I have to have one of these. The perfect brush gun. 45/70 of course. I've heard that these rifles are capable of MOA with handloads. Any truth to that?
[img]www.marlinfirearms.com/firearms/images/firearmImages/1895G.jpg[/img]

Sorry, don't have one.
But a friend of mine who is in MN too was telling me that he knew a Reservation cop up on Leech Lake who carried one as a cruiser rifle all tricked out with a red-dot and shit...

He liked it because it smashed through hard targets better than many other rounds, like car doors and windows...

I shot one a while back, and I liked it. It is probably the only lever gun I would ever own, since the 45/70 with monster handloads is a baaaaaaaaaad motherfucker.

Looked at one about two weeks ago. It was in .444 Marlin though, I'd have to have .45/70 too. I've got a pretty good article on it where they were shooting through windshields and car doors into wet phone books. It made some nice big holes. I haven't seen them anywhere yet, but I'd like some synthetic stocks for one if I had it.

BMB

A good friend of mine has one in .450 Marlin. That.s the ticket. Don't know about MOA though.

I have one in .450.  Lots of fun to shoot.  I'm getting about 1 1/2 groups.  Lever action guns with short bbls. are not known for their accuracy.  Any gun with two piece stocks, bbls. cut for sights and tubes hung under the bbl. will suffer.  When I purchased my gun I looked at the 45/70, .444 and the .450.  I picked the .450 after reading the article in the American Rifleman, " The Marlin .450 what the 45/70 ought to be".  The  .450 fits between the 45/70 and the .458 Winchester Mag.  Of course the 45/70 can be handload to the .450 Marlin specs. but I figured I would go with the modern load and gun.
Bill

edited because I went to Public school.

Had one for about 6 months. 3 shot groups were easily under 1 1/2". Kind of hard on the ears though without earplugs. Mine liked winchester 300 grain JHP's. If I remember right the twist of the barrel was made to shoot lighter bullets (300-400) instead of the 500 grain bullets. Would hate to be on the receiving end of those 300 JHP's. As far as handload's try 300 grain sierra's with IMR3031 or Reloader 7, should be able to get at least 2,100 fps with right load and more muzzle blast than you want.

Great rifle and not all that expensive but you do know they are out in stainless steel now don't you? Even closer to the perfect brush gun!

Thanks, for the replies. 1 1/2" would be good enough for me- excellent for a lever gun. I plan on using it for deer in close cover. I think a 300gr. slug would do perfectly.

Mach1
 I bought one of the Stainless Guide Guns since
the weather in Alaska can get wet in a hurry. These rifles are comforting to have when you see those brown fury things that wander around up here!
 These are great rifles, very accurate, and very powerful. I would recommend that you investigate  the forum " Marlin Talk" before you buy. There are good discussions concerning all aspects of this rifle including which caliber to get. There is also good info on reloading although its hard to beat the Buffalo Bore 45/70 commercial loads.
Raptor

I've had mine for quite a while now, I picked it up as soon as I could find one. They were quite hard to find for a while as they were and are very desireable in my area. I spend a great deal of time in the bush and this is the rifle I always carry, It is as reliable as a rock and it hits like a truck, I use a 400 Gr hardcast flat nose. These rifles are very easy to carry and they are very quick to shoulder and fire. I switched to a peep site and an orange bead on the blade as my eyes are not quite what they were a while back. I load mine at about 1700 fps you can go way past this, but recoil starts to become an issue. I've talked to several people who have scoped theirs and they seem to shoot 1-1.5 M.O.A at 100 yds.
If you hunt in brush or heavy timber and shots will be within 150 yds. you'll love a Lever Gun.