Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers advice on marlin guide gun vs xlr...

advice on a 45 70 marlin guide gun vs xlr...

I have a guide gun set up with peep sites.
Shoot well, but never hunted with it.

Where I used to hunt back east all game was under 60 yards.
I live west now. The gun gun has not been given a chance.

I am thinking a xlr with the 24" barrel and a low power leupold scope.
I reload.

How much gain in velocity is there with the longer barrel?
How much better trajectory with warm loads?

I am thinking it is more personal preference rather than gain/loss of performance. I have the XLR with a set of Brockman sights and no scope. Got my first deer with it this fall. I love hunting with that rifle.

I personaly like the compactness of the Guide gun. I've been hunting with one every year since I bought it(the first year they came out) I don't know about the velocity difference either. I have bought other guns(for long range) but I always leave them at home and hunt with the guide gun. Killed quite a few deer with it, and a couple elk. Its not a real long range gun(my longest kill to date was a cow elk at a ranged 205 yards). I guess what I'm saying is I too believe its mostly personal preference. If you don't end up liking it it will end up staying home most of the time

I have a Guide Gun, which is my preference, but won't recommend it over a longer-barreled rifle, if that so happens to be what you like.

I am able to comfortably get 2200 fps with a 300 grain bullet out of it, and thats about as fast as I care to push that weight. I can also get mid-1900's, if I care to push it that hard, with a 430 grain hard-cast LBT style bullet, but I like that one better at mid-16's to 1700 fps, no real need to go any faster.

I would say, if possible, fire an example of each, or, at the least, handle both. The extreme answer would be to buy both.....(grin)

Extreme -- isn't that what a Marlin XLR stands for? Xtreme Lever Rifle.

XLR slightly modified with my first deer killed with it.

Ohhhh....I thought it meant the "extra lever rifle".


Actually I hadn't thought about what it meant. Like the SBL. Serious Business Lever?? They would bring that out after I've poured money into my GG.

Of 17 different loads from 250 grains to 400,the average of those loads shot first in a 24" Test Barrel then in the Guide Gun was 26.66 fps per barrel inch by Rick Jamison.

Jayco

I have the XLR in 450M with a set of Brockman sights and no scope (too).

Sadly no deer

ElkHunter, is that a DRC lever on your rifle?

That pretty much qualifies the 25 fps rule of thumb.

I miss Rick's writing.

Yes sir it is.

I'm gonna get one if I can ever find it. They seem to be rather rare at the moment. They look to be about the right size for the amount of gloves I like to wear.

I like that model he best of all that I looked at. The edges are rounded nicely. The original lever cut my hand when I fired the rifle. Have you contacted David directly?

No I haven't, I understand that there may be some personal issues at hand there. If that's indeed the case, I'll bide my time.

That is the answer I was looking for, thanks.

I was thinking the longer barrel would be a meaningful advantage.
I don't see that here, at least in a hunting situation.

I have a guide gun with peep sites.

I would have used it when I hunted back east. It would have been great.

I was thinking of an XLR and a low power Leupold as a buddy to the guide gun.

I am surprised by small improvement of the extra barrel length.

Maybe I should scope the guide gun. Find a high BC bullet so I can shoot out to 150 yards if needed.

I spoke to an outfitter last spring. He does fly in trips to hunt moose. Native guides call moose to the shores of lakes and rivers. They hunt from boats. Instructions are simple. Shoulder shots to drop them. So a bullet with a reputation to hold together on shoulder hits.

Yes I reload. Am new to hunting with the 45 70.
Opinions please.

I'm not happy with any of the options Marlin offers. The Guide Guns shoot good, but even with a receiver, as a hunting gun the sight radius is too short. On the plus side, I definitely prefer the straight grip of the guide gun. If they wanted to make me happy, there are about 3 configurations that'd do the trick. A standard 1895 in blue or stainless, 22" barrel, but straight grip would do it. A 22" version of the cowboy rifle would as well.

IMHO, if you are worrying about relative trajectory, you shouldn't shoot a .45-70 at all. I don't think you'll gain enough trajectory flatness switching barrel lengths in .45-70 to justify the money you'll lose swapping guns. If you feel you have to trade, trade for something else.

Tom

.........Before you decide on what to do, go out and hunt with your GG and try it out first! You`re presuming that your 18.5" barrel length won`t get you enough bullet velocity for western hunting here out west compared to a 24" tubed XLR.

The 45-70 whether from an 18.5" barrel or from a 24" er, is a short to moderate range hunting cartridge. If your hunting ranges will exceed for the most part 225-250 yards, then it`s better to use use another cartridge.

As a scope suggestion, get a 2.5x FX2 Ultralite, mount it on your GG and go out and hunt with it. If you later feel you need the 24" er 45-70, you can transfer that scope over.

That extra 5 1/2" of barrel length will gain you some in the range dept. But if you find yourself needing more range, if it were me, I`d keep the GG and simply buy another rifle.

No "worries at all Tom, but thanks...

I would like to do some of my hunting with a 45 70.
I have seen and have taken enough game at the edge of daylight to prefer a scope.
I was thinking of a scope on my guide gun.

Or this deal on an XLR... Then having both.