H+R 1871 Buffalo Classic

Royzo

Royzo

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I am waiting on my 1871 Buffalo Classic in 45/70 to arrive. It really caught my eye with its classic style and that 32" barrel, I couldn"t resist.
Any body here have anything to do with these rifles that could share the pros and cons. Going to start off with factory loads ( to build up brass supply). Any ideas on what gr of bullet would perform best in a barrel that length. Any info regarding this rifle and caliber would be great.
In all honesty, this will be my first 45/70. Never ever used one.
 
I've never shot one either but I've shot 45-70 lever guns factory ammo is quite tame, full house hand loads in the heavier bullets do kick pretty good though. The Buffalo Classic has some heft to it so that will help, but its got a non existent recoil pad so there's that. I had a Marlin which would be lighter that had a leather pad on wood and it didn't kill me too bad. I've been interested in these BC rifles for a while congrats on your purchase I think you'll like it. With factory ammo you're limited to 350 and 405 grain offerings for the most part it should shoot either just fine from what I've heard they do have pretty decent accuracy. enjoy..
 
Salty said:
I've never shot one either but I've shot 45-70 lever guns factory ammo is quite tame, full house hand loads in the heavier bullets do kick pretty good though. The Buffalo Classic has some heft to it so that will help, but its got a non existent recoil pad so there's that. I had a Marlin which would be lighter that had a leather pad on wood and it didn't kill me too bad. I've been interested in these BC rifles for a while congrats on your purchase I think you'll like it. With factory ammo you're limited to 350 and 405 grain offerings for the most part it should shoot either just fine from what I've heard they do have pretty decent accuracy. enjoy..
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That steel cresent butt plate, kind of has me wondering.
 
Royzo said:
That steel cresent butt plate, kind of has me wondering.
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Forces you to put it on your arm ( Deltiod I believe?) rather than snuggled into your shoulder. I has a 38-55 rifle that was like that and it was less pleasant than the carbine with a flat butt plate. Maybe that's it?
 
tokguy said:
Forces you to put it on your arm ( Deltiod I believe?) rather than snuggled into your shoulder. I has a 38-55 rifle that was like that and it was less pleasant than the carbine with a flat butt plate. Maybe that's it?
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Theres only one way to find out!!
 
I owned one until recently, it is a nice rifle indeed and can achive good accuracy with heavier loads, it didn't make a very useable hunting rifle because of the weight of it, and it is huge and in the bush its a challenge. But for the open fields and if you dont mind the weight it can be used as a hunter. Entry Target shooting is where this rifle would be great i'm sure though, the sights are pretty accurate and when you work up a good load it will be that much more accurate.
 
Interesting rifle that I've looked at in the past as well. Regarding recoil, if you find it uncomfortable you can always install a good aftermarket one that will certainly help, keep us posted :)
 
I have one and I have shot it! There seems to be a few "armchair" shooters offering opinions on this post. I shoot hand loads using 405 gr Missouri cast bullets. I've never shot factory ammo through it. I can tell you that it will loosen your fillings if you are lobbing lead over 50-60 grains of powder. The action is plenty strong for these hot loads. I upgraded mine with a Smith Industries ladder sight (with peep) and a leather lace on butt pad. It's fun to shoot but I've never hunted with mine. Have fun!
 
They are great guns. Long but not to heavy. I wish they'd have case colored their other receivers in different calibers. The 45/70 is a real round. Factory loads can be expensive.
 
walden said:
I have one and I have shot it! There seems to be a few "armchair" shooters offering opinions on this post. I shoot hand loads using 405 gr Missouri cast bullets. I've never shot factory ammo through it. I can tell you that it will loosen your fillings if you are lobbing lead over 50-60 grains of powder. The action is plenty strong for these hot loads. I upgraded mine with a Smith Industries ladder sight (with peep) and a leather lace on butt pad. It's fun to shoot but I've never hunted with mine. Have fun!
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Going to keep the ladder sight w/peep in mind. Not sure if optics would be ideal.
 
I have owned two of them at different times and regretted selling both of them. They are very simple but effective rifles, very strong action able to withstand any and all published loads for the ruger #1 and #2 rifles. Very easy to disassemble and clean like a muzzleloader, so they are very nice to shoot black powder in. They do well with bullets up to 500 grains, the rifling is 1 in 20" I believe. My favorite loads was a 405 grain hard cast over 32-34 grains of IMR 3031, although sr4759 and imr4198 also yielded good results. I got some 300 grain Barnes pointed soft points and loaded them over a full load of 3031 with some very impressive results, and no issues except some bruises from firing a bunch of them. I filled the butt of the gun with lead shot to help with recoil and balance. If you put cartridges between the fingers of your off hand, you can open the gun, shuck out the empty and reload it rather quickly. All in all a great gun, you never have to worry about over loading the gun, it's easy to clean, comes with extra sight inserts and in my opinion is easy and pleasan to carry while walking in the woods.
 
I have owned over a dozen BC'S chambered in various cartridges... My favorites were a 9.3X74R, .45/90 and .38/55. They are accurate rifles... mostly shooting heavy cast, using barrel mounted peeps, but I have inlet several for tang ladder sights. I personally like the weight and balance, but on one .45/70 hunter, I chopped the barrel to 26", reinstalled the globe sight and made a full length Mannlicher style forend... I loved that rifle and really regret selling it. The recoil is very manageable, even with full loads in the .45/90... FWIW.
 
hoytcanon said:
I have owned over a dozen BC'S chambered in various cartridges... My favorites were a 9.3X74R, .45/90 and .38/55. They are accurate rifles... mostly shooting heavy cast, using barrel mounted peeps, but I have inlet several for tang ladder sights. I personally like the weight and balance, but on one .45/70 hunter, I chopped the barrel to 26", reinstalled the globe sight and made a full length Mannlicher style forend... I loved that rifle and really regret selling it. The recoil is very manageable, even with full loads in the .45/90... FWIW.
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Did the barrel chop make much of notable difference in either accuracy or recoil. How about balance of the rifle? That's quite a chunk of barrel.
 
Royzo said:
Did the barrel chop make much of notable difference in either accuracy or recoil. How about balance of the rifle? That's quite a chunk of barrel.
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No difference to accuracy... but it does shorten the sight plane considerably. The weight sits better between the hands at 26" and carries nicer in the bush... but I don't mind it at 32" either.
 
hoytcanon said:
I have owned over a dozen BC'S chambered in various cartridges... My favorites were a 9.3X74R, .45/90 and .38/55. They are accurate rifles... mostly shooting heavy cast, using barrel mounted peeps, but I have inlet several for tang ladder sights. I personally like the weight and balance, but on one .45/70 hunter, I chopped the barrel to 26", reinstalled the globe sight and made a full length Mannlicher style forend... I loved that rifle and really regret selling it. The recoil is very manageable, even with full loads in the .45/90... FWIW.
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Would love to se a picture of this.
 
NL-Hunter said:
Would love to se a picture of this.
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I wasn't much of a picture taker back then, but it was similar to this .44 Mag I did, much longer barrel of course;


072GBO_zpsf3e676af.jpg
 
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