Originally Posted by Pawildman

..... Glad you like your 45/70 Marlin. I own an 1895 22" bbl Marlin. Bought it about 3 yrs. ago. One fine shooting rifle. What you have to realize is that the factory ammo (if that's what you've been shooting) is pretty wimpy stuff, really. Remington keeps it loaded down to satisfy the old Trapdoor Springfields that are still out there. If you are a handloader, you will notice that loading manuals list three loading criterion for the 45/70. One for the old Trapdoor guns, one for the newer lever actions such as we have, and one for the Ruger #1 type action and modern bolt actions built for it. When I first got mine and shot it with factory ammo, it was most impressive at 100 yds, giving me a 5-shot group at just slightly over 1". Subsequent handloading efforts have given me a much more potent round and still with quite acceptable accuracy. It will, however, tend to loosen your fillings. The factory ammo will most certainly kill a deer or blackbear at 45/70 ranges, and if you are happy with that, so be it .. Enjoy!!