Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers 1895, 45-70 load for a bear hunt

Yes, The loads we are shooting are a bit jumpy off the bench! I have gotten some strange looks while at the range . No one takes me up on the chance to shoot a few rounds from the 1895! At least after they see me shooting it! I do have a weaver. 1 to 3 power scope that would work on this rifle but it just seems to want to wear the XS peep and go to newfoundland to look for a bear. I think the peep will be bright enough for most of the shooting opportunities that would be presented there. Since I cannot use a rifle here for deer hunting,shotgun only, I cannot think of a better gun to take upnorth with me.

I have used my 1895 (first model circa 1972) for Bear and have been quite successful with 53 gr 3031 / 400 gr Speer flat point , Devastating on Bear , but you won't want to shoot it in a T shirt !!

I am going to sell this rifle , Look for it over on the Classifieds in a few minutes

Here's what a bear looks like after encountering a Speer 400gr SPFN at 1,730 ft/sec. That's the entrance and exit holes that you're looking at!

Yeah, buddy! And these guys try to tell us that a 45-70 doesn't have real horsepower. Properly loaded, a 45-70 will hammer anything on the planet. Thanks for posting that picture.

Looks like some of the far shoulder came outta there !!
Last Boar I shot with the 400 gr entered in his nose , right next to his eye , coming up a cliff right at me ;
NO EXIT wound !!
When I ripped him up , there was NOTHING identifiable from brisket to bunghole !! Just one huge cavity of sloppy joe !!
He never twitched , kicked, shuddered ,er nothin'.
Looked & looked , but no bullet fragments were found !
Well , I didn't go thru that mess with a sieve !
My rifles for sale on classifieds ,Early straight grip Western style gun

that is an awesome picture!, However if that was a deer I would be concerned about losing so much meat. that 400gr speer is a hammer! Does anyone have advice on what I can do to get my rifle ready for this hunt, Last time my friends went it rained every day. my rifle is blues and wood stocked. I assume car wax on the blues parts and lin seed oil on the wood part inside and out. At the end of each day of hunting a good wipe down with dry rag? any thoughts would help a lot. Thanks MB

If I were to use this bullet on a whitetail I'd just place it BEHIND the shoulder. Any 45-70 bullet in the shoulder of a deer is likely to make quite a mess.

As far as hunting in the rain - when on stand I use a Porta-roof umbrella and keep everything dry. For spot & stalk, good luck. LOL

One would assume an ideal shot placement on game you are going to eat (that probably would'nt eat YOU) would be in the ribs for a heart /lung shot , however on a Bear of any color, I think that picture displays a most definite bullet performance to ANCHOR a threat to the shooter's well being !!
I'm thinkin' a serious amount of shoulder bone shrapnel contributed to that horrendous exit hole !
I wouldn't hesitate to use My load (400 gr speer Flatpoint
53 gr 3031 @ 1900fps on Brownies or Griz'
My Gun w/ a Quantity of New Handloads is for sale over on Classified page , Check it out . Thanks

I agree with you on things that could chew on you! I wonder how bad off the hide was after such a shot? Maybe all that damage stayed on the inside and there was only a thumb sized exit in the hide. I would still have to go with anchoring shot just to sure, and be alive to worry about the hide later.

Montanna Marine, thanks for your tip on fixing the XS peep sight windage screws. I followed your advice and the mod worked like a charm! I also switched out to the smaller appeture. Thanks to you I am headed back to the range to continue load development and sight in. A sore should awaits!! Thanks Mike

Cool!

Cs2blue ,
I just reread your prev' post on the 1895 45-70
I have found that an aperature screwed into the sight can be helpful in sighting in , however when in the pursuit of any game , REMOVING the screwed in aperature is of great benefit !
Used as recommended , the sight will be the fastest in the woods .
The human eye will find the center of that threaded hole all by itself ; The last thing you need to do is try to help it !
If you have a Gold bead front sight , BLACKEN IT , throw that Bead on your game , while looking thru & past that hole , and your eye will do the rest !!

Good hunting !

That pic makes me feel better.

The ole 45-70 is a stoner fer sure.

Gunner

I thought you would appreciate that once you saw the picture.

Bettin my fist would easily fit that exit wound, sure to take some major starch out of the bulls and bears.

Gunner

This thread makes me remember Elmer Keith.

Big ole bullets at modest velocity will do the job, as always.

I sorta went the other way. I use TSX 250's at 2,550 fps (Barnes 1895 load with Vv N120) in my "primitive" deer gun, an 1895 BPCR. That load will work in an 1886 or Marlin 1895, I have both.

last Fall, it blew through a whitetail, devestating the heart and lungs. I think it would do a job on a bear.

DF

can't say I agree with blackening the gold bead on a front sight for hunting bear.

at the intended ranges you spoke of hunting over bait using the rifle on a black bear, I'd be inclined to fret a bit about that front sight having a tendency to disappear in that dark hide which certainly would not aid in shot placement from the way I see it.

add low light to the equation and it'd give me pause before I decided to black out that front sight.

one of our guide guns is set up with a tritium insert fs and I'm not so certain that they won't all be, eventually.

yeah the dang things are spendy, but then so are guided hunts, at least that's what all the clients told me over the years.

full disclaimer, I've not ever blackened any of my front sights and often times those sights are plain black on some of the levers we own.

but for this application it just seems counter intuitive, to me anyways, to black that sight out.

hope you bag a big'un. You've chosen a great rifle and cartridge for your application ime.

I load 405 Bullet Barn gc cast to 1985 fps and 525 gr Bear Tooth Pile Drivers to 1650 fps out of my Marlin guide gun ! Bears never run very far if at all with either of these loads ! RJ

i bought marlins in 45-70 and 450M on a recommendation from a friend. he said they're good for evening hunts so there's no tracking! i haven't even shot them yet, but i guess i stumbled on a great gun. i've hunted lever guns for years, but always 30/30 which is plenty for small whitetails at 50 yards like i usually see. thanks for all big bore levergun info.