45-70 Govt
 

Not sure why but I've had the itch for some time. Finally found a Chiappa with a short (16") barrel, outfitted with peep sights. Should be perfect for those rough, in the thick walks I like to do. Pick it up at the end of the month. Would love to try paper patch in it but time being a harsh reality, factories might have to do.

Good luck with it. My son bought one and had nothing but trouble with it cycling shells so he sold it. Hope yours is better. Great cartridge

Nice, handy little thumpers with short barrels. I run the marlin trapper with the 16.5” barrel and skinner sights.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...0a31e65ca8.jpg

I have a well-used, JM-stamped 1895 Guide gun on it's way to me shortly. :) No practical use for 45/70 mind you...but I've wanted one for about 5 years, and my right shoulder feels annoyingly good these days. lol

Already have my brass/powder and insanely heavy hard cast bullets ready to roll. :) "Insanely" because until this gun, 99% of the loading I've done has been with bullets in the 20-53 grain range. lol

Just wait till you see what a 405g bullet does to a gopher.:)

Colin

Well...I can tell you what a Hornady LeverRevolution round in 45/70 does! lol The first gun I ever fired was a newer G, using that ammo, while letting the air out of Alberta gophers a few years back. The gopher was half out of his hole about a foot from a fence post in a pasture. The owner of the gun had just installed Skinner Sights, but the gun was shooting low. (front blade too high?) Anyhow, I thought I'd compensated enough but instead...the round burrowed through the dirt and hit the gopher's lower half anyway...popped it right out of the hole! I have a photo somewhere, but it was hard to find a non-gooey angle. lol

I wanted one forever and my patience was rewarded when a coworker offered me a JM guide gun for a bargain price. You are going to love it...you will find yourself shooting low on gophers on purpose!

High speed dirt. Shoot low on the mound and you can sometimes get two or three. Like a close range 12 gauge. Used to have an H&R Buffalo Hunter - called it the Buffalo-Smasher- and with a peep and globe sight it was good to almost 200 yds. Just had to bit the ground within a few feet infront of 'em.

Colin

A note on the Chiappa - it's my understanding Chiappa designed their rifle on a hybrid 86/71 action. In order to accommodate the .348 Winchester, the model 71 was built, a modification of the original 1886 design. Unfortunately those modifications don't work so well with many of the 1886's original chamberings. Some tweaking was required. Whether or not Chiappa has solved those issues I don't know.

Colin

gophers?
 

seems like fun - hadn't considered that.

I really like the Henry 45-70. Does anyone have one? I'd love to hear some feedback on it. I know the Marlins are good guns.

If I ever draw a bison tag that’s the gun I’m planning on hunting with. My excuse to buy a 45-70 lol. One day....

My marlin 45-70 is my go to Elk rifle. I'm sure you will love your new pew

Haven’t you read this thread? No need for big game, seems they are an IDEAL gopher gun. :thinking-006:

Had the guide gun and it was great but sold it .Love the cartridge though and have had the 45 70 in a H&R single shot rifle for several years I cast my own lead and powder coat em .Store bought rounds are too pricey now.

I’m not sure if I’m getting old or what but if I shoot 10 shots through my jm 1895 cowboy my eyes start to cross pretty bad. It’s not the most pleasant rifle to shoot

True, gophers are pretty tough stout creatures!

That’s the perk of the 45/70. You can load it as hot or gentle as you choose. I practice with 405’s at about 1300 and it’s like shooting a .243 but I hunt with full noise loads that rattle me as bad as whatever they hit.

my cousin has one. he also has a few other henry's.

He loves it and while i havent shot it, ive handled it, and it is superb.

Owned a Marlin guide gun for years and came to this conclusion: if you want to carry it around for emergencies get a short barrel. If you want to have more comfortable plinking get a longer one. Lotsa fun anyway.

The 45 70 will kill anything quite handily with the standard 405 gr loads at 13 or 1400 fps. There is really no need to take this cartridge to the max in my opinion . The problem is people try to make the 45 70 into a 270 . It isn't a long range cartridge and never will be.You are punishing yourself for nothing, use it within it's effective range of around 100/ 150yds .Think of it as a bp rifle which is what it originally was, 45cal /70 gr of bp.

If you want to shoot fast bullets a long ways then get a modern 30 cal rifle designed to do that. easy peasy just my opinion though ,if you really like the shoulder bruises... carry on:)

Isn't a long range cartridge? .........someone has never read the Sandy Hook tests of 1873 regarding the 45-70.
If those old dudes were here now, they would still be out shooting you.

I am referring to hunting situations where this cartridge is most commonly used, not volley shooting
Not too many responsible hunters are using volley fire techniques to to hunt game

Yes, I am sure they could out shoot me , I am not a competitive shooter . I am sure you could out shoot me as well even though I don't know you or anything about you I will just make that assumption as it seems to be an acceptable thing to do.

Those tests were performed on a 6 ft bull, so considerably larger than the kill zone on most game animals I am aware of but you may have different experiences

Lastly, the 405 gr bullet from a standard load 4570 drops 6 ft at 300yds and 18 ft at 500yds .... hardly an effective long range hunting rnd but that's just me.

I have hit targets with the 45-70 where it took to the slow count of eight to reach the target.
Once I got the range, it was easy to make long range shots, 200 yds is merely a beginning.

That's great I don't doubt it for a second. If you are shooting at game , how many steps can it take in an 8 count.
Point your rifle at a 60 degree angle into the air at an animal 500 yrds away, do your eight count and the buck starts walking when you get to three.
It may be a fun contest at the range but hunting at long range with it is a crap shoot.

If there is any gun I will never sell it’s my Marlin SBL. It’s such a sexy rifle. The ghost ring sightswork really well for me and I’m real good with this gun. Congratulations! You made an excellent choice!