Can someone tell me about 45-70 bolt guns and where to get one?

[Just Duke]

Can someone tell me about 45-70 bolt guns and where to get one?
TIA,
Duke

[uncle joe]

http://www.thehighroad.us/showthread.php?t=419539
http://www.auctionarms.com/search/displayitem.cfm?ItemNum=7270228
http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=175626098
top two look like the same gun, modified enfield
bottom one is a production model.
UJ

[Uncle Grinch]

You could always pick up a Siamese Mauser action,
although they are getting hard to find. I bought my action for $15 many many years ago and E. R. Shaw did the rest.

Otherwise, try this..

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=190619657

[Larry Gibson]

I built mine on a Siamese action many years ago also. I also have an ER Shaw barrel but did all the work except for the parkerized finish m self.

Larry Gibson

[rockrat]

Would a P-14 action work for a 45-70?

[pdawg_shooter]

Gibbs Rifles offered a 45-70 on a SMLE action a while back. Maybe they still do.

Check this out; http://www.surplusrifle.com/shooting2005/kingandcountry/index.asp

[Bret4207]

I have the Gibbs LE #1 45-70. I used to own a Navy Arms Siamese 45-70. The Siamese had it all over the Gibbs. But, you won't find a Sia Mauser for the $200.00 I paid for the Gibbs either. If you get the Gibbs you'll need to come up with a better sighting system, they cheaped out and have an open barrel sight that's so high no one short of a horse could possibly hope to get any cheek weld to the comb.

[elk hunter]

Rockrat,

Yes, a 45-70 can be built on a P-14. I put one together several years ago for a young friend. The only negative is that the action is really too long for the round. Mine is on the Siamese and is much nicer.

[Artful]

I was in a thread here, and someone piped up they had made a 45-70 out of M91 Mosin rifle.
I'm not sure if they made it a repeater or it was a single shot but might be one to check out.

Ah, found it


I have converted a 91/30 to 45/70.
I have only shot it as a single shot.
I used a Shilen 28" barrel blank, and the rifle weighs 17 pounds with the scope.

Preparring the barrel is different from a Mauser:
1) The tread is a standard 60 degrees instead of 55.
2) The exractor releif must be cut on the breech face of the rifle.

and found another



My father built one out of a SMLE. It works fine. Get this! He has made me one out of a model 44 Mosin Nagant! Much modification was needed for the magazine as it had to be made wider, The bolt had to be modified. I am going to bed it and install some iron sights yet. We have some "dummy" loads for function testing. Three rounds fit well in the mag and feed seemingly excellent with a 350 Hornady RN seated. The Bbl is 1-22 twist and 21" long. I installed a rear sight I had laying around and will have to cut a front sight from a blank purchased from Brownells. I hope all goes well and I get some decent accuracy. It seems a little tough to place the rounds in the magazine but they are free to feed well and ejection seems to be good. Definetely have to do something about that bolt handle though.


I have considered a converion to 44 mag on this action - they are cheap enough to play with.

and here's some links
http://pharmory.blogspot.com/2010/08/mosin-45-70-build-part-1.html
http://pharmory.blogspot.com/2010/09/barrel-installation-and-extractor.html

[Olevern]

many Siamese Mausers were converted back in the day, I have owned one for 25 or 30 years. My widow will sell it when I no longer need it, that's probably the only way you will find one, short of having one custom built, today a pricy proposition. Keep an eye on the auction sites, people die every day. Since I now own two .458 Mag. rifles, I don't use the Simese much anymore, but the hog hunts of yesteryear and memories of kills with the old lady mean it has a permanent place in my gun safe. I now prefer to load the 458 down instead of loading the 45-70 up to levels the brass was never intended to achieve. Good luck in your search.

[Multigunner]

It would be great if one of the BP cartridge rifle replica manufacturers would make a run of Lee .45-70 Navy rifles and/or the Remington Keene and Hotchkiss Bolt Actions that competed against it in the first US Military bolt action rifle trials.
Don't know if that early Lee ever had a sporter version like his later designs but the Keene and Hotchkiss rifles were available as sporters.

[mouser868]

There's one sitting in the gun shop in Point Pleasant, WV.

[quack1]

If you can find an action, a Siamese is the way to go. I built this one about 25 years ago, Shaw chambered and fit the barrel and I did everything else. Shoots jacketed and cast really well.
http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll300/1quack1/45-70.jpg

[Phillip]

I wonder how hard it would be to convert a Savage 110 to 45-70?

It would make it a little more modern and may be easier to get replacement parts if ever needed down the road then converting some of the older rifles out there.

[82nd airborne]

Im considering trying to convert a PSL to 45-70. It is origionaly chambered for 7.62x54 which has the length and about the same rim size.

[Tazman1602]

You could always pick up a Siamese Mauser action,



You *could* have picked one up 25 years ago. I've been looking for a Siamese at a **reasonable** price for 20 years to build one and I have yet to SEE a Siamese action in person. I know you can still get them but I'm one of those guys who, 15 years ago, was buying Swede Mausers by the case from CAI for $70/each w/matching numbers and 1909 Argentine actions (hinged floor plate) to make custom rifles and sporters on for around $100. Cheapest Swede M96 I've seen in the last year was last weekend at a gun show and it was $249..........and REALLY rough. Yes, I'm cheap.

............if only I had kept those Swedes in my basement stored for 15 years I could largely retire in comfort today and I constantly lament the amount of them I cut up for sporters.....

I have one of the Gibbs 45-70 Enfield conversions I bought from Bullshop at a VERY reasonable price.

The Gibbs is one I've always wanted. 45-70 with a more or less bulletproof action, ability to shoot pointy bullets with a magazine, and grouping ability even with my bad eyes, open sights, and my cast bullets is acceptable. Handles great, trigger is OK.

Now the bad; the sights were so far off I am going to replace the front sight with a higher one as soon as I can afford it -- shoots two feet high at 100 yds even with the rear sight all the way down. Machining work *was* ROUGH, bolt was sticky and took some work to smooth out, allen lockscrew on front of bolt almost backed all the way out and locked up action.

Dan and the people at Bullshop were GREAT to deal with and this in NO WAY reflects on them, they did not build this gun and it is now a really fun gun, but if I didn't have a machine shop and *some* ability on guns it would most likely have been sold off.

I've been threatening for some months to load some BPCR with this rifle but just haven't gotten around to it yet.

Man I'd love a Ruger M-77 in 45-70.

If any of you Enfield efficianado's have a suggestion on the sights I am all ears..

Art

[StrawHat]

I had a Shaw altered Siamese for quite a while. I stocked it and enjoyed it until I got skittish after watching a buddy grab some of my elephant loads for his trapdoor. Since then, I have always tailored my loads for the least action I own. I recently found a reworked Siamese but have not yet decided what I want to do with it.

I agree, in order to find a Siamese action, you will have to be lucky. A bolt action chambered for the 450 Marlin is easier to build and is ballistically identical. As is a downloaded 458. I have always envisioned a Swedish Mauser worked over to accept the 458 American or what is now the 450 Marlin.

[wiljen]

I wonder how hard it would be to convert a Savage 110 to 45-70?

It would make it a little more modern and may be easier to get replacement parts if ever needed down the road then converting some of the older rifles out there.

The New 110 BA in 338 Lapua might make a starting platform for the 45-70 in the Savage. My concern is with the bolt face as even the Lapua is .588 compared to the .608 of the case head on the 45-70 and that leaves very little steel around the bolt head if opened up to that dimension. Short answer is I'm not positive it cant be done, but I'm guessing it shouldn't be based on the bolt dimensions. The fact that ER Shaw does not offer the 45-70 in its Mark VII series based on the model 110 gives me reason to believe I'm right as well. Shaw should certainly be able to confirm with a quick phone call.

[StrawHat]

Most modern bolt rifles are set up to handle rimless cartridges. Bolt rifles for rimmed cases need to have a slanted magazine so the cartridges can be loaded to avoid feeding problems. Or have the straight boxes adapted in a way to keep the preceeding rims behind the top ones. This may be why Shaw doesn't have a 45-70 Mark VII. Right now, I can't visualize how to do it but maybe someone else can.