North Fork soft point bore rider bullets. They look serious!
Those plus two boxes of Hornady 325 grain 2000 fps loaded ammo
Plus my new 405 grain Remington test loads from 1600 to 1900 fps.
Plus some 450 grain NF FPS left over from African testing, Need to determine proper velocity to test these.

Need a little bit of time at loading bench and for the rain to stop. Plus a little luck at the range.

Much more fun than worrying about Covid 19 fraud.

Just curious as to what type of scope mount is on that rifle?

Dave,
It is curious, but very stout.
The answer comes in two parts:
The part clamped on the scope is for a revolver.
The part mated to the rib is custom and secured with three screws.

It is not a quick detach mount. This suited the first owner who shot deer (sighting with the scope for the right barrel only with 300 grain Remington bullets) with this rifle for 10 years.. His widow told me his blind was in the middle of their property and he always brought home the venison. In fact, he was dragging out a big buck when he had a heart attack and died in the field with his deer and rifle. Sad, but he went doing something he loved.
Otherwise, I would never been offered this like-new rifle. 10 years and only one tiny mark on the butt stock!

Anyhow, my son and I are trying a few different loads to see which works best for us.

North Fork .458 350 grain SS bullets arrived today so I can load them tomorrow and finally be ready for a serious range outing.

As soon as things are dry enough to go to the range.

Packing gear for range outing tomorrow. This should provide enough information to decide on which bullet weights and loads are best for this rifle.
Then to go hog hunting with the best fit ammo.

Range Report on Beretta DR with hand loaded regulation:

Success! North fork 350 grain SS over VV N133 produced multiple 50 yard R&L groups of just under one inch for my son and for me! This load is a keeper!
WE will meet to analyze all the targets and reconfirm the data.
We will be back at it soon testing similar loads with Remington 405 grain JSP. We will also shoot best loads at 100 yards to try to extend our good fortune on out a ways.


One interesting aside was the accuracy and 2 inch 50 yard groups produced by Ultramax 405 grain Cowboy Action ammo. Slow, but sure! And oh so easy on the shoulder.

CRS, you should put the loading information, including bullet weight and velocity, on a case label for the next owner.

Lovely gun.

Thanks Carl for the compliment on the gun and the suggestion on the load data. I will add the latter to the Provenance soon as the load testing is complete.
I also need a better full photo to show off the pretty wood and metal work. It has quit raining for a while, so maybe will get to the range soon.

Good day at the range!
The 405 grain loads shot great. Only 3 shots needed to put the last shot one inch high of the very center of the target.
Now to load more just like that last few and should be ready for deer, feral hogs, and anything else that a 405 grain Remington JSP at 1713 fps MV will kill.

Those NF350 SS bullets are quite accurate and further research indicates that with enough velocity, they should be suitable for even large game such as water buff and Cape buff as well as anything smaller.
Therefore, I have had the chambers extended to 45-90 dimensions (.458 2.4 inch) and the 26 inch barrels regulated by Aaron Little so the rifle shoots two R&L into less than 1 inch at 45 yards. Further work is underway to implement Talley QD rings and adjust the express sights to be "on" the present regulation.
When all is done and tested, I will make a new post with new pix.

Decided to start a new thread on 45-90 Double Rifle as it has some significant differences to 45-70 even though t still shoots 45-70 ammo. 45-90 will be in the name of new thread.

Just happened to see this thread, and thought I might comment. In the 80's, I bought a Ruger No. 1 in 45/70. I rechambered the barrel to 45/120. It was interesting, but not totally useful. You might want to determine the twist used in the DR barrel. I found that any heavy bullets had to be driven far out of the range of a 45/70 capability to stabilize. In the very strong Ruger, I could approach 46weatherby velocities and they stabilized. Anything less and accuracy was so-so. Even a light 458 load was marginal. With the original 45/70 twist, the combo was basically a light bullet or express load. With the 500 gr and above, only max loads worked.

I did however experiment with some reasonable shot loads in the extral long case, and they worked quite well at skeet ranges.

I missed the picture, especially the one that shows the scope mount.