the first year I brought my marlin 45/70 to elk camp,
I had it loaded with a 400 grain hard cast gas check bullet design, I had intended to use it to hunt the thick timber where shots seldom exceed 100 yards
after the first few days when elk tended to spend the day in heavy timber. I brought my sako 375 H&H carbine,that year for my main rifle.
as things worked out one of the guys I hunted with that year slipped and broke his rifles scope and mounts,on opening day, his rifle had no iron sights
he borrowed my marlin 45/70 and was very much concerned it would not have the reach of his busted,300 win mag.
about 3-4 days into the hunt, he got a shot at a legal bull partly facing him at about 80 yards, he squeezed off a shot and though he missed, as he could not see the elk run, the bullet impacted center chest and exited behind the mid ribs on the right side after punching through over 2 feet of elk, the elk had dropped so fast he never saw it drop as he recovered from recoil, (2.5X scope) what made it even more memorable was he was the only one to fill his elk tag that trip!
he became a 45/70 convert and purchased a marlin 45/70 the next year and Ive loaded for him ever since.
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/default.asp?Caliber=45-70&Weight=405&type=rifle&Order=Powder&Source=
he likes hand loads with 45 grains of RL7 under this bullet
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/63...nose-gas-check
btw I sold my marlin 45/70 to a club member who gladly paid a bit more for it, than Id paid for it , (still saved $75 under the then current price) and I had used it for at least 20 years, it was still in excellent condition, and I purchased a browning BLR in 450 marlin, which has a slight edge in accuracy and uses a detachable magazine and stronger front locking lug bolt.
