That makes perfect sense in that locale for the worst case scenario.   Beats using a .243 and being charged by a well fed 1000 pound monster.  


I liken using the .45-70 to using a rifled 20 ga slug gun.  They're not entirely dissimilar in effectiveness, range, and ballistics.

Damn, too bad I just picked up an 1895G 45/70 to slay deer with. What the hell am I going to do now?

Try n find some baby deer, it might handle them

As I have said before, it's a deer not  a panzer.  Anything from .22 lr to  50 BMG and beyond will work if you do your part.  But a round like the 45-70 is an extremely efficient deer killer.

And, your friend is a certified idiot to say otherwise.  Either that or he secretly covets you 45-70 and is willing to take it off your hands cheap.

I love it when people talk about things they don’t understand.

Is it the best caliber for deer?  That depends on your situation. What distances do you plan on hunting at? What all is legal where you hunt?  Are you in bear country?

Is it a more than capable deer killer? Without a doubt. I consider a cartridge capable if it will kill an animal humanely with a single shot to the vitals and be recoverable. A 22lr will kill a deer, but it would have to be a great head shot, or you would have to have a lot of luck finding it with a single lung shot and no blood trail while the poor deer suffered (not capable imo).  A 45-70 will give you a pass through on almost all white tailed deer with almost all loadings. It won’t be rendered usless by hitting bone. It may not have the best terminal ballistics, but it is far from bad.

I have harvested deer every year since I started deer hunting as an adult. All were taken in archery season and inside 35 yards with a compound bow or crossbow. If I can take a deer with an old hand me down bow shooting under 300fps, a 45-70 will surely do the job. It’s what I hope to buy. Out of what is legal in OH (straight walled .357-.50) it is about as good as it gets.  Only a few will narrowly edge it out, and that depends on the loadings.

Your friend has no business giving advice on rounds for any game species.

My guide gun dropped 2 8 point bucks so far this year. One for my son and one for me. Seemed to work just as well as last year. I’d tell your friend he is incorrect!

Oh my but we are uninformed.

45-70 is a fine deer round if you're going to be hunting at 100 yards or less.  It's a great all around hunting cartridge.  It isn't a super fast round so it won't damage as much meat as it will just make a large hole.  It's super versatile in that it can be loaded down for medium game like deer, or loaded hot to .458 Win Mag power levels and annihilate the great bears.

Hell it will annihilate elephants, hippos and rhinos.  Works really well on the big cats (we only have small cats in the Americas).

Made this for another thread.. fits here LOL.
Attached File

Sounds like someone with 45-70 envy.  You know the type, they want one, but can't handle the recoil so they down size to pitiful things like the .444 marlin.

Not at all.  Yes a practiced 45-70 shooter with good sights can with some knowing use that rainbow trajectory like a buffalo hunter of yore.  Today For The Average Joe buying a Guide gun with buckhorns that he isn't going to move or a basic hunting scope does not compare to a Shiloh sharps with a vernier aperture sight as close as it does to a 20 gage slug gun.  That's about how it's used.  Not the battle of adobe walls.   ETA is not the cartridges inherent capability its more the application by the user.

If you don't see what I am talking about I cannot help you as you are deliberately being obtuse.

I'm not addressing the end user.  I'm addressing the capability of the cartridge.  But since my favorite 45-70 happens to be a GS, I can tell you that 200+ yd shots are no big deal.  And having everything form 300 gr jhp's to 500+ gr hard cast lead available makes it immensely more versatile and effective than a 20 ga slug (which by the way I have used to take deer on several occasions).

Back at you with the obtuse BS.

Every bullet has an arc to it so having larger drop at a certain range is the hunter's duty to make sure it hits where it's aimed. In other words it should not be used as a negative if you know what your gun can do and it's limits. The 45/70 certainly has enough down range 200+ yards energy to make that a mute point as well. Sometimes people just want to hate on a caliber they don't think is worthy.

Every gun has a trajectory.  Knowing your distance and adjusting it is part of the skill of hunting,  45/70 will retain plenty of energy downrange to kill a whitetail at any range you are capable of making an ethical shot.

That said, I am of no illusion that the Marlin I got yesterday is going to shoot 1 MOA-so that, not trajectory will limit my range.  My first 1895 shoots just fine, under 2MOA iirc, not bad for irons (always wanted to out a tang on it, don't think I got arround to it though...).  I suspect my BPCR can do a tad better.  New one is not tapped for a tang sight.

iirc, it was Billy Dixon who made that mile'ish shot.

The dumb in your friend is profoundly dumb. Tell him.

My cousin when he lived in Alaska he had four guns 45-70, 300 win mag, 12ga pump shotgun, and 44mag Handgun. He swears he used the 45-70 more then any other gun and he stock his freezer every year with meat for a family of four. And it will make a Kodiak pause when you hit it square

Go big or go home lol
They must have been using the wrong gone for years . Hand load you cantgo wrong is your friend shooting 500 yrds plus well thats takes practice

Big 50.  Billy Dixon.
I visited the spot and his grave this past summer.
And the big 8 pt Buck I killed with my 50-70 last month died quick.

I think you get the idea, OP...friend is wrong.

Is it the perfect all-conditions deer cartridge?  Maybe not.  But like any gun, the guys that know what they're about with a .45/70 will do much better than Mr. Fancypants with his brand new rifle in a bleeding-edge caliber that's seen 3 zeroing shots at 200 yards in its lifetime.

My 12" Contender and Marlin 1895 have both killed deer for me. It's a bullet that weighs almost as much as a 1 ounce 12 gauge slug(assuming standard 405 grain bullet, slug is 437.5). Similar velocity if using trapdoor level loads, higher for higher level(obviously). If only an idiot would use .45-70 on deer, only a bigger idiot would use a 12 gauge rifled slug for the same-it's harder to shoot well and will never shoot as small of group.

I know it's great on Elk and been used on Antelope successfully....but Deer ...no just won't work...never every...

So remember Elk and Antelope , Good... Deer , nope

Long range 45-70

Amen