I finally tracked down a 45/70 barrel for my Thompson encore and I will get to hunt with it this year. Pretty excited to see how she does. What’s everyone’s choice for gun season for those that live in the straight walled cartridge states?

Winchester Timber Carbine 444.
My boys both use 45/70 Marlin lever guns.

.44 mag in a Henry lever.

I don’t own one those of calibers in that long rifle.

I do want a ruger M77/44. Nice gun. Do anyone of you guys have one?
I’m not worried about minute of three inches at 100yards. Do they function good. I haven’t owned
one so I’m asking for friend.

New stuff? I havent owned or shot a 45/70
How did your youngsters take the kick? Apparently your kids know how to shoot.👍🏻

His boys could be in their 30's, 6'4" and 250 pounds.

Lol. That’s what I’m saying!

Have you shot a 45/70 cartridge in any
type of firearm? I haven’t. But I want to.

You don't need these super 45-70 loads for deer. A simple trapdoor level load with a 325 or a 350 is all you need. I've killed three deer with the 325 grain FTX and 51.5 grains of 322. None of them did any more than stumble and go down when hit.

It's all how you load it. It can be a pussycat or a beast.

I think a 300 win kicks alot more than a 45-70, iv talked alot of game with the rem. 405 grain including bear and Buffalo!

I have a Buffalo Classic in 45-70 and with factory 300 grain it is almost pleasant to shoot. With 405's it gets a little more intense.

It's all how you load it. It can be a pussycat or a beast.[/quote]

Exactly correct.
I have a 46/70 Shiloh sharps and shoot 405 lead gas check bullets and RL7 powder. You can make it a very hard recoil gun or a reasonable recoil gun. I go with the latter. It’s physics, mass X velocity squared.

Having owned a Marlin 45/70 since the early 70's I can tell you that, depending on what load you're using, the kick can be fairly mild to somewhat uncomfortable or downright painful if you don't know how to handle a hard recoiling rifle.
For example, I once let a friend (6'5" and 310 lbs) shoot my Marlin. First shots were with 300 grain jhp factory loads (1800-ish fps). He liked shooting it and wanted more.
Next up were loads that pushed 405 grain soft points to over 2000 fps. He held the rifle loosely, like he was shooting a 22. The recoil ripped the skin on his shoulder a little and bloodied his t-shirt a bit. HUGE bruise on his shoulder. He has never shot that rifle/load again.
I'm 6' 2" and 250 lbs and find the rifle fairly pleasant to shoot with any load.
My kids started shooting it in their early teens and have had no problems handling the recoil from any of the loads.
You just have to hang on to it and treat it with respect.

There's no need to hot rod a 45/70. And, especially for deer, nothing to be gained by doing so.

I load 12 grains of Unique under a 365 grain cast bullet cast in a mold from Accuratemolds.com. It's very pleasant and will kill any deer that ever walked. I shoot it in a Marlin guide gun and a Marlin CBA octagon barreled rifle.
Good Luck,
Rick

I go back to Ohio to hunt deer with my brother. I'll stick with my old Remington 870 with slugs. I had a Marlin 444 but with today's prices it went away.

If I had to pick a straight wall cartridge it would be a 44mag, even a 357mag. Most shots by us are under 100yards, and only one stand allows for that. I've used 45-70 on deer before. It knocks them down, hard. It also makes a BIG hole and takes a lot of meat with it. Can you use 10mm? It's straight walled and there are a few semi-auto carbines options. That could be fun.

I can shoot a rifle and somewhat enjoy the heavy
recoiling rifles. 7mag .300rem mag. The
M2 browning…. It gave me a headache every time
I shot it.😉

I find the .243, .257, .30-30 to do what I
need. I do however like that boom and
recoil that gets my attention.

I haven’t scoped my eye, yet.
Have you?

Nope. Never scoped an eye.
The biggest guns I have shot were a 458 win mag and a 458 Lott. The Lott was not a pleasant gun to shoot.
That being said, the only gun that has ever given me a headache was a Remington 700 8 mm mag. The stock simply did not work for me. The stock shape and mine were mutually exclusive.
When I shot it, the gun would jump up and punch me in the face so hard that I immediately got a severe headache.
I shot it maybe 6-7 times and promptly sold it and bought a 340 Weatherby mk5 that, while being a bit more powerful, was a pussycat to shoot.
It was all in how the stock fits.

Bought a 350 Legend I’m gonna try this year.

I live across the river from you Buckeyes, so I did get a appropriate caliber just in case one of you guy s feels sorry for me some day and invited me over. I had to trade my 45-70 Marlin because I just couldn't make myself load it down to tame. I have a bad neck, and it hurt me, so I went down a notch. I now have a Marlin 336 in 38-55. It's like a baby 45-70, and doesn't hurt as much. They can throw from a 200 to a 260+ grain bullet. Plenty of thump for the deer woods.

Their Marlins are only a few years old.
My boys are 27 and 31. They shoot Hornady Leverevolution ammo, which is fairly stout. After shooting a friend's 350 legend, they're considering going that route.
Santa just might leave a couple Savage Axis rifles under the tree.