My 45-70 Rio Grande Vs My Marlin 1895 45-70 !

[wll]

Well I love both guns, but they are way different.

The Marlin 1895 with 22 inch barrel is very heavy and is a big gun, It has express sights and a scout scope to boot. I had her loaded with 425gr Lead boolits at about 1850fps. needless to say she kicks like a mule, a big mule !

I think I'm going to pull those boolits and download a bit, somewhere around 1700fps, with a gun that heavy, that decrease of 150fps will soften the felt recoil up quite a bit.

The Rossi Rio Grande is a different animal all together. The gun is very light and nimble, a stout load in this gun will send me to the chiropractor for sure. I don't have a scope on her, just took off the scope rail and added Skinner Express Sights, very, very nice. I don't plan on doing any major hunting trips with this gun, although I would like to go after pigs in the Paso Robles area.

Like I said in an earlier post, I'll be testing out trap door loads and going from there, I do think I can shoot 405's and 425 lead GC's at around 1500fps and be OK with that.

As far as fit and finish, my Marlin's are much nicer, but the Rossi is a pure function gun and it works. The big lever is very nice on this gun and it ejects those shells out of there like no bodies business .....I'm impressed !

Anyone who is thinking about getting a 45-70 for deer, black bear, pig and the like and don't want to lug around a big gun, I would suggest you seriously take a look at the Rossi, it is a very nice gun !


wll

[pricedo]

I have the 30-30 version of the Rio Grande and it cleaned-up to be a very nice gun.
It is my only scoped 30-30 levergun but I have 3 x original Winchester 94s in 30-30 that are not scoped.......2 x pre 64s + a Indian Yellowboy Commemorative of 1973 vintage.
I have 2 x scoped Marlin Guide Guns + a Pedersoli 86/71 + a Baikal SxS + a NEF Handi-rifle all in 45-70 and I really don't need another 45-70 so I'll pass on the Rio Grande.
I'm not keen on that ridiculous lawyer hammer lock on the new Braztech rifles which could malfunction and leave me with no protection in a hairy situation of the bruin kind and besides I only have 2 hands and can't carry/shoot them all at once.

[Ranch Dog]

I'm not keen on that ridiculous lawyer hammer lock on the new Braztech rifles which could malfunction and leave me with no protection...

Quite off topic but I'm one that actually appreciates the "hammer" cam lock. If you looked at it closely, you would be hard pressed to figure out how it would fail from "OFF" to "LOCk". The only possibility I see is someone using it to lock a hammer and then forgetting to unlock but then there is always a certain "Darwin'ing" quality to life that is awesome to watch.

I don't use it as much on the rifle as I do on my handguns but use it constantly with them. As an example, I'm NEVER off the ranch unarmed and when I need to check the mail, I pull in to the PO, lock the handgun, then lock my car. It is better than any other type of lock for the intended purpose than any other manufacturer has come up with... bar none. Kudos to Braztech for a very reliable design! Everyone has their own opinion.

Now, back on topic PLEASE!

[Ninety Caliber]

I've shot mine quite a bit these last couple weeks trying to get it ready for the long-range side match at Ruckus(Ok. StateCAS Championship). Settled on 13 gr.'s of Trailboss over a 405gr. at 1071 ft per second. Unfortunately , being a revolver guy primarily, I know next to nothing about "long range" rifle shooting. But a Lyman tang sight on it and am trying to get my windage adjusted(see my post ). All that aside, I really like the way the RG handles and shoots!
Btw, if anyone knows how to calculate bullet drop....any help would be appreciated.
Now, back on topic!


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[Ranch Dog]

Btw, if anyone knows how to calculate bullet drop....any help would be appreciated!

Ahhh... need some info about your bullet; BC and SD, and then the velocity of your load (more factual the better). Then a ballistic calculator. There is plenty of them online. This is just one: JBM Calculations

There are also many free or very low cost software packages that will perform the task but you still need to tell them a bit about your bullet and how fast it is traveling.

[pricedo]

The Rio Grande 45-70 delivers the goods in a much lighter package than the Marlin 1895 and is even considerably lighter than the Marlin Guide Gun. The chopped RG 45-70 with the 16 1/4" barrel discussed in another thread would be my ideal bush carry gun.
Having said that I often carry my rifles in areas where predatory bears live.
These animals don't always run away when wounded......they will charge & attempt to kill their antagonist in many cases. These large predators might even proactively stalk and hunt a human being for food.
In light of the above the ideal "bear country" rifle is one that minimizes the probability of the operation of Murphy's Law (whatever can go wrong in an emergency WILL go wrong) resulting in a malfunction that will disable your defense firearm and result in you being badly mauled or killed.
The sap boiled to the syrup of the matter is that given a choice between the RG & the 1895 I would choose the Rio Grande over the Marlin 1895 with the stipulation that the hammer lock and any other safety except for the half-cock safety be removed by a gun smith.
You gotta use what you got and as it is now my "bear country" carry gun is a Browning BLR in 450 Marlin caliber. The gun has no safety other than the half-cock safety.

The Darwin law of survival of the fittest can be extended to survival of the best prepared and not leaving to chance risks that can be minimized or eliminated beforehand.
An environment where your biggest danger is a peeved off wife swinging a frying pan because you went hunting and forgot to take her shopping and an environment where there are large predatory animals willing & able to make a meal of you are quite different and invoke quite different priorities when choosing and setting up an appropriate firearm.

[wll]

The thought of being eaten by a brown bear is not my idea of fun ; -) I hate the sight of blood, especially when it's mine !

If and when I went into an area where I had a chance of meeting one of these fellows, rest assured I would carry some big medicine. My Rossi and Marlin .44's are nice and I can fantasize about taking a charging bruin down, but in reality I don't think that is going to happen, a 270gr to 300gr pill going about 1650 out of a small lever gun is, IMHO pushing your luck !

I think my Marlin and Rossi 45-70's are able to handle the job, especially the Marlin 1895 as it can handle more pressure. I think you need a good lead boolit in the 425gr-500gr weight and a velocity in the 1650fps to 1800fps range, depending of boolit weight of course.

For me, I would be very sure I had a gun that was slicker than snot and I was VERY familiar with it. The safety on the Marlin 1895 and Rossi Rio Grande are fine for me, the safety on the 92 on the other hand is, IMHO way to small and I would be killed trying to go from safe to on ..... I removed mine, and on another note, the hammer lock has been screwed down tight and low strength Lock Tite has been applied. The thought of that coming loose, backing out and locking your hammer would turn your gun into a club !

The Rossi 45-70 is a great package and I love the fact that is is light and fast, I would carry it in bear country loaded with 425gr Leadheads, cruising out around 1650fps for close range bear work. On the other hand, besides having a small rifle for protection I would be in condition yellow, and do my best to stay away from Mr. Bruin at all cost ... Like I said, I hate the sight of blood, especially when it's mine !

Side Note : (The removal of the hammer safety and hammer lock work for me, for the average person, he or she may want to keep that factory, especially if children are around.)


wll

[pricedo]

The thought of being eaten by a brown bear is not my idea of fun ; -) I hate the sight of blood, especially when it's mine !

note, the hammer lock has been screwed down tight and low strength Lock Tite has been applied. The thought of that coming loose, backing out and locking your hammer would turn your gun into a club !


wll

The disabled gun would make a great toothpick for a Grizzly, Alaskan Brown, Kodiak Bear or a big boar Black Bear after he polished you off.

Darwin survival score: Bear 1 ........will 0

MY CONCLUSIONS: Of the two choices the Rio Grande 45-70 is the way to go and I would prefer one with a barrel chopped to 16 1/4". For normal use hunting antlered ungulates that don't charge or hunt you by all means keep the lawyer safety stuff on the gun. For guys like me who travel & play in bear country the only safety I want on my gun is the traditional half cock safety.

[wll]

The thought of being eaten by a brown bear is not my idea of fun ; -) I hate the sight of blood, especially when it's mine !

note, the hammer lock has been screwed down tight and low strength Lock Tite has been applied. The thought of that coming loose, backing out and locking your hammer would turn your gun into a club !


wll

The disabled gun would make a great toothpick for a Grizzly, Alaskan Brown, Kodiak Bear or a big boar Black Bear after he polished you off.

Darwin survival score: Bear 1 ........will 0

MY CONCLUSIONS: Of the two choices the Rio Grande 45-70 is the way to go and I would prefer one with a barrel chopped to 16 1/4". For normal use hunting antlered ungulates that don't charge or hunt you by all means keep the lawyer safety stuff on the gun. For guys like me who travel & play in bear country the only safety I want on my gun is the traditional half cock safety.

I agree with what you said, if you ever get in a bear situation, you need to hit him hard, and make sure that boolit penetrates to the CNS or breaks bones or joints so he can't move and you can finish him off !

Not my idea of something I want to happen to me !


wll