New Marlin 1895 On The Way

[jjarrell]

Well, I finally got my new Marlin 1895 .45-70 on the way from gunbuyer.com. I tried to get the money saved up for it before the $100 rebate expired, but school clothes and such for my prodigy took priority. But she's on the way and I'm looking forward to getting to the range by next weekend. It's a blued 1895 with the 22" barrel and 4 round tube.

[Beagle333]

Sweet! Congrats on the buy. That oughta be quite a hoot! My "G" has the shorter barrel, but it's still quite accurate, or more so than I am.

[Surfcat]

Congrats... make sure to let us know how she shoots.

[Mgderf]

Well, I finally got my new Marlin 1895 .45-70 on the way from gunbuyer.com. I tried to get the money saved up for it before the $100 rebate expired, but school clothes and such for my prodigy took priority. But she's on the way and I'm looking forward to getting to the range by next weekend. It's a blued 1895 with the 22" barrel and 4 round tube.

I snuck in just under the wire for the rebate.
I didn't even know it was going on until I got an email advertising it a whopping 3 days before it expired.
I received my new 1895 last week.
First range trip told me I needed to replace the factory recoil pad.

I've since added an aptly named "Limbsaver" brand recoil pad that I plan to try out tomorrow.
Great gun, but a shoulder pounder...

[Brad Cayton]

I have the 95 Guide with the 18", ported barrel and just got a CB with the 26" octagon barrel. Both are very accurate and a hoot to shoot. I'm betting you'll love yours!

[Texas by God]

I would like a 95 CB in .450 Marlin because it's the style and chambering I like best, this is not a cut down of the revered 45-70 Govt cartridge. We wouldn't be here without it.
Best, Thomas.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[jjarrell]

Well it's here. Very nice walnut stock and forearm. The fit of wood to metal is great with no overlap or gaps. The checkering is nice and deep with even depth. The action is as smooth as I've felt. No rough spots or binding. Blueing is perfect as is the metal prep. No scratches or machine marks. The rifling looks perfect as well.

I completely took it apart and cleaned all parts just in case there was crud or metal shavings from assembly, and it cycles as smooth as silk. Ran about 30 rounds of ammunition through the magazine with no feeding problems.

I did modify it by adding a Bushnel scope on a Leupold base because my eyes aren't what they used to be. I also replaced the factory main spring with a lighter one from Trivettes Gunsmithing, which lowered the trigger pull from almost 9lbs to a hair over 3 1/2 lbs. it breaks crisply with no creep.

So far I'm very happy with it. I'm heading to the range in the morning so I should have more of an update. Hopefully the accuracy will be there as well. So far it looks like the Remington made Marlins are getting back to what we expect.

I tried to upload a picture of it but it fails. Not sure what's going on with that. I could try to message a pic to anyone who wants to see it I guess.

[osteodoc08]

My remlins have all been respectable as well. I have witnessed some abominations but left them on the rack.

[jjarrell]

Made it to the range on Sunday. I'm very happy with it. No let me rephrase that. I'm tickled to death! The first trip to the range produced great results. After 6 sighting shots at 50 yards I went to 100 and put shots 7, 8, 9, and 10 through the same hole with a steady left to right breeze blowing. I didn't shoot a 5th shot at 100yds because I didn't want to get a flyer and screw it up....LOL. I added a picture of the rifle and the last 4 shot group. You can't ask for more from an "out-of-the-box" big bore lever rifle with only 10 rounds fired through it. I think Remington may have worked out the QC problems if the weapon I received is indicative of what comes from Marlin now. Some may argue that, but my rifle has found a home.

[TXGunNut]

Great! Congrats on a nice rifle. I've had one for a few years with similar results. Bought it because it looked good and I wanted to see what all the fuss about. I've seen a few of the mistakes Remlin has turned out but suspect most are like yours (and mine). Care to share your load details?

[jjarrell]

I was shooting factory Hornady 325gr Leverevolution. I haven't started loading for it yet. I have 100 Starline cases on the way with IMR4198 and Hornady 350gr flat points. I'll start working up loads from there.

I'll save the Hornady brass in case I load any of the 325gr FTX bullets. After firing, the Hornady brass measured 2.030". I'm not ruining new full length brass by trimming it that short.

I think I'm going to pull the charge from a Leverevolution round and weigh it. Then look through my manuals for a load that approximates it. I have to say they did shoot really well. One thing I didn't like about them though is that whatever powder Hornady is using burns very dirty. IMR powder in my other rifles leaves nothing in the bore. 10 rounds of Hornady ammo and it looked like a shotgun bore after a round of skeet. They shot great, but dirty powder.

[TXGunNut]

If you have any Rx7 or 3031 on the shelf I think you'll do fine. Rx7 is rumored to be what Hornady used but I wasn't able to duplicate the factory loads. Rx7 is what I use for my CB hunting loads.

[jjarrell]

I've got about 3/4lb of 3031. I'll see what it likes best. Its a process. A fun process, but a process none the less. I'm not going to be loading heavy. 1700-1900fps is about all I'll need (if that much) from a sturdy 350 grain FP, and with the 22" barrel it shouldn't be hard to get there. My shots are always less than 100 yards. Normally 50 or less. All I need is an accurate flat point load that wont kill my shoulder but will break both shoulders at 100 yards or less.

[MT Chambers]

Lotsa powders work well in the 45/70, my fav. is AA2015 for top end loads, but I have to say, you are gonna have to start casting boolits. The 45/70 is the most cast friendly cartridge out there, and one of the few cartridges that works better, shoots better, kills better with cast boolits.

[upr45]

Congratulation's! Nice rifle! Nice shooting! Soon as you harvest something with that you'll be wrecked for life! Wrecked in a good way.

[TXGunNut]

Lotsa powders work well in the 45/70, my fav. is AA2015 for top end loads, but I have to say, you are gonna have to start casting boolits. The 45/70 is the most cast friendly cartridge out there, and one of the few cartridges that works better, shoots better, kills better with cast boolits.

Yes, actually hard to go wrong with the 45-70. OP's rifle will likely do well with boolits from 300-400+ grs and velocities from 1200-1900 with dozens of boolits and at least a dozen powders. I'm not a fan of the FTX bullet but if you want to postpone casting for this cartridge the Remington 300HP and 405SP are quite good....for J-words. My first CB kill was with a 45-70 and I haven't hunted with a J-word since!
Haven't tried the AA2015, have too many powders in this range but now I'm curious.

[jjarrell]

I've been casting for my muzzleloaders for maybe 5 or 6 years with pure lead. I wanted to go with roughly a 350gr flat point or round nose jacketed bullet for two main reasons. 1. It will more than take care of anything in the lower 48 without rattling my teeth, and 2. I have no experience casting harder alloys, and don't know how hard they need to be to prevent barrel leading.

I cant argue with how the LE shot from my rifle and its cheaper than all other factory ammo in my area. It just doesn't seem to me like it would be a very tough bullet. I could be very wrong about that though. I imagine its great for whitetails and probably good for black bear. After all it is a 325gr bullet and critters in the east aren't armor plated.

I don't like the shorter LE brass either. I understand why its shorter, just don't like it. I load for my other rifles and handguns and its just a big PITA to have different length brass for the same cartridge. With all that being said, I'll be loading Starline brass and Hornady 350gr FP Interlocks to start with. I've always had great results loading Hornady bullets so we will see how it goes.

[Surfcat]

Wow, you've got a keeper there!!! Good shooting on your part, too.

[jjarrell]

Wow, you've got a keeper there!!! Good shooting on your part, too.

Thanks, now to start working up a load. Factory ammunition is just too expensive. I loaded some up last night with a hornady .458 300gr HP, starline brass, WLR primers, with the Hodgdon starting lever rifle load of 55gr H4198 with a firm roll crimp. Listed pressure is 27,600 CUP. They listed a COL of 2.525" but I loaded to 2.550" for a little extra space in the case. They cycle through the action perfectly. I'm figuring it's good for roughly 2150 fps from my 22" barrel. It should be a good deer load. I couldn't find any .458 350gr flat points locally. Looks like I'll have to order them. I'll see if it likes the load this weekend. I wasn't looking for that much velocity so we will see how it performs.

[knifemaker]

I have a JM 1895 LTD-V that will shoot lights out. With a Hornady 350 gr. FP and 43 gr. of IMR-4198 will put three shots into 1 inch at 100 yards. I also load a Ranch Dog 350 gr. RNFP with gas check. Size to .460 and with that load of 43 gr. IMR-4198 will also shoot 1 inch groups at 100 yards. Have taken 4 buffalo, one with Hornady 350 gr. and three with the Ranch Dog 350 gr. and all one shot kills and no tracking needed as they dropped within feet of being hit. Velocity is around 1850 FPS out of my gun. On a 250 lb. boar I shot with the Hornady 350 gr.. Facing me at 80 yards hit him in the chest and recovered the bullet in front of the rear left ham. Around 36 inches of penetration and expanded to 70 cal. That boar dropped in his tracks.
You do not need a bigger caliber for North America or Canada even with the big bears.