Seen a thread with this title on another site and seen some good looking rifles so wanted to see what THFers have. I don't have a 45-70 but I am considering getting a lever action 45-70 soon. Post pics if you have them or just tell us what you got.

I've got an older Marlin 1895. Excellent shooter. Those or the older Marlin 1895 guide gun would be my choice.

I love mine, its ~2007 Marlin 1895 Guide Gun. Very accurate, points excellent, and super fun to shoot

Have a Marlin 1895 from the micro groove days and a 20 inch octagon barreled cowboy action one as well. Then there is the Browning 1885 highwall bpcr with the longer octagon barrel. Had a TC Contender 16 inch barrel for a while, that was lots of fun.

Favorite is Wild West Guns Alaskan Co Pilot very handy and will stop anything on the planet with Buffalo Bore in the tube. Plain fun to shoot with traditional 405gr loads.

I have a Marlin 1895 ported Guide Gun, have had it for 20 years +/-. Solid little compact fun to shoot piece of work. My advice would be to look more closely at available ammo before making deciding. The most common off-the-shelf ammo is not loaded to the full potential of the round because of all the old Trapdoor Springfields still in use. I've ony seen one or two on the range or in the field, so you'd think modern would be the default and "antique" would be the specialty niche. Look on the boxes for something like "Safe for use only in modern firearms in good condition," and compare the price between those that do and those that don't have that disclaimer. If you're primarily going to use the common garden variety off-the-shelf stuff, in my humble opinion, you're just as well served with a 30-30 because you're not going to realize the full benefit of modern 45-70 ammo.

On another note, I'm sure you've heard stories of the infamous recoil of the .45-70. I've experienced no such phenomenon even with full-house loads from companies like Buffalo Bore and Cor-Bon, and I'm not a big guy.

On a third note, if you handload you can get the full potential of the round with a substantial financial savings. Pick a few warm-to-hot loads out of a few manuals and price the components. Ammo cost may not even be on your radar, but if it is shop around a bit.

Best of luck to you sir.

I thought about get one. I would use it for deer and back up on elk...

Just not sure

It's not really your Daddy's .45-70, but it works for me:

I've wanted an old heavy long barreled single shot rolling or falling block for a very long time.

If not for the price, it would be my next rifle; but dang, that is a huge entry ticket.

I bought my first centerfire rifle, a Marlin 1895G at Rays Sporting Goods in Dallas. Ray saw me looking at the surplus rifles and asked me what I was looking for. It was some years later before I realized that he was the owner of the store. I told him that I was looking for a Siamese Mauser in 45-70... He asked me to wait a few minutes, and disappeared in the back of the store. When he returned, he was carrying an 1895G with no box, and a reasonable price was soon agreed upon.

The 1895G is of course chambered in 45-70... This one had a fairly short barrel, a straight grip and a hard plastic butt-plate. I soon discovered that with 400 grain Remington factory loads, it was not a fun gun at the shooting range, but in the field where I shot standing up, the recoil was not so bad at all.

Still, I developed a flinch with the 1895G, and worked my way through it. This was a good thing for me, as I never developed another flinch thereafter, even with the magnum rifles that I grew to favor.

My next 45-70 was purchased perhaps thirty years later, a Marlin 1895CB, or "Cowboy" model with a 26 inch tapered octagon barrel and full-length magazine tube. This rifle had a trigger that was so good, it was hard to credit that it came on a lever-action rifle. - And it was accurate, particularly with the then-new Hornady Lever Evolution ammunition.

This 1895CB was the most shootable, most accurate rifle that I have ever found for off-hand shooting. Standing up on my hind legs, I could reliably hit a soda can at 100 yards with it. I can assure all that I have never shot anywhere near that well off-hand with any other firearm. Most of the time I am doing good to hit an 8" gong at 100 yards. With this Cowboy model though, it seemed like I couldn't miss.

I will note here that I installed a Williams Guide receiver sight on this rifle, utilizing the two rear scope mount holes just forward of the hammer on the action's flat top. Most of the time I used that sight without a peep aperture screwed into it. The brass bead front sight almost a yard away worked very well with the Williams receiver sight.

Currently I do not own a 45-70. If I do buy another one, I am now leaning toward the Cimarron Winchester 1885 High-Wall reproduction, offered with the double-set trigger. - A nice range gun perhaps a bit too heavy to lug around the mountains here.



Maybe if I shorten the barrel to 18 or 20 inches...

I have a couple but started with the Marlin 1895G, the heavy & stubby Guide Gun never grew on me and despite being a Marlin fan I sold it after buying a Rossi Rio Grande RG4570B. The Rossi is no longer offered but I doubt that I will part with mine. It is a Marlin 336 clone so rather than the 1895 it is based on the slimer 336 frame. It is pretty clever how Rossi got the fat cartridge onto the carrier past the lever, just a matter of machining tolerances, and had Marlin done this there probably would have never been a 444 or 1895. That is said by someone who is an absolute 444 nut.

The RG is a full pound lighter than my Marlin weighed and in that its sole purpose was for nilgai hunting on the LWR & LA NWR hunts, that made a difference given the foot distance one must travel.



Those hunts have gone into the TPWD draw system so I suspect that role has ended.

Recently I purchased a Navy Arms Summit. This is a Lee Enfield No.4 MK I that Gibbs remanufactured, rebarreled, & chambered to 45-70 Govt. I thought about buying one way back when they were being offered but never acted on it. Well, now I have one in new condition but I just haven't gotten to shoot it yet given my fall farming. With the wet weather of the last week, I think the lack of shooting will be rectified this week. My plan is probably to cut the barrel to 20" and have a gunsmith machine some low bases on the barrel for a scout scope mount.





Been fascinated by the 45-70 Govt most of my life. As a kid hunting the brush in central Zapata County in the mid sixties, I found a spent 45-70 Govt cartridge laying in the sand. That find predates Marlin's reintroduction of the 1895 and there just was no telling why and for how long that cartridge had been laying there. Things like that can really stir a kid's imagination!

Ranch Dog that Navy Arms Summit is a really great looking rifle! I hope you report range results. I bought a Trapdoor with a Calvary Boot many years ago and I too have often thought about where, what and when about the pair.

I have had mine 20+ years and it is a plain model, flat finish, walnut stock and is a purpose driven tool perfectly executed IMO. Amortize the cost over years and years of use and it is less painful

Will do on the report. Yeah, you wonder about all the stories an old gun or empty cartridge case could tell.

I've got an old rolling block that I've had for over 30 years. It will slap the taste out of your mouth when shot but I like it! I've killed a few deer and a bunch of hogs with it from 15-90 yards! It's a keeper

So I've never shot a 45-70 but would like to. What is the recoil comparable to? I think the worst recoil I've experienced was a tactical 12 gauge shooting 3 1/2 in home defense shells. It kicked so hard the side of the stock where I had my cheek hit me in the jaw. Not in a hurry to shoot that again.

I don't have one yet, but if I ever get one, it will be this:

I have a Browning 1886. Vey fun to shoot and very accurate. Recoil is not bad with the lighter loads but the heavy loads start to be uncomfortable after 10 rounds or so. The gun weighs over 10lb which dampens a lot but the curved brass but stock is not the most comfortable. Gun seem to rock you back more then a normal straight kick.


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Dang, that's nice, Teal!

Thanks. Here's a few more pics.

Don't let all the fear mongerers scare ya'. From a bench it can be stout, maybe 30-06 range, off-hand it's a [censored] cat if you don't try to fight it, even with full house loads. I don't understand where all the abominable recoil speak comes from. And again, I'm not a big guy! Now, if you use poor form, your own thumb may bloody your nose, but that can be said of an endless array of high calibers.

not worried about it just curious. I've shot lever action 30-30s, 30-06 and bolt action 7mm mag so I think I'll be fine

Shooting standard 405 loads my 45-70's are in the 308 range. However if you step into the Garrett, Buffalo Bore Heavy stuff there is a marked difference and you need to have good form as has been mentioned. With this type of load I do not punch paper, I verify every once and awhile and hunt with them. I have lost the hood on front sight of my Marlin 1895 due to recoil, flew off into the rocks.

The beauty of the 45-70 is the versatility of the round from [censored] cat to Lion I will always have at least 1 in my stable.

I recommend going to www.Garrettcartridges.com and reading about what heavy 45-70 loads can do. I have used both the 45-70 and 44 mag loads and have never been disappointed.

Here's my guide gun it was shortened to remove the front sight and then the barrel was ported. I can hold it down with 2 fingers. Noise is a different matter....it is crazy loud. When I took it to quail ridge range they would put me all by myself. I use hornady leverevolution 325 gr. Don't know what you'll be hunting but it will damage some meat on most north american game. I bought mine for brown bear hunting in alaska 12 years ago.