I used to load and fire a lot of 45-70, until I got a 50-70. One book that was and still is invaluable,
http://4570book.info/Lots of good information in there about how to reconstruct a round that will equal the old Arsenal load. Some things have been found to be unnecessary, like enlarging flash holes, but still a lot of pertinent information.
I used GOEX 2f for decades. Recently I have found Olde Eynsforde to be quite a bit cleaner and faster. If you have any of it locally try it. If not, there are a few powder houses that will ship it to you. I have not used a drop tube in years. Too much fun trying to balance the case, tube, funnel and powder. Instead, I slowly pour the powder through my funnel from about 8-10 inches above the funnel. Slowly, as in maybe a 10 second pour. And yes, you can get 70 grains of powder in modern cases.
Bullets, lots of good molds are available, the Money Bullet, The Postell, or the original, the Lyman 457125 (500 grain to duplicate the 1882 load) or the Lee 459-405-HB to duplicate the 1873 load and the carbine load. And lots of others. Regardless of the bullet chosen, it should be cast of a soft alloy. Nothing harder than a 20/1 mix of lead and tin. I prefer going as soft as 40/1 in my Rolling Block. It likes that mix.
Lube. SPG is the standard by which all lubes should be measured. It is not cheap and can be approximated in the home lab. I use a mix of beeswax and olive oil. The target shooters add lanolin, STP, eye of newt and other stuff to make it better for their purposes. A simple mixture works for me, the non-target shooter.
Any large rifle primer will spark black powder. Some think the LR primer is too harsh and use a buffer between the primer and powder. Again, these are the techie type guys looking for the last .000000001 inch in the group. If I get a rifle and load that consistently gives me 3 MOA, I am happy.
There are other fora devoted to the loading of black powder 45-70 loads and many pages have been discussed over how to settle powders, why to use compression, how to comb your hair, etc. It all boils down to how technical you want to get.
Once you get a grasp of loading with black powder and lead, come on back. The graduate level of 45-70 loading is paper patching!
Load it up and enjoy it!
Kevin
