Been looking at one of these for sometime now and curious of what others like or dislike about the gun?? I have a fair amount of 45/70 bullets(lead and jacketed,)brass new and old, powder/primers, and looking for good solid rifle to put them to use. Is feeding, function, accuracy satisfactory to those who have them??

Thanks,

martin

MFD

I owned the standard 45/70 rifle.
It worked perfect and shot good.

My Brother has a 45/70 Guide Gun.

It performes perfectly and it is scary accurate.

IMHO the Marlins are great rifles.

MFD

I have owned at least a 1/2 dozen guide guns since they hit the market many years ago, and found all of them very accurate, strong, durable little guns. Load up or loaded down they are great. I have carried them all over the world and while at times I found 45/70 coming up slightly short, the rifle always performed. Today I would personally choose the model with the pistol grip stock and have the barrel shortened to 18 inches (I think it comes in 22 inches), the pistol grip stock is straighter with the bore, less muzzle flip. I still have 3 or 4 Guide Guns, but have converted a few to 50 B&M Alaskan, so my 45/70 days are nearly retired as far as the field goes in favor of the bigger bullets. You cannot go wrong with the Marlins, they will give you what you are looking for, and today there are many many good bullets out there that will perform better than when I was in the field with 45/70.

Michael

I agree with all that has been said above. I like them and use them whenever appropriate to the circumstances.

Great guns but be sure not to get the older short barreled 18 inch version with the muzzle brake. It is extra loud. The short version is pretty loud anyway. All the ones I have that I have shot are accurate reliable guns. I sometimes use the short barrel version as a "truck gun" for self defense when I'm in one of those god forsaken places that won't allow you to carry pistols.......luckily I haven't had to pull it on anyone, but my thoughts are that if they see that big bore looking at them and keep coming, then they've made their last bad decision......

BTW they're still available for a couple hundred bucks more than the "normal" Marlin .45-70, and the Talo Stainless with it's laser engraving is a damn attractive rifle that is perfectly usable.

I have one of the ported ones. It shoots great but I would never shoot it without earplugs which pretty much rules it out for a lot of purposes. My son uses it for a plinker as he doesn't hunt much but likes to shoot. I'm contemplating buying one of the stainless versions with scope mounting rail and aperture sights. Probably have it teflon coated too. Looks like one of the custom jobs for hundreds less.

Martin,
I've got one each blue and stainless Guide Guns. They kick like a mule with a toothache, but are completely reliable and scary accurate for an 18" barrelled lever action.

FWIW, Jeff has one that's ported and we shot them with the same ammo and couldn't see too much difference in either muzzle flip or blast.

Rick

I have a LTD IV, 24" half round/half octogon barrel with pistol grip. Great rifle.
There's enough extra weight that it doesn't beat me up too much or have the thunderous muzzle blast of the 18" guide guns. The latest load worked up is the 330gr Gould HP loaded to a book velocity of 1600fps. The rifle shoots this load very well and is comfortable too.

Hello,
Thanks for the feedback and it would certainly appear that the Marlin's are well respected.
Primary reason for the so called "cowboy" version of the Marlin 45/70 would be the extra weight/barrel length to help absorb some of the recoil and I like the longer sight radius for use of either receiver peep sight or even tang. Little leary of the tang set up for have seen few get smacked in the forehead when firing. Most likely will always shoot GC Lead bullets for have a very good local source for them and have been told they work well in the Marlin w/ the cut rifled bore vs the "microgroove" versions. Again, thanks for the input.

martin

I have a standard model 22" bbl with straight stock and no crossbolt. a 26" cowboy model, and a 18 1/2 inch cowboy model (LTD III). I like the cowboy model the best. The long barrel gets everything the cartridge has to offer in an extremely balanced package. The rifle works fine for medium game subject to range limitations of 200 yards for me. The chambering worls fine but drops like a brick!

I have the Marlin 1895 XLR, the stainless/laminate stock model with the 24 inch barrel.

Prior to that, I had a Guide Gun in .450 Marlin with the 18.5" barrel.

I never had a misfire or feeding problem with either rifle and both had excellent accuracy.

Of the two rifles, I prefer the .45/70 XLR model. Accuracy at 100 yards is quite a bit better and when I do my job right, I often have groups that have two of the three shots touching!

I also prefer the slightly longer barrel/heavier weight of the XLR, along with the pistol grip stock over the straight grip of the Guide Gun. For ME, the XLR stock configuration seems to fit better and is more comfortable to shoot. Plus the recoil pad on the XLR is much nicer than the hard rubber "pad" that comes on the Guide Gun.

Get one. Mine is the ported version and I would not be without it. It has taken everything from boars to buffalo and hands on, if my shot range is going to be 150 yards or less (my choice) it is the rifle I take.
I once got into real trouble on this forum for extolling the virtues of this round (for dangerous big game and Garrett's bullets), on the "big bore" thread.
Oh well, the 45-70 may not be usable as a dildo, but it kills well.

P.S. Have your gunsmith install a limb saver pad.

My 1895 Cowboy Marlin comes closest to being the perfect rifle of any long gun I own. Holds nine rounds, is a repeater, scary accurate, and with a flip up ladder barrel sight it will reach WAY out there. On top of that, it's lightweight and perfectly balanced for carrying. Properly loaded, the 45-70 will take anything that walks.

You can load it up, or you can load it down. Whatever you feed it, it is a superb rifle.

On ANY list, of the BEST made WORKING guns on the Planet, the Marlin Lever Actions would have to be on it.

MFD,

Whats not to like about a guide gun?


45-70 1895g ported guide gun, 18.5" barrel

I bought one of the original guide guns, blue/walnut with 18.5" ported barrel I would respectfully disagree that it is to loud to shoot without ear protection or that the recoil is
. I have had mine almost 10 years. I load it with 53 gr. IMR 3031 and 400 gr speers. Avg velocity around 1700 fps.

Here is a typical target shot at 100 yds. This was shot off the bench at the Pearland shooters club on 12/23/07. I planned to shoot it when I hunted between Christmas and New Year. I wanted to check zero. The first two shot were to check for group. The third shot was after I had made adjustments down and to the right. Not to shabby for a dead stock lever gun with untouched trigger.


Checking for zero. Shots 1& 2 are for group. Shot 3 is for zero. 100 yds, off the bench.

Anyway, it flat works. Kills stuff DRT, and you can eat right up to the bullet hole
GWB


Worked on this whitetail buck


worked on this axis doe


worked on these hogs


even works on varmints