As much as I like Winchester lever guns, I find the Marlin to be easier to disassemble and clean. They also are usually cheaper and their actions are tight and precise. The one thing I don't like as much is the Micro Groove rifling. Which is why I ended up with one that has Ballard rifling. Cast bullets are cheaper to shoot and depending on who you read, may or may not shoot well out of a Micro Groove barrel, ya got me. Many up here use cast bullets because of the bore size of a 45-70 and it is a proven killer for over 100 years with them.
I used 400 grain slugs up until this year and now use 350 grain Kodiak Custom Super Bonded heavy jacketed bullets instead of their 400 grain version. Hawk bullets offer many choices also. H322 has been my go to powder for many years and I just received 100 piece of new brass from Starline and have a thousand WLR primers, life is good.
Big bores are cool and we can always load them up or down to fit our needs, so that is reason enough to own one. On a 45-70, I want a pistol grip and a lever no bigger then the one offered by Ranger Point Precision. Big levers look cool, but I don't think they help in making the rifle shoot faster.
Other then a .22 rimfire, I have never scoped a lever gun that had an exposed hammer and a magazine tube. I always go with a Skinner or XS receiver sight and a flat post up front. I'm just old school, but there is nothing wrong with scoping one and if I hunted with mine it may be a good idea, my old eyes don't shoot 100 yard groups under 2 inches any more, darn it.
I carry my Marlin 45-70 more then any other rifle, but don't hunt with it as I use scoped bolt action rifles. We have big bears around here and the rifle carries easy, is powerful and if I do my part, it will also. When hiking, hanging out fishing on a salmon stream, camping, ATV riding, going for a ride in the truck with my wife, etc. The big 45-70 gets the nod at those times.
