1895G 45-70 any advice for a new owner?

Hey guys: I am picking up my 1895G (Guide gun) in 45-70 tomorrow. I'd love any advice on how to baby it and make it reach its full potential. Got a good source for peep sites or a slip on recoil pad? How about a favorite hand load or story about how each brand of factory ammo does in your 1895G? Better yet, how about some stories of how the rifle and your favorite (or least favorite) .45-70 load did on game? I want to learn all I can from those of you have have experience. Thanks, Mike.

Don't have the Guide Gun but have been shooting the 1895T (22" bbl) for over 20 years. Got lots of load data and have used alot of different bullets and loads on game. What are you specifically interested in, inexpensive rounds that perform well or relatively expensive rounds that are absolutely astounding? I just worked up 300gr X-bullet flat point loads last week that are amazing on wet and beginning to freeze phonebooks. Will try them on deer next fall. Oh yeah, install a Pachmayr Presentation Deaccelerator on it you won't be dissapointed.[This message has been edited by jackfish (edited February 07, 2001).]

I've had a Guide Gun for a year or so. I put a Lyman peep sight on it. I am tall and thin. The stock seemed too short for me. My thumb would smack me in the nose once in a while. I also noticed the peep sight had to be cranked up pretty high to be on at 100yds. In fact I was lifting my face off the stock slightly to look through the peep. I had a leather comb pad from Cabelas that I bought for a shotgun years ago. I laced it on the Marlin and now my eye lines up perfectly with the sight. It also raised my nose out of harms way so I may not need to put in spacers. Try this for additional information: <A HREF="http://www.sixgunner.com/paco/450marlin.htm" TARGET=_blank>http://www.sixgunner.com/paco/450marlin.htm</A>There is good stuff about 45-70s as well as the new .450Good Luck------------------ Rick

I have an 1895SS with the Lyman peep sight, and I would agree with what mercedvh says about the Lyman sight. It sights up very high and looks pretty fragile. If I had it to do over, I wouldn't get the Lyman peep. A good stout looking sight would be the peep sight from Ashley, or from Wild West Guns.As far as loads, I've been using 51 gr IMR 3031 behind a remington 405 grain. Shoots pretty accurate, but never taken a shot a game.Have fun,Neil

Mike, I have a WWG peep on my co-pilot and I love it. Its protected and adjustable. It was by a former friend and te front fiber optic was broke off but the peep came through with flying colors. As for loads I havent really worked up a good handload yet

I have a 1895ss and the load I used on whitetail this year was 63 grains of Varget behind 300 grain Hornady very accurate in mine. I am waiting for my order of 350 grain FN Hornady so I can work up a good accurate load. I am going to try them on Elk this year. You're gonna love the 45-70, it's fun to shoot.......deadeye

Thanks guys. That link was great Rick, and I'll definitely be looking at peep sites so your experience is appreciated. I'd love to hear more too. My rifle was delayed a day by a snow storm. It is somewhere between NJ and here and we expect 4-6 inches of snow then a few hours of freezing rain, but c'mon guys that's my new Marlin in there. Just tell me where it is and I'll meet you on the road side if I need to! Any input on factory ammo other than the obvious idea that it isn't as stout a load as what I can hand load when I get set up for that? I'll be using factory loads for the first few months of plinking but expect to hand load for hunting. Thanks again, Mike.[This message has been edited by Mssgn (edited February 08, 2001).]

The Remington 405 factory load is a good old load that has dropped it's catch of game, probably more so then any other factory load. The old 405 at 1300 is one tough cookie, pushing it faster is only icing on the cake. It will work. Thats whats good about the 45-70, it will take game with a hundred year old load. ~~~Suluuq

A friend of mine used Federals with Sierra 300gr HP until I worked up the loads for his rifle. He was getting 2" groups @ 100 yards in his 1895 SS. So I tried them in my 1895T (microgroove) and was amazed I shot 1.5" groups with them. Listed muzzle velocity is 1880fps. Most Marlin 1895s will shoot better with the 300gr bullets for some reason.

A 405 grain LBT from <A HREF="http://www.beartoothbullets.com" TARGET=_blank>www.beartoothbullets.com</A> specifically designed for the Marlin chamber. Put over 53 to 56 grains of H322 and go get yourself a moose or anything smaller. You might also want to check out the Ashley Ghost Ring rear and front sight setup. I put a Leupold 1.75X6 on my. Happy hunting.------------------ Allen

THANKS ALLEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have 1895SS so not exactly a guide gun...but maybe can qualify as its larger brother (barrel length..haha) I have a williams gunsight ghost ring peep on rear and fiber optic on front...supported with factory loads get about 3-4 inches out of 4 shot string. Do not reload yet so rely on factory loads for general shooting...and Garret 420 grain Hammerheads for hunting..only one word to describe his loads...AWESOME!!!!!! Have a 1 inch nylon sling and all is about what I want...I need more time on range to really shoot some and get my confidence up on shots over 100 yards...but I love her. Oh, when cleaning the weapon and you remove the lever and bolt....don't drop the ejector accidently...you will know it when you try to eject your first shell after firing and can not get that quick follow up shot...LMAO....luckily it was on the floor of my dads weapons room still and my mom kept it until I went out to visit them again...whew! Good luck...------------------ keep em sharp,ron herman

I have the 1895SS with the Ashley Peep Sight on it. The only thing I don't like about the sight is that it sits up too high. I am going to remedy that with my file on the front sight. My gun shoots the Remington factory stuff pretty ho-hum. What it absolutely loves though is the Speer 400gr FN with 30gr of AA XMP-5744. I couldn't believe the first group I shot with that load... all three holes touching. I have yet to chrono it but according to the books it should somewhere around 1400-1500 fps... plenty for our whitetails around here. I can't wait to get a shot at a deer with it. -kgonzo

In my opinion the 405gr Remington bullet outperforms the Speer 400gr. It expands better and holds together better. Tested in wet phone books the 405gr Remington at 1900fps mushrooms to over an inch in diameter and retains 98 percent of its weight when the Speer can muster a .88" mushroom and 79% weight retention. Because of the higher weight retention the Remington penetrates deeper than the Speer also. I wouldn't use it on big bear though, a hard cast lead would be better for that. The Remington 405gr costs 16 cents apiece in lots of 1000 (might as well you'll love shooting them). I load it to a little over 1900fps on top of 55gr of H322 and CCI-350 magnum large pistol primers and Remington brass. Best 5 shot group was 1 1/8 inches, 3 shots .9". I can push it slightly over 2000fps with a max load of 56.5gr of H322, but groups suffer. At 1900fps it is at least a 200 yard elk round in competent hands. Not bad for a 128 year old. And as always, any load listed here is known only to be safe in my rifle.[This message has been edited by jackfish (edited February 15, 2001).]

It seems to me that I saw from somewhere else that the Remington 405 expanded better than the Speer 400. I loaded the Speers because I received them along with the rifle from the seller. My pa-in-law has a bunch of Remingtons that I load for his trap-door, I think I might have to "borrow" some of them to see how they work also. -kgonzo

1895 G/modified from 45-70 to 457 wildwest mag. Had wildwest also put deaccelerator pad on/medium loop lever/parkerize/trigger job/ lever action tune/and had local put Ashley Ghost Ring w/front fire site blade on it.I use 457 mag bullets with 350 gr Kodiak bullets made here in Juneau Ak. Loaded by HSM for wildwest in montana. Shot 5 Sitka blacktail so far. I'm looking for a co. named DRC who suposedly make the tracker T-D by adding a full length mag tube (5 in the tube)and you can push a button turning the barrel a 1/2 turn and load directly into the tube without the bullets falling out. If anyone has heard of them let me know. Hey this setup has increased the enjoyment 100 fold. BTW cool thread. Oh yeh you can still use factory 45-70 ammo in the 457 wildwest mag------------------ kootz[This message has been edited by akmusk (edited February 16, 2001).]

keep 'em coming guys. I'm learning! Thanks, Mike.