45 70 – Page 2 – The ExhaustNotes Blog

The 1886 Winchester

An 1886 rifle chambered in .45 70. Octagonal barrel. Color case hardened receiver and other bits. Finely-figured walnut. It was a good day.

It was one of Theodore Roosevelt’s favorite rifles, and it was a rifle I’ve wanted for a long time: The 1886 Winchester, except mine isn’t a Winchester. Mine is a Chiappa, and it’s a faithful reproduction of the original 1886 Winchester. After a diligent search, I purchased mine through Gunbroker.com from an outfit in Pennsylvania called Elk County Ammo and Arms and I had it shipped to my favorite local gun shop, Bullet Barn Guns here in southern California.

I picked up my 1886 this week and I was on the rifle range with it the day I did so. It wasn’t my brightest move; it was over a hundred degrees on the firing line and the heat made me woozy by the time I got home. But I wanted to shoot my 1886. Not surprisingly, I was the only nut on the range that afternoon. Also not surprisingly, I enjoyed every second of my 1886 range session. For me, the rifle’s heritage, beauty, performance, accuracy, and general magnificence overcame the heat. Even though old Davy Crockett did his thing a good half century before the Winchester 1886 came on the scene, I kept hearing the music from that old 1950s TV show while I was on the range. You know. Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier and all that. A stunningly-beautiful 1886 and high temperatures will do that do you. King of the Wild Frontier. I liked that. It’s how I felt that afternoon, a feeling fueled by the vintage look and feel of my 1886.

My 1886: Blue Steel and Walnut

Well, not just blue steel and walnut. Blue steel, color case hardened steel, a 26-inch octagonal barrel, and extremely well-figured walnut. It’s a combination that’s tough to beat, especially on a classy lever gun like the 1886.

Left and right views of my 1886. This is a beautiful rifle. But that buttplate!

The folks at Chiappa know what they’re doing. Check out this color case hardening. It’s stunning.

This is a classy rifle. The color case hardening is magnificent.

The craftsman in Italy who do this kind of work are underpaid. I have no idea how much they earn, but I think they are underpaid. This kind of work is priceless.

The fore end tip is also color case hardened. The checkering is hand cut and beautifully executed.

Painfully beautiful, this buttplate is. It captures the era and the feel of an original 1886, but with full power loads, it’s painful.

The 1886 and 45 70 Accuracy

So what’s it like shooting the 1886? Hey, take a look…

The 1886 Chiappa will shoot. The heat not withstanding, I was having a good time out there. The sun was playing hide-and-seek behind the clouds, and when it went behind the clouds, the difference in accuracy was immediately apparent. I saw firsthand what happens when you have glare on the front sight. When the sun ducked behind the clouds, the front sight stood out clearly. When the clouds moved away and the sun bore down on the 1886 directly, the front sight caught a fair bit of glare. It made getting a clear sight picture difficult, and you can see the results on the target below.

Five 5-shot groups at 50 yards with the Chiappa 1886. The first three groups were shot with the sun behind the clouds. The Chiappa 1886 is accurate! The sun emerged for the last two groups, and the accuracy difference was startling. Glare from the front sight made the groups open significantly. My 1886 had not been zeroed yet. The purpose of this range session was just to see how the 1886 would group, and it did not disappoint.

I had my Marlin 45 70 accuracy load (a 405 grain cast bullet with 35.0 grains of IMR 4198 powder) and I used it on the target above. I fired the first three groups with the sun behind the clouds and no front sight glare. Then the clouds shifted, the sun was out in the open, and the front sight started winking at me. Glare kills accuracy when shooting open sights. I proved it. With no front sight glare, the groups were impressive.

The 1886 was shooting to the right, and when I examined the sights, sure enough, the front sight was slightly biased to the left. On a rifle or handgun rear sight, you move the sight in the direction you want the bullets to go (if you want your shots to move to the left, you move the rear sight to the left). On the front sight, it’s just the opposite. You move the front sight in the opposite direction you want the bullets to move.

Look very closely, and you can see the front sight is a bit to the left. That octagonal barrel is beautiful.

The front sight on my 1886 needed to move to the right because I wanted to move the shots to the left. I had a gunsmith screwdriver kit with me at the range, but between the heat and my sweating like a stuck pig I didn’t want to fool around trying to move the sights out there. I thought it would be best to wait until I returned home and do it in my shop. That’s what I did, and I’m eager to get back out on the range and try it again.

45 70 Recoil

In the video above, the 1886’s recoil looks to be pretty mild, and it was for the three shots you see me firing in the YouTube (I was shooting a light Trail Boss load). I brought two different loads with me to the range. One was the aforementioned light Trail Boss load; the other was the more serious IMR 4198 load that I also mentioned earlier. Trail Boss and IMR 4198 are two different propellants; Trail Boss loads generally give low bullet velocity and low recoil (you know, it’s the old f = ma thing). IMR 4198 makes the bullet step out more earnestly and that load used a heavier bullet. Both resulted in a sharp step up in recoil.

With the light Trail Boss load and a 300-grain Hornady jacketed hollow point bullet, the recoil was tolerable (as you can see in the video). With my accuracy load (the one I developed for my 45 70 Marlin, a 405-grain cast bullet and 35 grains of 4198), the steel 1886 buttplate hurts big time. I had to use a wadded up T-shirt as a half-assed recoil pad for a field expedient. But the rifle will shoot. It’s accurate, as the above groups show.

The Gunstores

As I mentioned above, I bought my Chiappa 1886 from Elk County Ammo and Arms in Pennsylvania. There are a lot of shops selling the 1886 Chiappa, but Elk County Ammo and Arms was the only one willing to take photos of my rifle and email them to me so I could see what I was getting. That was a big plus for me, and it cinched the deal once I saw the actual rifle. I had Elk County Ammo and Arms ship the rifle to my local gun store, Bullet Barn Guns, here in southern California. Bullet Barn Guns is a family-run operation and they are absolutely top notch in every regard. Like me, they appreciate blue steel and fine walnut, and they were blown away by my 1886 when it arrived (so much so that they shot photos of it and emailed them to me, too). The folks at Bullet Barn are enthusiasts, just like me.

The 1886 Chiappa: The Bottom Line

I’m a happy camper. I wanted an 1886 with good wood and this one answered the mail. The walnut is stunning. The checkering is hand cut and sharp (it’s not laser cut or pressed, as is the case on many rifles today). The walnut is oil finished, which makes it easily repairable when the inevitable hunting, range, and general use scratches occur. The metal work is superior (you can see that in the above photos). The trigger is good (there is no creep). And the rifle is accurate. It groups well. After I shot the above target, I used up the remainder of the box of ammo I brought to the range shooting at a rock out at about 150 yards, and I connected every time. That was cool.

About the only thing I don’t care for is that the lever does not lay flush against the receiver; it’s angled out a degree or two. I don’t think that’s a big deal, but I had to find something to bitch about (I’m told it’s part of my charm). That’s it.

The bottom line is that the Chiappa 1886 is a beautiful and accurate rifle. I had wanted an 1886 with nice wood and color case hardening for a long time, and now I have one. Keep an eye on the ExNotes blog, folks. This is a rifle that will be back on these pages.

Like stuff on blue steel and walnut, or maybe the 45 70 cartridge? Hey, check out our Tales of the Gun page!

A Wind River Marlin rifle…

You remember my post on being a bad influence? You know, I get a new rifle, get all pumped up about it, and then my buddies buy the same thing? And you remember that at least couple of the gun blogs we’ve done have been “A Tale of Two (fill in the blank)” gun stories, with the other guns owned by good buddy Greg, or Paul, or one or another of my shooting buddies?

Well, it turns out I’m not the only bad influence in town. There was a movie not too long ago (Wind River) where the main character carried a stainless steel, scoped, .45 70 Marlin lever gun, and he reloaded his own ammo to boot. Good buddy Greg saw that movie and decided his life wouldn’t be complete unless he had a similar rig. Here’s the trailer for Wind River to give you a bit of background if you haven’t seen the movie…

You might have noticed the Harvey Weinstein credit at the start of the movie (now there’s a guy who’s fortunes have certainly reversed). I saw Weinstein speak (in person) at a Bud Ekins and Steve McQueen motorcycle tribute event about 10 years ago, but I digress…that’s a story for another blog and another time. Back to the main attraction for this blog.

Anyway, Greg pulled the trigger on what I’m calling the Wind River Marlin, and we took his new rifle to the range this weekend. Greg’s new 1895 is awesome from both accuracy and power perspectives. Highly-polished stainless steel, laminated stock, big loop, long-eye-relief scope, Picatinny rail mount, 16-inch barrel, and more. It’s very impressive…

Greg and the Wind River Marlin, settling in to drop the hammer.

Deep breath, let it halfway out, gently squeeze…

…and another 400-grains of lead heads downrange. I tripped the shutter just as the rifle was recoiling and caught the thing in midair. Note the rifle lifting off the rest in recoil.

Here’s a very short video of Greg firing the Wind River special…watch it bounce around when it recoils. The lens caps dance around a bit, too!

And here’s what it looked like on the target at 50 yards…that’s outstanding accuracy and great shooting.

The guy is good. That’s four 5-shot groups, and it’s great shooting in any caliber. It’s amazing in a cartridge as powerful as the .45 70.

The concept of a scoped lever action rifle, and particularly one with a long-eye-relief scope, kind of fits in with the Jeff Cooper Scout Rifle idea. I like it because I’ve always wondered what kind of accuracy these big bore lever guns are truly capable of, and Greg’s new stainless steel 1895 confirms that the Marlin lever guns can be tack drivers with the right load and a skilled rifleman. Some might argue that a lever gun should use iron sights (the traditionalist approach), or that a scope looks out of place on a lever action rifle. Greg’s rifle dispels both notions. The Wind River rifle looks great, and it has the accuracy t0 match its looks.

Another school of thought holds that the modern Marlins are not as good as the older ones. These folks generally push the notion that when Marlin was an independent company (before Remington acquired Marlin a few years ago) the quality was better. That’s hogwash, again as shown by Greg’s stainless steel Marlin 1895 and Paul’s blued-steel version of the same rifle. The current production Marlins are every bit as good as the older ones.

I, too, had a new Marlin on the range today (mine was of the .30- 30 flavor, but it was different rifle than the 336 Octagon covered here) . But that’s another story for a another blog, which is coming up in the next few days. Stay tuned!

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A bad influence?

I may be that kid your mother always warned you about. You know, the bad influence. The one who might do something she wouldn’t like, and then you follow suit. Moms live in fear of guys like me.

Paul’s .45 70 Marlin 1895. These are impressive rifles.

When it comes to guns, I am pretty sure I’m the guy she had in mind. On more than a few occasions, I’ll get fired up about a firearm (no pun intended), and then several of my friends will buy the same thing. It’s happened with Mosin-Nagants, 1911 .45 autos, Ruger No. 1 rifles, and most recently, big-bore Marlins. Caliber .45 70 Model 1895s, to be precise. Several of my friends now own these rifles and they are a hoot. One of these days we’ll have one of our informal West End Gun Club matches and restrict it to .45 70 rifles only. That should be fun.

Paul and I both appreciate fine walnut, and Paul’s recent purchase of his brand-new Marlin is no exception. It’s unusual to see wood this highly figured on a production rifle. Take your time, peruse what’s available on Gunbroker.com on a regular basis, visit every gun store you can, and every once in a great while you find something like this.

I was in northern California last week and that’s always a good opportunity to visit with my good buddy Paul and send a little lead downrange. Well, maybe not a little. You see, Paul recently purchased a .45 70 Marlin 1895, and these rifles send lead downrange at the rate of 400 grains a shot. There are 7,000 grains in a pound. Do the math…that’s a big-ass bullet. Hell, they used to use these things for shooting buffalo.

There’s no way I’d ever shoot one of these magnificent creatures, but back in the day when the buffalo hunters did, more often than not they were using a .45 70 rifle. I grabbed this photo on a recent trip to Tennessee.

The Marlins are great rifles, and you can pick up a 45 70 Model 1895 for around $600 if you shop around for a bit. Marlin was acquired by Remington a few years ago, and their quality took a hit during the transition as they moved production from the old Marlin factory in Connecticut to the Remington plant in New York. Judging by the recent rifles I’ve examined (including Paul’s), the quality issues are all in the rear-view mirror now. The new Marlins sure shoot well, too.

A Williams peep sight on Paul’s Marlin. If you know what you’re doing (and Paul does) these can shrink your groups significantly.

Paul added a Williams aperture rear sight to his 1895, and this was the first time he shot it. I had spotting duties. The first round went low left about 10 inches, and then Paul walked succeeding rounds up and to the right by adjusting the rear sight as I called the shots to him. It didn’t take too many shots to zero the rifle, and from that point on, it was simply a question of evaluating which of several different handloads grouped best. Paul had prepared test rounds using Unique and IMR 4227 propellant, all using the Missouri 400 grain cast lead bullet. The winner was 13.0 grains of Unique behind the mighty Missouri slug. At 50 yards, this load grouped well.

The target. Low, adjust, a bit higher, adjust some more, and well, you get the idea. It took only a few shots to get the Marlin dialed.

We were at a Santa Clara County public range and it was a rainy day, but we managed to have fun on both the rifle and handgun ranges. We shot the .45 70 and then my personal favorite handgun, the 1911 .45 Auto. Yep, Paul had his 1911 out, and we had fun with it, too.

Paul shooting his 1895 at the local gun club.

Paul let me try the Marlin. He tried to capture the muzzle blast, but timing the camera to the shot is tough.

Yours truly behind the 1895. From the rear, Paul and I could be twins. We’ve been shooting buddies for more than 60 years. This photo shows the smoke just after I fired, and that’s good enough.

Paul’s “Mil Spec” model Springfield 1911. These are fine guns, way better than what I carried in the Army.

Other folks on the range are always intrigued by the .45 70 cartridge. Compared to the most common rounds seen on rifle ranges these days, they’re huge. The perception is that the recoil must be horrendous. It can be if you load near the upper end of the propellant charge spectrum, but at the lower powder charge ranges, these guns are a lot of fun. That’s a topic for another blog, one that will appear here soon. Stay tuned!

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Buffalo Guns!

The 45 70 is a cartridge that’s been around since 1873, and it’s a whopper. Its designation was originally the 45 70 500 (a .45 caliber, 500 grain bullet, packed with 70 grains of powder). It was an Army cartridge used in the 1873 Springfield rifle, and the recoil was fierce enough that Uncle Sam soon cut the bullet weight to 405 grains. The cartridge was also used in Sharps and other rifles, and the early Gatling guns.

Reloaded 45 70 cartridges, with the 300-grain Hornady bullet. This is a big cartridge. It’s what buffalo hunters and Gatling guns used.

After the Army went to the 30 06 cartridge (in, of course, 1906), the 45 70 just about went belly up. But then Ruger re-introduced the 45 70 in their No. 1 single shot rifle in the early 1970s, and Marlin reintroduced their 1895 rifle shortly after that. The fun started all over again. That’s when I got in the game (back in the 1970s), and I’ve been happily sending those big .45 slugs downrange ever since.

I’m a big fan of the 45 70 and I’ve been told I’m a bad influence, as I’ve had several friends buy 45 70 rifles after hanging around me. It’s been fun, especially reloading the 45 70 and comparing recipes (more on that in a second).

As mentioned above, the Ruger No. 1 was the first of the modern rifles chambered in 45 70, and it’s a beautiful firearm. The Ruger No. 3 was an economy version of the No. 1 that Ruger only made for a few years. The No. 3 rifles were substantially less than a No. 1 when new, but because they’ve been discontinued, No. 3 rifles often sell for as much as a No. 1 (and sometimes more). The Marlin is less than either Ruger, but don’t confuse price with quality (or fun). The Marlin is a hoot to shoot, too.

A 45 70 Ruger No. 1, with Circassian walnut furniture and a 26-inch barrel.

The Ruger No. 3, also in 45 70. These rifles sold for about $139 when new. Today they can sell for as much as $1000 in pristine condition.

A Marlin 1895 45 70 Guide Gun. I bought this rifle because of its wood. It’s a good shooter, too.

I mentioned that my several of my friends now have 45 70 rifles, and we all reload 45 70 ammo. The idea is that we want to find the most accurate load for our rifles, and every rifle (even the same model) has its preferences. No two guns shoot the same.

Here’s where all this going. One of my buddies tested a load that looked promising in his 45 70 (a load using Trail Boss gunpowder with a 300 grain jacketed hollow point bullet), so I tried his load along with one other, all in the above three rifles, to see how they would do.

I shot at two targets for this test (a standard silhouette target and a 5-bullseye target). I shot each rifle at the silhouette’s orange center first (my aim point) because I didn’t know where the rounds would hit and I wanted to make sure I was on paper. Then I shot a second group from each rifle at the bullseye targets. I shot 3-shot groups except for one, as noted in my results in the table below. Note that all targets were fired at a distance of 50 yards.

First, the targets…

There are five different groups on this target. My point of aim was the bottom of the orange rectangle.

The bullseye targets. I wasn’t worried about each group’s location; at this point, only group size was of interest. After picking the best load, I’ll adjust the rifle’s sights.

And finally, my tabulated results….

The first load tested would not chamber in the Ruger No. 1 because the bullets were seated too far forward in the brass cartridge case; better to find this out at the range than on a hunting trip!

The Ruger No. 1 really liked that 16.2 grain Trail Boss load (it was my buddie’s favored load). It delivered a 1-inch group. This load was also good in the Marlin, but not nearly as good as others I have shot in that rifle (the Marlin shoots into 0.6-inch with the right load). The No. 3 Ruger seemed to like the 3031 powder load with the 300 grain jacketed hollow point bullets.

As I mentioned above, every rifle responds differently to a given load, and that’s what we try to find…the best load for the best rifle.

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