Ok first off, I love my 45/70. I know that when I'm in the woods I am never under gunned. No matter what woods I'm in. I spend a fair amount of time shooting that rifle and am quite confident in my abilities. I am more than confident in my cartridge's abilities. 405 gr bullets at 1500 fps will take any animal on the planet. Period. But would/should I shoot that round at any animal at 500+ yards? I think the answer is no. Can it be done? Sure it can. Can it kill at that distance? Absolutely. But as an ethical hunter, there are too many variables for me to take that shot. It's an animals life I'd be risking to say "Yeah, I did that." We already know it's possible. Ballistics tables prove it's lethality at that distance. So what are we going to prove? Are we going to prove the mathematics are correct? That's what it seems like to me. That's not impressive. You're just proving something that has already been proven. So why? Even if you do it people will just say you got lucky and discount it as that. And then there will be those that also want to try it so they can join the "500 yd 45/70 hunting club".
If you decide to accept the challenge made earlier and take that shot, I hope like hell you miss. Lobbing bullets at living animals just to say you did it is NOT THR. Push your limits at the range, not in the field.
If you decide to accept the challenge made earlier and take that shot, I hope like hell you miss. Lobbing bullets at living animals just to say you did it is NOT THR. Push your limits at the range, not in the field.