Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 45/70 for elk?

I have a neighbor that wants to elk hunt with a
Winchester level in 45/70.
I need advice on what bullet to use.
I know there may be a better choice of caliber but
he is set on the lever rifle.
Also what range would be max for a clean kill?
He is very accurate out to 200 yds.
Thanks
Coach

350 grain hornady

It’ll kill elk very dead.
I shot one with a Shiloh sharps 1874 in 45/70, a good sized 6x6. One shot dropped in his tracks. It was a 405 grain jacketed, but I don’t recall the brand. The shot was about 80 yards. If he can hit the vitals, I’d say, stay inside 200 yards.

I used a Browning 86 reproduction and killed two bulls with it.Don't know if they are still available,but I think they were 405 gr Remington ,with 3031 powder.

I don't know about distance, I killed both of those bulls within 25 yards. I gave it up because it was too heavy to lug around. Keep them slugs heavy

Elk is why Winchester made the Model 1886 in the first place.
If you can find them, the 350 grain flat nose is a tough bullet that was designed for the 450 Marlin Express. The 350 RN is too long to cycle in levers, that I owned.
The 400 or 405 JFP does a nice job and can be loaded pretty heavy for the 1886 pressure levels. I find Re7 to be a great powder for such loads.

The 1886 Winchester was the first repeating “Buffalo” rifle. It was late to the game of the prime time buffalo slaughter but it did it's part at the end. The 45-70 is more than a match for any thing on this Continent. 300 Sierra, 400 Speer, RCBS 405 grain FN, and a 330 grain Lyman FN/HP are the bullets I use in my 86. The heaver the bullet the more it well thump you.

Pick a bullet then go shooting to see how it drops at any range you're likely to shoot at. It'll drop fast after about 100 yds so range estimation is critical.

i have killed 4 elk with the 45/70.
shooting a 350 hornady ftx. one shot drop.

he wants to use a 45 -70 let him it may work , but my thought is i might have a chance at a nice bull at 200-400 yards so i want a better long range cartridge like a 300 Win. mag or a 30-06 and a bi-pod i hunt to fill my tag not to be proud of what my rifle looks like.

Buffalo Bore 405 lays them right flat on their azz right now.

Flat nosed cast 400+ grains at full speed no problems out to 200 which is the range you say he is very accurate to. There are few 45-70 factory loads that would not work ok and the new ftx bullet load from Hornady is probably a good choice.

Just about any cartridge one picks has some limitations those good for 3-400 yards might be lacking at 600 yards or blow meat to hell at 50 yards.
The 45-70 is more than"may work". More elk are killed at less than 100 yards than those over.Muzzle loader hunters do well with most kills less than 100yards. Archers,although there success is usually half or more of other hunters get it done too.
If he wants to hunt open country ,then he might want to chose some thing else. For the closer stuff, there is little that the 45-70 gives up.

Besides the 45-70, I have hunted and killed elk with a 44 mag carbine and a 30-30 model 94. Both of them made one shot kills and I never felt under gunned

Handloaded or factory? His choice might need to be based on current availability. Lots of premium loads are normally available from Swift, Buffalo Bore and several others. The Swift A Frame 350 grain bullet is intriguing, but I agree that lots of choices would kill an elk. Sounds like fun.

Personally I'd load the 405gr Weldcore to 2000ft/s or whatever the gun will take. Out to 200y is reasonable with typical setups.

truth be told.... I wish I was bold enough to hunt with my .44 mag lever. it weighs about 4.5# and would have been AMPLE for the two elk I have killed (35 yards, 19 yards).

if your friend is committed to the 45-70, then I say good on him. the cartridge is plenty capable in 90% of the hunting that I do.

factory loads vary from pretty mild cowboy action loads to heavy whompum Buffalo Bore loads. I have no personal experience elk hunting with the 45-70, but I know enough about it's ballistics to know the round is more than capable.

I can’t imagine an elk would stop even the mild Remington 405 grain factory stuff. It is pretty much the duplicate of the old original black powder loading that killed countless buffalo.

I have a friend that uses a Marlin 22" with 350 Hornady round nose. Uses it as his saddle gun. Kills mule deer/elk, no problem. I also played with several Marlins and Browning 1886s. I I used the 350RN plus heavy cast bullets in the Marlin. I only used the then available Winchester 300 NP factory load in the Brownings. Back in the late 90s. I shot both to 300yds but never hunted with either. I have also personally found ( in my limited experience for sure) that 90% of the elk are found in 90% of the roughest country and 90% of the thickest part of the roughest country, ha. My "average" on 4 cow elk is 180 yds or so. Furthest one was 250yds ( still doable with a 45-70) one at 100, one at 200, one at 135, all "eyeballed distances too", no laser RF. ha. One sometimes has to pick the terrain that fits their equipment...or stalk a long ways like a bowhunter. A fast handling 45-70 is a "force to be reckoned with" for most shots. I love rifles so have played with many. I used a 30-06, 375H&H, 338WM and a 300WM on all my elk.

I have shot more elk with a 45-70 than any other caliber. All with a marlin and 350 gr Hornady

I have shot more elk with a 45-70 than any other caliber. All with a marlin and 350 gr Hornady

I used a Browning B-78 .45/70 the latter part of the last century. Took 3 elk with as many shots using a 525 grain swaged lead paper patched bullet with enough IMR-3031 for 1650 fps. Will never forget one morning, about 1993 IIRC, when it was lightly snowing and I got a 50 yard broadside shot at a 4x. At the shot, there was a spray of water all around him, he stumbled, and took 5 or 6 more steps and went down for good. As saddlesore said, I quit using it because it got too heavy. If I can ever make another elk hunt, I'll probably carry something like my .303 Savage carbine, Marlin 336, or Winchester '94 .30-30 carbine because of their handiness, loaded with a 190 grain cast bullet.