Marlin 45-70

8

'88Scrat

New member
At the beginning of the year I went out to spend my Christmas bonus on a 30-30 lever rifle. After a month or more of looking I had decided on a Henry. Until yesterday...

I found a NIB Marlin 1895SBL (the stainless steel one) in 45-70 on sale at a local dealer for only $700.:eek: Its a great deal but my concern is the cost of actually firing it. Part of the reason I wanted a 30-30 was you could find cheapish ammo all day long. (Cabela's has the Heurters brass case for only $12/box). The cheapest 45-70 I could find was over $23/box.

Thoughts?
 
Sounds like the 45-70 is the wrong gun at the right price. Either reload or stick with your original instinct and get that Henry 30-30.
 
I owned a Marlin 45-70 from 1976 up until about 3-4 years ago when I was offered about 4X what I paid for it. The 45-70 round is the most over rated round sold today. In 1895 when the 30-30 was introduced it was considered much more powerful, and with conventional loads used at the time it is.

Lots of folks imagine the 45-70 as a great buffalo gun. It never happened. Most of the buffalo were dead prior to the Civil War. The 45-70 wasn't introduced until 1873 and laws were passed in 1874 banning buffalo hunting to preserve the handful left. In the 1870's and 1880's it was considered only slightly better than the 45 colt revolver.

Modern 45-70 loads do make it a legitimate big game round, but with recoil far exceeding 375 mag. Unless you just like getting the snot kicked out of you for very little gain in performance hold out for something else.
 
Sounds like a great gun with a great price but not the one your looking for. With that being said I would either pass and keep looking for a nice Marlin 30-30 (I know you are looking for a Henry) or suck up the additional price of ammo and enjoy your new gun. How many rounds were you looking at putting through it a year and what were you looking at doing with it?
 
For the most part this is just gonna be a bottle buster. I don't plan on hunting bear or anything. I will say I do like the stubby look of the 1885, if they had one that was otherwise the same in 30-30 I'd be on it.
 
i don,t think most buffalo were killed before the civil war and the 45-70 was used by hide hunters along with many other large caliber rifles. the government even sold rifles and ammo very cheaply to get rid of an animal the indians depended on to feed them durning the indian wars between the late 1860,s to the early 1890 at wounded knee. their are many photo,s and references available to that era. as far as being only a little better than a .45 colt(250gr bullet at 800fps, .45-70 governmet (405gr bullet at 1300 fps). not even close. eastbank.
 
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I think if you reload the 45-70 is anything but over rated. If you are wanting some close range performance it's a pretty though customer. Probably not the best plinker though, why not a used 336, should be way less than $700.00.
 
I think I may go with the Henry 30-30 (the Winchester 94 looks and feels great but I suspect your paying $1200 for the name) it was my first choice anyway.

Also after some internet sleuthing I've read dozens and dozens of horror stories about Marlin quality control. They must have some serious issues over in NY because some of the stories zi read and pics I saw of poor production are jaw dropping.

Unrelated; wasn't the 45-70 the military caliber used from like 1873-1898? Used in converted breech loading 1860 Springfields until the 1898 Krag was issued?
 
the krag rifle was started in the early 1890,s and the 50-70 converted were replaced as quickly the 1873 could be issued the coverted springfirld .58,s were converted to 50-70 and was also offered very cheaply to the hunters too. at a gun show yesterday i saw several pre-64 win 94,s for under 600.00 with ex bores and normal hunting wear along with pre remington marlins from 350-400 in the same condition and i sure would buy one of them over a new henry. eastbank.
 
I have an 1895 SBL in 45-70. Love that gun. $700 is a steal. Yah ammo is definitely not the cheapest. When I need more, I normally do my shopping online and you can find pretty good deals. 30-30s can kick some hog ass all day, and its a lot easier on you'r shoulder, but...oh the power of a 45-70. It will anchor a pig like no other.
 
If you can find a marlin 45/70 new in box, manufactured in NewHaven ct, then I suggest you jump on that opportunity. It is a great gun in a great classic caliber. If it is from Illion NY, then you takes your chances, IMHO.

I dont blame the 30/30 guys for crying long and loud, that round is fading fast it was (and remains) a great all around hunting round. But, the 45/70 is something else again and very special. the two really occupy totally different spaces in the universe. In fact a choice of one or the other, seems like apples and oranges. No need to throw mud from one side on the other. I have two 30/30 firearms including iron sight, no cry baby excuse, shoot with irons Model 94. The 30/30 simply works. No exaggerated claims or hollywood glamour.

Yet - We are so darn lucky the 45/70 has made a strong comeback. Dont be jealous, someday the nostalgia bug will bite and folks be all drooling over the old, long lost 30/30. No doubt spreading manure of extra ordinary killing power to lure in the newbie buyer.
 
I agree with forebore - old Marlins, sure. Remarlins, no thanks.

The .45-70 is a great round depending on your application. It'll do anything from deer on up elk, moose and serving as a dangerous game gun for the great bears. But it is range limited compared to other big bore options.
 
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QUOTE: "...Modern 45-70 loads do make it a legitimate big game round, but with recoil far exceeding 375 mag..."

In guns of equal weight? I'm interested as to where you got this information (not talking about subjective "perceived" recoil but actual recoil). I'm not disputing anything; just curious as to your source.
 
There is now absolutely nothing wrong with the new Marlin/45-70s
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A very large number of people have had the opposite experience. At this point it would take many years of high quality production before I would even consider a Remarlin. You may have different standards.
 
Just hearsay, but reports I've seen from recent buyers of new Marlins suggest that issues from the past few years have cleared up for the most part. I wouldn't be as worried about buying new as I would have been a couple years ago. It can take a while to overcome a bad reputation though.

If you want a big bore lever gun without the high cost of 45-70 ammo, you could look at a .44 mag or .45 Colt.
 
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