Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Recoil: 338 Win Mag vs 45-70 Govt?

Anybody shot both of these in stiff loads with heavy bullets, with the .45-70 in something like a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun at seven pounds and change with Alaskan style handloads, and the .338 in say an eight pound bolt action with e.g. 250 grain partitions?

What were your impressions of the rifles' recoil manners relative to each other?

Have both and love them both.. have a Marlin ABL... Basically the SBL everyone is so crazy about except in Blued... the 338wm is a Sako AV. Personally I fell the 338wm more than the 45-70... the 45-70 is a heavy gun but has a better pad on it... to me the 338wm has a more sharp punch in some ways that the 45-70. Honestly, the 338 probably kicks more than any other gun I own which includes a 375H&H

A 338 with a decent 1 inch recoil pad isn’t as uncomfortable as my 45-70 with a straight stock and steel butt-playe.

Same . I find th 338 has less severe recoil then a 300 win mag and much less then a 300 weatherby.

I have both calibers. 338 is a Tikka 695 SS bolt and the 45-70 is a Marlin Guide Gun, both scoped. With heavy 400 grain handloads loads the 45-70 is downright painful to shoot off of a bench rest. The 338 not so.

With anemic factory loads or 300 grain handloads the 45-70 isn't as bad.

10 rounds of Buffalo Bore 430 gr out of my Guide gun is all I want to handle, I can usually get 20 rounds of 250 gr grand Slams out of my 77 Ruger . I don’t shoot the 45-70 much, carry gun when out with Grand Kids.If I had to shoot 10 rounds each day ,my 416 Rigby in 77 Ruger would be more pleasant .

I had a Shilen DGA 338WM, McMillan stock that fit ME, all 8+ #s, full house with 250 or 300 grainers was a dream to shoot, and it shot the 300 Barnes Originals amazingly well....

My 1895 Marlin Cowboy Gun, 26" Bbl with 510g paper-patched lead at 1600fps, was an a hammer at the range, sitting or standing it would tag you....

Mathematically my Marlin 45-70 GG ( 430’s @ 1800) is near identical ( maybe a pound or two less) to my wife’s 9.0 pound .338 WM! But, it feels a bit different, her .338 seems to “jab” a bit sharper! memtb

So, to me it really depends on the rifle. I’ve got a straight stocked Marlin 45-70 that is way more unpleasant than any .338 I ever shot. On the other hand, I have a Uberti 1886 with a pistol grip stock that is fine to shoot. And measured against it, I find the .338 more unpleasant.

Depends how you load them. Most of my 45-70 are loaded with 500 gr ppb's and black powder. Although you sure wouldn't care to use my 86 lwt rifle with 400 grain jacketed and 3031 very many shots a session. The 338 win mag is.a miserable bitch if you shoot much and are trying to enjoy it...hey you asked.mb

Rifle type is a huge factor.

Levers are not great for recoil.
Some bolt action stocks shapes are poorly designed
Standand stock dimensions aren't right for everyone

The trend is ultalight rifles. Then people wonder why their gun beats them up and they can't shoot it well.

Put a 338 in a 10 pound gun with a good stock properly sized to the shooter and a good pad, and it shouldn't be a bad kicker

Truth ^^^^^

I agree with everything said above, 338 is sharper, faster recoil impulse while the 45-70 is slower. Stock design is paramount in helping reduce felt recoil.

The GG will chew up the fingers before the 338 in a decently fitting stock hurts your shoulder....

The Ruger No.1 45/70 has a tendency to do both.

I've owned and shot several of each with the "hottest" loads they could safely handle. As already mentioned: It depends on too many variables to be pontifical about one over the other. I've owned and used three .338 Win Mags, one of which became a .340 Wby by a rechambering job, and it had a 26" barrel. Top hunting load was a 250gr NP at 3000 fps (I shot a bull moose with that load.) Because of the carbon-fibre stock and long barrel (and 1000 rounds) I could shoot it as well as my .223.

The various 1895 Marlins (including one GG) in .45-70, on the other hand, could become unpleasant at the bench firing a 465gr hardcast at 1900 fps, IF I spent too much time doing that! So, once I had my load I got off the bench. That same load in a single-shot NEF was more pleasant to shoot, though it was about 1-pound lighter than the Marlin. Both were very accurate. I shot a very good bear with that 465gr hardcast from the NEF. The recoil was fast but not unpleasant. In fact, recoil has never been in my mind when shooting a game animal with one of my "big bores", because I shoot them often. I haven't shot "small bores" for a couple of decades, except for my .22LRs for practice at the range - often alongside my .458 Win Mag.

Currently I've 86 years + four months at 165 lbs, and working on handloads for a very light .35 Whelen.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Some of my favorite rifles are the No.1 Rugers in .458-caliber. I've owned three in .45-70, the last of which I had my gunsmith give a long throat to (LT) so monolithic bullets and the heavy 450s and 500s could be safely used. That Ruger No.1 became not only my favorite rifle, but my favorite hunting rifle for twenty years! It was the equal of a .458 Win Mag with top loads from a 22" barrel (500gr Hornady @ 2200 fps). I shot a bear with that load, but eventually settled on 300gr and 350gr TSX's for all hunting.

Nearly 4 years ago, I exchanged the Ruger #1 in .45-70 LT for a Ruger No.1H in .458 Win Mag because the .458 was 2 lbs heavier and had the Mag-Na-Porting. I needed a heavier rifle with ports to reduce felt recoil, without a loss of ballistics, because of arthritis in hands and shoulders, plus having only one good eye that had the lens replaced.

My advice is, therefore, that the individual must decide on their comfort level, or tolerance, of recoil from a given rifle and cartridge. Also, their experience is a major factor. If they've been mostly shooting cartridges in the class of a .270 Win, for example, going to a true Big Bore (including Marlins in .45-70) is more than just a step up... it's more like a couple of steps, or one giant step up in not only felt recoil, but it's another world in learning to handle that kind of force and weight in actual hunting conditions.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Shot Muffin's .338 (pussy cat) and his .45-70 (orangutan). My .45-70 is named Thumper for a reason.

I have both,a Marlin 1895G guide gun with the straight grip stock and a push feed model 70 338. I shoot the 325 grin Hornady Leverevolutions factory loads in the 45/70. My load for the 338 is 68 grains of imr4831 with a speer 225 gr boat tail spire point in the 338. In my opinion it's 2 different kinds of recoil. The 45/70 is more like a slow hard push. The 338 is a fast jab into the shoulder kind of hit. They both will get your attention pretty quick if you ain't holding em right. So to me it's like comparing apples to oranges.

I have done this, but with a Browning 1886 Carbine. Steel butt plate. 400g bullets at 2000 fps. Smartened up real quick and put a Sims slip on pad on it. Even with that pad I would rather shoot my .338 WM with 250s @ 2660 fps. I have since reduced the velocity in the 45-70.

Recently bought a Marlin SBL 45-70. It's the pre Ruger SBL. Shooting Hornady Lever Revolution the rifle recoil is mild IMO. My son is 15 and his way to describe the recoil is "it's a hard push rather than a sharp hit like with our bolt actions."

I've got limited experience shooting a .338 Win Mag, but to me the 45-70 recoil is milder, it's just different, more like a hard push.