45-70 hard to find?

[Archer]

TGC,
I won't disagree with you but I can understand why the Rio Grande appeals to folks.
If Rossi would polish their manufacturing process and maybe do a minimal amount of modification to the design for durability under the heavy recoil of the .45-70 they'd have a fine hunting platform and I think Marlin would be playing catch up. But by withdrawing the gun from their catalog they've ceded the market to Marlin.

[TGC]

Yea, rossi has a middle ground on barrel length in the 45/70 that you don't get with Marlin. Marlin has the 18" and the 22", I think. Rossi is 20". I agree rossi probably needs to be a little more heavy duty in this caliber. But I'm not any kind of expert on the rossi, because I've never spent much time with their 45/70.

[Archer]

I've only looked them over in the shop and they are more lightly built than the Marlin 1895 and much more lightly built than the Winchester 1886. I think the 18" Marlin is quite a bit heavier than the 20" Rossi. That's probably a combination of the weight of the wood and possibly a bit of receiver weight.

[Ranch Dog]

The Rossi is lighter because is is based on the 336 frame rather than the 1895. That is how the 444 started but it became it's own beast, it ended up having more in common with the 1895 with it's heavier stocks and barrel lengths.

The only issue I experienced with my RG4570 was scratched cases which was caused by, believe it or not, the bolt/hammer contact. My rifle has been running strong since new and I would buy another in a heart beat. Actually, been thinking about it since they were discontinued.

[Archer]

When I said it might need a bit of attention to the design it was more along the lines of mag tube attachment, and making sure the bolt was machined to spec based on the gripe threads I've read here.

I think we only had one of the .45-70s in the shop SS and it looked clean to me.
I wouldn't mind getting one but I was cautious based on threads here when they were in production. Now that they are discontinued I'm perhaps just a bit more leery.

[massmanute]

was it just the 45=70 Rio Grande that was discontinued?

[Ranch Dog]

was it just the 45=70 Rio Grande that was discontinued?

410 and 30-30 Win as well.

[Hombre]

Was there an invisible answer I'm unable to see? lol

[Ranch Dog]

My mistake, thanks.

[Hombre]

When I was shopping for my '92 in .357, they were nowhere to be found. Spent quite a bit of time tracking one down.

I wonder if Rossi has decided to spend more production time producing the better selling guns like the .357, and dropping the ones that are sitting on the shelves. While the .45-70 Rio Grande version was scarce, the .30-.30's seemed to be everywhere at large discounts.

Pistol caliber lever long guns have really taken off, especially a great value line like the Rossi's.