Marlin 1895 45/70

I've had this on before, but here goes again.
45 grains of 4895, five loads with gas check, five loads with flat base, all bullets 420 grains.
Fired the gas check at 100 mtres and circled the holes. Then fired the flat base at the same target. There is a second hole in that lower circle, accounting for the fifth flat base. Had a 1 to 5 Redfield scope.
The flat base made a slightly better group, but doesn't prove a thing. I can wobble with any of them!
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I don't recommend firing .410 2 1/2" out of the 45/70 . I tried it last summer and had the case head rupture , Being a leftie, I got a face full of hot gas and powder burns. My son also tried it and the same happened to him (also left-handed).I had used them before with out any problem , apart from crappy pattern and zero range.
 
I just take a 3" .410 shell apart and use the stuff inside to load up brass into shotshells and seal the top with a card and wax. The shot doesn't donut so bad because of the rifling if you mix a little hot wax into it and push it together into a solid mass. I also put a layer of cardboard around the shot so the lead/wax never touches the rifling. Make a little cylinder the right size with the shot inside. Works ok, quieter than normal and about a 20 foot range max. Just what I was looking for. Blues can't mock me now. I'll try more and learn more this summer.. maybe more shot with a lower velocity to bring the noise down without making it less effective. Tried this with 10gr of unique and 400gr of shot too.. same effect. If anyone is really interested, I'd be into making a more detailed kind of report here with trials and errors.


Ryan
 
unstableryan said:
If anyone is really interested, I'd be into making a more detailed kind of report here with trials and errors.


Ryan
Click to expand...
I am :)
An 1896XLR in .45-70 was transferred to me today. I should have budgeted the reloading equip into the price as I now see that it is an integral part of the fun!

I'm thinking of getting the XS ghost ring sights and wondered what the 3 ordering options meant on the website...xssights.com
I haven't checked...if the prices aren't much different I'd be happy to buy from one of GCGNs advertisers.
 
From what I understand XS Sights doesn't ship to Canada any longer but you can order them from Brownells.

I mounted Warne 2 piece nickel scope bases onto the receiver and mount my scope with Leupold QRW rings.

When I do not want the scope on I remove it and pop onto the rear scope base an XS Sights Backup low Weaver ghost ring sight, you'll find it in the link you provided.

I removed the rear sight off of the barrel and put a dovetail plug in its place, XS Sights sends a plastic front post that you install into the front sight dovetail yo then go to the range and begin cutting segments off the front post until you get the correct height.

Now that you have the front post height you order the correct front post.

:)
 
To shoot shot effectively out of a marlin 1895:

Get the WWG ejector from brownells - this increases the max OAL your rifle will reliably eject by .050 or so.

Buy some 45-90 brass and neck it down to .457 on the end with a bullet sizing die.

Do the 1894 trick by filing down the cartridge stop on the carrier lifter until you can cycle the 45-90 brass reliably. I had to take off quite a bit but it only takes a few minutes. I used a hand file as a dremel seemed like a bad idea.

#6 or #5 shot works best #7 and smaller seems to doughnut really bad.

Duplex powder charge of 10gr FFF and 6gr of a fast pistol powder works well. The pressure is very very low - no worries about damaging anything.

I use a felt .45 muzzle loader wad and make a shot cup out of paper - gives me the best pattern. Compress the shot slightly - every so slightly.

Heat the business end of the cartridge and get about 1 tbsp of parrafin wax in there.

Many dead rabbits and a few grouse will attest to the effectiveness of this technique.
 
My main idea is to use this as a camp gun yet still be able to shoot a moose at 150yrds:
With that in mind I'm guessing that open sights, that don't interfere with a scope mount, are good for the "charging bear" scenario. Then I can throw on a 4x scope to hit that moose on a 15deg angle:)
I know there are 1000 ideas as to what is the best setup and I'll only know by trying something out with a lot of trigger time.
My XLR came with a Leupold 336R black plate with silver coloured rings attached. (After taking it to the range yesterday I noticed the front sight is bent so that needs to go!)
 
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Absolutely love my 1895 SBL(2009 production JM) pure joy to shoot and extremely accurate. Would be one of last ones I ever parted with 100%
 

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