I picked up a Marlin 1894 stainless guide gun in 45-70 a year and a half ago online. I'm glad it was stainless because I had to rework the loop due to being sharp enough to cut your fingers when cocked. It also wasn't the smoothest working gun out of the box but after some polishing of the internals it smoothed right out. My advice would be to buy it in person after a thorough inspection and get it in stainless so things can be polished or tweaked a bit if needed.
Who's hunting a 45-70? Lever guys (and others) respond!
- Thread starter popcan
- Start date
Last edited:
I had 2 Marlin SS guide guns- sold one ( no need for exact duplicates) and then picked up a 24" XLR and scoped it.
Of the two I'm really starting to grow fond of the longer barrel and pistol grip- maybe its the grey laminate a stainless...
I have not hunted with them yet put I have a trip planned this fall and it won't be the back up gun
+1 on not pushing the envelope, this cartridge is a real Jekyll & Hyde when you reload it- it can ring your bell.
Of the two I'm really starting to grow fond of the longer barrel and pistol grip- maybe its the grey laminate a stainless...
I have not hunted with them yet put I have a trip planned this fall and it won't be the back up gun
+1 on not pushing the envelope, this cartridge is a real Jekyll & Hyde when you reload it- it can ring your bell.
I use a couple of models of the marlin, take down guide rifle and a straight grip 22" brl model and a Baikal. I usually use them early in the season when there is no snow as the big bullet leaves a nice hole where a lot of blood can be released for tracking. I do have low power scopes on them and also peep sights or regular sights. Most shots are close but they can reach 250 y mark easy with practice if not further. Nice option is shooting 410's out of them for grouse. I use a 405g Remington with imr 4195 powder in mine.
Yep, I got a used Marlin 1895 on here a few months ago. It was JM stamped. Compared to the Remington, it's miles ahead. I used it to bag a 200lbs whitetail this fall using Winchester 300 gr loads. All I can say is I never saw a deer die so fast in all my years hunting. At 25 yrds, it dropped dead in its tracks! I have plans on taking it moose hunting in Cape Breton, assuming I get drawn in the lottery for a license... My advice, shop for a good used JM-stamped gun. They have been a couple come up recently, so do a search. Good luck!
Ruger does not chamber the RSI in .45/70 and never have...
But we are working on Lipsey's to get it done.
I have had a number of .45/70's in Marlin levers, Sharps and Ruger's... I am down to a single Ruger No.1-S in .45/70.... the nice thing about a falling block, is that you can load it from mild to wild.
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
The really nice thing about ANY 45-70 is that you don't have to load it "wild" to get the job done...400 gr. at 1200 fps will dump anything in North America that isn't living in a zoo.
I dropped a charging bear at 12' in the thick stuff with a 405 gr Remington flat nose from my 45/70. Ripped a big hole all the way thru. Not much bloodshot meat damage either. I pack my double when I bait bear and hunt in very thick bush. Great caliber
I love the 45-70 round. It's capable, reliable, and dead simple. I have more fun shooting my 45-70's than any other rifles I own.
Here's a couple that sit in my safe right now:
This Remington made 1895GS is what got me hooked. Might be Remington, but the sights are straight and the action is quite smooth.
After shooting the guide gun I fell in love with the 1895 Cowboy and had to find one of those too
There's just something about those big .458 bullets that really speaks to me,
Of course, once the bug has bit you, you'll want more rifles that fire those big slugs so you'll have to venture out a little further. Maybe a bolt action?
The 458 win mag is basically a 45-90 with a belt instead of a rim
I only shoot cast bullets in the 45-70's. 390 to 450 grain. I load the 390's to 1900fps and the 450's for the Cowboy at 1450fps. I did a penetration test with water jugs and the 450gr went through 19 four liter jugs of water. I figure thats enough. When using cast bullets, hard-cast flat nose are excellent hunting bullets and do not need to expand to be effective. I have shot gophers, 2 coyotes, and one white tail with mine and haven't recovered any bullet, but death was swift and almost no meat damage.
I haven't killed anything with the 458WM yet, but I have various jacketed bullets for it from 300 to 500gr and I also plan to see how it handles cast.
Be careful as big-bores are a powerful addiction
I would not hesitate to buy a new Marlin. I have handled half a dozen in the last 4 months and all were acceptable and a few were very nice. All much better than 2-3 years ago.
Here's a couple that sit in my safe right now:
This Remington made 1895GS is what got me hooked. Might be Remington, but the sights are straight and the action is quite smooth.
After shooting the guide gun I fell in love with the 1895 Cowboy and had to find one of those too
There's just something about those big .458 bullets that really speaks to me,
Of course, once the bug has bit you, you'll want more rifles that fire those big slugs so you'll have to venture out a little further. Maybe a bolt action?
The 458 win mag is basically a 45-90 with a belt instead of a rim
I only shoot cast bullets in the 45-70's. 390 to 450 grain. I load the 390's to 1900fps and the 450's for the Cowboy at 1450fps. I did a penetration test with water jugs and the 450gr went through 19 four liter jugs of water. I figure thats enough. When using cast bullets, hard-cast flat nose are excellent hunting bullets and do not need to expand to be effective. I have shot gophers, 2 coyotes, and one white tail with mine and haven't recovered any bullet, but death was swift and almost no meat damage.
I haven't killed anything with the 458WM yet, but I have various jacketed bullets for it from 300 to 500gr and I also plan to see how it handles cast.
Be careful as big-bores are a powerful addiction
I would not hesitate to buy a new Marlin. I have handled half a dozen in the last 4 months and all were acceptable and a few were very nice. All much better than 2-3 years ago.
BrotherRockeye
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Rural Saskatchewan
I'll add my "do it" to the the rest.
My first 45-70 was a H&R Buffalo Classic.
Since then a Rolling block and several Marlin levers. I kept the 1895CB.
45-70 rifles are like crack pipes...
My first 45-70 was a H&R Buffalo Classic.
Since then a Rolling block and several Marlin levers. I kept the 1895CB.
45-70 rifles are like crack pipes...
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
No other sporting rifle is as easy to carry as the traditional lever action, particularly none in the power range of a hot loaded .45/70 or the .450 Marlin which duplicates the .458 2". Along with ease of carry, these rifles tend to be light for caliber, very quick to get into action, and are as fast as any manual action for a repeat shot. Trigger quality goes and in hand with marksmanship, and the traditional lever action's trigger is usually pretty good, and is certainly better than a semi-autos. But no proper evaluation of the .45/70 lever action can be made without also including it's disadvantages, and it has some.
The first is that the factory sights leave something to be desired. Most enthusiasts agree, a ghost ring and rectangular post are superior in both speed and precision to the factory semi-buckhorn and bead. Some folks have come to prefer a fiber optic front sight, and these are certainly bright against any natural background, but it is still a bead sight which provides no index of elevation, like the flat top post does. The good news is that high quality after market irons are cheaper than scope mounts and optics, and there are few bolt guns with decent factory sights either.
But the real disadvantage the lever action .45/70 has over a bolt gun is recoil. Not only is the lever action lighter, the shape and thin profile of the stock does not lend itself particularly well to heavy recoil management. While its true that a quality recoil pad goes a long way towards making things better, recoil tends to wrap the knuckles of the shooting hand, unless the fingers are wrapped around the outside of the lever, or unless an big loop lever is installed. Recoil can also drive the thin comb of the stock painfully into the cheek bone. A leather cheek piece can mitigate this unpleasantness, but at the cost of a suitable comb height for use with irons, although this height is good for most people who prefer a scope.
The first is that the factory sights leave something to be desired. Most enthusiasts agree, a ghost ring and rectangular post are superior in both speed and precision to the factory semi-buckhorn and bead. Some folks have come to prefer a fiber optic front sight, and these are certainly bright against any natural background, but it is still a bead sight which provides no index of elevation, like the flat top post does. The good news is that high quality after market irons are cheaper than scope mounts and optics, and there are few bolt guns with decent factory sights either.
But the real disadvantage the lever action .45/70 has over a bolt gun is recoil. Not only is the lever action lighter, the shape and thin profile of the stock does not lend itself particularly well to heavy recoil management. While its true that a quality recoil pad goes a long way towards making things better, recoil tends to wrap the knuckles of the shooting hand, unless the fingers are wrapped around the outside of the lever, or unless an big loop lever is installed. Recoil can also drive the thin comb of the stock painfully into the cheek bone. A leather cheek piece can mitigate this unpleasantness, but at the cost of a suitable comb height for use with irons, although this height is good for most people who prefer a scope.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
How's your daughter, by the way?
I'm hunting with 3 45-70's this year.
I load from 250gr - 550gr bullets H322 is my favorite 45-70 powder.
1) Marlin JM 1895GS with black/gray laminate stocks and a magnum Kick-Eez recoil pad.
2) T/C Contender carbine 22" barrel black/gray laminate stocks.
3) T/C Contender carbine 14" barrel factory Rynite (synthetic) stocks with factory muzzle brake I want to remove the brake will leave me with a 12.5" barrel OAL with brake is 29" weighs 5.2lbs with sling.
I'm loading 350gr WFNGC that I bought from jethunter, 325gr Hornady FTX and 300gr Barnes TTSX in the 14" barreled Contender.
I load from 250gr - 550gr bullets H322 is my favorite 45-70 powder.
1) Marlin JM 1895GS with black/gray laminate stocks and a magnum Kick-Eez recoil pad.
2) T/C Contender carbine 22" barrel black/gray laminate stocks.
3) T/C Contender carbine 14" barrel factory Rynite (synthetic) stocks with factory muzzle brake I want to remove the brake will leave me with a 12.5" barrel OAL with brake is 29" weighs 5.2lbs with sling.
I'm loading 350gr WFNGC that I bought from jethunter, 325gr Hornady FTX and 300gr Barnes TTSX in the 14" barreled Contender.
- Location
- Rockland, ON
"Also, thoughts about Marlins these days. They got a lot of bad press not long ago. Still ongoing issues?"
I recently picked up an Ilion NY made Marlin 336SS in 30-30 however, not 45/70. In terms of quality, the rifle is fine. The stock's fit to metal is good and the walnut is nicely finished and checkered. The action is tight and works perfectly. I am hoping that it will get smoother the more it gets worked. There is a bit of roughness around the inside rim of the ejection port. IMO, the latest Marlins are good quality and value.
View attachment 25550
I recently picked up an Ilion NY made Marlin 336SS in 30-30 however, not 45/70. In terms of quality, the rifle is fine. The stock's fit to metal is good and the walnut is nicely finished and checkered. The action is tight and works perfectly. I am hoping that it will get smoother the more it gets worked. There is a bit of roughness around the inside rim of the ejection port. IMO, the latest Marlins are good quality and value.
View attachment 25550
Last edited:
I've owned at six different 45-70's including a Marlin 1895 SS, some original Winchester 1886's and a couple modern Browning and Winchester 1886's. Loved them all. I hunt with a variety of old calibers, so don't use the 45-70 every year, but I have taken three Whitetail deer with them. The first was a massive S.W. Manitoba buck with a live weight of just over 300 pounds. Dropped him on the spot with a 350 grain Hornady JSP @ 1,800 fps. The next two were large Whitetail does around 200 pounds live weight. Both were offhand shots at 180 yards using 405 grain cast bullets @ 1,300 fps muzzle velocity. In all three cases, the bullets went right through and kept on truckin'. Even at 'slow' velocities of 1,300 fps those massive 400 grain bullets just blow through stuff. If I were to purchase a modern 45-70 right now, my first choice would be the Winchester 86 Extra Light. My second choice would be a recently manufactured (within the last year), hand-selected Marlin 1895. I find the Marlin action slicker than the Winchester 86 action, although the Winchester 86 action is a significantly stronger action if you are going to go with heavy loads. I currently own a Browning 1886 Saddle Ring Carbine in 45-70 that I bought spanking new back in the early 1990's and think it is the ultimate modern 1886 ... if you can find someone crazy enough to part with it.
Here's my Browning 1886 SRC 45-70 with a Montana Vintage Arms tang sight ...
Here's my Browning 1886 SRC 45-70 with a Montana Vintage Arms tang sight ...
Last edited:
