Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The Phoenix Weaponry’s – “Christine” .45-70 Auto

I wouldn’t pay the 4800$ price, but I’m having an upper built. He’s built several over the years. Hoping to push 300gr Barnes TTSX 2400-2500fps. Making it pretty heavy so I can put a thermal on it. If it feeds well I’ll make a lighter carry version for daytime. Still waiting on a PSA upper to send it off. I’ll post up when I get it back.

It weighs nine pounds empty, that might help.

Definitely a niche weapon for those that want one 🙂

I’ll stay with my Shiloh Sharps in 45/70.

It screams "impractical".
They only used the 45/70 because of the name. It would have been far more practical to go with the 450 Marlin.

The world has gone crazy.

I don't know, but it seems they are half-steppin'.

How about an M1 Garand in 458 WinMag.

https://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/07/06/oood-mccann-industries-458-win-mag-garand/

Easier to take a AR-10 and rebarrel to .358 Winchester.
Reload and you can beat the 45-70 ballistics.

It would be way down on the list of guns I've just gotta have.....way down.

I’m waiting for full auto.

My Ruger #1 in .45-70 with a good handload is all I need if something really has to get DEAD RIGHT THERE in a hurry.

I looked at the .450 marlin, but brass was becoming increasingly impossible to find. I’ll never run out of 45/70 brass, and can cut the rim down myself on a lathe. Can also neck up .284 brass without fussing with the rim.

Somebody mentioned a .358win, but the 45/70 wins if you load it to full pressure. I also figured if a .358 bullet is good, a .458 is better😁 I considered the .358 and even .375-08, but it came down to finding a way to drive a bullet I already had a lot of confidence in.

A fully admit 45/70 auto is pretty impractical for most hunting scenarios. It certainly is for most of the hunting I’ve done. But it is likely a good fit for my specific need.

Last year I stumbled into an opportunity to help F&G fill depredation permits at night. Before panties get bunched, it’s only after non-lethal hazing has failed and in locations where using youth or disabled hunters isn’t appropriate due to a very thin margin of error. I’ve been using a 6.5CM AR10. Most animals fall within a few steps of where I shoot them. Unfortunately these fields are surrounded by thick, thorny, swampy brush. My second night out, 1 out of 3 made it into the brush about 50 yards. Luckily I had waders in my truck. An hour later as I drug it back out of the brush, I decided I needed something different. I also needed new waders as they leaked something fierce.

I’ve had very good luck with the 300gr Barnes TTSX. Our group has shot close to a dozen elk with our muzzleloaders the last several years, and all have ended up in a heap. That’s pretty unusual for a muzzy. I figured the same bullet going 500-700fps faster with quick follow up shots was what I wanted. My options were the .450 marlin, .458 Alpine/WSM or this 45/70. Looking at brass availability/forming, dies and reliability in an AR platform not to mention that my buddy’s gunsmith friend already had built several, it was an easy choice.

Since the meat gets donated, I also wanted to get away from lead fragmenting bullets. In general they produce the bang/flops I’m looking for, but they make a mess.

Hopefully I made a good enough impression that I get invited back next year, otherwise I’ll have a very impractical AR upper…😉 Unless hogs invade the PNW.

You’d also have to cut an extractor groove. I would want to ensure that a case originally designed to be rimmed would have enough material inside the case head so that extractor groove cut didn’t set the stage for disaster.

Looks like a candidate for a future episode of "Forgotten Weapons."

For sure. I talked to my gunsmith about this specifically. He’s split cases after he cut the rebated rim to measure thickness. If I tried a new brand of brass, I’d split another one to make sure I was comfortable using it.