Anyone shooting a 450 Marlin on regular occasions? Im about to buy a 1895XLR in that caliber and was just curious what type of accuracy and also what type of rounds are they loading for them. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Just really wanting to know what kind of "out of the box" performance I can expect with this rifle.

I think you will get a lot of people telling you to get the 45/70 instead. I have one and it shoots great without any tuning at all. Check the lever action forum, this subject has been well hashed out there.

quote:

Originally posted by Brando:
Anyone shooting a 450 Marlin on regular occasions? Im about to buy a 1895XLR in that caliber and was just curious what type of accuracy and also what type of rounds are they loading for them. Any feedback is greatly appreciated. Just really wanting to know what kind of "out of the box" performance I can expect with this rifle.

I have both the Guide Guna nd XLR in 450 Marlin (and in 45-70 too).

You will get a lot of good info in the lever action forum but I can tell you that my two 450 Marlins shoot 1 1/2 groups all day long at 100 yards with factory ammo. can probably get better accuracy with handloads but I use them in the Catskills and there, whitetails at 50 yards is a long shot - more often much less than that.
Stay well,
Paul

Agree that you will probably get a lot of "Get a 45-70 instead." comments. I agree with that by the way!!!

BUT I have a Guide Gun and a Browning Lever in 450Marlin. Haven't done much at all w. the GG but the BLR will be going on a bear hunt in NWT Canada in May.

The BLR is a 5 shot MOA with 300gr TSX FN (the longer ones wont cycle) and IMR4198. The TSX can be a touch finicky but MOA is repeatable.

Mine very much likes the 405 grainers. Capable of 3 shot .5 groups w. Rem FN 405gr bullets and 4198. I have yet to try out the Beartooth Bullets in 405gr I just bought. Going to use H322 for those.

Only drawback to owning the 450Marlin over a 45-70 (and I own 3 45-70's) is the brass is costly and as of the last 8 months really tough to find. Good news is eve when running hotter loads the brass just lasts and lasts. I have 25 pieces that are loaded medium and have over 14 loadings so far.

The 450 marlin makes a lot of sense if you own any other 45-70 that can only be loaded to standard pressures, an ammo mixup could cause tears if you obliterate your shiloh sharps or springfield trapdoor.

That being said, the 450 marlin is capable of 45-70 accuracy and trajectory (assuming the 45-70s are loaded to marlin 1895 limits). I had a 450 guide gun when they first came out, the porting on the barrel made me get rid of it. Also, with the guide gun, the lever tends to dig into the small of your back when crawling through the bushes with your rifle slung. Never had any feeding issues though. I mostly used the 350gr JFP bullets and good success on black bears and pigs with it.

John

BBBH,

I spoke with Kirk Bryant recently, and his opinion based on testing, is that the Shiloh Sharps M1874 is as strong as a Ruger #1. I am not sure if I agree with that, but I have loaded my 45-70 with enough of that new-fangled non-smoking powder to get right at 1500fps with the 520gr Laser-Cast. Kills bison too...

Rich

I just want the 450 to be different...Im not worried about the cost of ammo cause I will roll my own anyways.

The main reason I want this gun is cause in the area of my new hunting lease it heavily populated with some rather large bears. And I want a small large caliber gun that could put a whoopin on him with a quickness if I needed it.

It was a toss up between the 45-70, 444 and 450. I have a small ego so I went with the largest caliber

I think you will be happy with your choice. The 450 isn't really bigger than the 45/70 though.

quote:

Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
BBBH,

I spoke with Kirk Bryant recently, and his opinion based on testing, is that the Shiloh Sharps M1874 is as strong as a Ruger #1. I am not sure if I agree with that, but I have loaded my 45-70 with enough of that new-fangled non-smoking powder to get right at 1500fps with the 520gr Laser-Cast. Kills bison too...

Rich

I would wonder about that statement too, I never really had good info on the 1874 breach max pressure. 1500 ps at 520 should do the job just fine. I have always pandered after the 50-90 myself, but that is another story.

John

They tend to be more accurate that most shooters can hold a levergun ..

the 450 marlin does one thing, GREAT, and that is being a hot loaded 45/70 ... so if you ever become seperated from your high proof ammo, you can go over to walmart and get more, without a real issue.

great round, really nice in lever guns, and an interesting hornady/marlin development ... the guys did great on it ...

you should be able to get more or less moa or so with it, to answer your question, with a decent recoil pad installed, with factory ammo .. might be 2 moa, but heck, 3-4 moa is more than deer huntable.

I have an XLR and up till now have only shot 300g & 350g bullets… frankly all of mine were at paper.

I have recently loaded 400g Speers but have not shot them yet.

My oldest son however has taken some medium hogs with his with 300g bullets.

I do love the round and am a firm believer in it.

You will find however, it does provoke a … rather … strong negative response from 45/70 folks.

I just recently bought a 1895M, and will be doing some load development soon. Got some 350gr Hornady and 400gr Speer bullets. I will be using RL7 initially.

try aa2230 works well in my boltgun 450marlin clint

Warning Hornady Reveloution ammo----
Recent experience this past weekend, I have an
1895 Guide Gun in 45-70 used primarily for hogs.
Have used the plastic tiped Revelution ammo with good accuracy. Tipically carry the gun in my pickup with the magazine loaded. Current ammo in the gun is one year old and been in the magazine for 6 months. I discovered that the plastic tips will harden with age and indent the primer in front of it if left in the magazine. No Blowups but a bad deal, riding around in the truck the last 6 months all primers in the magazine were significantly dented. Please DO NOT leave your magazine loaded with Hornady plastic tipped bullets.
Lucky One,
Tetonka

quote:

Typically carry the gun in my pickup with the magazine loaded. Current ammo in the gun is one year old and been in the magazine for 6 months. I discovered that the plastic tips will harden with age and indent the primer in front of it if left in the magazine.

This is bad news indeed. Perhaps you could call and follow up by sending them the damaged ammo. That would be a great benefit to the shooting community. I hate to see and accident, anyone get hurt, or Hornady suffer legally. Damn shame is we loose the only company to cut the shooter a break on DG ammo costs.

I have levers in 44, 3030 and 4570. I am perfectly happy to live with iron(peep) site medium range performance. I have plenty scoped bolts for long range shooting. What I mean to say, is Hornady should consider dropping the whole idea of pointy ammo for tube magazines.

I have a 1895M (450) a couple of 1895Gs and a GS in 45-70 and a #1 in 45-70. Handload for all, and can load them all hot enough to make your eyes vibrate for a few seconds after pulling the trigger.

Only real advantage I can tell between the Marlins is that the 450s pass through the loading gate easier - maybe due to not having the larger diameter of the rim. The GS is micro-grooved and as long as I shoot standard .458 jacketed and .459 cast they all just shoot fine, be it micro groove or Ballard.

All have been blooded in Africa on plains game with 300gr Nosler PP and 405 Rem and 300gr Rem hollow points.

Not intending to stir up anything with this next comment but I know it will....published loading tables show that a max loaded 300gr jacketed projectile in a 45-70/450 will reach a min loaded 300gr jacketed projectile in a 458 Win mag. Again, not advocating one over the other as each has their place and nominal game use - just pointing out the levels 45-70/450 can reach.

I picked up a Marlin 450 model 1895MXLR a few weeks ago. Ordered it off Gunbroker and had my father pick it up...He says it kicks like a pissed off mule, but the deer he shot with it done 2 kart wheels and never made a twitch after that...