Nardoo
03-31-2006, 03:19 AM
Hi all, and a big thankyou to Taylor who graciously posted 4 Marlin fore sights half way around the world to someone he does not know. I am really impressed with the generosity of you guys. Great advice and practical help simply for the asking. The honest humanity I find in fellow gun owners kind of contrasts with how we are portrayed in the media (at least down here).
The Marlin .375 now shoots with open sights. I can't tell you how glad we were to ditch that scope. We are shooting cast bullets into 1" at 50 metres and the Hornady 220 grainers slightly better. We have also aquired a Williams aperture sight which is a great asset to my old eyes.
It may be of interest to relate how I came about that receiver sight. Might also reveal my character flaw. Whilst trying in vain to source the that front sight I again dropped into my friendly local gun shop. The guy there is a gem, doing great deals and is a great source of information. (He has just fitted a Marlin .45/70 barrel to sporterised SMLE!). He said that he could not find a .375 sight but had just traded a Marlin 45/70 with a Williams sight and kindly offered for me to take it home and try the sights on the the 375. Of course he knew his mark, and as little as I needed a 45/70, the more I looked at the hole in the end of that barrel the more I liked it! I argued with myself that my beautiful, accurate Model 70 .338 was as big as I need. Lousy argument. Anyway you guys must know what happened. Put the Williams sight on the .375 and took it out to try. Naturally took the 45/70 along for a shot as well. And did it shoot. I put 405gn Remingtons, 405 gn RCBS cast bullets (.458" and .461") and some little 300 gn Lee cast flat bases through it and they all shot less than an inch at 50 metres. We went home bruised but happy. The little bugger kicks but is it fun to shoot! On the way home I poked one of my RCBS 405grainers at 1850 fps through the ribs of a 60 kg feral and did he hit the ground. Anyway they did me a great deal and the .45/70 is now nestling in with .375 in the gun safe amongst the bolt guns. My wife asked why I needed it, (she always does) and on trying to rationalise my feeble reply found that really it was for the fun of it. The hunting rifles are serious stuff; scope just so, trajectory all worked out, premium projectiles - real business like. But those leverguns are just plain good fun to play with. Makes me feel 20 years younger. When I let off that big .45 cal you feel like you have accomplished something. Even that lovely spray of bullet lube on firing kind of puts me in mind of shooting those ancient cardboard shells out of my little .410 hammer gun 40 years ago. The guy in the gun shop wants to give me some black powder - where will this all end? At the moment I plan to take a Sambar with the 45/70 this season. I will use a 405gn cast bullet but think I will drop the velocity back to around 1790 fps where it seems to shoot a little sweeter. Bit easier on the shoulder too. Our sambar are big deer with incredible vitality but I am quietly confident.
Anyone got any hints on 45/70 loads for big deer?
Thanks for your indulgence and thanks again Taylor. I will contact you regarding the return of the sights.
The Marlin .375 now shoots with open sights. I can't tell you how glad we were to ditch that scope. We are shooting cast bullets into 1" at 50 metres and the Hornady 220 grainers slightly better. We have also aquired a Williams aperture sight which is a great asset to my old eyes.
It may be of interest to relate how I came about that receiver sight. Might also reveal my character flaw. Whilst trying in vain to source the that front sight I again dropped into my friendly local gun shop. The guy there is a gem, doing great deals and is a great source of information. (He has just fitted a Marlin .45/70 barrel to sporterised SMLE!). He said that he could not find a .375 sight but had just traded a Marlin 45/70 with a Williams sight and kindly offered for me to take it home and try the sights on the the 375. Of course he knew his mark, and as little as I needed a 45/70, the more I looked at the hole in the end of that barrel the more I liked it! I argued with myself that my beautiful, accurate Model 70 .338 was as big as I need. Lousy argument. Anyway you guys must know what happened. Put the Williams sight on the .375 and took it out to try. Naturally took the 45/70 along for a shot as well. And did it shoot. I put 405gn Remingtons, 405 gn RCBS cast bullets (.458" and .461") and some little 300 gn Lee cast flat bases through it and they all shot less than an inch at 50 metres. We went home bruised but happy. The little bugger kicks but is it fun to shoot! On the way home I poked one of my RCBS 405grainers at 1850 fps through the ribs of a 60 kg feral and did he hit the ground. Anyway they did me a great deal and the .45/70 is now nestling in with .375 in the gun safe amongst the bolt guns. My wife asked why I needed it, (she always does) and on trying to rationalise my feeble reply found that really it was for the fun of it. The hunting rifles are serious stuff; scope just so, trajectory all worked out, premium projectiles - real business like. But those leverguns are just plain good fun to play with. Makes me feel 20 years younger. When I let off that big .45 cal you feel like you have accomplished something. Even that lovely spray of bullet lube on firing kind of puts me in mind of shooting those ancient cardboard shells out of my little .410 hammer gun 40 years ago. The guy in the gun shop wants to give me some black powder - where will this all end? At the moment I plan to take a Sambar with the 45/70 this season. I will use a 405gn cast bullet but think I will drop the velocity back to around 1790 fps where it seems to shoot a little sweeter. Bit easier on the shoulder too. Our sambar are big deer with incredible vitality but I am quietly confident.
Anyone got any hints on 45/70 loads for big deer?
Thanks for your indulgence and thanks again Taylor. I will contact you regarding the return of the sights.