I inherited a Marlin 1895 GBL in 45-70. It has a big loop, beautiful gun. I took it to the range and didn't get the results that I was looking for. Can anyone recommend upgrades so as to make it shoot tighter groups?
I'm looking to use it as a Hog Gun and I prefer to get my gun in the condition that I need so that it can perform.
Thanks for your time gentlemen.

Well a good place to start is with the loads you fed it. Just try something else and see what it does. What kind of accuracy were you getting?

I am getting 6 inch groups. Every now and then I hear of people getting their Lever Actions worked on. One of them is putting a peep sight.
I didn't know if crowning the barrel would help as well.

6 inch groups at 50 yards

Open sites? If so (and not to be rude at all), how comfortable/proficient are you with them? 6" groups off of the bench, or off hand?

You also said inherited, has the bore been cleaned?

My 1895 clover leafs three rounds of factory 300gr winchesters at 100 with a 2.5x scope. That opens up to about 4" with the factory leverlution stuff. What are you shooting through it?

Inspect the rifling. I have a stainless Marlin 1895 that came from the factory with a bore that was so smooth I like to say it had nano-grove rifling. No matter what I did I couldn't get it to group any better than yours. For the record, the barrel is stamped JM.

I received it in a deal that there was no going back on. I knew it had to have another barrel and it became the test bed for my .405 Grenadier wildcat. Now it has a McGowen barrel in that caliber and is a wonderful, accurate shooting rifle.

I suggest you check the bore. Your rifle may have the same nano-groove rifling mine came with.

Texas57,
Please report back AFTER you thoroughly clean the bore(Hoppes, wire brush, patches, over and over) and let all know how it goes.

Why? Even fouling you cannot see can reduce accuracy. My daughter had two scoped rifles (Savage 110 .243 and WBY Mark V 7mm WBY mag ) that shot 6 inch groups at 100 yards from a bench rest. I spent about 1-2 hours cleaning the bores and they now shoot less than minute of angle.
Good luck with your new rifle.

You should be getting much better groups than that. Something is haywire.

Thanks gentlemen. I will work at it until I am satisfied. Have a blessed hunting season.

Dang Pete,now it looks like I will be loading 45-70 for you along with everything else.We can improve that performance.

If it's a microgroove barrel (it is usually stamped on the outside where you can read it) then slug the bore. Many (Most?) Marling 45/70 microgroove barrels are oversized. Mine slugs out at .459. The usual commercial bullets are .457 and will rattle around as it goes up the barrel.

A GBL isn't microgrooved. It has Ballard rifling.

A thorough cleaning and check to make sure everything is tight would be a good way to start. Then try other types of ammo.

My GBL shoots 2-3 inch groups at 100 yards with a peep sight and old eyes pretty consistently. I'm sure a scope would improve that even more.

Yup. Clean the barrel, try it again, and switch ammo, at least a few times.

Also not to be overlooked is to make sure everything is tight on the gun. Check screws, sights, forend, etc.

99 percent of cases like this are the sights and shooter; open sights are hard to use especially if you are seasoned in age. Get a peep sight. I guarantee your groups will improve.
Also, ammo; what ammo are you using; if you are pushing lead bullets too fast, then that is it. Any Marlin will shoot better than 6 inch groups at 50 yards.
Also,, NO Marlin was ever made with Microgroove rifling. None. True, they are marked on the barrel as such, but that was done by idiots in marketing. The rifling was always, and is, standard rifling; the number of grooves varied, but none of them had microgroove. I have had all of them from the 1973 6 groove.