Shooting light weight heavy caliber lever action rifles

B

Bill Daniel

New member
I could not shoot my Henry 45-70 well. I blamed the barrel and Henry replaced it. I blamed the sights and put on a 4x Leupold. I blamed the factory load and tinkered with hand loads of differing bullet design, material and weight; different powders and charges; different primers both regular and magnum; bipod or sandbag. No matter what I tried I got shot gun patterns from the bench. This was to be my deer rifle and with my first season here in Kentucky approaching I decided to practice from a seated field position with a sling and suddenly my accuracy improved. I had read a tip recently on shooting a lever action rifle from bench that recommended because they were generally short barreled and light that instead of resting the rifle fore end on the sand bag to grip the fore end as you would to shoot normally with your back of your hand on the sand bag. That it would reduce the barrel rise. Since when I slinged up my rifle my accuracy improved and the sling did the same thing I gave it a try. With that one change my 10 MOA rifle became a 2 MOA rifle. The rifle is probably much better than that, the shooter needs more practice.
So if any of you light for height (5'11'' and 160 lb.) guys or girls out there have trouble shooting your short barrel, light weight, heavy caliber rifles from the bench, give this a try.
Now that it is sighted I won't practice much from the bench as the kick is punishing compared to sitting or standing field position.
All the best,
Bill
 
For a time, Marlin offered their short Guide Guns with ported barrels to reduce muzzle jump. The down side is increased muzzle blast and a shock to the inner ear functions. But decent ear plugs or muffs eliminate this hazard to hearing.

Jack
 
Firm/consistent forearm grip on a light-weight heavy-caliber rifle is absolutely key.
It was not your imagination.
In fact I have put "FOREARM GRIP!" stickies on all my `94/`95 boxes of ammunition.
 
Thanks for the tip, I have not heard of that before. :)

I'll keep that in mind and employ that tactic when firing my 94BB in 375 Win. It has a Pachmayr Deccelerator on it, but unless it's cold and you have a few layers of clothing on, it is pretty punishing on the bench for sighting in.
 
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talk about kick and thunder, my winchester timber carbine in 444 marlin with a 18 inch ported barrel is about all i can take with 265gr hornady bullets at about 2200 fps. i sighted in in on a lead sled with double ear protection, it took 7 shots to get it shooting 2 inches high at 100 yrds. i shot a 6 point buck(one shot kill) at about 70 yrds with out ear protection or recoil pad. since then that rifle and the remaining 12 shells have sat in the rear of the gun safe, waiting for a large bear to come up on the porch. eastbank.
 
The laws of physics are strictly enforced. There are ways to add weight and increase padding when shooting from a bench, but ultimately you have a hard kicker, even with lighter loads.

I'd do what hunters did 120 years ago. When the 30-30 was introduced it was considered more powerful than 45-70 and with a fraction of the recoil. By the 1890's the 45-70 was a dead cartridge with no real history. It was never used as a buffalo round and was considered too weak for anything larger than whitetails even in it's short 20 year run. It lay dormant and unused for almost 100 years before being revived by Marlin in 1972 with some colorful advertising.

I owned one of the Marlins from 1976-2010. I never really enjoyed shooting it and can say it is the most over rated, over hyped round I've ever owned. Recoil is far out of proportion to actual performance. There are many options out there that give you better performance with far less recoil and cost to shoot.
 
my guide gun in 45-70 has the ported barrel ( I'd have prefered it without... but it does reduce recoil )

I was trying some heavy loads from an article in a handloader magazine where the guy took his guide Gun to Africa, & to his guides dismay, drove a bullet through a water buffalo killing it, & the cow standing a ways behind it... ( heavy bullets & heavy loads )

while testing, my factory rear sight fell off, from the recoil... ( I've since replaced them with something not friction fitting into a dove tail :) )

I don't personally have issues shooting that gun accurately, even with monster loads, but it does take getting used to...

BTW... I also have a Marlin that started as a mild mannered 44 Magnum, but is now chambered in 50 A.E.... on that one, we had to glass bed the fore end, as it was rattling loose from recoil... perhaps if you're finding the fore arm pressures are moving your point of impact too much, bedding the fore arm, may help...
 
The handloaded 45-70 can literally go from tin-can/fun plinker to full up cape buffalo. (And the 44Mag is its little brother in that regard.)
I find them both to be the most versatile of nearly all mid-range rifles I own, and not at all unpleasant (unless I want them to be).
-- when handloaded -- :rolleyes: :D
 
Now that it is sighted I won't practice much from the bench as the kick is punishing compared to sitting or standing field position.
Click to expand...
We were taught to shoot from field positions, right from the start, and the first time I shot off a bench, it was not at all a pleasant experience, nor was it a productive one. If youre a masochist, and into getting beat up, it is your best choice. If youre looking to get a proper field zero, or spend a pleasant afternoon with anything over a .22LR, not so much. It also does nothing for maintaining your shooting skills, nor does it show them.

When shot from field positions, you and the gun become one, and you move together when the gun is fired. There is really no impact, simply a push. The risk of the scope kissing your eye is also greatly reduced when shooting from a field position.

When shot from a bench, the rifle tends not to be shouldered properly, and it often becomes an implement of focused impact, specifically at the shoulder and cheek. This is where you normally see people get kissed by the scope too.


I have two 45-70's, a Marlin 1895G, and a Ruger #3. The Ruger came with no recoil pad, and I removed the pad from the Marlin, so the rifle fit, and I got a proper LOP.

I grew up with the Ruger in my later teen years, and used to hate it, even when shooting from field positions. Every time I shot it, I wanted to throw it in the creek. My dad didnt reload at the time, and we only shot heavy factory loads out of it. If you want a light quasi lever gun, thats about as light as you get, and with a stock more suited for a 10-22 than a 45-70. I inherited it when my dad died, and was going to get rid of it, until I looked around on the web and found some light loads for it using lead bullets. Now its a pussycat, and very pleasant and fun to shoot. I still dont really like it with the heavier loads. The above load is even more pleasant to shoot out of the Marlin, and Im convinced its the differences in the design of the stocks thats in play here.

I dont find the Marlin unpleasant to shoot with heavier loads, especially now that I got rid of that recoil pad, and the gun fits. The Marlins stock is also more substantial, and appropriate compared to the Rugers for the caliber, which also makes a big difference.

I find stock design is also a big part of the issue here. The older military (and commercial) rifles, with a 13" +/- LOP, steel butt plates, and stocks set up for iron sights, tend to fit the shooter better, than the current commercial rifles with stocks made long, with the additional recoil pads (even on guns that have no recoil) to accommodate scopes. The former is more of field gun, the later, better suited for shooting from a rest.

I also often wonder if there isnt a correlation between the era of the guns, and the shape of the shooters. Other than the various government/high power type matches, you normally dont see shooters shooting from field positions at ranges in practice these days. From the looks of many of those you do see at the range, I doubt many of them could get back up without help if they were to drop into a sitting or prone position.
 
Shooting light weight, heavy caliber, lever action, rifles or any light weight rifle, hurts. You can add a recoil pad, more weight or reduce the bullet weight and powder charge.
 
Had to stop my local hardware store to get a bulb for our outdoor light...

Checked out the ammo section and laid eyes on 444 and 450 Marlin ammo for the first time... WOW!! Make my 375 Win rds look anemic! LOL!


I see that Winchester currently offers the m94 Short Rifle in 450 Marlin, with a ported barrel... Got to be brutal on the shoulder AND the ears.

If I ever get the burning desire for a 40+ cal lever rifle I think I would rather go for a new 1886 Short Rifle in 45-70.

Till then, I am really enjoying my 94BB I picked up not quite a year ago. What a difference in POI between the 200 and 250gr bullets though. I'm not sure I have enough elevation adjustment remaining to bring the POI of the 200gr bullets down to an inch or so high at 50yds.
 
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