New Marlin 1895GBL

[ruger1]

MM, I'm with you on the busy schedule. We are fortunate to own a small farm that we try to manage for better deer and turkeys. Plus we hunt local orchards with management permits when the regular season is not at hand, so I carry a gun in the truck and hunt on the way home or while out seeing customers. For the last three years I've been able to take my son to Colorado for mule deer and to South Carolina for hogs and deer.
A old friend of ours was an outfitter in Canada and he told me "Son, sometimes you just have to make time for family & if it involves the outdoors that's even better." He couldn't be more right.

 

[Perdue]

I have a Marlin 1895 in .44mag, and I love that gun. It handles very well and shoots like a dream. Dad always wanted one in .45-70...maybe I will pick one up someday.

 

[jerdog53]

Have the Rossi / Puma 1892 in 454 Casull that for the most part is a reliable rifle. I had some stuck cases from time to time which I think is from shooting 45 Colts and not cleaning the chamber before switching to 454. The wood is junk at least on this one and the fore grip split so I had a guy change out all the wood with Winchester walnut which improved the look tremendously but it still has marginal accuracy.

Lastly my pride and joy Marlin 1895 LTD4 in 45-70 Gov, straight stock no checkering 24" full octagon barrel, is as accurate as I can make it!


KD0ZDX

 

[Larry - KB0HIB]

A lot of game was killed in the late 1800's with .45-70, .45-80 and .45-90 cartridges. Most of the fellows using them didn't have scoped rifles, but they understood windage and elevation very well. Not to say they didn't miss sometimes, but they also knew how to track wounded game until they found it. All my grandparents ate was venison. I never saw a piece of beef in that house until after my grandfather died. If they needed meat, he would go out behind the barn early and sit until he could get a good shot and then drag it into the barn and dress it out. My grandmother KNEW how to cook venison, my mother did not and was unwilling to learn. Sad, because my father was an avid hunter of anything that was in season. If not hunting, he was fishing. (Taney County Missouri)

I've had two .45-70 rifles. A Browning 1885 Highwall and an H&R Springfield Trap-door Officers Model. Both were accurate but had limitations. The limitations were mostly me. Now I only shoot paper (it's quicker to cook, but doesn't have much taste).

Photo below for your enjoyment.

 

[BIGGUY]

That's a cool photo.

 

[Bridger]

I own a 1895SBL and I added a trigger kit and bear-proof ejector from Wild West Arms and am quite happy with the upgrades. I haven't used a scale to check the trigger pull but I believe the trigger pull has been reduced it by at least 50% from the original. It feels like is may be down to 3 -3.5# from the 7 or 8 that it came with from the factory. The ejector is kicking the brass out a but further too. The remaining problem with this gun is the magazine spring isn't pushing the shells down the magazine far enough for them to engage with the lift. I found this out on a hillside in Alaska on a caribou hunt last fall ... not the best place to find fault with a rifle (we were in bears every day)! My gunsmith doubled the springs and we'll just have to keep working with it to see whether that fixed my problem. BTW, using a Scout scope on the Marlin I took a nice bull with one shot at 195 yards. We recovered the bullet (Nosler 325gr) from the off-shoulder and it retained 95% of its weight.

 

[ruger1]

Nice rifle Bridger and even nicer caribou. I haven't had the spring issues yet but I sure appreciate the WWG trigger and ejector I installed. This is my latest boar I got in South Carolina with 1895GBL. I shot him at 39 yards with Winchester ballistic silver tips through the shoulder and I found the bullet between the "plate" and the skin on the opposite side. He dropped like I hit him behind the ear. Much better performance than the Hornady levereveloution cartridges I have used on bison before.

 

[ruger1]

I like the layout of this photo Larry. What are the guns in the picture?

 

[Larry - KB0HIB]

I like the layout of this photo Larry. What are the guns in the picture?

Right top to left bottom, Winchester 1873 (38/40), circa 1924 Crescent Empire hammerless 12 gauge, 1858 Remington .44 replica, 1875 Schofield replica 45 LC.

Here's a different one of the Crescent and the Schofield.



Thanks,

Larry

 

[jscusmcvet]

Nice rifle Bridger and even nicer caribou. I haven't had the spring issues yet but I sure appreciate the WWG trigger and ejector I installed. This is my latest boar I got in South Carolina with 1895GBL. I shot him at 39 yards with Winchester ballistic silver tips through the shoulder and I found the bullet between the "plate" and the skin on the opposite side. He dropped like I hit him behind the ear. Much better performance than the Hornady levereveloution cartridges I have used on bison before. View attachment 213020

Winchester Silvertips are hard to beat. Both deer I took this season were with this round. One with a 30.06 (Rem. 700) and one with a .357 (Ruger gp100). Different changes to each round, but both devastating on impact and recovered from the animal.

Nice hog. Definitely on my to do list.

John

 

[DBH]

Very nice. My primary outdoor rifle is a Marlin 1895 G in .45-70. Great cartridge. It will be making a trip to get some work on it by a very competent smith soon.

 

[ruger1]

Here's my green light setup for night hog hunting.