Favorite 45-70? I need to pick only one

Which 45-70 would you buy if you could only have one?

  • Winchester 1886 manufactured turn of century

    Votes: 9 39.1%

  • New Shiloh Sharps "Quigley" rifle (45-70 not -110)

    Votes: 14 60.9%
  • Total voters
    23
  • Poll closed .
Curious which you would choose? If neither, then let me know what else would be a great choice and why. Thanks!
Click to expand...

My choice would be neither. And the why is simple, I don't care much about original "period" appearance.

My first .45-70 was a Ruger No.3
With a good recoil pad added!!

Takes any load you want to shoot, from black powder up to real kickers that come close to the .458 Win Mag.

Light, short, and very handy. Accurate too. (though it is unusual to find a .45-70 that isn't)

After the Ruger, I got a Marlin 1895 (before they came out with the Guide Gun) and a Siamese Mauser conversion. Also a 14" Contender barrel.

have since gotten rid of the Mauser and the Marlin, as excess to need, though lately, I am missing the Marlin a little...;)

A friend of mine has 1886 Win and some Sharps repros. Fun guns to shoot, NOT fun to carry for miles afield. And neither comes with a sling!

My Ruger goes a fraction under 7lbs with an old Weaver 2.5x Post scope. Has a recoil pad and sling swivels (added), and if you don't shoot the heavy loads, recoil is not bad. Not as mild as shooting a gun weighing 2 or 3 pounds more, but not bad.

There's no free lunch, and I chose easier to carry over least recoil. Not "traditional" really, but I didn't buy it for its looks...
 
The one I've had and revered for 40 years is my early Marlin 1895. I've fired 5 shot, one hole groups of sub 1" with a scope attached. I don't hunt with a scope; but I've killed lots of deer with that good rifle and my handload of a Speer 400 grain sp at 1800 fps. It wears a fine Lyman receiver sight and kicks like a mule. I love it!
 
I still own two Shiloh's, and wouldn't buy another one. The guns are okay, it's just the company and their way of doing business I don't like. I'd go right down the street from Shiloh and get a C. Sharps rifle.
Good company and good products.
 
I waited until Henry brought out something more that an 18" barrel.

I have the H010CC with the octagon 22" barrel and color cased receiver. It is purty and shoots very good.

I like the turn of the century '86 and Shiloh Sharps, but I wanted something more than what would be a wall hanger for me.
 
For hunting, I have an 1873 Trapdoor carbine. Easy to carry and accurate. Great fun at the range.
I also have - my favorite - an 1885 Browning BPCR. A very nice rifle indeed but too heavy for walking in the woods. It'd be OK in a stand,
 
I always take a shooter over a collecter. As someone once said, "Only accurate rifles ar interesting", and that would be the Sharps.
 
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