45-70 compared to 12 gauge slug

I'm not really a serious deer hunter. I have a 45-70 because in places where I travel, "a rifle" is the thing to have at camp "up north". In other locations, center fire rifles are not allowed, so I use a 20ga and 12ga shotgun. I can't say the 45-70 does anything different as far as deer hunting goes. I'll wager my 20ga does it just as well compared to the 45-70. I happen to like lever actions. So where rifles are acceptable in my state for deer hunting, I like to use that. If push came to shove and it would never be possible to have a choice, the 20 or 12ga shotgun with slugs would have to win out over adding the expense of the centerfire 45-70.
 
It looks as if you have to use a scope with the suppressed 45/70 because the can blocks the front sight, or is that an illusion? Nice setup!
 
I have to agree with post number 4.
The 12ga slug gun that I had, that performed like a 45-70, weighs quite a lot. I recently opted for a 20 gauge bolt action slug gun- that seems to be better.
I still use a 12, but just for short distances with open iron sights. Short meaning a ballpark 60 yards or less in places that are heavily filled with brush and not a very long sight distance.
 
Unless you see big bears when you are out & about, it is kinda overkill...
If you live in a state with Grizz/brown bear/Polar...GET ONE.

You can literally shoot thru a 4" birch tree to hit a deer on the other side, and it'll drop the deer DRT...
although you end up picking wood splinters outta its hide for a few hours...ruins the cape...
but it does pre-tenderize the meat...HAHA!

I let my Marlin 1895-SBL like Deja's go...still miss it...but it was flat overkill on Florida Whitetail...almost felt like using a howitzer...
BAM!! Whump...that was it. No tracking, no wondering where the deer ran, it was right where you shot it if U did a Heart/lung or neck/head...
Pretty much the same on hog...it'd blast thru a hard bony shoulder and make a mess of the thoracic cavity...
and if you hit 'em in the head...well, YUKK is the best thing I can say there...
Effective as is gets with Buffalo Bore loads...

Somewhat more expensive to shoot than .30-30, like 2-3 times as expensive...
and it has a trajectory like a civil war mortar at long ranges...
but it ain't nothing a Marbles Peep can't solve...and it is fun as heck!!!
 
It looks as if you have to use a scope with the suppressed 45/70 because the can blocks the front sight, or is that an illusion? Nice setup
Click to expand...
it does not completely block the front sight but it makes it hard to use. The scope is ones of those leverevalution scopes with cross hairs out to 300 yards. Even though the scope feels cheep to me it is pretty accurate, even at the 300 yard line it is still min of deer accurate.
 
My Marlin 1895CB is a tack driver (big tacks) out to 150 yards. It is capable of similar accuracy out beyond 400 yards, but the bullet drop becomes an issue and my scope isn't set up for accurately gauging out beyond 250 or 300 yards.

Most of the shotguns I've shot slugs thru were great out to about 75 to 100 yards. With the right set-up I'm sure it can be pushed out farther, but it's not the ideal weapon for those distances.

I have a Stoeger coach gun that is very accurate with just the brass bead out to 75 yards. Plus, for those really threatening whitetails you can pull both triggers at once.

I'd take the 45-70 over a 12ga. slug for most circumstances. I can push a 350gr WFNGC hardcast lead bullet at over 2,200 fps if necessary. With the right hardness the lead bullet will cut straight thru any game in the North-East lengthwise at over 200 yards and retain most of it's mass. The same bullet will shear a clean .75 inch hole thru 3/8" plate steel. Deer slugs from a 12ga. won't accomplish either of these tasks reliably. Not that you often have to punch thru 3/8" steel plate, but the bullets will cut thru thick bone pretty cleanly and have excellent penetration even at longer distances with slower velocity. You really don't need a huge amount of velocity with a big heavy bullet, but the 12ga slug is loses a lot of velocity pretty fast and doesn't have the range potential of the 45-70 in my opinion.
 
6 of one... half dozen of the other... I'd put both about equal at about 75 yards... edge to the slug under 75, or to the rifle over 75...

love my guide gun... but would hate to stare down the barrels of either of my CAS coach guns... I have some loads for my 45-70 that I found in a handloaders magazine from some famous writer / hunter who used a guide gun to hunt in Africa... the pro was mad, when the writer killed 2 buffalo in the same shot... bullet penitrated through both shoulders of the bull in front, & still had the energy to kill a cow standing behind the bull...

as far as "shooting trees"... a buddy of mine had a 444 & I had a 45-70, just out of high school... lived "up north" in pulp wood country... we used to go around shooting off small trees... 4-5" trees would fall pretty easily to a soft point bullet... lotta smack down in a rifle like that
 
Personally, I don't need a heavy loaded 12 gauge slug or hot specialty 45-70 round for grizzly or tracking down a wounded lion....where I live the black bear and some moose are the biggest animals that I could encounter in the woods as far as having any potential for harm in a bad situation which is extremely rare ! I guess for me the 45-70 round is just a fun caliber to play with and even mild factory loads have plenty of power for the whitetail deer I've harvested with it ! Part of the fun & challenge is the fact that it has a rainbow trajectory that takes a bit more practice and patience to hit targets at longer ranges compared to any modern bottleneck cartridge ! I think its a niche caliber that has a certain nostalgia to it and is more for the rifleman that will spend the time to get to know his long arm well and appreciates the challenge of using an originally designed for blackpowder and straight cased 45 caliber cartridge ! :)
 
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