.45-70 Gov. for whitetail?

[Cadet]

Im thinking of getting a marlin 1895 GBL in 45-70 gov., and I was wondering if its too big of a caliber for deer, if it works thats great because I figure it will work for basically anything bigger too. (elk, bear etc.)

[mmcnx2]

I'm of the opinion you don't need anything bigger than a 270 for whitetail and 308 and 30-06 are the big brutes. Others here will tell you you must have at least a 7mm Mag. Shoot what you want, heck use a 50cal if that what yout think you need.

[Dave Pendleton]

If you like ground venison, I think it'd work.

[cobb]

I have taken a few deer with a 1974 vintage 1895 Marlin 45-70 with both factory and handloads, all worked very well. I have taken a few deer in my life with several other calibers, the 45-70 will definitely get the and job done and with a lot less blood shot meat than a 7mm mag, 270 or even the light weight 243. The big bullet gets it done and you take home the meat, the fast and small will will result in more meat loss, the term "blood shot" came from these.

So I would suggest that if you want to get a rifle chambered in 45-70, do it, the deer, bear or hogs will never know the difference.

But then what do I know, my preferred deer round is a .35 Whelen, but I have yet had a game animal complain.

[Rip Van Winkle]

I've taken many deer with my 1895ss (45-70). The beauty of this cartridge is you can load it powder puff light to fire breathing monster to take on any north American game animal.

[westhope]

It is a great caliber.

There are usually 3 loadings listed in loading manuals. The lowest is for use in the old trapdoor versions of the round but will also work in any rifle. The other two listings must not be used in the old trapdoor rifles. They will list what rifles the listings are for. I cannot remember the specific ones offhand, but I know that in my Ruger #1, I can load the 45-70 to a 458 Win. Mag equivalent. I never have, the light loads have been fine for deer size.

Factory ammo should specify what rifles it is safe to shoot in since there is such a range of actions for this round out there.

[rugersol]

LeverEvolution's added some range, too ... I'd do .338 Marlin or .35 Rem. ... both'll still do everything a .45-70 will, in this country ... with a bit less Kentucky windage ... even a .444'd be quite a bit better. Kind of a shame they didn't do a hopped up .375, too ... that'd be cool! ... 'er even jest hop-up the .35 Rem. ... but that'd jest be fer top-end ... as it is, at 300yd, it's all of the 325gr .45-70, and a real nice easy shootin' rifle, I'd bet!

That said, with .45-70, ya can easily get "cheap" cast bullets and shoot a lot more.

[1911fan]

Youre young and it wouldn't be my first choice but it's not a wrong choice. Only that some others might be a better choice. If you reload or are going to try it find a 336 marlin in .35 rem. Lots of options there and the cheap lead bullets for plinking make shooting affordable. Heck even a 30-30 would be more usable but that's me.

I prefer light and easy to carry guns. Lugging a six pound gun is a LOT nicer than a nine or ten pound gun at 430 in the afternoon of a long day.

[mnglocker]

I have taken a few deer with a 1974 vintage 1895 Marlin 45-70 with both factory and handloads, all worked very well. I have taken a few deer in my life with several other calibers, the 45-70 will definitely get the and job done and with a lot less blood shot meat than a 7mm mag, 270 or even the light weight 243. The big bullet gets it done and you take home the meat, the fast and small will will result in more meat loss, the term "blood shot" came from these.

So I would suggest that if you want to get a rifle chambered in 45-70, do it, the deer, bear or hogs will never know the difference.

But then what do I know, my preferred deer round is a .35 Whelen, but I have yet had a game animal complain.

Dead nuts on.

Big and slow will not liquidize the guts and all the meat. It's a very versatile round.

All those other rounds Cobb rattled off make their energy with velocity and they dump it all violently when they hit their target because they do not have a lot of inertia.

Big heavy bullets like the ones used for a .45/70 do their job without the violent energy dump, they maintain a large amount of energy via having a large amount of inertia and instead of dump all the energy in their target, they just keep going. A .45/70 with the proper load has the ability to run stem to stern through critters like a water buffalo.

[old guy]

I too had an 1895 Marlin 45-70 and killed many whitails with it, like others have said it does not mess up the meat like the high speed cals. do, and that rifle does not that hard to carry. Stay with the 400 gr. bullet, load to 1700- 1800 fps, site in 3" high at 100yds and you will be 9" low at 200 yds.

John

[farmerj]

can't be any worse than using a big ol' dumb slug gun

[Shipyard]

it's going to be a slower round, - if they're runnin aim in front and you'll hit the hindquarters. for the weight of the gun and the recoil you get, you may as well be using a 12 gauge magnum slug. boo!

too big, slow and will punch a baseball size hole in the other side. i've seen a few guys bring back deer they shot with a 45-70 and they lost a whole freakin quarter out of the thing on the exit side. really does a number on soft skin game...

in my opinion there are way better choices for deer hunting. if it's just MN, i'd actually reccomend a 30-30 or 35 Rem. the 336 platform is a beautiful MN brush gun. if you hunt Wi too i'd reccomend a 270/30-06, something with a little more punch and distance to it.

my $0.02

[Stradawhovious]

If all goes well I will be using 45-70 for deer next season.

I'm also working with "extreme shock" ammo for development of the first whitetail/anti-terrorist 45-70 load on the market.

It will be safe for trapdoor rifles.

[mnglocker]

it's going to be a slower round, - if they're runnin aim in front and you'll hit the hindquarters. for the weight of the gun and the recoil you get, you may as well be using a 12 gauge magnum slug. boo!

too big, slow and will punch a baseball size hole in the other side. i've seen a few guys bring back deer they shot with a 45-70 and they lost a whole freakin quarter out of the thing on the exit side. really does a number on soft skin game...

in my opinion there are way better choices for deer hunting. if it's just MN, i'd actually reccomend a 30-30 or 35 Rem. the 336 platform is a beautiful MN brush gun. if you hunt Wi too i'd reccomend a 270/30-06, something with a little more punch and distance to it.

my $0.02

Your buddies are using the wrong loads. A .270 or 30-06 will do more damage on the way out. Again, it's about the inability for a small fast bullet to hold onto it's inertia. It's all simple physics.

As far as distance goes... .45/70 was the original silhouette cartridge. (1000yards) Granted you'll have to use bubba windage.

[ijosef]

I know a couple of people who hunt whitetail with a .45-70 and have no issues. As others have said, the slow, big projectile with a lot of mass & frontal area but not a tremendous amount of velocity makes a pretty efficient deer slayer without being overkill. Now, a .50BMG on the other hand...