My buddy is going to be hunting some in southeast Ohio. He is looking at buying a rifle to hunt with there. He is from Tenn. and has a TC pro and was thinking of getting a barrel for that. Do any of you guys have any knowledge about these two calibers. How far would you be comfortable taking a deer with either of these rounds. How about accuracy.

45/70 for sure. Everything pertaining to the caliber is easier to come by and in a single shot he has lots of bullet options. I shoot cast or the 350gr Speer in my 1886 but for whitetail deer your friend would do well with the 325 FTX from Hornady. The Barnes 300gr TSX can be loaded to 2400fps if he wants a stouter bullet. The 300gr HPs from Sierra, Hornady, Speer, and remington are all good deer bullets as well.

I limit my shots to 200 yards with the 86 but that's using irons. With a scoped single shot it have no doubt that 250-300 would be doable pretty easily with some practice.

Another vote for the 45-70. If he doesn't handload, 45-70 Factory ammo will be cheaper and much easier to find at the local store. Plus there is a lot of variety available in Factory 45-70 ammo.

A 45/70 is a .458

A 460 is a .454

I he is guy who just wants to hunt, go with the 45-70. As pointed out previously, ammo is much easier to obtain and there are more choices for firearms.

On the other hand, if he is a handloading rifle loony of the first magnitude there are some pretty neat things you can do with the 460.

.452 not .454.....

He is a hand loader and a great shot. Ammo and component aside.
He is looking at accuracy and range for the deciding factory.

Having hunted in SE Ohio for years I recommend a 44 mag unless he really likes unnecessary recoil. Barring open fields, you will be hard pressed to find a place with a clear shot greater than 100 yds. After the opening volley of shots and/or the slamming of all those truck doors at o� dark thirty, there will not be a deer found in the open. Ohio deer hunting is simply not a 'long range' proposition,

The deer hunting here is getting progressively tougher in recent years (less deer and access being leased up). I am personally about to just stick with my bow. Unless people are pushing the deer, you just don�t see movement during daylight or outside of the multiflora rose tangles.

Another vote for 44 mag. In a rifle, with warm loads, it shoots plenty flat, and more is not required for deer. With the right load, you can zero at 150, and 250 yd is a good limit. Second choice would be the 460. There are many, many more good deer bullets in the 45 handgun cal than the 45 rifle cal, as most of the .458" stuff is heavy. .452" bullets can be had in lighter, and flatter shooting, weights. Brass is pricey for the 460 though. I'd not bother with a 45-70, given the above info. I do like 'em though, and big bullets at moderate speeds are fun, but not necessary for deer. If all the shots are going to be within 150 yds, it is a toss-up, except for price, then the 44 mag wins by a mile.

45-70 seems like a no-brainer to me. The 460 (45 Colt Xtra-Long) would be suitable by virtue of the fact that you do have some versatility since you can also shoot the 45 Colt (460 Short) and the 454 (460 Medium). (The last few years should be a reminder that common and versatile are factors worth considering when looking at new purchases - and I haven't seen much propellent that will make magnum revolver cartridges sing in recent months.)

He gets to hunt some bean fields and wants something that will give him the best chance at longer shots. Since they are now allowing these straight walled cartridges he is going to buy one of the 2 cartridges. He is only interested in longer range shots with accuracy. Cost of components or ammo not a concern.

I understand the desire to stretch your range, but I was trying to give some realistic expectations for Ohio gun season. There is no doubt that the 45/70 or 460 will shoot a little flatter.

He can sit on those bean fields, but the only deer he will see with a gun during daylight hours will be at full out sprint crossing from one thicket to another.

I am guessing there must be some caliber restrictions as there are a ton of better cartridges for deer than either of those, a 223 will do the same job if your hands don't shake when you see a deer.

Was recently looking at the Hornady .429 dia 265 grain tipped bullet for the .444 Marlin with thoughts of using it in a sabot for my muzzle loader. Your friend could probably get some very interesting velocity and trajectory with this combination in a long barreled single shot with not quite the recoil of the .45s

45-70 much easier to find ammo and very versatile.

How versatile do you have to be to kill a deer??

45-70 gives a slight edge also for bear encounters.

Yeah, I hear the griz have been rough on the bean fields in Ohio this year.

Why don't you tell me. I ask a couple questions about 2 different calibers straight walled cartriges. 45-70 vs 460 S&W. All pertaining to longer range accuracy on deer. If you got some info about the questions that would be great. I have heard the beans in Ohio are bitter and the bears don't like them so they stay out of the bean fields

Sorry for the humor. Was responding to the other guy not you. And the 45-70 is definitely more versatile if that's what he needs and will be better for bears if he encounters them. Just thought I'd throw in another option not considered for deer hunting at longer range where bears aren't much of a problem. Still may look up some of those bullets myself (actually.430 dia not .429). BC is about the same as the .458 325gr FTX but with 60 gr less weight and either is superior to the 300 to 400 gr flat/round nose .458 bullets if 200 yds + is what he wants. Good luck.

Got me.

My first thought regarding versatility between the 45-70 and 460 is that the 460 is going to be the more versatile of the two, by virtue of its higher pressure rating. I did a bit of research, and found out this makes less difference than I had first imagined. There are better bullets for deer to be had in .451/452" than in .458, but there are sufficient lighter bullets for relatively flat trajectory in the 45/70 out of a strong platform, with pressure in the mid 40's psi. Of course, 45-70 ammo will likely be cheaper to buy or make, and likely a bit more available than the 460 stuff.

One is not inherently more accurate than the other. The idea that certain rounds are inherently less accurate has been disproved. Straight-walled rounds are capable of fine accuracy. In the end though, as most things Loonie, it really comes down to what the guy WANTS, as both are capable of what he wants to do, and both require a modicum of skill to make long shots due to their rainbow trajectory beyond 200 yds.

Hard to go wrong with the 45-70. One of my favorite loads is the 325 FTX over 55g of 2015. 150yd zero puts it around 4-6" low at 200. That combo works extremely well on whitetail size game.

If he finds recoil to be harsh, he can always drop back to a 300 at around 1800fps or run the Barnes' 250.

I have no 45-70 experience. I do have a Ruger #1 in .460. Sighted it in 2" high at 100 yds with Hornady 200 grain factory. Six shot group, 2@100, 2@150, 2@200 was 2" wide by 3 1/2" tall. Flat enough for me.
I have a friend with a TC in .460 and a Marlin in 45-70 and he likes the .460 better past 150 yards.

I really have to wonder how some folks minds work. Or should I say don't work.



Basically every bit of this is wrong. I'd rather not have to type why.

The 45-70 is the obvious choice here, unequivocally, by far, not even close.

Larger case that shoots rifle bullets. Not low BC pistol bullets. Pressure is no issue here.....

Maybe you ought to look at actual said bullets and the 'high' BC .458 that will shoot 'flat' out of a mid 40'sKpsi catridge. Yeah, physics is stupid. I don't appreciate the insults that you won't even explain. So I'll just say that I hope you are surrounded by people just like you for the holidays.

One could use the 300gr ttsx boat tail designed for the 458 Socom and rid themselves of any doubts. The 300 TSX also probably has a decent BC insofar as light for caliber big bore bullets are concerned. The 350 Speer has a pretty aerodynamic shape as well considering it is a .458 dia bullet. The gummy tip 325 from hornady is also a "high" BC offering for the 45/70 though they are fragile IME, they'd probably still be dynamite on whitetails though.

I don't know what is available for "high" BC bullets in .452 but would doubt there is a cornucopia of offerings.

My apologies for being insulting Jason. Rest assured, it was not aimed solely at you.

The OP asked a simple question, and 80% of what he got back was garbage.......

there is so much 45/70 brass and dies around , is it really worth a little more performance?

Not sure what you mean. The 45-70 would be the easy choice, based on performance alone.....

The odvious difference is the relativce case sizes. The other less odvious difference is the pressure levels that each are loaded.
That means the .45-70 has to burn more powder to get the same velocity levels as the .460 with equal weight bullets. That means it will kick harder.
Can your buddy get the ballistics he needs with the .460 loaded at much higher pressures or does he need what the .45-70 can give him ? Loaded to nearly the same pressure levels as the .460, the .45-70 gets very close to the .458 Winchester in performance. E

Oh Ok, I thought the 460 had a bit of an edge then its a no brainer for the 45/70 unless you hunt in a state that doesn't allow that length of cartridge.

...and recoil.

For heaven's sakes were talking deer here. The real advantage of the straight walled pistol cartridges now being legal is getting away from the punishing recoil of the old school 12 gauge slugs. NO legal option is going to be anywhere near what could be considered flat shooting.

Yup - what he said makes the most sense to me.

The .460 is a proprietary handgun hunting round. Designed by S&W for their large frame revolvers and I would bet has expensive components to reload. heck for that matter the 45/70 is not that cheap to reload either. Brass is darn expensive ever since the cowboy shooters started using it.

What is wrong with the .308 ?

People around here wonder why I'm grumpy all the time

OP knows what a 460 is. He also stated the guy handloads and price isn't a concern. ALSO, a 308 is not legal........

I'm QUITE certain that is why he would like to maximize performance by going with one of said cartridges, and not use the 44 mag you recommended....