I plan on using my new Marlin 1895, 45/70 for whitetale deer, spring bear and moose this year. I have had so many people tell me different things about ammo selection. With my old 270 win I started using 130 gr corelock and found that I had a large amount of damaged meat. I changed to the 150 gr corelock and alot less damage. Would the same hold true for the 45/70? For this hunting season I am going to be using factory loads (I want to be loading my own after that) I was thinking of using...


Deer 300 gr Win. JHP

Bear 405 gr Rem

Moose 450 gr garrett ammo

What do you think??????

Yep, no doubt, those will do great for the intended game or you may just want to use the Hdy Leverevolution for all three.

Dan

Well I hope this ammo works as well as people say it will

I use the same load in my .444 for all hunting and a second load for summer-time practice and plinking because it is cheaper and has less recoil. In August or early September I resight the rifle for my hunting load.

So I shoot a lot of ammo using .44 cal. pistol bullets to keep my marksmanship skills up to snuff. After sight-in with my hunting bullet I might shoot 15 or 20 rounds for practice at different ranges to re-establish my confidence in the the trajectory out to 200 yds. During hunting season, with any luck at all, I will only fire a shot or two to fill each tag.

With different loads for each species I would have to spend too much time confirming trajectory from one season to the next. Just doesn't seem necessary to me when one load will do the job from antelope to deer to elk.

I do see where you are coming from...but here in Canada deer are around 170 to 280 lbs and then the moose are from 700 to 2300 lbs...big difference need a bigger bullet

Use the bigger bullet on the deer, they won't know the difference! I have used a similar philosophy as naumann, but found my 420gr bullet to have a very arcing trajectory beyond 125yd. I cast and load my own, so I will probably try a lighter bullet at higher velocity for a slightly flatter trajectory on my 90-120lb deer, and if I ever get the chance for a moose hunt, switch back then. Thinking about PP a 255gr semiwadcutter if I can find some load info for about 2200-2400fps. If trajectory is not an issue, then go heavy. If it is, and you are buying factory ammo, the Leverevolution has a great track record from all that I hear, even on bigger game (moose, bear, elk). I have only been diagnosed with bigboreitis for about a year, so there are some on this forum with much more experience with the disease that can shed more light on these issues, but don't fight it, it is terminal and fighting it only makes it hurt worse!

If you are using factory ammunition, what you suggest would be OK, but you might still be better off sticking with one bullet weight and beign confident of where it hits. Your 405 grain factory should be fine for deer, bear and moose, with trajectory being the issue at slightly longer ranges.
Personnally, when hunting with my .45-70 Marlin, I use cast 405 grain HP (Lee mould) at 1600 fps. Works fine, and no guessing about what bullet is in the gun, whether it is sighted in properly, or what the trajectory is.

First off I have to say "thank you all" I have also just caught the bug...bigboreitis...this is the first time I have had such a big selection of bullets to choose from. I never really occured to me that I could do that. Now that I sit back and think about it, yeah I can. I am going to use the 405 gr Rem. ammo for now. I plan on reloading starting next winter, so it is factory ammo till then. Thank you again for opening my eyes to this...lol

Does winchester or federal make the 405 gr? or just Rem.

Winchester used to make 405 grain 45-70 ammo but don't anymore. Federal never made a 45-70 loading other than 300 grains.

Another consideration should be the Federal 300 grain ammo with the Speer bullet product number 4570AS. It will take a moose with a well-placed shot. This bullet is pretty stout and with it launched at over 1800 fps will give you a little more effective range. Sighted 4" high at 100 yards would get you an 8" diameter point blank range (no more than 4" above or below the line of sight out to that range) of 185 yards and would be about 7" low at 200 yards, 20" low at 250 yards.