.44 Rem. Mag. vs. 45/70 in a lever gun

[bugs11]

Opions wanted. Looking at Marlin lever rifles in .44 Rem. Mag or 45/70. Use will be as a camp rifle, something to have on hand when unwelcome critters pay a visit.

[Kyle3]

I would have to believe the .44 is the way to go. Just because the ammo is a lot cheaper to be had and you can find them with shorter barrels thus making them more handy. You didn't say what kinda critters you wanted to stop though!! My .02 is the .44 will do what you seem to be wanting and be more convient and economical.

[akbound]

Hi bugs11,

Short of the "big bears".....the .44 Magnum will work. And even then with the best "heavy bullet loads" you wouldn't even then be completely helpless either. But, if are talking about "big bear" country.....the .45-70 with a good bullet load is considerably better.

I have a Marlin 1894P chambered in .44 Magnum and with its 16.25" barrel and a set of peep sights it is wonderfully handy. But the wife and I are heading back to Alaska in the near future and a 1895 Stainless Steel .45-70 Guide Gun is on my "list of things to buy". When it comes to those bears......the .44 just doesn't "ease the pucker factor enough for me".

So, depending on what you intend to use it for.....pick either and rest assured you'll have a great little camp gun!

Good luck with your decision.

Dave

[Nomercy]

I'm guessing you're looking at the Marlin 1894 and 1895Guide gun, I've got both, 1894 and 1895GS-stainless=real purty.

Here's my take on this: most "camp guns" are employed to protect against animals that can eat you: namely bears, wolves, and cougars. You don't see a cougar coming at you, and it's not going to rummage through your things, wolves aren't going to attack a camp site after people once you show up they'll run if they're rummaging, so what're we left with? BEARS.

You're not going to have time to dump 10rnds from your 1894 if you're attacked by a bear, you've got to make 1-3 shots do the job...which a .44mag probably won't. My choice would be the 1895Guide gun, 5shots of 400grn slugs is pretty stout.

The .44mag is great for "opportunity shots", but as a life saver, it's better to have it in a pistol on your belt, because the long bbl of the rifle doesn't offer anything but a grip for when you're beating a bear off with your rifle.

My personal choice for "Camp defense" is a Tactical shotgun, i.e. Winchester 1300 Defender 8shot 12ga, $333 NEW, load it with buckshot and slugs in a party mix, anything shows up you've got slugs for BIG HITS and buckshot for larger spread...plenty of knock down power too...miss five shots with the .45-70 and you're no better than when you started, buckshot allows for slightly less than perfect aim under pressure.

My advice, honestly is to buy all three, 1894, 1895G, and 1300, the first two are great hunting rifles-the 1895 is a great camp gun, and the 1300 is as much fun as it is practical.

[James B]

Nomercey has my answer. Buy'em all. The most hostile animal then however is the one I live with. Otherwise with the exception of brown or grizzly bears, the 44 mag rifle or a good pump shotgun would fill the bill pretty well. For the big Bears the 45-70 or a good sluggun would be better.

[SnoBall57]

the .44 is a good stopper, and it holds twice as many shells as the 45-70, and it's much more manageable!

[bugs11]

Thanks for the input! I currently have a 870 synthetic with a 18" barrel (cylinder choke). Just looking for a reason to get a new rifle. I like the .44 since I have a number of revolvers in .44, and 9/10 rounds available is attractive. But I can see the benefit of the 45/70 bigger slug. Decisions, decisions...

[akbound]

Hey Nomercy,

I like your line of reasoning......especially get all three!

Dave

[bronko22000]

I have both the 44 and the 45-70 in Marlin Levers. The 44 is the 1894 cowboy version and the 45-70 is the guide rifle with the now discontinued ported barrel. Both shoot great and funtion flawlessly. Don't know what you're going to try and stop but I remember reading an article along time ago when the hunter asked the Alaskan outfitter why he carried a 45-70 and not a "magnum" rifle. His answer was simply "A grizzly ain't dangerous when he's out there 300 yards."
But if it was me and I wanted a gun simply for protection from bears and disposing of unwanted pesky varmints I would opt for a good 12 ga pump gunand have it loaded with 00 buck and slugs.

[akbound]

Something else to consider if you are using shotguns for "big bear" protection. Most Foster slugs sold are a very "soft" lead alloy and generally speaking do not offer "consistant" penetration against big, heavy boned, animals. Much to be preferred are the Brenekke slugs. They are a "harder" alloy and will penetrate reliably. (I used an 18" Mossberg as a camp gun frequently the five years I spent in Alaska. And it was stoked with Brenekkes.)

And there may be some merit to mixing slugs and buckshot.....but on big bears you can not count on buckshot penetration much past a couple of yards. (Coastal brownies can exceed half a ton.....they are huge!) And you may think that's fine.....a bear isn't dangerous unless it's inside that last couple of yards. But, consider this. A grizzly can cover a hundred yards faster than a quarter horse from a standing start. Do you really want to "have to be" that close to insure the effectiveness of buckshot? Just something to consider!

Dave