Marlin 45/70

S

Sherman

Inactive
I know, I know. There have been several posts about this topic, but I think some of us less experienced shooters could benefit from a bit more discussion. After reading what many of you have had to say about the virtues of this caliber, I've begun considering Guide Gun. My questions are: wuold this rifle be a viable option for a first and primary hunting rifle, is the 45/70 a reasonable small to medium game (ie hog and deer) cartridge, and is the recoil managable for someone not accustomed to firing big bore weapons?
Thanks in advance for any knowledge you guys could impart.

Keep Fighting the Good Fight,
Sherman
 
Sherman,

Whether the Marlin Guide Gun is a good deer rifle depends entirely on where you hunt. If you live in the east, then its probably a great deer gun. Its not a long range rifle however, so if you live in the west it may not be for you.
Its primary niche is as a short range bear protection rifle.
Recoil? Its a light rifle throwing a heavy slug. I've shot several of them and I didn't find them excessive with factory ammo which is loaded pretty mild. Some of the handloads people cook up can be punishing though.

------------------
Keith
The Bears and Bear Maulings Page: members.xoom.com/keithrogan
 
Sherman,

I just bought my Guide Gun about three weeks ago and I 've fired maybe 10 rounds through it; the primary reason is the cost of the ammo (I'm not yet set up to reload for it).

My advice is that it is a 200 yard gun max and that's with the Williams rear aperature sight on it (around $40 or so from Brownells').

Recoil can be punishing, though, especially from the bench if you're not set up right. My first shot yesterday left a pretty good welt on my shoulder. I reset up correctly (i.e. higher rifle rest) and recoil was OK. From standing, sitting, etc. it's more than OK since your body is free to move.

With the right loads its good for large hogs, deer and bear. Limit it to 200 yards or less if you're not comfortable shooting that far and you should do alright.

Good luck!

Albin
 
I have fired the 45/70 Guide Gun and must say it is sweet. You indicated that this is your first rifle, if so, you might reconsider. This rifle is could prove a bit overwelming for a beginner. The .45/70 IMHO is overkill for deer or hogs and ammo is expensive. If you want a good short to medium range lever gun there are many good used Marlin and Winchester 30-30s out there. You can save some money, get some experience and then decide if you want to go big bore.

OTOH- If you really want the Guide Gun, enjoy!
 
I had the old Marlin 1895 .45/70 and loved it. Sadly, it was stolen many years ago, and I haven't gotten around to replacing it yet.
There is only one real problem with this gun. It can't handle the heavier bullets. As I remember, you could only shoot the 350 grainers out of it. Possible the 402gr bullets, if you seated them a little deep.
Too really squeeze the full use out of the .45/70, you need a rifle with a chamber long enought to take the 600 grain bullet. Now this is NOT something you can do with a Marlin, and if you care about recoil, forget it. I've seen some very tough men cry after firing one round! If you don't have PERFECT position, this load will hurt you!
OTOH, if you like hitting targets at ridiculous distances, then the 600 gr. paper patched bullet is incredible! I once wadded up a standard sized mail box at 600 yards with one of these.
Great fun!
For general hunting though, the Marlin is fine. With a little special preparation, you can load some really neat subsonic 230gr bullet loads. This does require that you place a "filler" wad in the cartridge though so as to prevent flash over detonation.
For bullets, all you need is a bullet swager and .451 230 FMJ and then "bump" them up to .458 dia. Great for small game!
The 600 grain paper patched though, anything on the North American continent is doable.
(Including Kenworths!)

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Your mind is your primary weapon.
 
Thanks for all the info. I've been looking around for 1895G prices and believe it or not, it seems as if Wal-Mart has the best. So I guess it's just a matter of time now. BTW, GryFx this is actually just my first hunting rifle, so it'll probably be a steep (and painful) learning curve. Thanks again fellas.

KFtGF,
Sherman
 
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