Marlin 1895 45/70 guide or cowboy?

Question

i am looking at the guns for deer hunting in the eastern pa wilderness. i am stuck between the two.. If you could give me feedback i would appreciate it.

Answer 1

I have an 1895 Guide gun in .45-70. It is scoped with a Leupold 2x7 power with a German #4 reticle. It is handy to carry around, and it is very accurate. It does as stated by another poster, have a lot of recoil. I like to use the Hornandy 350 grain flat point bullet over H4195 powder. This seems to give about 1800 fps out of the 18 inch barrel. I have found that I can hold dead on a deer out to about 125 yards before the drop needs to be compensated for. If you are shooting in thick brush at close range, it would be hard to find a better rifle.

Answer 2

Well just my opinion but if you're in the woods where your shots will be shorter range perhaps the Guide Rifle will be more handy.  

Answer 3

I too recommend the shorter gun

However, I am not sure the 45/70 is a good choice for eastern PA wilderness.

The whole 'guide gun' concept was developed to give a fast handling, compact, hard hitting gun for brush pilots and game guides in the mountains of Alaska, where you may indeed need the power of the 45/70

I suspect you will not like the excessive recoil of the 45/70 nor the price of ammo.

I strongly suggest you consider getting a 336 in 30-30, 35 remington, or that new 308marlin round

Or consider getting the 1894 in 44 magnum, that is plenty powerful for whitetail in the woods and ammo will be a lot cheaper

Answer 4

I prefer the guild rifle in .450 Marlin. Great all around gun.

Answer 5

I have the .45/70 guide gun and love it. It's a pig killing machine, it's also easy to pack and great shooting with open sights when hunting with dogs.

Answer 6

I bought an 1895 XLR in Stainless and Grey Laminate.

The Guide Gun, if I recall, is an 18.5 inch barrel. The Cowboy is a 26 inch barrel.

Cowboy guns have long barrels to shoot sammi pressure ammo which needs a long barrel to wring all the possible speed out of the round. The cowboy is also a 8 or 9 shot tubular mag, that I don't think you will need.  The Cowboy also has an octigon barrel that adds some weight that you wont need.

The XLR is a 24 inch barrel, and a 4 shot. In stainless, and Laminate, it makes a great all weather gun for anything that walks the earth.

I wanted the longer barrel to get a long sight radius, but if you use a scope, it wont matter. The 18.5 can put out a 300 grain round out at over 2200 fps with hot loads. The 24 inch is only 200 fps faster. All this means nothing on a Deer.

I would get either a stainless guide gun or the XLR in stainless. Not only does stainless look better and bring a bigger resale, you will hunt bad weather with fewer worries.

Answer 7

If you are certain you want the venerable 45/70, buy the guide gun.  It handles fast in the woods, and the muzzle brake tames it quit a bit.  In heavy cover, the 45/70 is a brush buster, eventhough all bullets will deflect some.  I have the guide gun and love it.  The cowboy would be fun at a range, but the barrel is awfully long for brush hunting, not to mention alot heavier. Consider purchasing ghost ring sights to aid is fast target aquisition. XS formerly Ashley Optics sell a great set for around 80 dollars.