I love my Handi .45-70

[cult .44]

Just sayin'

Had the day off so Monday morning I grabbed my Handi (and my .44 Marlin 1894) and drove to an old rock quarry in the Rum River State Forest (central Minnesota). It's nice to be able to move around and shoot at different ranges, elevations and positions. It seemed like I was nailing everything I was aiming at (two phone books taped together, detergent bottles, and rocks) using open sights. The best shot was with the Handi at about 150 paces out where I sent the bottle spinning in the air. (Being one for one, I didn't try another shot at that range.)

Things were going well with my Marlin too. I've got a sort of a competition going between the two rifles for which one gets the starting role come deer season. Still undecided. The load for my Handi was 53.5 gr IMR 3031 behind a Hornady 300gr JHP (about 1750 fps) and for the Marlin it was 21.5 gr 2400 behind a Hornady 240 gr XTP (about 1700 fps).

Oh, and I saw a bear when I was driving out. All in all a pretty fun morning in the woods.

[gatersb]

good job man my 45/70 handi monday only had 4" groups at 100 yards.  It liked the starting load with trailboss and rem brass but with starline brass it made the 4 in groups.  Not sure why other than rem brass had be loaded 3 times before.  I guess its time to try imr 3031 or RL 7 now and some different bullets.  (using 300 grain cast bullets now)

[petemi]

4 inch groups at 100 yards??   I've shot my Handi .45-70 for about five years now.  It grouped 1.5 inches at 100 with both 325 gr. Hornady LEs and Rem 405 grs. over about 38 gr IMR4198 (can't remember for sure, but it's in the books)  The 405s chronyed at 1929 and the LEs are factory stated to run at 2050.  The 1.5 inch groups were in spite of my ageing eyes.

cult.44, you need to forget about rocks and jugs for now and put that thing on a bench and get very serious about dialing it in.  Hitting a jug at 150 paces doesn't prove a thing if you don't know how you're sighed in.  It could have been pilot error, and the jug could have been two feet away from point of aim.  The .45-70 is NOT a pick up and shoot rifle.  Many people think so, and that's why they tell you it's only "a hundred yard rifle".  You've got to sit down with it and learn it.  When you do, virtually anything you can see with the naked eye is a target you can hit.  The last deer I shot with my first Handi .45-70 fell to a Hornady LE at 220 yards.....dead right there.  The second hasn't hunted yet, only had it a couple of weeks and it may grow up to be a .45-90, 110 or 120.  Haven't decided yet. 

I just came back from a shoot at random targets, and there were two 14"X14" steel gongs at 300 yards.  A young man was shooting a 5 inch .44 mag. revolver.  He knocked the first gong on his first shot and the second on his third shot.  This is shooting from a bench.  The man obviously knows his weapon....and that's what it takes...serious work.



Pete

[GeorgiaDave]

Hello from Georgia,

   I also must confess a very special fondness to my Handi .45/70. Although I have only had it a few years it has become my go to rifle for any place I hunt up to mid range (300 yards) and is completely honest and predictable. This is one of those rifles you can't blame for a miss. I have posted this pic before, but it is still pretty cool for a rifle costing a fraction of most. Glad to see such support for an old cartridge and for a rifle sneered at by many.

[petemi]

I'm sorry I came off as a grumpy old man (which I am), but GeorgiaDaves post graphically shows what you can do with a Handi .45-70.  You can bet it didn't climb out of the box doing that.  He also mentions 300 yards as "mid range" and he's totally correct.  It will do whatever you learn to do.

Pete

[tacotime]

Nice.

[petemi]

Hey Dave, the trees in the background, are they live oak, hickory,?? what?  Those two are one of the things I miss from the South.

Pete

[petemi]

Sorry about the double post above.  (Chevy ads....they're gonna make me buy an import.)  Tim, if ya can, please whack one of my posts, I don't know how.  Back to the ads, I like and encourage advertizing on this site, because we need the revenue, but these ads are rude and intrusive.  If all our advertizers did likewise you wouldn't be able to navigate the site.  That's how the double post came about, I posted and the ad came up and covered it.  I thought it didn't go, it was still draft format so I sent it again.

Pete

[cult .44]

Whoa, Pete, you seem to have read a lot into what I posted. Can't a guy have fun plinking in a quarry with his Handi?

And in the thick woods where I hunt it would be unusual to have a shot over 50 yards. While I work up the loads and zero them in at the indoor range (at 50 yards), I think the off hand shooting is good practice because mostly what I do is still hunt and any shot I get is mostly going to be off hand. I work to get a good feel for hitting targets at different ranges without adjusting the sights. The shot at 150 paces I considered kind of a hail mary for me with open sights. It's not a shot I would take while hunting.

I'm totally impressed with your 220 yard shot and have no doubt the .45-70 can handle it. I would never attempt such a shot on game unless I had the right equipment and had done the work to prepare for it.

[bikerbeans]

Cult,

Plinking at stuff besides a paper bullseye is fun.   I like to shoot my rifles at Clay Pidgeons and in the winter, gallon milk jugs that I fill with water & a few drops of food coloring and then freeze them solid.  A large heavy lead slug @ 1500 FPS puts on quite a show when it hits one of the ice jugs.  Glad you had a fun day, seeing the bear sounded like the best part.

BB

[gatersb]

oh i dont doubt the rifle shoots better than i do i'm the limiting factor.  with winchester 300hp factory loads the bullets touch.  Just not when i shoot it

[gendoc]

yep, them bears are cool... so is tha 70 !!.  geter like ya like and then you'll have a new partner fer life 
kinda hard to beat'um...  like a gud women. they'll beat ya when ya need it. and love ya when
ya make'um happy !!!

[AtlLaw]

Look like Red Oak to me Pete.     But the pic isn't real clear...
I love any caliber that starts with 45!   

[petemi]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be rude.  I guess my problem is I consider my .45s to be killing machines, not plinkers.  .38s are fun for that.  What I read into it was that you were thrilled to hit a jug at 150 paces, when in reality, you should be able to dump bullet upon bullet at 150 paces....A bit wider with iron sights.  I suppose I just didn't want you to go join the "100 yard rifle club"  I apologize.

Pete

[spikehorn]

Cult,

Plinking at stuff besides a paper bullseye is fun.   I like to shoot my rifles at Clay Pidgeons and in the winter, gallon milk jugs that I fill with water & a few drops of food coloring and then freeze them solid.  A large heavy lead slug @ 1500 FPS puts on quite a show when it hits one of the ice jugs.  Glad you had a fun day, seeing the bear sounded like the best part.

BB

I like bowling pins set a various distances

[tacklebury]

good job man my 45/70 handi monday only had 4" groups at 100 yards.  It liked the starting load with trailboss and rem brass but with starline brass it made the 4 in groups.  Not sure why other than rem brass had be loaded 3 times before.  I guess its time to try imr 3031 or RL 7 now and some different bullets.  (using 300 grain cast bullets now)

I'm having tremendous success with RL7 in .45-70.  I can load from 34.3 to 52 grains and have any power I want for my wife to more than I want.  lol  I have found personally that 46.7 is my magic number although 50 to 50.5 did very well also, but kicked a lot more.  I have equal luck using the FTX or Interlock HP's.  I plan to try some round nose, in case I want to shoot a bear or pig, but for deer etc, the first two work well.  I'm still working on trying several variations of lead also, but haven't found any that come close to the above two.  Since I just spent my wad on my new Mossberg 500C Pump when I ran across a great deal today, I doubt I'll be able to do much testing until later this fall.    I was looking for a 20 ga. H&R with a screw out choke, but wanted a 20 ga. (less damaged meat on small critters) and fell into this one which was just traded today.  I just couldn't refuse.

[gatersb]

tacklebury i think you have persueded me i see RL7 and hornady bullets in my future

[cult .44]

Hey Pete, no worries, but thanks.

seeing the bear sounded like the best part.

Indeed. I was driving slowly on a winding gravel road in the forest when I saw black shape moving around off to the right. It stood up and looked right at the car then got down and loped into the woods. I don't think it was real big, but big enough.

I'm liking the idea of shooting jugs of colored ice.

[petemi]

I too like the frozen jug idea.  Every once in a while we have random jug shoots here with a few friends.  The jugs range in size from little spice bottles to large kitty litter jugs.  We usually do it just after the hay is cut or in the winter.  We set the jugs out from 25 to 300 yards, and you can shoot anything, any way you want to....hand guns to artillery.  In the winter, we could just fill the jugs and set them out on the back deck and they'd be frozen solid in the morning.  I've also got a large chest freezer with lots of room in it.........no deer last year

If anyone wants to come up when we do it next, just PM me, and bring jugs.

Pete

[jim36]

Cult
     The 45 70 is the one that started my ADDICTION. One wasn't enough so had to get another. I shoot one of them with 405 gr. lead and the other with 300 gr. Sierra  fn hp. Our rifle and pistol club just completed a 700 yd. (soon to be 1000 yd) range. I have only been shooting at 200 yds and love to hear the steel when it's hit. I can't wait for my grandson to grow a little more so he can shoot this thing. Also can't wait to shoot the 500+ targets. This 45 70 is a piece of history to be passed on to the next generation. Your post is correct. "I LOVE MY 45 70"
                                    Jim   <")))><

[cult .44]

I'd love to be able to head out and lob heavy bullets at long ranges (maybe pickup a BC for the job), but the environment I live in doesn't offer much opportunity for that so I focus on short range brush busting, and the .45-70 is excellent for that work as well. Wonderful all-around cartridge, I'd say.

[petemi]

I'm very lucky.  The .45-70 was the first Handi I owned, and I can step out the back door and shoot it from 25 to 300 yards...anytime I feel like it.  I guess that's why I'm always preaching to shoot it and learn it.  It is truly a remarkable rifle.  Nuff said

Pete

[bikerbeans]

Pete,

I'm listening regarding shooting the 45 cal. rifle at distance.  I now have my 45/120 zeroed at 200 yards (about 4" high @ 100 yards, I ain't saying nothin' about velocity or powder charge ) with Rem 405 SPs.  Big grin every time I pull the trigger on a 45 cal rifle.

BB

[petemi]

Tom, ain't it wonderful?


Pete

[goofyoldfart]

Hello from Georgia,

  GeorgiaDave: using the ace of spades for that group was ALL WRONG!!!! Ya should of used the ACE OF CLUBS with that group

[tacklebury]

tacklebury i think you have persueded me i see RL7 and hornady bullets in my future

I think you'll really like it.  I have found that I like it just as much in the .45 Colt for barrels over 14".  It has more of a push recoil rather than the snappy jerk of the pistol powders.  I'm using 25gr. (not max) in my .45 Colt and I have shot 30 or so without nearly the soreness the next day in lieu of H-110.  That stuff is PHEW!  It'll knock the snot outta your shoulder in maxed out colt loads.

[petemi]

tacklebury, now ya tell me, I just got a jug of H110.....OUCH,,,

Pete

[PawPaw]

I agree that the .45-70's a keeper, and I'm glad to see that some folks are learning to use it at distance. 

That's great!  For myself, I consider MY .45-70 to be a muzzleloader substitute.  I use it during the primitive season for deer in the thickets.  A long shot would be 50 yards.

Come regular gun season, I grab another of my rifles.

However, I don't consider any of my rifles 300 yard rifles for game.  I'm not going to strike the primer on any game animal over 200 yards.  But, that's just me.  I know my rifles can do it, and I know that I can do it, I'm just funny like that.  If he's over 200 yards, by my calibrated eyeball, he's free to go.

[tacklebury]

tacklebury, now ya tell me, I just got a jug of H110.....OUCH,,,

Pete

8(  Sorry about the timing.  I do use some for magnum loads in my .45 LC Ruger, because it's just enough faster burn than RL7 to finish before the bullet leaves, but even in my Ruger, I am done shooting after 3 or 4 and I often stretch my thumb muscle.  This is even with minimum H-110 loads, because to be safe, you cannot reduce it too far.  I wish I had posted it sooner to save you the denero.