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Posted: 9/26/2009 8:29:14 PM EDT
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I have had my Dads Marlin 1895 SS guide gun for a while. I am pretty well set up for my long range hunting rifle but am wanting to set up something for closer range hunting in the woods.
The guide gun is so light and handy, I am thinking about using it. Right now he has it set up with a nice Lyman peep sight. I am wanting to put a rail on it and mount a 2-8 Leupy or Vortex or something similar. Then work up some loads with LeverEvolution bullets or something similar. I am thinking I could make a pretty nice handy little woods gun that would be a real thumper out to 250 yards or so. What do you guys think? Few questions. 1- What rails are available for this carbine? 2- what reloading components should I consider? Which dies, bullets, powder and primer are the h this platform.for this platform? Just looking for the best route wit |
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I would use the full length XS rail instead of the scout mount, the scope options are greater. I have one and love it. I am just getting started in reloading to feed this beast, can't afford to shoot it otherwise. What bullets are you using? I have never loaded for the 45/70 but when I got it from my father, he gave me an ammo can full of what appear to be cast flatnosed bullets in 330-400 grains. I am wanting to load something that will shoot much flatter. In the 225 grain range with a ballistic tip of some sort. Light recoiling, flat shooting, but still thunmpers on MO whitetails. |
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I am wanting to load something that will shoot much flatter. In the 225 grain range with a ballistic tip of some sort. Light recoiling, flat shooting, but still thunmpers on MO whitetails. Light recoiling and flat shooting are two attributes that have never been assigned to a 45/70. A 225 grain bullet is too light for this caliber and may not stabilize properly in the rifling. The Leverrevolution load itself is 325 gr. and is the closest thing to what you are looking for, but still will not turn a "hog gun" into a .270. I'd guess 200 yards would be their practical max –– and thats if you had a 200 yard range to practice on to figure the drop and holdover at that range. I suppose there are probably people out there who have shot lighter projectiles, but it would be necessary to slug the bore and size your bullets appropriately The basic "Trapdoor safe" load every retailer stocks on the shelves should be more than adequate for MO whitetail and i have fired a bunch of these through my guide gun so i could harvest the brass –––– they dont have too much recoil and should be good for whatever walks in front of you |
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I am wanting to load something that will shoot much flatter. In the 225 grain range with a ballistic tip of some sort. Light recoiling, flat shooting, but still thunmpers on MO whitetails. Light recoiling and flat shooting are two attributes that have never been assigned to a 45/70. A 225 grain bullet is too light for this caliber and may not stabilize properly in the rifling. The Leverrevolution load itself is 325 gr. and is the closest thing to what you are looking for, but still will not turn a "hog gun" into a .270. I'd guess 200 yards would be their practical max –– and thats if you had a 200 yard range to practice on to figure the drop and holdover at that range. I suppose there are probably people out there who have shot lighter projectiles, but it would be necessary to slug the bore and size your bullets appropriately The basic "Trapdoor safe" load every retailer stocks on the shelves should be more than adequate for MO whitetail and i have fired a bunch of these through my guide gun so i could harvest the brass –––– they dont have too much recoil and should be good for whatever walks in front of you I shouldnt have assumed this was obvious, but by flat shooting and light recoiling I meant relative to the heavies I have already loaded. I am wanting to look at the flattest shooting loads available for my 45-70. I am not expecting to find a bullet that will turn an artillery piece into a precision rifle. I thought it was obvious, but I guess not. 
What I have decided to do, is scope the rifle and take it to the range and see how much drop I get out to 300 yards. If I think it is manageable out to 250, I will just hunt with what I have now (listed earlier in this thread) and then focus on some higher BC options after deer season. Now I need to find a scope and rail for it. |
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<copied and pasted from another forum ––- you can do better with a hotter load and a 325 gr bullet–– but unless you're name is Matthew Quigley, its a 150-200 yard rifle ––- note the drop from 100 to 150 is already at 8 inches with the Remington factory load> Yes the heavy 400 grain or even 500 grain projectile doesn't loose much speed, but it is already going very slow for a bullet. Also, gravitational acceleration is exponential, so how far it gets pulled down will never be constant over distance it will always increase a lot each additional 100 yard step A 45/70 zeroed into 100 yards will drop 8 inchest at 150 yards, how much will it drop from 150 to 200 yards? Another 8 inches for a total of 16? NO! It will drop 24 inches, and the incriminents it drops by per distance will keep on going up, AND adding to eachother. 405 SP Remington's website 100 yards zero 150 yards -8.5 200 yards -24.0 250 yards -47.4 300 yards -78.6 It drops so fast beyond 200 yards, that even a 10% range estimation failure on your part will result in miss or a wound. IF you think the deer is at 215 yards, so you look at the drop for a 200 yard shot, but the deer is really at 235 yards, your shot will be 20 inches off! the 45/70 is a very powerful catridge, and the bullet itself can go very far, but for shooting individual game animals, it is quite short ranged, 150 yards is probably the max distance you want to shoot at, unless you have a laser range finder and can dial in the exact distance and calculate the bullet drop from that |
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the 45/70 is a very powerful catridge, and the bullet itself can go very far, but for shooting individual game animals, it is quite short ranged, 150 yards is probably the max distance you want to shoot at, unless you have a laser range finder and can dial in the exact distance and calculate the bullet drop from that I agree with you. That is part of what is so interesting about this caliber. I am researching it now, and plan to get range time as soon as this weekend. I am interested in max point blank range. With something like a 150 yard zero. With the Hornady 325 flex tip bullets(and quite possibly the 300's and 405's I already have), I think this could be a very effective tool out to 250 yards. It is a given that knowing the range to the target, exactly, is critical. I would use my Geovids. It is mostly acedemic though. The point of the rifle is for hunting in the woods. Sub 100 yard shots would be the norm. But those same places where I hunt the woods, have a few fields where ~250 yards is the longest distance one could shoot. I am going to set up the rifle for hunting in the woods, but want to know I can make the longest shot that could present itself. At the range though, this rifle could be a blast. Especially if someone was limited to ranges where a few hundred yards is his longest shot. One could get a lot of practice ranging targets and dialing dope out to 300 with this caliber. Good practice. |
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Itts darn fun setting a bucket out at 500 yards or so and trying to duplicate the Quigley Down Under shots with the things (although he used a 34" barrelled Sharps)
here's a debate on the www.leverguns.com forums about the same thing (making the 45-70 shoot flatter) ––- many of these guys feel that good handloads are just as good as the LE ammo. Leverguns.com 45-70 Leverrevolution bullet debate |
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That is an interesting read StreetStar. And it makes me feel even better about my decision to do a thorough evaluation of the loads I already have before delving into reloading something lighter and more modern. I posted it elsewhere, but here are the loads I got from my Dad when I got the rifle from him. These are loads he loaded.
405 gr RNFP, 46.0 grains Varget ~1600FPS (20 rds) 405 gr RNFP, 33.0 grains H4198 ~1500FPS (20 rds) 405 gr FP, 35.0 grains H4198 ~1550FPS (20 rds) 405 gr FP MKCB* (??) 33.0 grains H4198 1500FPS (55 rds) 300 gr FP, 52.0 grains Varget ~1800FPS (20 rds) 300 gr JHP, 60.0 grains Varget ~1880FPS (10 rds) What are your guys' general thought on the above loads, and how much (if any) is to be gained by looking for lighter/faster? Also, what the hell is an RNFP? |
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