I have had great luck with my guide gun on Elk, heck it works great on Deer and Antelope as well!. The 45-70 makes my 7mm Rem look like a BB-gun when it comes to knockdown on Elk. The only complaint I have ever had was with the Hornady 350gr FP bullet (will not hunt with them again). My guide gun was mainly bought for use in the thick timber after Elk, but after playing with it I found myself hunting everything with it, its just a whole lot of fun.

when i lived in new mexico, a lot of the anglos i knew used 45-70s and 7mm mags. folks living on the pueblo used 30-30 winchesters or savage model 99s in 300 savage. pueblo folks had the time and the land for good shots at nice ranges. never heard of a native american loosing an elk in that area. mostly shots from bow range out to 60 yards.

Every deer shot with my 45-70s have dropped like a rock. Also those shot with the 33 WCF in the 86 Winchester. All of the loads were low velocity (starting loads on the loading chart) with hard cast, flat point bullets. Never recovered one of those bullets but always recovered the game. I would like to have hunted black bear, elk, and moose. I just never seem able to save the money. Something else usually seems more important. Packy

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
Hey guys,

I was bitten with levergun fever and I've had the urge to get either a .45/70 or .35 Remington for a backup gun for Elk hunting and pig hunting. A stainless guidegun will run you $600+, The blued will run $529+

I like to leave large holes in critters plus I've always believed that there's no replacement for "displacement". If I was to go for a .35 I'd look at the old .35 winchester.

A Win. M-95 in 30-06 shooting 180,200 and 220 gr. bullets is my idea of a lever action elk rifle..I prefer the 30-30 over the .45-70..I have never seen a caliber that had more mistique BS surrounding it than the .45-70 and 45-90..I must admit that I think more BS is put out there by folks that bought them but never used them on elk...They are excellent deer rifle calibers...

I have a number of elk kills that I filmed on a fenced ranch. The clients would shoot the poor bastards in the shoulder at under 100 yards, the owner said don't shoot him again and we would follow the wounded elk for about 200 or so yards, watch it rock back and fourth, until I finally told them to shoot that poor bastard and put him down or I was going to..They did this to claim a one shot kill..Pretty sick shit.

I have shot about 8 or 10 bulls with a the 45-70 and 45-90 and like I said, I was not impressed..What impresses me is when I knock that suckers deal in the dirt with one shot form my .338 or .375 H&H and a 300 gr. Woodleigh and he is dead when I get to him..That is a clean one shot kill..

I have killed elk with the 25-35, 30-30 and 250 Savage growing up and they worked but I shot them at close range, broadside and shot until all 4 feet were up...but they are also not elk calibers..The elk is a noble animal and deserves to die humanely and quickly..

I still think the 45-70 is fine with an expanding 350 grain Hornady flat point. The 35 Remington might be fine but I wouldn't want a 200 yard shot. I keep my shots on all game as short as possible.
For Mr atkinson I think the 33 WCF should be good for elk. I use a handload shooting a moderate speed hard cast flat point at 240 grains. I have yet to recover one in a whitetail and need to try it on something bigger. I still don't even like a 100 yard shot. I'd rather sneak up closer or not shoot. Good luck and God Bless. Packy

The old 45-70 Springfield Trapdoors using a 405gr bullet would hit a target at 1000 yards but switching to a 500 gr bullet the range increased to 3500 yards. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45-70 45-70 will reach out and touch anything!

quote:

Originally posted by scr83jp:
The old 45-70 Springfield Trapdoors using a 405gr bullet would hit a target at 1000 yards but switching to a 500 gr bullet the range increased to 3500 yards. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45-70 45-70 will reach out and touch anything!

Did you actually read that article? 1600 yards is 78 FEET of hold over. and looks like the AOA at impact is in the 55 degrees range from horizontal! If someone wants to run those numbers I bet you could catch that round in a baseball glove I've got an XLR and even with BB or LeveRevolution the max effective range is in the area of 300 yds.

Get a Ruger Hawkeye in .358 win. Tac will drive a .250 speer/hornady to 2400. I have a .358 Blr and have taken nearly 30 bear,1 elk and 1 moose with it. A lot of thump for a small cartridge.
Another option is the .350 Remington mag. I had one in a Rem. Classic Wish I had it back.

A Marlin 336 in 356 Win shooting 220 grain Speer FPs would be a heck of a choice for any non-dangerous game in North America out to 150+/- yards. I have a Marlin 336SD that Regan Nonneman rechambered from 35 Rem to 356 Win that will shoot 220 grain Speers into 2 MOA with every load that I've tried.

Jeff

I like that idea of a .356 from a .35 Remington. The Rem is a little on the "soft" side. It was intended to be a deer-black bear cartridge, and has few superiors, for that purpose.
Being completely wierd, I'd think about a hybrid...a 45/70 with a .35 caliber bullet. Maybe...a .30/40 shortened a little and necked to .35, with rim turned some...or all the way off. Hmmm...
I almost wish I didn't already have an M71 in .375/348. lol
Have fun, Gene

Well, everyone has an opinion, and here's mine. Go with the .45-70, in the guide gun configuration. The nosler 300 gr.ers are excellent. I've taken bear, hogs, javelina, and now 7 head of african plains game with that combo. So far I have only recovered 4 bullets from 15 head of game shot with it. Here is a pick of the recovered slugs.



The bullet really penetrates. I have shot completely thru, front to back on hogs and my impala. 5 of my 7 african animals were 1 shot, bang/flop, DRT. All this at about 1950 fps. from my guide gun. The bullet is designed to expand from 700-2300 fps. Granted, the bullets are expensive, but they are my go to round when using the .45-70. The only reason the gun doesn't get more action, is because I can't use it for deer hunting, here in Indiana.

Mad Dog