I own and have owned Marlin 1895's in 45-70 for about 30 years and my current one that I have had for about ten years is a customized octagon barreled one with a Skinner receiver sight and a 21" barrel. It will probably be my last one. Loaded with a heavy dose of H322 and 400 grain bullets it is surpassed in recoil only by my light weight side by side 12 ga. shooting 600 grain 3" Brenneke Black Magic Slugs. Neither one are much fun to shoot from the bench. I guess true big bores start at .40 caliber and the .33 to .375 are medium bores.
Short barreled 45-70 lever guns look cool and are easy to carry, but the fun stops there since depending on the load they can recoil bunches, especially with the straight stocks many have. Make mine with a pistol grip please.
A friend of mine recently had a Win. made up as a 38-55 and it is no slouch. For hunting East of the big river and down south in thick woods, I would think a good .35 Remington would suffice and be more fun shooting. Especially if it would shoot lighter weight cast or jacketed hand gun bullets ok.
I recently purchased a .356 Win. and when it arrives I will probably end up shooting it more often then my 45-70 because it won't recoil as much and it is new to me.
