45-70 1895 gs

I really like the xs sights ghost ring sight. A huge improvement over the factory sights

Nice rifle. Out to 150 yards I don't see a need for a scope.

the scope thing really depends on your eyes. if they are good, a scope is not necessary, and in fact, if a bear charges you from 40 yards, could actually be a bad thing. on the other hand, if your eyes are getting to be like mine (and a lot of the over 40 crowd), a scope is almost a necessity. only your eyes know for sure. as for the 45/70, welcome to the club! they are a great little rifle. if you notice it kicks a little more than you like, get a "LIMBSAVER #10102" recoil pad for it. it is a very simple 2 screw install, and i really helps! as for the $1066 price tag of a new rifle in canada, they must have a hck of a tax on guns. makes me glad i live in the USA!

gun crazy newfie,

+1 for the Leupold 1.5-4x and congrats on an outstanding rifle/caliber. I have a couple of Leupold 1.5-5x Mark 4 scopes on my Guide Gun and XLR (both .45-70) and I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better combination. Dialed all the way down you'll have no problem seeing a charging bear and getting off a well-placed shot. Looking through the scope at 1.5x is like wearing a strong pair of glasses ... stuff isn't any bigger, just WAY sharper and you have a precise aiming point. I highly recommend the XS Lever Rail since you can add an XS front sight and an XS ghost ring rear sight to the rail and it'll allow you to mount the scope far enough forward to get the proper eye relief. If you need to remove the scope due to damage, you can use the iron sights. As for the price, I paid $625 or thereabouts for my Guide Gun NIB last year.

Oh yeah, there are some nice upgrades available such as a Wild West trigger, Wild West bear proof ejector, one-piece firing pin and spring kit from www.longhunt.com, and a stainless steel magazine follower from DRC. Longhunt also sells a kit to replace the safety but it's not stainless so it'd look odd unless it was painted. I replaced the safety on my 1894 and I'd like to do the same with the '95s once I find a stainless steel kit.

I bought a Leupold Scout Scope to put on mine.
I am going to shoot it for a while with the XS Ghost Ring sights first, however.

$600 used? damn.. i got mine back in 2005 for $515, at Gander Mtn no less. i also put a silver Nikon Prostaff on her and she shoots just fine

well if thats the case, ill sell you another one for $999. what savings!

we should see if we can get all the other Marlin lever owners together and write to hogue about making some overmolded rubber furniture for these rifles. i love the wood furniture that mine came with and i want to keep it looking pretty, so when i take the Marlin out id like a replacement set so i wont have to worry about dinging the rifle up, then i can just come home, clean the gun up and put the wood back on. its not too much to ask for; a 'field' mode and a 'garrison' mode

gun crazy newfie it seems that your wishes are being granted in 2009 http://gunsandammomag.com/cs/Satellite/IMO_GA/Story_C/2009+New+Hunting+Rifles?packedargs=pagenum=3. I would love to pick one of up.

Congrats on your new rifle - the Marlins are a lot of fun!

For a scope I recommend a Leupold 2-7x due to the very generous eye relief. (4.9" at 2x). When shooting heavy recoiling loads you will appreciate the extra relief. I've shot my "Rhino Blaster" loads (460g hardcast @ 1812fps, 48 foot-pounds recoil) with the 2-7 and no scope cuts yet.

My 1895 uses Remington 700 bases. Medium should be high enough rings.

personally, on my marlin 45-70, but on a couple hundred dollar scope, being i like to waste ammo on targets, cans, jugs, transmissions, ect. the recoil buggered up my horizontal crosshair, could not get it to properly sight in. So to each his own. Iron sights just fine

if you're gonna end up buyin one of those maybe you shoud save (and not fire) your new gun because its worth 400-500 more then you payed for it, trade it torwards it, that is ofcourse if youfeel the price of the new one is to high.

I love the .45-70 cartridge.

It's not a "flat shooter" though. for 40-150 yards on large game, you don't need it to be. However, you also don't need a scope (unless you will be in very low light situations or something like that). A scope just weighs down a gun like that, and makes it more bulky.

I'd recommend keeping the irons, and investing in a gong target. Practice at various distances from 40 to 150 yards or more. With the .45-70, it's more important to get to know the round and its trajectory than it is to have a little crosshair. The trajectory will account for more deviation from the bullseye than using irons would, at least until you get to know your rifle.

I've been wanting one of those little stainless lever guns for a while. Sooner or later, I will have to sell some junk and buy the .45-70 with the money.

You can have some real fun with hand loads or even the Buffalo Bore Magnum loads

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...which are superfluous shoulder-killers, unless you want a grizzly stopper, I guess.

A .45-70 round poking along at less than 1500 fps will go straight through a buffalo. There's no need for incredible velocity with a real, old-school bullet like a 405 grain .458 slug -- just with the tiny little things we call bullets now.