45-70, 45-90, or 450 Marlin?

[Tac-O]

I'm really enjoying reading all if this side information on all of the monstrous cartridges! Hijack away...

I think the 444 Marlin sounds like a great round! But it's not the beautiful, obscure piece that I got to hold last week.

I saw that Winchester also made a deluxe case hardened 1886 takedown version in 2019. But, it's lighter and only has a half octagon barrel

 

[Tac-O]

Why would I not want the 45-90 if I can also shoot the 45-70 cartridge out of it? Two birds one stone

 

[OldTimeHunter]

After 7 pages, I think all questions have been asked and answered.

Time for OP to make up his mind and buy something.

Be interesting to see what it is.

 

[tooth doc]

I'm really enjoying reading all if this side information on all of the monstrous cartridges! Hijack away...

I think the 444 Marlin sounds like a great round! But it's not the beautiful, obscure piece that I got to hold last week.

I saw that Winchester also made a deluxe case hardened 1886 takedown version in 2019. But, it's lighter and only has a half octagon barrel

444 is a great round, superior to 45-70 nope, 45-70 is a bigger stick, no matter what paper may say.

 

[Tac-O]

After 7 pages, I think all questions have been asked and answered.

Time for OP to make up his mind and buy something.

Be interesting to see what it is.

I did some more fondling of this 1886 today. I'll have a hard time convincing myself to go another route!

 

[DMP25-06]

I have a new (2020 production) Marlin 1895G in .45-70 , that was originally equipped with the cross bolt safety . Weighing slightly less than 6#14oz., it does have substantial recoil with cartridges loaded with heavy bullets at 1600 fps and faster .

I bought a box of Underwood Ammo .45-70 , 430gr. flat-nose , Hard-Cast gas check bullets at 1920 FPS .
These are "The Real Deal" . I feel confident that these could take down a charging bull elephant , without fear of being under-gunned .
But , the recoil from that cartridge caused damage on my end of the firearm .
Shooting from a standing free-hand position , with the rifle pulled tightly into my shoulder , and right thumb around the grip , the recoil drove the rifle's cross-bolt safety shown in first photo ( img 1068) hard against my thumb , causing a severe cut to my thumb . Also , I suffered bad bruising and swelling to my middle finger of right hand where I had 3 fingers through the lever of the rifle .

I DID hit my 6" bullseye at 50 yards , so I DID NOT flinch when I fired the shot .

I found a cross-bolt safety replacement set at Beartoothmercantile.com ($19.00) that allows the cross-bolt to be replaced with screws on left and right sides of rifle , and the rifle then uses the hammer set-back as a safe position as was ALWAYS used before lawyers caused the safety redesign .

The photos below show a before and after of rifle with and without the cross-bolt safety .

It looks much better , and
NO MORE OF MY BLOOD ON THE RIFLE .

DMP25-06

 

[Clem Bronkoski]

Well friend I just love my .45-70s. I have one of the first 1895 Guide Guns that came out with the ported barrel. I have that topped with a 1-4X Leupold. I also just picked up another 1895SBL (stainless big loop) with the ghost ring rear sight. That's a handsome looking rifle. My third one is a Pedersoli 1874 Sharps replica. I did have a 1895 Cowboy in .45-70 that I could not get to shoot very well no matter what I tried in it. And it was an older JM stamped version. My SBL was made after the Remington buy out and after the revamping of the machinery and it is every bit as good as my original Guide Gun and dare I say the action is even slicker.
I've often desired a 1886 or Browning copy or even a Uberti copy but they are a bit costly.
Another lever gun I'm considering is a .38-55 for "lighter" work.

 

[beretzs]

I did some more fondling of this 1886 today. I'll have a hard time convincing myself to go another route!

I think you know the answer!

 

[usmcff]

Cant really answer your question on which is better because I only have a 45-70 that my fiancé surprised me with. It's a marlin 1895sbl in stainless with the smoke finish. The gun is gorgeous and honestly I hate taking it in the woods but it is my absolutely favorite gun to shoot. I haven't shot it farther than 50 yards but with Hornady leverevolution loads it stacks rounds on top of each other. The recoil isn't as bad as I expected and I'm a small guy myself. My 7mm mag is more miserable to shoot to be honest.

 

[Tac-O]

One other question is why not a Henry? There's a lot of those around. Is the quality not quite up to par with Winchester or Marlin?

 

[CA48]

I'm also curious if anyone has tried a uberti 1886 in 45-70. I've felt some of the trapper 357s and they were very smooth. I noticed alot of guys install short throw kits and use them for competive cowboy action shooting.

 

[Tac-O]

I'm also curious if anyone has tried a uberti 1886 in 45-70. I've felt some of the trapper 357s and they were very smooth. I noticed alot of guys install short throw kits and use them for competive cowboy action shooting.

I like the looks of them but the price seems high for them all being repros of the classics.

I know a new Winchester 1886 is made in Japan, but it's still Winchester.

And Henrys are made in the USA! I wonder why their 45-70s aren't as hard to find as the others?

 

[CA48]

I see the Henry 45-70s every where at good prices. I'm probably going to have to try one of the trappers. Been wanting a 45-70 for a while now.
Really like my uncles Winchester 1894, borrowed it for a few years then gave it back.
The ubertis cycle very smoothly

 

[Tac-O]

Alright. I'm at the point of making a decision before the gun I've had my eye on disappears from the store and is only available through inflated prices on GunBroker.

I'm now torn between a Henry case hardened 45-70 with a 22" octagon barrel and the local Winchester 1886 deluxe case hardened shot show special 45-90.

My complaint on the Henry is the magazine isn't full length and I may prefer a 24" barrel. It doesn't have the tang safety and has a side eject which are both nice. The wood isn't as great as the 1886. And it doesn't have the same unique sex appeal.

My complaint on the 1886 is it is 9.75lbs, I may have a real hard time find dies and brass for the next few months, and to make it shine I have to use BP and then clean like hell. And may never find factory ammo for it. But, if I can't ever find 45-90 goods to shoot it, I could probably sell it for a pretty penny higher than my purchase price and get something else. This beaut is much less practical, but this gun is speaking to me for some reason over any other. Even if I found a true JM 1895cb model.

There are no 1895cb that are for sale at a reasonable price and with a shorter barrel than 26".