45-70 Lever Gun

It would of kilt a deer...
Have you shot it off hand?
Sod the attempting groups.
Put the rifle down loaded, pick it up and shoot, put it down, look at the target, pick it up and shoot.
Do the same off a stick or tripod.
Try imagining a kill zone instead of a target and a critical group.
Yeah, the eyes, mine are bad but you know what, put a critter in front of me and it seems to come together.
Open sights, just line the rifle up with your eyes via the opens then just focus on the target without moving your head. 👍🏻

I did give it a few standing off hand shots, it was fine as the rifle has a nice bit of weight which reduced the sway.

I dont think having so many targets on the board helped, just a couple would have been better by having more contrast.
 
I did give it a few standing off hand shots, it was fine as the rifle has a nice bit of weight which reduced the sway.

I dont think having so many targets on the board helped, just a couple would have been better by having more contrast.
I would suggest a slightly larger target and less of them . If you can , try and make up some targets using a medium blue colour . They are far easier to see through aperture sights than traditional black targets . I tried them out for the first time some years ago after reading an article in Rifle or Handloader . At first , I was very skeptical , but after trying them out , I was amazed at how much clearer the sight picture was . I've also found square targets work better when using a wide , flat topped front sight blade .

AB
 
I would suggest a slightly larger target and less of them . If you can , try and make up some targets using a medium blue colour . They are far easier to see through aperture sights than traditional black targets . I tried them out for the first time some years ago after reading an article in Rifle or Handloader . At first , I was very skeptical , but after trying them out , I was amazed at how much clearer the sight picture was . I've also found square targets work better when using a wide , flat topped front sight blade .

AB

Fewer targets definitely sounds better, just for the contrast.

I enjoyed shooting it either way.
 
I really quite like them to shoot but i dont think they shoot as good as a bolt action , kick a fair bit loosing the sight picture easy in 45-70 and the brass and ammo is expensive and that case takes a lot of powder . faced with a 300 yard shot on a roe i would not , yet i would be happy to brain shoot that same deer with a good bolt action. I would get one with a mod and a red dot
Still with all the downsides i still want one of my own though LOL
 
I really quite like them to shoot but i dont think they shoot as good as a bolt action , kick a fair bit loosing the sight picture easy in 45-70 and the brass and ammo is expensive and that case takes a lot of powder . faced with a 300 yard shot on a roe i would not , yet i would be happy to brain shoot that same deer with a good bolt action. I would get one with a mod and a red dot
Still with all the downsides i still want one of my own though LOL

458x2" American.
Bolt action, cheap and readily available brass, easy to moderate, donor rifles cheap, could even be built with a heavy barrel to help with maintaining sight picture.
Job jobbed.
 

Attachments

  • ACFC28.gif
    ACFC28.gif
    4 KB · Views: 9
458x2" American.
Bolt action, cheap and readily available brass, easy to moderate, donor rifles cheap, could even be built with a heavy barrel to help with maintaining sight picture.
Job jobbed.
I've built a couple of rifles chambered for the 458X2 , it's a great cartridge . I built one on a Savage 110 with a prechambered barrel , one reason why I like Savage 110s , and another on a Parker Hale Safari . Both were originally chambered in 300WM so it was a very simple job . If you're not a lever action fan , it's a good option .

AB
 
Took my 1895 out today for its first outing, also my first experience of a 45/70.

View attachment 337750

I think it may be my eyes (astigmatism) and the lighting but the front sight seemed to bend/distort the image of the target. Not sure if anybody else has experienced something similar.

The front sight is quite thick, I may have to scope this or put a narrower blade type on it.

These are my groups...be gentle.

View attachment 337754

View attachment 337755

View attachment 337756

View attachment 337757
Just some thoughts.

1) Might be worth checking ammunition / doing load development with a scope (See what the best group you can hope for is)
2) That is a large aperture at the rear - Larger aperture, harder to be precise (Not impossible, just easier to mess up)
3) @alberta boy isn't wrong when he says a plane navy circle which few targets up is helpful
4) Perhaps use a trick I like: Put the top of the front sight post at the base of the target (Often easier to hold consistently on a point rather than the centre of a big dot) You then want to see your group just under the target and under the tip of your front sight (Cover target with hi viz bead, squeeze, collect venison)

Scrummy
 
Just some thoughts.

1) Might be worth checking ammunition / doing load development with a scope (See what the best group you can hope for is)
2) That is a large aperture at the rear - Larger aperture, harder to be precise (Not impossible, just easier to mess up)
3) @alberta boy isn't wrong when he says a plane navy circle which few targets up is helpful
4) Perhaps use a trick I like: Put the top of the front sight post at the base of the target (Often easier to hold consistently on a point rather than the centre of a big dot) You then want to see your group just under the target and under the tip of your front sight (Cover target with hi viz bead, squeeze, collect venison)

Scrummy

Im going to see how a 1-4 scope works out, pretty sure the ammunition was ok and it was a combination of the size of the aperture and front sight that made my shots inconsistent.

I will see next time I'm out.

Thank you for the suggestions.
 
I really quite like them to shoot but i dont think they shoot as good as a bolt action , kick a fair bit loosing the sight picture easy in 45-70 and the brass and ammo is expensive and that case takes a lot of powder . faced with a 300 yard shot on a roe i would not , yet i would be happy to brain shoot that same deer with a good bolt action. I would get one with a mod and a red dot
Still with all the downsides i still want one of my own though LOL
On the flip side - they do actually shoot surprisingly well, 1.5moa is common. For sub 200m shots on deer this is way more accurate than ever needed. Even with high velocity 350gr the bullet drop is starting to get up there after that. 45-70 doesn’t have to use a lot of powder, one of my favourite loads uses 8gr of pistol powder (admittedly I don’t hunt with that one, but there is an in between), and conversely doesn’t kick a heap, my 10 y/o son shoots it no worries. Brass may not be overly cheap, but realistically you only need to buy it once. The half length mag models are moderator friendly.
 
On the flip side - they do actually shoot surprisingly well, 1.5moa is common. For sub 200m shots on deer this is way more accurate than ever needed. Even with high velocity 350gr the bullet drop is starting to get up there after that. 45-70 doesn’t have to use a lot of powder, one of my favourite loads uses 8gr of pistol powder (admittedly I don’t hunt with that one, but there is an in between), and conversely doesn’t kick a heap, my 10 y/o son shoots it no worries. Brass may not be overly cheap, but realistically you only need to buy it once. The half length mag models are moderator friendly.
I would not think that was a deer legal load ? Why not go 30-30 if your just going to download a 45/70 anyhow ? I did not find 45/70 was easy at 50 yards off hand in a hurry and thats really what i personally want to do with such a gun
 
I have recently had a hankering for a 45-70 lever gun. My mate has a .357 Rossi Puma with iron sights and I really like shooting steel with it down the range so I thought I might get a lever gun too. I help another mate with culling lowland red deer in thick woodland usually at less than 100 yards and also would like to shoot running boar at some point and thought a lever gun in 45-70 would be ideal for these as well as shooting steel up to 200 yards. I reload for my .270 and .308 and quite fancy casting my own bullets so 45-70 would pose no problems around ammo availability. I want to be able to put a picatinny rail on it so I can use a scope for the deer and possibly scope or red dot for boar one day, and if I had QR mounts I could take the scope off for iron sights at the range, so I thought the Marlin 1895 would work but a Winchester which ejects out of the top wouldn't. I like wood and blue rather than plastic and stainless and I'd rather get a second hand one than new. My question is which lever gun should I look for and how much should I pay? Having a moderator would be good but does that mean I should look for a new rifle rather than second hand?
 
Back
Top