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I've got a Marlin 45-70. Great gun but I don't really lean on it, as far as ammo pressure goes. I typically run closer to trapdoor loads, or a little more.
If I were going to run a Marlin hot, I'd prefer the 444, as it has more steel around the chamber.
The 45-70s do let go now and then if one gets too adventurous.
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I've had a 444 Marlin around 30 years ago. I wanted to shoot cast bullets in it. It worked fine. Never tried jacketed bullets. I am buying my second 45-70 lever rifle (Win and Marlin). Both the 444 and the 45-70 will put a big hole all the way through a deer.
So, IMHO, it comes down to ammo availability. If you don't reload, you should for either of these cartridges.
A 35 Remington will kill deer very well too. Although I have cast bullet molds for 35, I'd use 200 grain jacketed on deer.
A 358 Win would be more powerful - enough easily for bigger game. Again I'd use jacketed bullets.
There's many many others that would do very well too. A BLR in 308 would make a lot of sense if you don't reload.
I prefer classic. Semper Fi I used to run with the hare. Now I'm envious of the tortoise and I do my own stunts but rarely intentionally
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Both good choices IMO--if whitetail is your game then both have more than ample power--my pref if given those two options would be 45-70--you can really take anything down with that venerable round. As for me, I like the 348 platform--only one choice of rifle but a great round--you can also hot rod it to a .458 or .510--yeah, fun to shoot the big bore levers!
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Joined: Apr 2008
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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I would like to mention that I shot a couple of deer with that 45-70 I had. I used the Hornandy 300 JHP's. Those bullets were running purdy fast, hence they acted like BlitzKings. I would have stepped up to the 350 grainers (stouter) but for deer, meh. Go 444.
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Joined: May 2002
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Speer 300 grain Unicor would've solved your problems with frangibility.
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I'd find me an old m71 in a 348 wcf. Then you have to find ammo, which right now is basically impossible. OP specifically said he doesn't reload. There's not even any brass for .348 right now.
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Joined: Sep 2016
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I've got a Marlin 45-70. Great gun but I don't really lean on it, as far as ammo pressure goes. I typically run closer to trapdoor loads, or a little more.
If I were going to run a Marlin hot, I'd prefer the 444, as it has more steel around the chamber.
The 45-70s do let go now and then if one gets too adventurous. The weak spot in the 336 action is not the chamber walls. The weakness is bolt thrust increasing headspace and stretching the action around the ejection port window. The lack of an ejection port on the Win 1886, along with the big locking bars, is the reason it can be loaded about 8-10KPSI hotter.
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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If you look at some of these examples of KB'd 1895s, it's pretty obvious where they let go. There is a weak spot at the chamber/receiver junction. In the grand scheme of things, that probably is the 'best' place for a first point of failure, to keep bolts out of skulls. https://www.google.com/search?hl=en...kaboom&imgrc=_&spf=1499189986100
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Joined: Sep 2001
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Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
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Hope I didn't seem argumentative, as I don't disagree wit the ejection port contributing to the overall weakness there.
Mostly just expounding on why I don't push the 1895 at all.
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