first off quigley was a character in a movie if that movie inspired you to get a 45-70 i have to ask how old are you?? yes the 45-70 was proven as a long range gun but....... that was back in the day when that is all they had asfar bullets capable of shooting great distances and it took lots and lots of skill to shoot good with it. Like someone mentioned before in order to get it out there you literally had to put the bullet into orbit to get it there the ballistic curve is literally a rainbow......LOL. According to a ballistics calculator of mine though these programs arent entirely accurate but they give you a rough idea of a bullets trajectory, even if you zeroed your gun at 250 yards that puts you over 10 inches high at 100 yards and over 13 inches low at 300 yards or if you zeroed it at 100 yards you would be over 25 inches low at 250 yards and over 44 inches low at 300 yards........... are you begining to see our point. the 45-70 in reality makes a better close range large dangerous game gun meaning its excellent for brown bears with 100 yard shots and under or elk with 150 yards or less. its just not a long range deer gun.......... if you are truly wanted to reach out on a deer to 250 yards your best bet would honestly be a 30-06 or something much flatter shooting then a 45-70. good luck