Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers New 45-90

Local shop had a new Winchester 45-90 for sale today.

1886 model of course.


Instead of the usual set up it has a fairly light weight round barrel, a full length magazine, and rather plain wood. The receiver is driller for a sight as well.

Typical crescent butt.

They are asking 1250 for it.

Anyone have this rifle?

Any reason to want a 45-90 if you have a 45-70?


Thanks.

Sounds like a cool rifle Jim.. You should have it!!!!!!

Yeppppp, you should have it. No reason needed.


Vic
Va chapter Enablers International.

Go buy it. Damn those crescent stocks though.

I have a 1886 in a 45-70, a Marlin in a 45-70 and a high wall in 45-90. I probably shoot the 45-90 the most. My bucket list includes shooting a bison with the 45-90. Of those three, I think the 45-90 is the most accurate, but that probably has to do with the rifle, not the cartridge.

Well, thanks to you guys the rifle is on layaway now!

Time to go get me some black powder!

Sounds like a rifle that deserves some photos here!

Alright!

Always wanted one, you will be glad you bought it!! and 15 years from now you can pass it down to your son!

Glad you got it SlimJim, a man cant have too many lever action rifles, I must have a dozen or so around here, I love em, check the twist on that 45-90, if it will stabilize em, get some 500 gr flat nosed grease groove bullets lubed with black powder lube, and 30 thou Walters card wads, a set of dies and a 45 cal powder compression die, you'll be set for anything in conus.

Old Eynsford FFG black powder will give you all the power, range and punch you'll ever need.

You'll never regret this purchase trust me !

The website lists the twist as one in 20.

Is that fast enough?

Hell yes, perfect, you can order bullets, wads, brass, and dies at Buffalo Arms.

BOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!

Thanks Gunner!



Those rifles look great Flem.

Yo welcome Big Jim.

Really nice!!

Speaking of nice, you should see how pretty FlyboyFlems bullets are that he casts, damn nice work, mine are hard, smokey grey and ugly.

For the record, the .45-90 does very well with smokeless powder and factory .45-70 or .45-90 ammo.
Also, the curved steel butt plate does not hurt at all if shouldered/ mounted properly + it looks really cool.
Mine has Marbles tang peep AND Marbles folding barrel sights. This combo has been an effective hunting setup for me.


Mine is a Miroku/Winchester 1886 TD with 26 inch octagon barrel and it stabilizes 300 - 450 grain jacketed bullets well. I bought it to hunt big game and have never bothered with black powder. The few 325 cast bullets I loaded and shot were OK.
Using a variety of hand loaded ammo, it has taken critters from Blackbuck to Black Death(3) and ele.

It is a great cartridge that can be loaded for plinking or DG.

Shoot it a lot and enjoy.

Thats a nice looking rifle.


Try and try....read all the tips and tricks....but for the life of me I cant get a crescent butt to fit comfortable. I will try again.

On my Miroku 45-70 I shot it with a Galco leather slip on butt pad for a while.

Worked pretty well. Jerry sold me some carbine style furniture that I inletted and use that now.

I still use the Galco pad because it gets the LOP out there where it is better. These 1886's are an inch too short!



What were the 450 grain jacketed bullets you used? Does your rifle have a long throat?

Jim,
Thanks -- not bad for the entry level no frills rifle - I bought the rifle to hunt and not for fancy so that I would not be afraid of messing up nice checkering or engraving. It has had it's share of hard knocks, including falling from a moving hunting truck onto a gravel road in some country north of RSA. However little scratches and dings in metal and wood can be smoothed out - so long as it still shoots straight - which it does.

A couple of range sessions with standard ammo convinced me to NEVER shoulder the butt like a shotgun. However I just tuck the bottom tip of the metal butt plate into the arm pit and all is well. The rifle rotates up and then back down - no brainer. Other folk place the crescent on the upper arm just above the biceps and that works for them. Try these with cowboy action ammo and see which works best for you.

Bullets?
For any big things like Kodiak brown bear, all buffalo, etc, try the Alaska Bullet Works Kodiak bullets made for .45-70. We used the heaviest jacket version. A very stubby bullet that makes room for more powder. Any lesser bullet is, well, just less.
You can load these to any velocity you like, but for Africa, we had our .45-90 (26 inch barrel) loaded to 2150 fps by Grizzly Cartridge and they may have used a proprietary powder. These shot through all bison and water buffalo and some cape buffalo with moderate expansion without breaking the FMJ.
For ele frontal brain shots, we used solids from Northfork and Punch bullets. The latter is now loaded in .45-70 to over 2000 fps by Grizzly Cartridge if you need them. Frontal brain shots from both the Punch and NF at 2000+ fps shot through the ele head and into the body and had to be cut out for examination.
For leopards and little stuff, the Nosler Protected Point bullets at 2200 fps MV ( max MV so as to avoid too much expansion and little penetration) are devastating. This same bullet at 1850 fps is also devastating on deer and elk sized critters. One shot kills save bullets. One memorable white tail buck shot at 110 yards ran for 100 yards before it realized it was dead. The PP took out two ribs going in and four going out; very little blood left in that carcass.

BTW, this experimentation was part of a larger bullet testing project for .45-70 and .45-90 1886 rifles. And was reported daily from the field on Leverguns.com forum. If you are interested, I can provide you a link.