Caliber advice

[je265]

Hello to everyone. It's been a while since I've been on this site, busy with work and family. I'm going to get a new barrel for a rifle frame I have and was looking for a little advice. I will be hunting deer and if I can get the rifle back in time I have a black bear hunt coming up in September. I was thinking of getting a 450 Marlin bbl. I don't reload so this make more sense to me than a .45-70 bbl. Part of me thinks I should stick with .308 or .30-06 but my primary hunting rifle is a bolt action .30-06 so I wanted to get something different. I've never been bothered by recoil but I've also mostly shot .308 and .30-06 bolt guns.
I guess something sort of feels "right" about a single shot and a large bore especially where all my hunting is in New England with 100 yds. being a long shot. Any advice, comments, stories, etc.. would be appreciated. Thanks
Jim

[quickdtoo]

The bad thing about the .450M is the recoil, if you don't mind .375H&H recoil levels, you should be fine, factory ammo is only available in one level with heavy recoil, there have been several sold here due to the recoil. For 100yd work, the .45-70 would be my choice over the.450M, it can do anything you want wiith factory loads from mild trapdoor loads on up to and exceeding .450M factoy loads. Somewhere in between would be real reasonable recoil but very effective loads like Federals 300gr hot-cor loads at 1800+fps and inexpensive Remington and Winchester ammo, too.

Tim

http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

http://www.midwayusa.com/eproductpage.exe/showproduct?saleitemid=122888

http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/browse?TabID=3&Categoryid=7546&categorystring=653***690***

[nomosendero]

As Tim showed, the 45-70 has alot more ammo choices. You have variety too with Conley & others
with the 450, but not as much. It appears that the Horn. 350 gr. load in 450Marlin would take care of any need I would have & of course there ids the Releverution  . I believe the 45-70 is the better choice.
I have a 450 Ultra because of a good trade. I added a slip on pad (also because of monkey reach)
& it has a rod in the stock, I have thought of removing it but Mac & Tim have advised me not to
in the past, but these 2 factors combined make it a wuss.

Overall, I would go with the 45-70.

[Uncle Ji]

How about a medium bore 35 Whelan (35-06), should take care of anything in the 48.

[Mac11700]

Both the 450 M and 45-70 are great rounds...both when loaded to their potintial will and do kick the snot out of you...If your used to the 30-06..this would make a fine choice to start...It may same to be a bit of over kill to you...but..it's hard not to recommend the 30-06.For 100 yard shots...most of the Handi's will do a good job...and you could certainly get by with a smaller caliber..The 308 class cartridges are good also...I would even say dropping down to the 243 wouldn't be a bad choice..Me...I like to be prepaired for a long shot if the need arises..and if your wanting something a little different...a nice 25-06 would work for you too...same for a 280 Rem..or one of the new 35 Whelens...

Mac

[quickdtoo]

How about a medium bore 35 Whelan (35-06), should take care of anything in the 48.

Factory ammo for the whelen is limited and getting more limited all the time now that Federal dropped their offering. But it would be a fine choice if you were reloading for it.

Tim

[je265]

I figured I would provide an update. I drove my receiver to the factory (about 1 hr drive) and settled on a .30-06 bbl. They were out of .45-70 bbl's and I wanted to try and take this rifle on my bear hunt this year. I decided the 450 would probably kick too much and I might have a hard time finding the .35 Whelen ammo. I'm a little bummed out I went with the conservative choice but I have pleanty of ammo around including some reduced recoil ammo I bought last year to have my nephew shoot a centerfire. I'll probably get a 45-70 bbl at some point as I'm interested in that round, especially for the type of hunting I do. I wanted to thank everyone for the good advice and hopefully I'll be posting a picture of my bear next month.
Jim

[Mac11700]

Good Luck with your 30-06 and upcoming bear hunt...Please let us know how it turns out...I'm looking forward to having a try at bear hunting theis fall with nomosendaro..first time for me..

Mac