45-70. Your opinions?

I'm pretty opinionated. Sometimes wrongly so. But there is nothing about a 45/70 that I like.I consider it overkill for deer, has too much kick, bullets are too expensive, trajectory is not to my liking and I can't picture a reason in the world for anyone to want to own one.

If it were not for the fact that in some states they legalized the caliber to hunt during the muzzle loader season there would not be enough sold to justify making the rifle.

the Marlin Guide gun is a good rifle for short range nothing over 200 yards,As is usual with military ammunition's, the .45-70 was an immediate hit among sportsmen as well, and the .45-70 has survived for one and a third centuries. Today, the traditional 405 grain and the new 300 grain load is considered adequate for any North American big game within its range limitations, including the great bears, and it does not destroy edible meat on smaller animals such as deer due to the bullet's low velocity. It is very good for big game hunting in brush or heavy timber where the range is usually short.

I have one and I love it. Its the 1895 marlin guide gun with the non ported barrel. I shoot the buffalo bore bullets in it and nothing I mean NOTHING in North America will stand up to it. Keep your shots under 150 yards. As far as spoiling meat it actually dose less damage than my 270. I have shot several black bears and a slue of deer with and I can't remember anything running off. I shot a junk car with it and it went through both doors like it was nothing. I aimed low and shot it again this time hitting the door about 10 inches up from the bottom and it went through the drivers door, drivers seat, the console, the passengers seat and the passengers door and still went 14 inches in the dirt mound behind the car. If its got a drawback its the recoil. Also the price of the bullets is 45.00 a box of 20 rounds.

This is what I have:

http://www.marlinfirearms.com/Firearms/Cowboy/1895...

It is a bit heavy to tote around in the woods, but is sure fun to shoot. I use this in Cowboy Action side matches. I put a long range tang sight on it to reach out a ways. I can reach out, reliably, to 500 yards; I'm almost using the rifle like a mortar, but it will get out there.

This caliber will pretty much kill anything on the North American Continent. It was used to great effect on Buffalo. Couple writers for Guns Magazine used this caliber to take Buffalo in a recent hunt. One of them put a 405 grain round clean through the animal. It is large for Antelope and Deer, but sure would anchor the animal to the spot.

BP equivalent load in a trapdoor Springfield can be surprisingly good for long-range paper-punching, and a lot of fun.

A lever action like the Marlin 1895G isn't so much fun at the bench, but it can handle hotter loads, and in the hands of a good rifleman is deadly at any reasonable hunting range on a wide variety of medium and large game. You'll see a lot written about its "rainbow trajectory," which limits its use for those who hunt only a week or two per year and aren't able to put in much time at the range, but it isn't much of a problem for an experienced man.

It can be pricey. Its not a flat shooter but a hard hitter for hunting. Definitely a deer killer and bear for some. Marlin makes an excellent lever action.

marlin lever action there a bit over killl but what the ,,,,,,, ok happy new year

Current Generation Cartridges-Very Flat Shooting: .243, 270, 7mm Rem Mag. etc.

Past Generation Cartridges-7x 57mm, .30-06, 7.92mm, etc.

Far Past Generation Cartridges-.42 Berdan, 11mm Mauser, .45-70, .43 Spanish,

It's two generations behind, and has a terrible trajectory.