Bush gun question

22to45 said:
Let me weigh in on the question of the rifled slug gun vs the 45/70.
I have a siamese mauser, and I load it in the range of 4000 ftlbs energy at the muzzle, I do not think your slug gun is going to exceed 2000, or if it does, not by much. The 45 is a rifle, and you can count on it as far as you want, if you can correct for height, I would have no hesitation shooting anything with it at 300 yards if I knew how far to hold over, the slug gun, however, shoots slugs that are even ballistically worse than a 45 bullet, and in the same weight range. I think a deer would be exceptionally unlucky to be hit by a slug at 300 yards. I know he would if I were shooting.

As a weapon to carry for your safety, the slug gun is excellent. I know a few guys who cruise timber and carry them, and they have the advantage of being able to put shot loads in them also, as most things find 00 Buck discourging. There are lots of good choices for a brush gun. A good friend shoots 220 grain 30 cal bullets at about 2250 fps from No.4 Lee Enfield. He can put 10 of these in the magazine, and I have seen him shoot 4 inch groups at 100 yards. This rifle is all you need at 150 yards to shoot anything.
Al
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The idea of a slug gun only having 2000ft/lbs is rubbish. Do the math on 385gr at 2000fps. It has lots, and lots of uhhhmmmmpfffff.
I'd be happy to pack that slug load if I never intended to shoot past 150yds and I liked "stroke-til-empty" shooting.
The 220gr 303 Brit load has killed a ton of stuff (including a few head of elephant) but for true smash'em power a good 405gr LBT at 1800fps out of a 45-70 would be king.

Go for the 45-70 and try some nice LBT cast bullets. You could kill 4 elk stacked sideways with those bullets and they aren't the cost of a Partition.
 
In terms of performance in the field deer hunting, the end result from any of the 3 is the same with a properly placed shot - dead deer.

The .450 Marlin is the way to go if you want the most velocity/energy/horsepower and don't handload. Argueably the actions are beefed up and the rimmed case is supposed to be more accurate than the .45/70 but keep in mind that none of these calibers are designed to be precision rigs. I have a .450 Marlin and love it. In heavy cover...simply put the sights in the general area of the boiler room and make some noise...those heavy slugs plow on through to make their mark.

The .45/70 is a great option and the world is your oyster when it comes to hand loading versatility...you can get factory .450 Marlin performance with handloads no problem.

Both of these calibers are essentially practical within 200 yards however the new Hornady Leverevolution loads are supposed to stretch that to 300. That said, I can't speak to that from personal experience given that my Marlin is iron sighted and I've only ever shot it to 200 yards at the range and have no quantitative experience beyond that.

Of the 3, the .444 Marlin is the *weakest* performer of the group but will still drop deer dead.

Bottom line...if you are just using it for deer, any of the 3 are fine and will put meat in the freezer. If you handload, the .45/70 is the versatile choice (once can emulate the performance of any of these 3 handloading the .45/70). If you want maximum performance in this kind of cartridge and are buying factory ammo - I'd go with the .450 Marlin and be at total ease in bear country as well!

Just my $0.02.
 
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If you re-load 45-70 if not 450 marlin so you can take advantige of the more powerfull factory rounds
 
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