If you want to really have a blast, track down a bp cartridge sharps 45/70 and go to town. I've been a bp fanatic most of my life and absolutely love all the little foibles in bp shooting, weather they be in bp cartridge or muzzle loading. If an original bp sharps is out of your price range, which it really can be out of a lot of folks, there are several really good repro models out there that shoot fantastic. But, if you have little imagination and want all this modern stuff, the marlin 45/70 is a great shooting little rifle and carries well. Recoil is mild, to me anyway, and there's not an animal on this continent I wouldn't face it down with. I have little experience with the 450 and the .444 marlin is a really good white tail round. But I find it a bit limited for black bear being it uses pistol bullets. Will it work? Yes. Would it be a better choice than a 45/70? Not just no but HECK no.