Dem heavy boolits do hurt a bit. I traded my 1895 off for a Cowboy model..well actually bought the CB and sold my Micro groove because the CB shoots lead boolits so much better. Been trying to get a moose license so I can go up in the black timber and shoot one with the ol banger and 400 grain lead boolits. All the moose I see are under a 100 yds. and it would be kinda neat to do a moose with that caliber. Even the 300 grainers are not fun to shoot off'n the bench..shooting at game is a I didn't feel the gun go off thing..kinda sorta. Shot a yote the other morning with it.. He was close..about 35 yds and not such a large one..but there is a 30 dollar bounty on 'em right now in our area. Cattlemens assoc puts it on evey year to thin the yotes down in calving season..which is now thru February. Seems like a cold time O' de year to be calving. but there are good reasons for it

my point is still that you can't name a north American game animal that you cannot kill cleanly with a 45-70-405 cast lead at around factory load levels. Sure you can supe it up, but why? If you are going dangerous game hunting in Africa my suggestion is another caliber in a nice double rifle. If you are hunting from bunny rabbit to moose in the US and Canada the 45-70 will do the job just fine. AND with old style black powder loads you can eat right up to the hole, you don't loose meat from shock damage all over the place. I have a couple of boxes of 305 grain remmy hollowpoints I picked up (mostly cause I needed brass) and they will take anything in Texas just fine, and are overkill for more than a few critters.

GoodOlBoy

The 1885 and the Siamese are both toys. Neither is really usefull for anything but punching paper. I definately agree on the 405 cast they are much easier to live with, in fact the most common 45-70 load I shoot is a 300gr cast out of an old 14 Contender.

Oh heck GOB..they ain't nothn in Texas big enough to put the scares into a 243!! LOL But I do gotta say.. I ain't shootin a grizz at handshakin range with the ol blackpowder loads. Yep..it'll kill 'em but how bout right now!!...And there are much better rounds to use for everything on a day to day basis. We use the 45-70 because of nostalgia and we think it's neat..not just you..me too. Many use it just cause it's the way the old timers did it. It really doesn't make it better..just neat. That's why I want to shoot a moose with it

They do work. A friend was given a Marlin 1895 Guide Gun in 45-70. He does no reloading so I loaded him some cast 350gr at maybe 1200 FPS at the most so he could get used to the rifle and get the sighting close. Next time I saw him he said the loads worked great, only one shot was needed. I asked what did you kill with the rifle? He helps someone with a small herd of buffalo. Every year they cull one to use as meat for their families. My comment was those were practice loads not hunting loads. The range was very close but maybe you really don't need that much of a load to kill just about anything you will find around here.

You guys have lead a sheltered life. I know about a half dozen folks around here who hunt with a sporterized Siamese. And guys, a 300 JHP at 2,800 fps is no toy and is my load of preference, using R-7 for putting the whoa to a big hog. By the way the action by itself is now at $450 or above, before modification.
Ed

Remember when the Siamese were under 100 bucks for the whole rifle??..Boy they were UGLY. An awful lot of Buffalo are grown and used for meat here. Almost all are shot..most by guys with 45-70s.. for nostalgic reasons. I have a friend who used my 1895 with factory jacketed to kill his buff. And it ate good. He used a Highwall in 45-100 this year(I think). It's kinda hard to corral an animal that big..if he don't want to go where ya want him.. Actually it is impossible