Thanks folks. I remember going to shoot a 45-70 at a gun range in Virginia way way back in 1974. In their store they had a bucket full of old 45-70 rounds. I had picked through the bucket to get some of the better looking ones. I had some hang fires but except for one dud the other all fired off OK. No telling how old those rounds were though at the time. The internet didn’t exist and I knew of no books about 45-70s at the time. My only source for information came from Dixie Gun Wotks catalogues.
Speaking of DGW. I was traveling cross country and I stopped to visit their store in 1978. I went a bit wild and bought several guns there. They are great.