Is a 45-70 overkill for south ga?

A

aaronsc

New member
I keep going back and forth on this. I've even gone so far as to put a marlin guide gun on layaway.(with the option to cancel) I have a fascination with lever guns and already have a 44 and 30/30, it only makes since to get the 45-70.

The only issue is, I hate to buy it and not have a reason to use in the field. So would it be overkill for southern ga/ north fl whitetails?
 
I would buy a .35 rem. or a .32 win. spl. before I went with a .45-70 but that's just me. A buffalo gun is a lot more gun than you need but so what. Go for rib/double lung shots and you won't waste any meat.
 
Put standard/cowboy loads in it (400grFP/1,200fps)
and you have a perfect Eastern deer cartridge.

BTW: The Guide Gun is the absolute smoothest
lever action I have. Perfect gun for the perfect
cartridge. :D





Aside: I used to hunt Alabama white tail with a loaded-
down 458Win using that bullet at that velocity during
War College. Knock`em dead with minimal damage.
 
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The 30-30 or 44 you have are more than adequate. 45-70 is an interesting cartridge. With the milder loads is not much more punishing, or effective for that matter than the 44. With hotter loads can take things to a different level.

I've owned 3 over the years starting in 1976. Finally sold the last one about 2-3 years ago. I don't regret buying mine, but wouldn't buy another. But it is one of those things a lot of folks just have to try for themselves.
 
I seem to remember reading about hunters using 50-70 cal muzzle loaders on anything that walked this continent. I don't recall there being any issues regarding overkill.

I'm kind of an admirer of lever actions also. I say if it pleases you to own it and hunt with it, do it. The 45-70 retains some popularity up here and is generally considered to cause less meat damage than a 270 or 30-06.
 
shoot them threw the lungs(no one likes lung soup) and don,t worry about lost meat due to decent bullets. if the bullet has enough speed to go complety thru what your shooting it will be a easy tracking job with a double lung shot. eastbank.
 
I don't think its overkill. I've never hunted in GA but I spent a lot of time in the GA Woods (Benning School for Boys), I have hunted in Arkansas and its not all that different.

Lot of people use slugs. 1 oz. slug going about 1200 fps or there abouts.

In my Browning M1895 High Wall I shoot a lot of 405 grs bullets about 1150 fps. and as mentioned above if you don't reload the Cowboy Action loads, the405 grainer at 1200 fps.

So what's the difference a 437.5 (1 oz) slug at 1200 fps or a 405 gr. slug going 1200 fps.

So if you like the 45-70 buy it, You don't need full power loads, mild loads as listed above wont beat you up, they are accurate and well suited for brush hunting. They wont destroy meat like a '06 or similar high powered rifle round.
 
I like to hunt WT's with my Ruger #1 .45-70 here in Texas. I highly recommend Rem 300gr HP loaded as fast as you can comfortably handle the recoil.

No over-kill but over-penetration. Awesome blood trail - ALWAYS, that is, if they move!...LOL

Good luck & enjoy this fine cartridge!

...bug :)
 
if you got the itch, scratch it

It'll work fine for deer. I'd say the higher velocity 300 grain bullets are going to be pretty good on deer. The loads that duplicate BP loads from a hundred and fifty years ago, not so much.
 
I always figured that you didn't choose your caliber for what you were most likely to encounter, but rather what you *might* encounter on a worst case. Handloading the .45-70 allows it to go from mild to wicked.
 
Overkill is underated.

With factory loads recoil wouldn't be too bad, but the trajectory would make your 30-30 look like a fire breathing laser, just like it did in the 1890's.

With warm handloads you can flatten out the trajectory some, but recoil begins to get a bit excessive just to kill a deer the size of a healthy German Shepard.

As long as the distances involved aren't much over 100 yards it should work fine.
 
I got the 45-70 "bug" a few years ago and now own several of them in lever guns, Sharps, and High Walls. I hunt the same size deer in NY that you do in GA. So far I've shot seven deer with them loaded to the old original black powder specs.....405g bullet at around 1200fps. I have yet to recover one bullet. I personally know a couple of guys who have shot bison with them and have yet to recover a bullet with the same load. It's mild to shoot and puts a big hole in the animal. Millions of buffalo were shot with the old black powder loads and by far most were complete pass throughs. I have a safe full of other guns I never use anymore. It's just more fun to hunt with these old style guns and they'll bring down anything on this continent. FYI, there is no such thing as "over kill". Dead's dead.
 
I think it's a go. The lever gun obsession I find myself in along with the ability to actually find a real world use for it is just to much to stop.

Thanks for all the input. I believe down here in the thickets of s.ga/n.fl a big hole with lots of blood to trail(if need be) is a great thing. I've also heard the argument that my 270 or 243 would do way more meat damage than a light 45-70 load. I'll save those for when I hunt the pine rows, and use the 44 and 45-70 in the swamp bottoms and thickets, where I really don't want to trail blood.
 
I think it's a go. The lever gun obsession I find myself in along with the ability to actually find a real world use for it is just to much to stop.
Click to expand...
Yes the force of lever gun addiction is strong I have a bunch and don't really even hunt.
 
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