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Just picked up a Marlin .45-70 (SS, 18"+, scout scope rail, aperture rear sight, etc.) and finally got the chance to step out onto my porch and see what happens when I pull that trigger.
I had one before with a longer barrel, but I never shot it because I wanted to cut the barrel or get a shorter octagon barrel on it. I sold that here as NIB.
This one is pretty darn close to what I want (an octagon barrel would be nice but they don't come that way out of the factory with a short barrel).
So anyway, I put ac couple of Hornady Leverevolution 325gr flex points through it - at about 1900 fps from the shorter barrel (2050 from a 24" barrel). Feeds well. Pushes pretty good on my shoulder, but felt like very little muzzle rise. Quite controllable actually.
That said, a 325 grain at 1900 fps isn't a heavy load - decent, but heavy. There are loads that push a 400+ gr. bullet almost as fast.
I didn't buy this rifle for the puny deer I see in my back yard. That 325 load would probably be okay for black bear or a good shot at an elk (maybe even a shot at a bad angle), but I could take them with any of my .308 or .30-06 rifles (I have my dad's .30-06 and he took elk just about every other year of his adult life, while I skunked the half dozen times I tried).
Not that I absolutely need a buffalo gun - I watched a video of a guy instantly dropping a big bison bull with one properly placed shot - from a .30-30. And I have seen them taken with .30-06 class rifles. But I would not mind doing a bison hunt (a real hunt, not driving up on them and taking them from a rest on a pickup). I am also thinking of doing some pig hunting after I retire.
So - my shoulder was sore for the rest of the afternoon. I am not a small guy - 6'6" & 260#, but I am not heavily muscled either, and I injured my shoulder when I was a kid and it is pretty easy to throw it out again.
So I am thinking something like a Holland style brake (looks like a compensator). But I don't want to shorten the tube mag, and the barrel only sticks out maybe 3/8" past the end of the mag tube - so not sure there is enough room there to thread and attach a brake.
I wonder if there is anybody out there that will EDM in that kind of large port brake right into the end of a barrel?
The rifle has a decent buttpad on it
I had one before with a longer barrel, but I never shot it because I wanted to cut the barrel or get a shorter octagon barrel on it. I sold that here as NIB.
This one is pretty darn close to what I want (an octagon barrel would be nice but they don't come that way out of the factory with a short barrel).
So anyway, I put ac couple of Hornady Leverevolution 325gr flex points through it - at about 1900 fps from the shorter barrel (2050 from a 24" barrel). Feeds well. Pushes pretty good on my shoulder, but felt like very little muzzle rise. Quite controllable actually.
That said, a 325 grain at 1900 fps isn't a heavy load - decent, but heavy. There are loads that push a 400+ gr. bullet almost as fast.
I didn't buy this rifle for the puny deer I see in my back yard. That 325 load would probably be okay for black bear or a good shot at an elk (maybe even a shot at a bad angle), but I could take them with any of my .308 or .30-06 rifles (I have my dad's .30-06 and he took elk just about every other year of his adult life, while I skunked the half dozen times I tried).
Not that I absolutely need a buffalo gun - I watched a video of a guy instantly dropping a big bison bull with one properly placed shot - from a .30-30. And I have seen them taken with .30-06 class rifles. But I would not mind doing a bison hunt (a real hunt, not driving up on them and taking them from a rest on a pickup). I am also thinking of doing some pig hunting after I retire.
So - my shoulder was sore for the rest of the afternoon. I am not a small guy - 6'6" & 260#, but I am not heavily muscled either, and I injured my shoulder when I was a kid and it is pretty easy to throw it out again.
So I am thinking something like a Holland style brake (looks like a compensator). But I don't want to shorten the tube mag, and the barrel only sticks out maybe 3/8" past the end of the mag tube - so not sure there is enough room there to thread and attach a brake.
I wonder if there is anybody out there that will EDM in that kind of large port brake right into the end of a barrel?
The rifle has a decent buttpad on it
