The gun I'm using is a 1895G 18.5" ported 'Guide Gun'.
It is stock with hooded white dot front and a buckhorn adjustable rear.
The owner stated it was sighted in for 100 yds.
I had never shot a lever gun nor this chambering before and it is the first big bore rifle I'd ever shot and the most powerful round by far to date... with .308 being next highest as out of a rifle.
My targets were a plastic childrens halloween pumpkin and in front of that a paper Warren Tactical human face & torso target so as to obscure the pumpkin and imitate a bears body. The primary target was the pumpkin representing vitals (heart & lungs) set to a distance of just under 3' above the ground. Realistic for black bear.
My first shot was a 300 gr. Winchester Partition Gold JSP as into an ~18 mph. wind from left to right.
I hit the pumpkin as set at 50 yds. dead on. POA = POI.
I ran through four different chamberings ranging from the 300 gr. WPG JSP to 300 gr. Winchester JHP to Hornady Leverlution 325 gr. HP (solid copper) and finally 405 gr. Remington JSP.
Recoil with the Hornaday by far was greatest as felt but not at all uncontrollable. Interestingly though it was least accurate out of this specific gun and barrel. Every shot of Hornady fired had apprx. 4' of drift to the right.
All of the other ammo though, dead on.
Below are two pics of my targets...
.45-70 @ 50 yds.
Headshots at 50 yds.
Note: I took the headshots with POA being the middle of the 'face' square using two .405 gr. Remington.
I had been firing standing and off hand for 80% of my shooting. I had no bench rest nor bags.
For these two shots I made them seated from a bench using a close/compacted hold and using my to elbows as a rest on to the bench.
Very good accuracy with a dead on hold. At 100 yds. again it would be just over a 1" drop. Very much acceptable for purpose of hunting.
Pumpkin
Target setup
With all but the Hornady I could tag the pumpkin (I went through two) as often as I wanted.
With the 405 gr. Remington in specific I was most accurate and best able to fire quick follow up shots. That is what I wound up choosing to run with toward my hunt as for those reasons; accuracy and quick follow up shot capability.
Honestly if I had not run out of light nd low on ammo, I'd still be there right now.
In fact I'll be back at the range Sunday to train some more with it just because it's that much fun to shoot. Also I need to pattern a pair of shotguns for upcoming deer season too.
I'd read all over the internet about how recoil with this cartridge out of this specific gun was high and possibly even the highest felt recoil by math figures of anything out there conventional for hunting purposes.
Oppositely though I'd also read a lot of folks could shoot this well and have no ill effects physically. Camp seemed to be firmly one or the other.
As it turned out I am of the other.
I'd videotaped myself shooting this as well focused not on the target but on my body so as to monitor how I was handling the recoil.
Bottom line, no problems and with ease. As well I didn't even have recoil induced blinking which is optimal for accuracy purpose (not blinking).
I did though let a guy in the next lane to me shoot it as he asked for a try. I'd warned him before hand that the recoil is stout. He replied that he's been shootin' since he was a kid (looked ot be mid 20s) and that he normally shoots large caliber hunting rifles. Even as he did to start refer to this gun as being a 'cowboy gun', which it very much is not even as it is lever action rather than bolt.
So anyway I give him the least stout round being a 300 gr. JHP and he fires it completely missing the target at 50 yds. by over a foot high and left. As well he had poor shouldering and bad foot placement & balance. The recoil pushed him back 2.5 steps. He put the gun down and walked off to not ask anything further. His buddies snickered.
That wasn't fair though as he clearly just didn't know how to shoot a rifle. They went back to shooting the .223 ARs they had brought along.
I'm convinced that the woe is me sore shoulder reporting about recoil on this gun are due to folks just simply not knowing how to properly shoulder and handle a rifle. With lesser chamberings you can get away with poorness to a greater degree. But with this I could see how a person would be punished badly if they didn't do things correctly.
I like this gun so much I've decided it will be my next acquisition and become my multi-purpose do it all hunting rifle.
Throguhout New England/Northeast it's all 100 yd. shots anyway and the ballistics for this aside from the Hornady with ballistic tip really put the effective and fair chase range at 200 yds. maximum. At that range it's got over 34" of drop per ballistics tables. Sighted in at 50 yds. it's got just over 1" of drop at 100. This is not a .308. But it's not intended for long distance hunting. Nor is the .375 H&H.
For long distance hunting at equal power levels on target one would be looking at 7MM Magnum or something in that area. A completely different purposed firearm.
The .45-70 out of a lever gun in specific is a dangerous game gun. Sights come up really easy and quick. Tag the trigger and BOOOOM! Thunder struck.
Corbon makes a DPX JHP round for this as well as others including a guy in Montana producing 500 gr. projectiles that folk are using on elephant and hippo, in Africa, with humane one shot kills to brains and vitals.
Being in Aussie land though as mentioned by KPW find out now before you go how plentiful .45-70 AND .375 H&H are there, before you make any further thoughts on a purchase.
Bringing ammo out of the US and into a foreign country might not pan out for ya otherwise.
Here is the specific model I am now angling to locate.
Perfect for me as the 1895G lever is too small for my hands (I have to use two fingers) and the SBL being full stainless rather than blued steel makes it perfect for all conditions use. As well the top mount scout rail with iron backups is pretty much exactly how I would have rigged up an 1895G anyway. So being the factory does it for ya it's to my mind a perfect choice for use in spitting out these rounds that are the size of lugnuts and leave dime sized holes in stuff through and through.
Did I mention it is fun as heck to shoot!!
Marlin Model 1895M in 450 Marlin
Marlin Firearms - Press
Marlin?s Newest .45-70: The Model 1895SBL
YouTube - Gunblast.com - Marlin 1895 SBL .45-70 Lever Action Rifle
With more time to train and get more familiar with the round as related to distance and wind condition results, I'd be in a day or two able to hit the center ring exclusively shot after shot as again just using notably cruddy iron sights alone.
The SBL models ironsights are from XS and superior in design never mind running a red dot or scope on this. A combination that would be deadly within a practical range/arc of 200 yds. or less.
$0.02 street
- Janq
