What is the best 1,800's era single shot large calibre rifle for moose hunting

The 577-450 was and is an amazing cartridge.

I don't like to talk up Martini Henry's on GunNutz, it always raises their value.:p

MK IV Martini Henry's are still somewhat plentiful for purchase in Canada.

They are a strong solid rifle with little to go wrong.

You could use a MKI to MK III Martini, but they are more rare and sought after for collections.

With the right load (hand load that is) it will preform.

It is not every day that you can step back into the 1880's with the same expectations they had then.

I step back every Friday night at our club!
 
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Personally, I would NOT use a modern jacketed bullet in a 19th-Century big-bore rifle.

Modern jacketed bullets are designed for modern STEEL barrels which are much harder and more resistant to wear than the original barrels, which either were very soft steel, or just plain old Iron.

The modern bullets are hard enough to iron that old rifling right down FLAT in not very many rounds at all.

BTW, Iron barrels continued on custom rifles much longer than they did on military rifles, once Steel became cheap enough for the military to use commonly. This was because the Iron barrels were softer and the vibration was less than with a Steel tube: much easier to make it shoot accurately with the materials and designs they had.

Just sayin'......
 
I will add my encouragement to use your 50-70. It might travel slow, but it has a lot of momentum and a big diameter. A soft cast bullet (air-cooled clip on wheel weight) will do the job very nicely.
 
vagrantviking said:
If I were going to buy a new gun for the situation you describe it would probably be an 1885 in 45-70.
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I am of the same opinion.

Strong action and easy to reload.

Having said this I don't see them as much of a moose in the brush gun.

For close work I would likely go to a 45-70 carbine.

Now if we go to lever...well then an 1886 in the 50-110 sounds pretty dandy (and expensive!!)
 
54 caliber Lyman GPR hunter cap lock. It shoots a 560 grain bullet at 1400 fps, deadly at 100 meters and very accurate. It is also loads of fun to shoot and U can cast your own bullets. Not only will it take moose but almost every other critter that walks on planet earth. It will also like most black powder rifles allow you to shoot the newer synthetic black powder substitutes without having to worry about brass. Simply pour the charge down the muzzle, add a over powder wad than ram your greased bullet home on top of the charge.
 
Wow, I just found that post, (old digger you will call me) but the reason the OP never answered back is that he passed away minutes after writing the original post.
I know because we used to hunt together, I was there when he shot both moose with his 500s. I hunted with him for the last 10 years, we had a lot of fun.
Ron was an awesome man, always ready to help someone that needs it. He LOVED his hunting and his guns.
I miss you Ron.
 
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