Finally mounted a scope!

Tract Toric 4.5-30x56 34mm MRAD ELR in a JP Enterprises mount! The setup really matches the rifle nicely! I should be able to shoot to 250 yards, maybe 300. Not for sure though because the rail is a 0 moa.

The scope height is very high, and you will be "turkey necking" up on the stock to get proper eye relief. With a mil scope, you could probably shoot as far as you can see. That's a big scope for a lever gun!

Looking forward to a report on the scope. I’ve been eyeing that exact scope since my Mk5 is out for service.

When I shoulder it the placement seems fine. But, to your point, I haven't shot it. Big scope for a lever gun? Physically or optically or maybe both? It's a 45-70 Gov, a pretty powerful cartridge, so I figured a big scope would be appropriate.

I bought the scope to try something different and had planned on putting it on an AR15. I also have a Steiner T6Xi 1-6x24 coming any day now.

I have a 45-70 and love it but it is not a long range cartridge. At 300 yards it drops about 3 feet, 500 yards it drops 14 feet, and at 1000 yards over 100 feet of drop.

I don't use mine for anything over 200 yards, preferably 100 yards or less. Heck at 200 yards it drops 10".

A 3-9 is plenty of scope for any realistic distance you will be shooting a 45-70 at. I have a buddy with a 1-6 LVPO on his 45-70 lever and he loves it. A big scope like you have is way heavier than necessary to lug around and having a minimum power of 4.5 is going to be a hinderance at close ranges. I really don't know your intended use but I think of a 45-70 lever as a brush gun for taking quick shots at fairly short ranges.

That T6Xi would be ideal for the 45-70.

Won't the additional weight of the unnecessarily large scope help to tame recoil? A muzzle brake is also going to be installed.

Wow. Lotta scope there. Is it April 1?

Some consensus seems to be developing. BUT, does it look good? Does the dress (rifle) make the butt (scope) look big??

Yes, the dress does make the butt look big. I prefer peep sights on my leverguns. But, my waning eyesight has me contemplating a LPVO for my 1895. Last time I shot it, I hit a 1/2 gallon milk jug 2" low of dead center at 80 yards, so for now, the peep stays. When I do have to go the scope route, it will be a 1-4 or 1-6 LPVO, or a classic Leupold 2-7 with a 32mm objective...mounted as low to the bore as I can get it.

Yeah, baby got back!!

Hey, if it works for you, absolutely run it. What is it they say, if it's a dumb idea but it works, then it's not a dumb idea! The 45-70 can be shot about as far as you can shoot it. Load some ammo that shoots good and stretch it out. I'd love to get a range report on that. I run a 1x-3x Weaver on my 44 Mag. I dropped a turkey at 260 yards with it with a hold over. I'd go further too, with the opportunity.

I think the butt makes the dress look small in this case

If you name your rifles, call that one "Wind River". Not exact, but close enough. Kill something with it and post a pic.

Not trolling - just not afraid to do goofy [censored], try different things, mess around, and post about it. Just having fun.

No, that scope was not purchased for that rifle, but I will have some fun and try it out. If it ruffles feathers so be it. The Steiner 1-6 I mentioned was certainly purchased for this rifle though, so the Tract Hubble telescope will not stay on it (it's not even actually mounted in the pic - just resting on top - there's not even a rail on the rifle [yet] to attach the mount to).

Wind River, lol, onlysmith&wesson.

That's never gonna look right until you find some kinda M-Lok fore end for it and put a can or a big muzzle brake on it. And a thumbhole stock.

RiverRider, that's great!

Recently somebody posted a "tactical" styled Marlin 1895 (the rifle in the pic). Ima dig up that post.

It's kinda weird, but I can also see how it could be practical IF for some reason you don't want a semi-auto. If leverguns hadn't been introduced in the last half of the 19th century until now we probably wouldn't think they were so strange.

I won't pretend to be objective, though.

It's weird.

IMHO, scopes dont belong on lever guns. Only guys I know that run scoped lever guns are the ones that have bad eyes and cant see the sights.

So almost all of us over say 45-50. For the record I agree, I ran peeps on mine until I just flat couldn’t see anymore.

I haven't looked through the sights on my 94 Big Bore in a while. Maybe I oughta verify that I can still use em. That's one sexy little levergun, but mounting a scope on it would be like dressing up Heidi Klum in an arctic snowsuit.

I am aware of the no-scope group you camp with, so to that I ask is it different to put an LPVO on a lever rifle vs putting the same on AR? Does it simply come down to cartridge range? Maybe I should also be more specific as to the chamber in a given lever rifle... is it acceptable on a Marlin 336 (30-30 Win)? What about a Browning BLR (308 Win)? Granted these deviate from a "traditional" lever rifle with the latter being more distant, so I doubt that's what you're talking about.

Unfortunately, I am in the can't-see-for-[censored] group which is why this rifle will get the Steiner 1-6 mentioned earlier in this thread.

RiverRider keeps bringing the laughs. Thanks.

Yeah, I just can't see. Unfortunately. Try out your 94 Big Bore and report back. Hopefully it still works for you.

Yeah, I am just kidding around MM.

Seriously though, if a guy wants to put a March 10-60x on a 336 then he should do it. We all have our own reasons for doing things as we do, we all have our own ideas about what will work for us, and we all have our own ideas about aesthetics and the importance of same. I know some would say I do everything wrong, but that does not matter at all if I am achieving my goals and I think that's applicable across the board.

Steiner arrived! No rail yet.

While that Steiner is more appropriate, put the big scope back on and let's run that .45-70 out to 800 yards.

How much elevation travel does the big scope have?

I think that would be a most interesting experiment. Great big, heavy, and slow bullets were shot at extreme ranges long before our modern equipment was even conceived.

32 mils

https://tractoptics.com/all-product...-mrad-elr-extreme-long-range-rifle-scope

I really have been eyeballing this scope

Wish I still had a box that had gun parts sights and triggers and a few other things. Had the sights that were used by the man I got the 1885 from back when he used shooting competitions to 600 yards with that 45-70. I tried it a few shots back then and hit a 3 foot or so rock 4 of 5 shots. Not great but long flight time on that 405gr chunk of lead. Still could hear the thump on the rock though.

Thought about getting more of the long range sights for it but my eyes are not that good now to need to go that far with peeps.

The guy I got it from went from it to a 1873 Sharps Quigley rifle reproduction that they were making lots of every time the Movie played. A lot heavier rifle does help on the recoil as well.

Right now it has a 1-4 scope on it and I use light handloads for the 45-70 if I take it hunting in Mississippi's primitive weapons season which it is legal for now. Still a 405gr bullet started at 1100fps punches a good hole right through. Shots where I hunt with it are 75 yards or less so ok that works.

wp75169 answered 32 mils if you didn't see that already.

Yeah, I'll get in touch and we'll plan a little range time with the Tract to goof around.

I plugged in some crude numbers to JBM; it shows about 625 yards is 32 mils which we know we won't actually get when bore sighted and zeroed, so we'll have to set it up for your range... or get a 40 moa rail. Lol, it's getting more ridiculous.

I think I just came up with my big idea. Remember those phones that had the large buttons for old people that couldnt see? Same feature exists on smart phones today where it makes the icons and font gigantic. My big idea…..iron, peep sights for old people. Huge apertures and front sight posts. I dont know much about old eyes if that would even work or not. Seems like there would be a conflict of near sightedness and far sightedness. Guess it doesnt even matter as long as I sell a ton of them to old farts and make a ton.

The bigger the irons, the less precise they can be shot.

Look down an M-1 Garand.

Just put a black stock pack on it. I agree with JG, lob some slugs at his place.

Buzzsaw, I hear ya! I also *finally* finished assembling an AR today which I need to get out there.