Deer Rifle Advice

S

SteelChickenShooter

New member
I'm looking for advice regarding my plan to get a new deer rifle. Please let me know your ideas from your own experience. I'd like to buy a Marlin 45-70 to use in the woods up to about 75 yards. I have a Browning A-Bolt 30-06 that is well setup for long distance. I presently have a Marlin 30-30. My thinking is to sell the Browning to raise cash for the 45-70. I read with interest that the new lever action ammo can make the Marlin 30-30 into a bonafide 200 yard deer gun so I would use it outside of the woods. If true, it would replace the Browning and I'd have the larger bore gun to use in the woods with open iron sights at shorter range. Are there deer hunters out there experienced with these guns to give me some guidance?
Al
 
You must have some monster deer in your neighborhood if you need a 45-70 to kill them. :rolleyes: Just my opinion, the 30-30 will do everything you need it to on deer, and the 30-06 will handle anything bigger. Of course, if you're just looking for an excuse to get a new rifle, don't let me stop you.
 
Id go with a .308 Remington 700 or your choice of caliber,I prefer a .270 or
.308 when it comes to Hogs,deer,and other game. I own 3 remington 700's I love em!
 
I will concur with the previous poster in saying that the 30-30 should be good for that distance. My question is why do you need a 45-70 at 75 yds when you already have the 30-30?
 
Kind of hard IMO to beat the .30-30 for a short range deer rifle. I would be hard pressed to part with a decent .30-06 as well. If you were going after larger game than deer, then I'd probably want the .45-70 but right now I'd say you are pretty set as far as needs for a deer rifle go.

My other thought on this is to buy the .45-70 and keep your other two rifles. I feel there is always room for more rifles, and the .45-70 is one cool old cartridge. In the Marlin you are able to shoot some pretty heavy loads that will stomp some big game into the dirt.
 
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So you're wanting to sell your only gun gun with a somewhat extended range capability and end up with 2 closer in deer guns. Doesn't make sense.

Stick with the -06 and pick between the .45-70 or the .30-30. You don't need both of them.

LK
 
I agree with most here. I don't see the purpose of selling either to get the 45-70. Sell the 30-06 and in a year or so you will be wanting another bolt gun for distance -or accuracy, or whatever. Sell the 30-30 and you will wish you you still had a lever that didn't kick so hard.
 
I concur with the responses already stated. keep the 30-30 because at 75 yds you don't need a 45-70 (which is overkill imo). I would also keep the 30-06 should you choose to do some long range hunting
 
You 'gots' two deer rifles!

Good ones, too.
Spend some fresh cash on updated, upgraded ammunition and maybe a good quality scope instead of a new rifle that you really don't need.
A new riflestock, sling, other accessories will make what you have look and feel like new firearms.
The better ammo will make them shoot like new, too.

You have a couple of nice rifles already. :D
 
(I know I'm new here, but gotta start somewhere. :o)

I recently added a woods rifle to the collection, but definitely kept my '06 for longer ranged hunts if necessary. The new Hornady ammo sounds like the way to go as others have stated above, I set up a Marlin .44 Mag with them and it's a great combo: 0@25 yds, +1"@50, 0@100, -5"@150. In fact, the LeverEvolution ammo is what convinced me of the practicality of the .44 Mag in a Marlin rifle.

What has yet to be mentioned here though is inexpensive practice ammo - that's where the 30-30 & (better yet) a .44 Mag has a huge advantage over a .45-70. I can get a lot of practice with inexpensive ($0.50 ea) .44 Mag ammo, so when the chips are down I'm hoping for somewhat more of an advantage due to being able to practice more during the summers. I don't know what .45-70 ammo costs but I often find that sort of thing is a factor.

Hornady LE ammo in your 30-30 plus a nice scope should be a great setup. :)
My two cents,

Edit: BTW my _mom_ killed a bull moose with a .30-30 about 15 years ago back up in Alaska. With OLD ammo. So you should be set. :D
 
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I bought a guide gun for hunting in the swamps and thickets here in Florida. The 45-70 is not the thunder stick folks make it out to be, recoil is mild with black powder level loads. The rifle is short enough to carry in the woods without getting hung up in the brush, and the bullet carries enough weight to punch through palmetto and other undergrowth. I have taken it out west for antelope and elk and don't feel like I was handicapped because it wasn't a flat shooting .30.
 
If you don't reload, check into the price of 45-70 ammo....hang onto your hat. 30-30 on sale can run you $12.50-13.00 a box if you find it on sale during hunting season. (I bought 500 rounds of Remington 170 grain CL's from Dicks sporting goods, in december and the price was like $12.50 a box)
 
no help here no need for 45-70 in the deer woods, stick with the 30-30:( But I would buy the 45-70 just cause:D
 
I am a huge 45/70 fan. That said if you have a 30-30 you really don have need for a 45/70

IF you want to sell one to get the 45/70 I would sell the 30-30 because it fills a nitch similar to the 45/70.

The 30-06 is a great long distance gun and it looks like if you sold it you would no longer have a long distance gun.
 
45-70 Update

Thanks so far for the advice. I seem to be shifting my idea based on the posts. My motivation for the 45-70 is not that the deer are huge, but because I have seen first hand where a 30 cal round splintered a sapling while the buck of a lifetime ran away at a distance of only 80 feet. My thinking is that the 45-70 would punch through pine branches and small oaks and hit the deer standing in plain sight but with branches in the way. One thing about these posts is the fact some readers may not visualize just where I plan to hunt and they can't see in their mind's eye what I picture. My 30-30 has a nice scope on it, but that is not the best setup for a close shot. Such as if a buck steps out under the elevated blind. I thought I'd use the scoped 30-30 with the new lever ammo for 200 yard shots and use the 45-70 in the pines & oaks. After considering what has been presented so far, I'm re-thinking the plan and I agree I could make a mistake by selling a superb long range rifle. I have areas where 300 and 400 yard shots are possible. I could use the scoped 30-30 in some other areas I have in mind. More than 80 but less than 200 yards. And I could use the open sight 45-70 as I plan in the thicker cover of the woods. Instead of selling the 30-06, I could just as easily sell of a few surplus shotguns I really don't need and that would pay for the 45-70.
 
It's your call on selling some shotguns to get the .45-70 but understand this, if you hit wood with any bullet you are a best gonna get a deflected shot that is no where near your point of aim. There is no such thing as a brush busting gun and the term brush gun relates more to a guns handling than anything. Short, light, quick. In other words, your .30-30.

Believe me, even a 1 oz shotgun slug doesn't react well to hitting trees, branches and saplings. Which leads us to another option since you seem to be shotgun heavy. A good foster slug is good out to at least 75 yards and I'm not afraid to take it out to 100. Got a good pump gun? 12 or 20 will do well.

LK
 
One advantage to the .45-70 over the .30-30 is that you will have better knock down power if you ever have to switch to cast bullets... A .45-70 is on my want list for that reason. You can push some seriously heavy cast bullets out of one...

Tony
 
I certainly wouldn't get rid of the '06 for something with less overall capability. If you want a 45-70, save up and get it, but don't sacrifice the '06 for a niche gun.
 
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