I have owned a bunch of 45-70 rifles. Original Trapdoor Springfield rifles and carbines, original Winchester 1885, Browning 1886, and various Marlin 1895 configurations.
Cast bullet loads for TD pressures are easy to shoot. But the Marlins will take loads way beyond other rifles.
I still hunt with my 1880 Springfield TD carbine and the low level loads but in a Marlin lever (the only one capable of such loads) I find that a 300 grain Speer jacketed bullet over 52 grains of Re7 really stops them in their tracks. Recoils will be snotty....
My Springfield had a badly pitted barrel and I had it re-lined several years ago so I now shoot the low pressure loads but with 405 JSP bullets.
I have always found that jacketed bullets perform better on game than cast bullets. The soft cast bullets just punch a hole straight through while the jacketed bullets open up on the way through impacting more shock.
