45-70 vs 450 Marlin??

[2dswamp]

Looking to buy one of these. Either the Marlin 1895G (45-70) or the 1895M (.450 Marlin)

Which caliber do you recommend over the other and why?

Why don't I see more 450 Marlins for sale?

Will access to ammo for the 450 be a problem?

 

[achildofthesky]

45-70 all the way. 450 is great, don't get me wrong, but it offers me nothing over the 45-70. Ammo availability problems could be a problem in smaller towns but performance wise from the factory you have a much greater variety of ammo for the 45-70 and if you hand load there is NO difference at all.

Be safe
Patty

 

[Cypress]

I agree with the above statement. Some factory 45-70 loads actually exceed 450 Marlin levels. Components and factory ammo are always more available for the 45-70. You'll love the 1895g. Be careful with rear mounted scopes. Ask me how I know.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Right. I would go with the .45-70 out of sheer convenience and availability. The fact that you don't see more .450 Marlin should be a sign for you.

 

[N.WoodsGuy]

another vote for the 45-70.......if for nothing else, just because it's so readily available.

 

[shoey]

Yup, 45-70.

 

[rcmodel]

The belted .450 Marlin was an ingenious solution to a non-existent problem.

They did it to keep some dummy from shooting "Marlin only" high-performance 45-70 loads in a trap-door Springfield and blowing himself up.

However, Buffalo Bore, Garrett, Corbon, Winchester, Remington and others are now loading 45-70 ammo that will knock your socks off.

Avalibility?
You can probably find 45-70 ammo at a gas station in big game country.

Not so much .450 Marlin.

rc

 

[2dswamp]

Ya'll have confirmed what i already thought to be the case. Looks like it'll be a 45-70 then.

Anyone have any personal experience with what kind of range one can expect to shoot accurately and still maintain enough energy to cleanly harvest black bears and maybe even brownies?

 

[rcmodel]

Remaining Energy is not the problem. A 45-70 will kill at 1,000 yards or more.

The problem is the relatively high trajectory, which limits most shooters as to how far they can accurately place a bullet in the right place.

When sighted in 2.5" high at 100 yards, the bullet will be zeroed at 150, 8" low at 200 yards, and about 41" low at 300.

Hornadys "LEVERevolution" soft-tip spitzer ammo can improve on that.
.45-70, 325 grain
+3" @ 100 yds
-4.1" @ 200 yds
-27.8" @ 300 yds.

rc

 

[72IH]

I like 45-70.
But(its only my opinion) you might like a little longer barrel. Ported barrels are really loud. I have the CB model/ it has a 26" octagon barrel. The 22 or 24" barrels look pretty good. The reason I went with the CB for my hunting gun is that it holds 9+1. 10 rounds and I really don't have to pack any extra shells with me out in the woods.

45-70 can be loaded to where it is only enjoyable to shoot one maybe two times, then after that Ouch!

 

[rcmodel]

Marlin is no longer porting the Guide guns, if it matters.

You will get better accuracy with a longer barrels improved sight radius if you use the open sights.

If you plan to scope it, barrel length makes no practical difference in accuracy.

rc

 

[Coltdriver]

Here is the number one reason to own a .450 Marlin.

You reload 45 70 rounds for something like a trap door and you don't want to get the loads mixed up with your Ruger #1 class of loads.

The only reason the 450 was created was so that you could buy magnum class 45 70 loads off the shelf but never get them into your trap door rifle and blow yourself up.

Other than that one safety factor, which could be huge if you reload, there is probably not a justifiable reason to have a 450 marlin.

 

[MachIVshooter]

The .450 came to be shorly before companies like Buffalo Bore began offering hot factory .45-70 ammo for modern guns. Prior to that (10+ years ago), you had to handload to get the potential out of the .45-70 when using a Marlin or Ruger #1, etc.

Anymore, the .450 Marlin is about useless. If someone already owned one, I wouldn't suggest trading it in on a .45-70. But if you're in the market for one or the other, the .45-70 is the way to go. Cheaper and more readily available ammo/brass.

 

[Big Daddy Grim]

Go with the 45-70 with the lever Revolution ammo its a damn good shooter took a bear in Canada last year with it great ammo.

 

[DeepSouth]

I have a .450 and I love it. Ammo is a little hard to find (but not to bad) and somewhat expensive but so is the 45-70 ammo. The only difference is the 450 is hotter and therefore (in my opinion) better, at least for what I wanted it for. Why not have more bang? I also like to have something sorta unique I know several people that have a 45-70 but I am the only person I know who has a .450

Like someone else already said "The only reason the 450 was created was so that you could buy magnum class 45 70 loads off the shelf but never get them into your trap door rifle and blow yourself up."but hey I like magnum loads

 

[jack the toad]

IMO, no question, .45-70
I see no pratical use for the 450 that the 45-70 doesn't provide.

 

[woof]

Everybody talks about the hot loads for the .45-70 and then in the next breath says you can buy ammo at the gas station. Well, those won't be the high power loads.

 

[AKElroy]

Marlin created the .450 as a belted alternative to the 45-70 to prevent hot, modern 45-70 loads being run mistakingly through antiques with dire results. If you are shooting modern iron, you will not find any .450 Marlin load offering any advantedge over hot commercially available 45-70. If no heavy 45-70 factory loads existed, I would get the logic. Since they do, the .450 does not seem to have a reason to live. The marketplace already expects shooters to know not to shoot modern heavy loads in a blackpowder gun.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Everybody talks about the hot loads for the .45-70 and then in the next breath says you can buy ammo at the gas station. Well, those won't be the high power loads.

Okay, but even so, you don't need the "high power" loads to have an effective rifle. The bison hunters of the old BP .45-70 days were not using high powered loads either, but took down bison just fine.

So whether it be at the local tackle and outfitting shop out in the middle of nowhere or at Cabela's, you can find ammo for the .45-70. That isn't the case for the .450 Marlin.

The .45-70 just gives you more options in more places and more often than .450 Marlin.

 

[usmc1371]

Love my guide gun 45/70 and a few 405 grain bufflo bore rounds in a row will take the fun right out of it. I agree the rounds you can buy "anywhere" are imho weak as all hell but those same weak rounds have been killing big game for about a hunderd years. I just like the the hotter stuff. And I wish my G gun wasn't ported, loud as hell but it looks cool when you shoot in the dark. And double check your eye relief (insert smiely with black eye)

 

[Deputy25]

I have both, like 'em both just fine.

 

[shoey]

No reason to need the hot loaded 45-70's. The 300 gr class HP's will take anything up to black bear without issue. Anything bigger or tougher step up to the 405 gr SP's and dont look back.

Gobs and gobs of power. The Marlin 1895 I shoot will put 3 shots touching at 100 yards with Federal Power-Shok 300 gr Hp's.

 

[woof]

I've always found the "if I forget my ammo I can get it at a gas station" argument to be weak. I mean, what if I forget my pants too? But if you are going to go with that AND the hot new loads argument, if you forget your hot ammo and have to buy the standard stuff at the gas station, how much will your sighting be off? Really, I think the .45-70 is just enjoying a wave of nostalgic support and over time, the .450 will supplant it.

 

[72IH]

The only reason I load my 45-70 hot is to try and minimize the amout of drop, also why i go with the 300 or 350gr bullets.

For plinking cast lead 405s are a kick in the pants.

 

[ArmedBear]

The .450 Marlin offers nothing you can't do with a .45-70, but the .45-70 offers much more versatility.

A 405 grain hardcast lead bullet at standard factory .45-70 velocities will do whatever you want/need it to do, but you can get hot .450 Marlin spec loads in .45-70. See http://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_list&c=2 and note that their heavy .45-70 430 grain load is actually loaded slightly hotter than their heavy .450 Marlin load.

However, a .45-70 is also a popular cartridge for all sorts of shooting and all sorts of old guns that won't take modern really hot loads. Therefore, you can find data and boxed ammo for all sorts of loads that are fun to shoot.

The .450 Marlin? It's a gun for large predator defense and little else.

Contra woof, I think the .45-70 will still be around as an off-the-shelf round in 50 years, whereas the .450 Marlin might or might not be. The only reason for the .450's existence is the longtime reluctance of many ammo makers to load .45-70 that won't work in a Trapdoor Springfield. Marlin knew their 1895 could handle much hotter loads, grew tired of the artificial limits placed on factory .45-70. So, they created a new cartridge that ammo makers would be willing to load hot since it won't fit in an 1870s-vintage rifle.

Over time, that reluctance has subsided, at least among ammo makers like Buffalo Bore and its competitors. At this point, I can't see any good reason to buy a .450 Marlin when I can buy the same gun in .45-70.