Originally Posted by
CalHunter
I've been rereading the 2 posts above which were originally posted in that order, one right after the other. OT, I believe softdown's emboldened statements above indicate that he both used to own a 45-70, created reloads for it and shot it, through 1/4" steel plates no less. He said it makes a large hole and is a great brush gun. and he even said he wishes he would have hung on to his (45-70).
Aside from it being just about impossible for any of us to restrict ourselves to owning just 1 gun (what a nightmare), I think both of us would likely recommend another caliber for a more general purpose gun for hunting the lower 48. I will always have a 45-70 and someday hope to take bison and bear with it but my 270 has worked quite well for deer, black bear and coyotes.
I tend to call plates steel. Looking back on it, it was probably an iron plate. The .308 loads hardly dented it as I said. However....as a loader, I can't specify the velocity of those .308 "custom" loads. Using different pressure levels is part of the attraction of loading.
Being responsible.... Don't try this as irreparable damage may result. In fact, I think my test gun may have loosened up a bit in the hinge. Didn't effect safety, may have possibly effected accuracy.