Nobody with any hands-on knowledge has chimed in, so I'll give my two-bit opinion. I haven't seen these rifles because nobody in Anchorage sells them. I've been itching to see all their rifles. The new .45/70's look great, but as a fan of the .45/70 I have a few concerns. First off, they only hold three rounds (IIRC). If the SMLE can hold 10 rounds of .303, why is it suddenly limited to three when switched to .45/70? It must not be double stacked. This is a minor point, since really two or three is all you need for hunting. Paul Matthews, who wrote "Forty Years," did just fine with single shots.
A more serious concern is pressure. A converted Mauser action could take hot loaded .45/70, but I don't know if these converted Enfields can. I wonder if Gibbs expects us to stay with Class C loads. If so, that's a serious limitation. The Class C's are a hoot for the range, but for hunting they tend to fall too fast and don't have enough speed for proper expansion and penetration.
Ideally, I'd want a five-shot mag with a Class A action.
