Who hunts with a 45-70?

[superdown]

I bought a 45-70 No.3 Ruger in 76, yes I said 1976, still have it, still love it. I used  out of the box 405grs on pigs and stopped them in their tracks. I have been using Beartooth hard cast gas checked 425gr, really like em. They got a 525 gr bullet they call the piledriver, painful at both ends. Love shooting 45-70 with black powder, a little dirty, messy but fun. Enjoy your rifle.

That's a cool rifle i wish ruger would bring it back out.I had the short ruger no.1 in 45-70 for a little while i only ran a couple of boxes through it with a low power simmons shotgun scope on it before let it go

[MP123]

I love my Ruger #1 in 45/70.  Great little rifle, especially if you handload.  You can load it down like a 45 colt or up like an elephant gun.  It even gets it's own section in the loading manuals!

[Kittman]

Mine is a H&R Buffalo Classic 45-70.  Took it out on bear hunts a few times, but the only thing I've nailed with it was a coyote at about 50 yards broadside-so far.  That was very interesting.  I've never seen so much going on at once!  It shot straight into the air and summersaulted backwards 4-5 times and hit the ground dead. and you can always tell where the bullet landed.  Very fun rifle to shoot, and with a 32" barrel length with peep sights, it is a very unique & pleasurable shooting experience.

[superdown]

Mine is a H&R Buffalo Classic 45-70.  Took it out on bear hunts a few times, but the only thing I've nailed with it was a coyote at about 50 yards broadside-so far.  That was very interesting.  I've never seen so much going on at once!  It shot straight into the air and summersaulted backwards 4-5 times and hit the ground dead. and you can always tell where the bullet landed.  Very fun rifle to shoot, and with a 32" barrel length with peep sights, it is a very unique & pleasurable shooting experience.

I really like that rifle too i met an older gentlemen during the late hunt in 2008 who live's on Petersen swamp shooting one chambered in 38-55 and he was darn good with that rifle.

[Firedogg]

Took a nice 4x4 bull in Winston with my Marlin 1895 when you could drive up behind Riffe Lake. Garrett hard cast lead bullet went through both shoulder sockets dropping that raghorn so he could not run in front of another hunter. Haven't shot at another animal with it since. Probably one of the nicest guns to carry in the brush, although I didn't need it, running that lever for a second shot is pretty quick plus you can keep it on your shoulder while doing it. A nice thing for me since I shoot lefty.
  It's set up with a Redfield Widefield ( when Redfield still made their own optics) 2-7 on see through mounts.

[jrebel]

I have shot two deer and a bear with mine and absolutely love it.  I have the marlin xlr version.  It is scoped and is a 300 yard rifle.  Currently I shoot the leverevolution 325 gr ammo with great accuracy and success.  I have to disagree with some post on here about being over gunned for a deer......it isba slow round that does not cause a ton of shock damage.  It is like shooting a bowling ball at something which is very effective by the way.

[T Pearce]

I have shot two deer and a bear with mine and absolutely love it.  I have the marlin xlr version.  It is scoped and is a 300 yard rifle.  Currently I shoot the leverevolution 325 gr ammo with great accuracy and success.  I have to disagree with some post on here about being over gunned for a deer......it isba slow round that does not cause a ton of shock damage.  It is like shooting a bowling ball at something which is very effective by the way.

agree!
Not over gunned at all. Eat right up to the hole. I shot primarily the 350gr Hornady, iirc at 2200fps. Would get your attention when shot from a light rifle but usually left a blood trail that looked poured from a bucket. Penetration was unbelievable. If I were to do this again.
If I cant find an 1886 like yours, I would cut down the marlin cowboy to 20" and shoot the Hornadys again. The sledge hammers are for escaping circus animals....I still have over a hundred of them though just in case.

[Bigshooter]

I have a marlin 1895 that I have shot 4 or 5 bucks with, a bear, and and the heads off of 30 or more grouse.  I shoot a 522gr cast bullet out of it at about 1300fps.  Back when I use to really pound the reprod for blacktails it was my go to gun.

[mikeybuck]

Love my marlin 45-70 guide gun.

I loaded up 405 gr Speer sp slugs for timber elk hunting. Dead on at 100 yards.

They don't move after being hit and you eat right up to the bullet hole.

Not only a great caliber, but a more comfortable gun to pack in the deep woods. Plus I really don't think recoil is that bad. Just a big push.

[superdown]

Nice elk mikeybuck  I figured there would have to be a good amount of people who hunt with the 45-70 considering the popularity of the guide gun and the length of time the 45-70 has been around. I was surprised at the lack of talk about it around here.It's nice to see pictures and read of the experiences you all have had with it.

[jrebel]

45/70 with my first / only bear. 

[birddogdad]

1895 is a great brush gun for N. America. I use a cast 500gr bullet , max load data.
 this works equally well on elk and deer. speed and cast hard loads minimize meat damage with great penetration.

For the acceptable range of this gun, stock sights really are good enough. if you want a peep ring is an option. I have one with a low power scope for father who cannot see well enough to look thru open sights but in a quick shoot/ jump situation, cant beat open sights on target...

only thing to research is the type of rifle grooving. Marlin went thru a couple processes and they react differently to cast stuff. if you shoot factory ammo, disregard.

[jeepster]

Last time I was at cabelas in marrysville, which probably was about a year ago, they had a 45/70 revolver in the gun library... I thought my 44 mag had a kick, I can't imagine a 45/70 pistol...

I really want to get a 45/70 lever gun in stainless for taking with me to Alaska as bear medicine. I usually carry a magnum 12 gauge with a 28" barrel but that gets pretty heavy and I like the comfort and reliability of a long gun. I know my 44 can do the job, but I know I can consistently hit something with a long gun, the 45/70 has probably killed more bears than any other cartridge