I have been "playing" with a 1895GS this week and been having a ball doing it. It is in stock form, well it does have a sling on it. haha
I have put 50 rounds through it this week and I am really suprised with its accuracy.

Would anybody care to talk about their 1895's accuracy. Good, bad, do's and donts, what bullet, what powder, etc. etc.

(I am very new to handloading and interest in everyones findings.)


1895GS
Been shooting 400 grain Speers, 50gr.s IMR-3031.
Shooting open sights, (need to get shorter front sight. Maxed out on elevation and still 4inches low at 100 yards) but it will shoot 3 inch or so, 3 round groups at 100 yards. I am sure that the gun can do way better than I can.

What does your shoot?

ANYBODY have ANYTHING to say about their 1895???

Bear - Your rifle will shoot a number of different loads very accurately. My two cents: 350 grain Hornadys and AA2015 will give you your best accuracy, but there are many powders you can use, including RE7, 4895, 3031, 4198, Varget, Ramshot X-celerator, and others. IMR4895 and Varget will give you moderate velocities with minimal recoil. If you want to shoot economically, there is nothing wrong with with Remington 405s. H322 seems to be a good powder for them, but they will work with many others.

You might want to drop in at www.marlinowners.com / big bore forum from time to time. Sometimes some good loads are listed there.

AkBear


There are several threads on these boards that include data for our .45-405gLFNGC and .45-425gWLNGC bullets that give MOA or tighter accuracy from the Marlin 1895 series of rifles chambered for .45-70. The rifles shoot very, very accurately with a wide variety of bullets. When shooting cast bullets in these guns it works best to shoot a bullet sized to .460" diameter.

Enjoy your new rifle!

God bless,

Many combinations will work. That is the whole fun of this cartridge. I started out with the longer barreled 1895, and got a Ruger, and then a Taylor. I would suggest staying with the jacketed bullets for awile. I highly advocate finding cheap bullets. Like Sunday said, the Rem. JSP 405gr. works well for many. I have loaded this bullet from 1300 to nearly 2000fps. I have used Hornady 350's,and 300gr. in Speer, Hornady and Remington. Those are the size that paying attention to quality may be a bit more important. The higher velocity loadings will challenge the integrity of a 300gr, so I would stay with Hornady or Speer if going over 2000fps. I use cast for plinking and hunting, and while there was a learning curve for using cast bullets, they are cheap and make you learn your rifle all that much more. I shoot .460 diam. as Marshall said. I also prefer gas checked if going over 1550fps or so. Higher velocity will make these things erratic in accuracy at the very least. I have plinking loads of 10gr. of Titegroup (no filler), and a 400gr. cast bullet. That gives wround 1100fps with great accuracy and almost no recoil. Have fun, you are only getting started1

Thanks for the insight. I probably jumped the gun by posting this thread but I had such a kick out shooting that I became curious about everyone elses thoughts. (I really respect the thoughts of the people on this forum)
I was out at the range with some friends that had just got an ultra cube (I need to find out more about the thing, but it is about 4 inches square, orange in color, kind of hard rubber. and supposedly can take 1000's of rounds and still remain the same shape) Anyways, they were shooting it with AR's and it was jumping around. Then I shot it with the Guide Gun it it went flying. Everyone started laughing and we started again. Well like I said earlier. I just started reloading and the gun is still open sights but we shot that ultra cube consistantly out to 100 yards with the Guide Gun. FUN FUN!!!

Anybody have a scope on an 1895? What do you think? Regular scope? Scout scope? How accurate are these? You can tell the truth, I wont call you a liar?!?!? HAHA

I shoot H322 with 405gr Remington SP and Kodiak 405gr bullets in starline brass. My stainless guide gun has a leupold 2.5x IER scout scope. With my load with 405gr Remington will keep 3 shots inside 2" at 100 yards with the ghost ring sights and with the scout scope I can keep groups of 1 1/4-1 1/2 all day long. I went with the heavy post reticle for my scout scope so holdover is a little more difficult to do, but with a 3" high at 100 yards zero I am only 7" low at 200 yards. I'm here in anchorage, feel free to drop me a line if you want to try out the scout scope setup some time, I usually shoot out at the birchwood range 2-3 times a month, you could meet me out there some time and throw a few downrange.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid149/p8baf88f6f0d0289132b1311b8750d6bc/f5fcbbf6.jpg

Thebear_78: Thanks for the reply. Thats what I was looking for- An insight to what others are doing with these 1895s and personal opinions on them.

Thanks for the invite to shoot! I shoot at the Snowshoe Gun Range in Kenai. I work week on/ week off, so I try to shoot 2-3 times each week that I am off.

Have you shot anything with the 1895? I think a couple of us are going to try for a Black Bear here soon. I was all hyped about shooting something with my new 300 ultra mag, but this 45-70 is such a kick, I think it might see action first.

At the moment my Guide Gun is 100% stock. I pulled a Burris 2.5 X 8 scope off of it and put it on another gun. With that scope I could put 10 out of 10 shots inside a 3" Shoot-N-See target at 100 yards and most of them would be in the 10 ring. It's amazingly accurate for what it is.

I had it out yesterday with open buckhorn sights and MUCH TO MY SURPRISE my old eyes were putting hits inside 2" orange dots on a consistent basis at 50 yards. What a fun gun.

I am thinking about outfitting it with the new Bushnell Holosight (500 series) as it is considerably smaller than the original.

Here's a link in the archives that deals with handloading the 45-70. I bought a box of 1500 Hornady 350 grain RN jacketed bullets. I put them over 58 grains of Varget with a CCI 200 primer. They shoot great. Let us know what you end up with.

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/tech_notes/archive_tech_notes.htm/49

thebear_78 - nice rig

I like the 405gr Remington JSP with H322 and starline brass. The guide guns are great. You really can't beleive how accurate they are.

My current pet load is 43.5gr of H4198. Remington 405gr JSP. WLR primers. Lee Factory Crimp. Nickel-plated Remington brass. OAL = 2.55".

Velocity from my 1895GS is 1780fps. 50yd accuracy is near one-hole.

My stainless Guide Gun's load of choice is:
Remington 300 grain jhp
CCI Benchrest Primer
49.6 grains of IMR-4198
Seat to center of cannelure
Don't overcrimp. Gun hates crimps. Just tight enough to prevent bullet setback.

This load has MOA potential in my guide gun. (Between my 54 year old eyes and only a 4X scope, I usually put one of five shots outside of MOA; there rest are there.)

I have been "playing" with a 1895GS this week and been having a ball doing it. It is in stock form, well it does have a sling on it. haha
I have put 50 rounds through it this week and I am really suprised with its accuracy.

Would anybody care to talk about their 1895's accuracy. Good, bad, do's and donts, what bullet, what powder, etc. etc.

(I am very new to handloading and interest in everyones findings.)


1895GS
Been shooting 400 grain Speers, 50gr.s IMR-3031.
Shooting open sights, (need to get shorter front sight. Maxed out on elevation and still 4inches low at 100 yards) but it will shoot 3 inch or so, 3 round groups at 100 yards. I am sure that the gun can do way better than I can.

What does your shoot?

You need to get the medium front site installed.
I went to the fire site . Then you also need to have a hole in the top of the hood . I took the hood off.