45/70 or 30-30?

Which lever gun caliber would you recommend for Black Bear hunting?

  • 45/70

    Votes: 236 76.6%

  • 30-30

    Votes: 72 23.4%
  • Total voters
    308
  • Poll closed .
I voted for the 45/70 just because of the reputation and raw data on the takedown power of the bullet. That said, I own a 30/30 and would have no problem packing that in the bush for a bear hunt.

Really just comes down to how much you can afford. If you can afford it go with the 45/70, but know that the 30/30 is enough to put down a bear closer in.

Lions and Tigers and Bears - Oh My! (There's a reason why they're all grouped together)....:D
 
Hmm...

One thing you might want to consider before laying out 7 bills or more for a Guide gun is;
-Have you ever shot a 45/70, and would you be able to effectively lever off all the rounds to hit your target?

You might want to try one out first -just in case. I've seen quite a few mint condition guide guns come up for re-sale. When asked about them, the most common reasons for the user selling the piece is;
- "unmanageable recoil"
- cost of ammo...

Just FYI...

w.w.w.
 
to the guys in favour of a 45-70 in lets say a marlin guide gun , or something similar .......

if you ever get a chance to handle / fire a rossi 1892 lever action in 454 casull , do it .
it is a very light and nimble rifle .

about the same power as factory 45-70 loads , about 2 pounds lighter than a marlin , and it holds over twice as many rounds as the marlin .
a talented gunsmith might even be able to rework things to fit the 460 s&w round to '92 action .
 
I'm going to express my opnion in the same manor as several others. I always wanted a 45-70 but just for the big bang and a soft spot for the caliber. Ammo is expensive though and if I can only have one, and I only do have one lever, I would and did pick the 30-30 because you can have a lot more fun as far as the amount of shots you can take with it when price of ammo is the concern. you can buy powerpoint winchester ammunition for around $16/box at Canadian Tire. I will have a 45-70 one day. Just waiting to finds a good price on a used one.
 
45/70 is the way to go. If you reload you can buy reasonably priced 500 grain cast bullets and have fun. I bought the H&R buffalo classic and its a hoot to shoot. Bought 2 - 405gr molds and 2 - 500 grain molds. I wouldn't hesitate to walk through grizzly or black bear or cougar country(northern BC) with a leveraction 45/70 in my hand. I would be a little bit nervous with just a 30/30.
 
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What about the .35 Rem? I have personally considered this for a blackbear/deer/moose caliber, seeing as it is a sort of in between with the .30-30 and the .45-70. A .444 is probably the best of all of them, harder hitting than a .30-30 and flatter shooting than a .45-70.
 
tigrr said:
45/70 is the way to go. If you reload you can buy reasonably priced 500 grain cast bullets and have fun. I bought the H&R buffalo classic and its a hoot to shoot. Bought 2 - 405gr molds and 2 - 500 grain molds. I wouldn't hesitate to walk through grizzly or black bear or cougar country(northern BC) with a leveraction 45/70 in my hand. I would be a little bit nervous with just a 30/30.
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Yup. Here's the choice: $40.00 a box and fairly heavy recoil or $15.00 a box and fairly mild recoil? Ever wonder why hardly used .45-70's are up on the EE regularly? Expensive ammo and heavy recoil gets to be old news real fast. Most everyone figured that one out about 110 years ago.

Either one will drop a blackie real fast.
 
Woodsman said:
Yup. Here's the choice: $40.00 a box and fairly heavy recoil or $15.00 a box and fairly mild recoil? Ever wonder why hardly used .45-70's are up on the EE regularly? Expensive ammo and heavy recoil gets to be old news real fast. Most everyone figured that one out about 110 years ago.

Either one will drop a blackie real fast.
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^^ Pretty much my thoughts, especially the low round count 45/70's in the EE. Blackies are easy to kill and a 30/30 is more than capable

I will get a 45/70 soon but I already own two 30/30's and already shoot a few heavy recoil guns, so I know what I am getting into. If I didn't reload, my magnums and a 45/70 would not be on my list as feeding them would put me in the poor house or I wouldn't practice enough.
 
Over the past century, both have taken enough of both species to carpet PEI with their hides. The 45/70 has a bit more oomph, but too many people poo-poo the 30-30 unfairly. At close range, it's eminently suitable for black bear.

Find the rifle you like and go from there.
 
This I do not understand

Wild-Wild-West said:
Hmm...

One thing you might want to consider before laying out 7 bills or more for a Guide gun is;
-Have you ever shot a 45/70, and would you be able to effectively lever off all the rounds to hit your target?

You might want to try one out first -just in case. I've seen quite a few mint condition guide guns come up for re-sale. When asked about them, the most common reasons for the user selling the piece is;
- "unmanageable recoil"
- cost of ammo...

Just FYI...

w.w.w.
Click to expand...
I have seen this mentioned a number of times and find it hard to understand, since in the case of the Marlin 1895 Guide Gun the recoil is quite mild,especially with the factory loads and my wife used to shoot my Marlin and had absolutely no problems with the recoil. That is not to say this is true for all rifles in 45/70, since I once had a Ruger No 3 in 45/70 which was quite unpleasant to shoot, where as the Ruger No 1 I also had was very pleasant.
I find it surprising that this is often mentioned in regards to the Marlin 1895, since you never see posts about how unpleasant it is to shoot Tika's, which I personally found the recoil on my 308 with a synthetic stock to be unpleasant enough to get rid of it an go back to a Ruger Frontier in 308.
 
You guys are turning this into a bear defense thread! Knock down Power? From the OP I understand this is a hunt and the shot will probably be taken at 50 yards not 10. It is a hunt, and should be treated as such. The 30-30 will do exactly what you need. The 45/70 will be overkill in my opinion. Another thing to consider is the hide of the bear. If you wanna keep it and make a rug or wall hanger it will probably look better without a .45 caliber hole on one side and a monster exit wound on the other. Sorry if I am going against the grain but how many times do we tell people that it is more about shot placement than caliber, and that a 300 win mag doesnt kill dear any better than a .270 win?
 
Moose Masher said:
Is a gun nut without a 30-30 really a gun nut?

Nothing wrong with a 45/70, but as others have mentioned, 30-30's are good, cheap fun.
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some of us CHOOSE not to have a 30-30 - i have yet to meet anyting my 308/180s won't handle in my SAVAGE 99- and no flat bullets for me- if i HAD to get a winchester or marlin tube feed, it would be a 71 in 348
 
My vote is on the 45-70 (for no other reason than I just bought one). I have smacked them with a bow, a .270, and a muzzle loader with nary a concern.
 
philthygeezer said:
I don't know. Part of the fun is learning to handle and shoot it well. A good shot with the .30-30 would be formidable against blackie anyhow, right? Maybe handloading is the key?

Isn't the ammo about half the price? Aren't the guns cheaper too? One might throw several hundred extra rounds down range for the same $.

Mind you, there's something about a .45 caliber. Given bears why not the Guide Gun with LEVERevolution stuff?
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i use the 45/70 gs with hornady leverolution ammo and a bushnells 3200 elite scope.i primarily hunt black bears in the bc bush. gotta say i got a huge mancrush on the gun/ammo.
with just a laser boresighting i get 3-4 inch groups at 100 yards out of box and after making 2 adjustments on scope i got a 2-3inch group ant 100yards. let me be clear i have only been shooting casualy for 3 years, i am no william tell! it just feels like one of thos instincual point and shoot guns like the 1911 pistol.

as for the 45/70 ammo it may cost more but its gives you a stop/drop confidence i just dont get from 30/30. the 1895 in 45/70 was purpose built for buffalo back in the day,seems the ideal pic for bear.

and on a side note when using a hardcast round on smaller game like deer it has the potential to not expand, and have that not matter because of its sheer size resulting in much less bloodshot meat as with a faster smaller round like 7mm mag.
one of the reasons i now use 45/70 instead of 7mm mag


when it comes to hunting it is my "One Gun"
 
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