Talk me out of it. Or into it?

[429421Cowboy]

Magnum Research BFR, .45/70. Do I need you guys to talk me out of it? I have wanted one for quite a few years now, and finally have started to think it could be a possibility this year. I was talking over finances with Miss K last night and mentioned that I was interested in getting a Ruger Wrangler around Christmas time when the dust settles around them and mentioned the price. She replied something along the lines of "you're always buying cheap guns and i know there is one you really want that's not cheap, why don't you get it?. Long story short-ish, she spends several hundred $$ a month on horse board down here away from the ranch and said if I just saved a fraction of that till then I'd have plenty. Hmmm... the woman has a way of making me think about things. So is it totally silly? I have very little interest in a .454 rather than the BFR, but I dont currently own or cast for a .45/70 so it'd be a whole new setup to get into (not that that has ever bothered any of us here). What do you guys think? Or is there a more "optimum" caliber for the platform, like the .30/30 or .444? Mostly would use on whitetails and antelope, and to pull out at the indoor range if I ever get stuck in the lane next to the mental giant with the 10" .308 AR-10 pistol again like I did last month. I have done a search here for old posts about them here and the general consensus is positive. How about barrel length? Any reason to go with the 10" over the 7.5"?
You guys are like the gun nut uncles I never had, kindly give me some feedback?

[3006guns]

Two things:

1. That woman is a keeper.
2. The 45-70 is easy to load, even with the most basic hand tools and despite its "softball" trajectory, will knock most game on their fannies. They don't die from the tremendous impact........they die from pneumonia due to all the air rushing through that big hole. If nothing else, you'll impress the **** out of everyone when you haul out those big, shiny brass cartridges!

Seriously, adopting a new caliber these days is pretty easy and since that round has been around since Moses was a pup, components and tools are easy to find.

[bosterr]

Don't ask me to talk you out of it! I have a 7 1/2" BFR in 475 Linebaugh and is by far my favorite deer gun. It's scoped with a 2 X 6 Bushnell Elite and shoots great. I wouldn't mind having a 500 JRH, but it's really too similar to what I already have.

[osteodoc08]

If it’s what flips your switch, go for it. I love my 480 Ruger. I have no need for anything bigger or more potent (on paper).

[trapper9260]

If you need someone to talk you out of it ,then it means you will get it ,So just get it then.

[Love Life]

Get it.

[LUCKYDAWG13]

I would love to have one but I would go for a 44 magnum I would just see me spending a lot more time on the range with it a 45/70
would just cost to much for me to feed but if it trips your trigger go for it

[tja6435]

I’d lean towards the BFR in .444, only because I have way more .44 molds than I have .458 molds.

I lust after a BFR as well.

[Winger Ed.]

Of course you need at least one .45-70.

Nobody in their right mind could argue otherwise.

And of course you need to get something nice for the Mrs. too.
Perhaps a electric start lawn mower, or a new battery charger.

[km101]

You already know what WE are going to say!��. Go ahead and get it!!!

Your post is like an alcoholic going into a bar and asking for help with his drinking problem! You know you want it badly and you have already justified the purchase, what are you waiting for? Quit torturing yourself and buy it. LOL

[Peregrine]

The BFR's are really nicely made, I quite want one myself.

[429421Cowboy]

Thanks for the enabling guys haha! Most of my apprehension comes from never having held one, and at that amount of scratch is hard to place an order on when I haven't gotten to assure the quality. But I trust you guys! My big worry was the "cartoonish" idea of a .45/70 revolver and wants to make sure that its built for more than impressing friends. I already have a Super Blackhawk that I use for whitetails so it wouldn't fill any real purpose that I dont have a gun for... but at only a little more money than a SBH Hunter (which would be my second choice) I figured go with what makes me happier right? And .45/70 is a no brainer to load for, even in my currently limited ability to cast due to apartment living.
The Mrs. is a keeper, if I could have mailed an invite to every one of you for the wedding I would have. I make the hay for her horses, get her colts started, bought her a new saddle at Christmas after she cracked the tree on her old one, we're getting our mares bred for the first time now, so she gets what makes her happy too. We have been blessed beyond our dreams living in Bozeman now, with "town" jobs and have things we never thought we'd get growing up on the ranch. Which is why I'm having a hard time with this purchase!

[ShooterAZ]

I'd say trust your gut. If you're truly having a hard time with the purchase, I'd think on it some more. I had a Contender barrel chambered in 45-70, and it went down the road pretty quick. I know it's not a BFR, but shooting that thing was like hitting an oak tree with a cracked baseball bat. It stung my hands at every shot, and my friends weren't impressed by shooting it either. Yeah, you can down load it, but why bother. Don't rush into it... Just my $.02, for what that's worth.

[Tom W.]

If you're asking about it you're going to get it...... I believe it's a bit much for me, I wish I had my .480 back. But I'm happy with my .44 now. And my 9mm's.

[GhostHawk]

Go for it but think long and hard about caliber choices.

Of course most can be loaded down to tame them, yes even the .444marlin.

Whatever floats your boat. Ohh and you got a keeper, treasure her.

[kenyerian]

Go for it. 45-70 will kill anything in North America. Plus they are fun to shoot, easy to reload. Lot of pluses.

[MrWolf]

I've learned that if I really want something to get it. You will just keep beating yourself for not getting one and as long as the price doesn't totaly mess things up then go for it. As we keep getting older it gets harder to do somethings, so do it now. Good luck.

[str8wal]

My big worry was the "cartoonish" idea of a .45/70 revolver

This is my feeling about said gun. Might as well get an Encore or Contender for the size of it. But, a lot of folks have them and love them so let you heart be your guide, ha. I like my revolvers to be handy and carry on a belt so something like a 500 JRH of 475L would fit my fancy better.

[onelight]

All my rational excuses for buying a gun have been used up for years.
So now when someone asks “what in the Sam Hill is this for” you say , I don’t know I just like it. :p

[Silver Jack Hammer]

Magnum Research has a .500 Single Action. I’m just throwing a monkey wrench in your thinking. Magnum Research is a top notch firearms manufacturer, the .45-70 is a fantastic cartridge, I shoot it all the time (but in a Sharps rifle). I’d buy a Magnum Research any day, .44 mag, .500 or .45-70. I’d love to experience cocking a Single Action and have the cylinder rotate 1/5 a turn instead of just 1/6 a turn.

[Wheelguns 1961]

There is a used one for sale at the range I belong to. The salesman told me that it was too much recoil for the original buyer and it was hardly shot. If it was me, I would go with the .475L and load it to .480 ruger levels. Just my humble opinion. I also like the shorter cylinder guns.

[LIMPINGJ]

The long cylinder looks goofy to me. I went with the 475L.

[RED BEAR]

Sorry i am last.one to talk you out of anything. You can never have enough guns.

[RP]

I had one in 45/70 with the holster from BFR its a job to carry around in the woods but walking to a stand and sitting it was not bad. I loaded 405 cast over 25 grs of 2400 for my plinking loads. Mine did not like cast as much as jacketed I ended up trading it for a bench rest rifle I still have not gotten out to shoot over 200 yards yet something always gets in the way of that. If you order one you can also get another cylinder timed for it in 450 marlin if I remember right for a extra 200 bucks at the time I checked. I found that out after I had mine in hand and I had to ship it back to have it done and that added to the cost so I passed. I did replace it with a 454 a lot lighter and easier to carry but it kicks more when I am down to the last shot I am really thinking do I want to pull the trigger lol.
And far as clearing out the booths at the shooting range the second shot did it for me most of the time kind of funny. The off the counter rounds around here are for the old 45/70s dont waste the money it will be like shooting a 38 with them.

[MT Chambers]

Have you looked at Freedom Arm's revolvers? So many great options.

[Tyguy95]

I just ordered a BFR in .500s&w hopefully shell6be here next week! I'd say go for it

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Groo]

Groo here
If the size is ok for you then the round will be fine.
Many want to throw the heaviest bullet but that is not needed..
A Fed 300gr load [ shootable in a trapdoor] will drop any big deer or similar size game out to 100+ yds with ease...
It also gets close to a 454 at half the pressure!!!!!!.
Its just the guns are heavy and big......
PS I have an SSK hand canyon [contender] in 45-70 cut for the Hornidy 500gr 458 bullet.
45 Cal, 500gr, at 1200fps + will put down anything on 4 legs.
The revolver cant take that long a round but short nose bullets [like for lever guns] can go from mild to wild even at low pressures.

[MajorDude]

Of course you need at least one .45-70.

Nobody in their right mind could argue otherwise.

And of course you need to get something nice for the Mrs. too.
Perhaps a electric start lawn mower, or a new battery charger.

OK I gotta butt in here.
I don’t know from BFR’s and I think I’m too old for a .45-70, but one time about 30 years ago I bought the Mrs. a trolling motor for Christmas because she didn’t like paddling her end of the canoe, and I’ve been paying for it ever since! Choose wisely!

[John Ross]

The BFR is a quality gun. The only reason not to buy it is if, like me, you dislike the way SAs feel in your hand. Since you have a Ruger SB and like it, that's obviously not the case for you.

Go for it.

JR

[nicholst55]

While I fully support the desire to own a BFR revolver, the long-cylinder guns hold no personal interest for me. I don't like the looks, and would have no desire to own one in a nominal rifle cartridge. If/when I buy one, it will likely be either a .475 Linebaugh or a .50 of some persuasion.

[429421Cowboy]

Thank you for the input gentlemen, I have received alot to think about. I have considered a FA, and really have a deep desire for a .500 WE from them but at this time paying more than twice the cost of the Magnum Research seems to be a little bit out of reach. Perhaps one day if I get the .45/70 out of my system I can trade it in on a FA. I believe some of the most helpful advice was to save up and wait a while to think on it. I know I can get setup for .45/70 easy enough, and our old gunsmith at the shop here has plenty of moulds I could borrow to run off enough boolits to keep it fed for awhile. I get that it's not really packable, and have a revolver for that, my main focus for it would be to have something different and fun to work on load development for. You guys have calmed my biggest fear which is the quality of the piece. Lots to consider!

[Winger Ed.]

OK I gotta butt in here.
I don’t know from BFR’s and I think I’m too old for a .45-70, but one time about 30 years ago I bought the Mrs. a trolling motor for Christmas because she didn’t like paddling her end of the canoe, and I’ve been paying for it ever since! Choose wisely!


There is risk in everything.
A buddy once gave his wife two new car tires for her birthday.
When Christmas came around, she had a big smile when she said,
"Honey, here's your new push lawnmower".