Marlin Guide Gun .45-70

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Brasscatcher84

Moderator
Anybody have any experience w/ the Marlin Guide Gun with the 18 1/2 inch barrel? I'm thinking about getting one, and I'd like to know what to expect as far as accuracy and recoil. Is the recoil better or worse than a single shot 12 gauge?
 
Decently accurate at 100 yards with irons, farther with glass.
Recoil depends entirely on what you shoot in it.
Denis
 
Agreed -- recoil in the 45/70 depends on the load you are shooting. The 45/70 is available in downgraded factory loads or it can be a miniature cannon with quite the kick. With a good recoil pad a comparison with a single shot (i.e., non-semiauto) 12ga is pretty fair using average commercial loads.

As for accuracy I have never tried shooting the 45/70 over 100 yards but if you look at the ballistics charts it has quite the rainbow trajectory. It is still "accurate" over 100 yards but you need to factor in the significant drop. At over 100 yards I'd be inclined to use my .308 BLR for flatter path and I feel more confident of a good hit.
 
If you want a slightly flatter trajectory on the same platform go to a .450 Marlin instead of 45-70. The only thing I would warn you about is that you have a much greater choice in loads with the 45-70.
 
Good accuracy HEAVY RECOIL but good overall gun. I like mine and with 45/70 I hand load with 350 JHP lower the recoil and get better accuracy.
Mace
 
I shoot mainly hand loads in mine to keep it from torturing my shoulder but even factory isn't terrible unless you intend to empty a box at a time.

Good out to 100 yrds and loud as all get-out with the compensated barrel. Make sure you have ears-on. Also makes a nice show at dusk with muzzle flash.
 
Shot 45-70s to 500 yards accurately. Some have shot accurately to over 1400 yards, so 100 yards is a little short. The problem with an 18 1/2" barrel is that it's loud with anything. I'm down to four 45-70s. The 1884 Springfield isn't in the picture. Have fun.

70Rifles.jpg
 
The thing about long range accuracy is not that the caliber itself is limited to 100 yards, but that the sights & trajectory on a typical HUNTING gun limit it to 100-150 yards or so.
Yes, you can hit at 1000 yards, but those types of competitions & shooting are not done with a Guide Gun. Longer-barreled rifles with specialized sights.

There's just too much of a rainbow flight travel, it's far from being a flat shooter.

If you want to zero your Guide Gun for 200, you'll need to learn where it'll impact at more traditional closer distances.
If you want to zero at 100, that's more practical, and you'll still need to learn the gun farther out if you want to shoot farther out, using the same sight setting.

Bullet drop in the .45-70 at 1000 yards is measured in several feet.

In the .45-70 world there's two camps: Hunting/Defensive vs Long Range Target. (Yes, there are those who like to play a little with intermediate distances.)
You don't use the same guns interchangeably.
Denis
 
I shot a 16" ported GG and found it a little distasteful to shoot but then I bought the 18.5" GG and it's fine. Hunting loads do feel similar to a 12 ga slug but you only notice it at the range shooting a lot. Blackhawk makes a cheekpad/butt pouch thing that is superb for cheek protection and cheekweld, it carries a few extra rounds too. I like it. Loosely speaking, it recoils less than a single shot SG, but most SS SG's have horrible or no recoil pads. Marlins is ok but can still be made to be painful with the right loads.

Personally, I wouldn't listen to the guys who denounce the so called rainbow trajectory. Just get the gun and learn to shoot it. It's not that hard to shoot out to realistic hunting distances with it (ie 100 yds) where I hunt.

45/70 is such an easy round to reload for! It's like a big 44 Mag, and does well with a wide selection of powders. Boolits and moulds are available from 155 gr all the way up to 500 gr. Marlins like fat boolits so be careful not to shoot any factory lead cowboy loads in it (they are usually sized .457!) for they will lead up your GG something fierce. I size my cast boolits at .460 and my GG does not lead.
 
If you're refering to me, I don't "denounce" the trajectory, it's a matter of fact.
At 100 yards, which is what my Guide Gun's sighted for, it's perfectly viable & few hunters will be trying to go beyond 150 with a .45-70 in a HUNTING situation.

The reason I mentioned the trajectory was because quite often when the subject of .45-70 accuracy comes up in relation to Marlins, somebody will bring up the thousand-yard shots done by target shooters.
For somebody who doesn't know the .45-70 & doesn't know the difference between a short-barreled Guide Gun with its buckhorns & a 30+ inch Sharps with a set of $600 target sights, it can be confusing.
Denis
 
The 45-70 is a handloaders dream come true. I have the Guide Gun with a ported barrel. It's loud but so what. It's a 45-70. I outfitted mine with a Burris 3-8 scope with a ballistic plex reticle. The load I use is a 4.3cc Lee Dipper Cup of H-4895 powder under a Hornady 350 grain round nose bullet (stout load). I zero at 100 yards, first tick down is dead on a 150 yards, second tick down is dead on at 200 yards. Don't let anyone tell you the Guide Gun is a 100 yard gun. It is much better than that if you use proper sights and take the time to learn to use it. I will add not all powders are equally accurate. H-4895 and Varget win in the accuracy department in my gun. IMR3031, not so good, too irratic. I think it is too sensitive to changes in temperature but others swear by it. Clover leafs at 150 yards brings a smile to my ugly face but the gun is not for timid shooters on the bench. You really have to be on a mission when at the bench with the Guide Gun and with upper end loads you can easily reach 450 Marlin performance. Top end loads with 500 grain bullets will tell you which teeth in your mouth have fillings. Not fun to shoot but will probably penetrate a freight train lengthwise.
 
I have a 1895 guide gun and I am on the paper at 300 yards. Granted I do have to compensate for bullet drop but cabelas sells a nice scope that is calibrated for the Marlin rifles and Hornady ammo. Using that combo will make the 45-70 Marlin guide gun a serious contender with anything under the 300yrd. mark. As for recoil with the Hornady ammo it is at the high end of the scale but still manageable if you use a recoilpad on your shoulder. Good luck and happy hunting! You sure won't have to chase anything very far with a 45-70 in your hands!
 
I love my 1895SBL Version....

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I have since mounted a Luepold 2.5x28 Scout scope...

I also dont have much time to reload 45/70 for now, I have been using Hornady Leverevolution in mine with much success...

Shoots like a 12 guage a little bit sharper.. I love to shoot it, it's BADA$$!!

:)
 
The first thing for a 45-70 guide gun is decent recoil pad, which made a huge difference. 300 gn jhp's at around 1800-1900 fps are easily handled. 350 jsps at around 1900 fps get stouter, and am not real interested in anything much heavier. Pretty accurate, untill i start flinching with the heavier loads.
 
I was thinking of getting one but since I reload the brass cost $$$$ so I'l stick to the 308 the brass is half the cost!.
 
Your right, when people start talking about Marlins because they're cool, and talking about 1000 yds shot cuz some cowboys used to shoot 45/70 that far (with 30" barrels") and it usually comes across as sounding like 45/70 is hard to shoot or something, it's not. But 18" Marlins are not 1000 yd guns. I was tryin to get that across and muddies the water I guess.

The Marlins are 200 yd guns if everything is dialed in perfect and I didn't mean to come across that it's a 100 yd gun. That's me and the terrain that I hunt. I wouldn't take a 200 yd shot, I'd get closer. I suppose I'm not as good as you guys who shoot them deer in the next county over.
 
I absolutely love my guide gun. Recoil is something you learn to handle. A tang sight gives me enough sight radius to be effective, around 3moa, to 400 yards, although, shooting the guide gun from a slung, prone position, can be punishing. My personal hand loads revolve around a 405gr jacketed soft point, pushed around 1500fps.
 
I have 2 loads I regularly shoot in my .45-70. One is a 350 grain Dardas at around 1200-1300 (no chrono for that one), while the other is a 350 grain Hdy JRN moving around 2050 or so (chronoed.) The milder load is far less than my .270 or .30-06, while the faster load is more akin to a huge muzzleloader. It's not a bad kicker while shooting off-hand, but it MOVES. It's a big push. Stock geometry, gun weight, etc. all play into this, and these loads are shot through an NEF. While the NEF is fairly light, a straight stocked Marlin may make the load seem to kick more. A good recoil pad is great to have, but not a must for milder loads. The faster loads would be not so much fun without a pad.
 
This may sound odd but my BFR 45/70 revolver has less perceived recoil than my guide gun using the same loads.

That said I love my GG. It is a great gun for large game.

I like to shoot bullets in the 405-420 grain wait but I do shoot much lighter and heavier.
 
I love mine. It is a great gun and very handy. For what it is, the accuracy is great. I can get consistant 1/2" groups at 100 yards. Recoil depends entirely on what ammo you shoot.
 
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