Posted on 07/01/2022 5:46:35 PM PDT by circlecity
I need advice on a potential trade
Like I said, I need an optic to do 400 yards - but only 4x to do +1 MOA
I don’t care how big the plate is I’ll do +1 MOA with that set up. Even with these old eyes. Practice, practice, practice.
If it makes any difference to you, I don’t believe that Jeff Cooper would approve of a lever action as a scout rifle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scout_rifle
When I was preteen, I found a 45-70 trapdoor Springfield in the attic. It had a ramrod-like round bayonet.
Jeff was wrong on this one. For a 3-400 yard rifle I can work a lever action better than a bolt action. And it’s just as light.
And I’ve got plenty of bolt actions.
So, you're telling me you would have no problem hitting a 5-inch target at 250 yards with your Marlin lever action in .357 with factory irons? That would definitely earn you some bragging rights.
And, 400 yds on an 8 inch plate with the 45-70 with just your average 4x hunting scope with plain duplex reticle is definitely worth a gold star. Me? I have to have a gridline reticle or adjustable turret (with ALOT of adjustment) to do it. That's a huge amount of drop at that distance.
“I think for a 3-400 yard scout rifle a 45-70 beats a bolt action.”
Don’t get me wrong...I love hunting with a 45-70, but I only hunt food plots with it where the maximum shot will be less than 150 yards.
Once you get past about 150 yards with a 45-70, it’s dropping so fast you have to have a good rangefinder and ballistics chart to know what holdover you need. And the short fat not-so-aerodynamic bullets are bleeding velocity very quickly.
It’s not like shooting at the range where you know ahead of time how far your target will be.
Give me a Burris range finder scope at 4x and I will shoot pumpkins all day long at 400 yards.
I have seen guys hit a squirrel at 300 yards with a 357 lever action routinely. I hunt with them regularly.
If it is an original Marlin made 1894, keep it. If it is a Remlin, go ahead and trade if you want.
Don’t trade/sell anything. Use cash.
Ahhh, didn’t realize you were in Africa, I’d certainly go with a big bore weapon then.
Ed Matunas says the 45-70, .405 grain is fit for light big game out to about 125 yards. Trajectory makes it iffy for 3-400. Freeper elkfersupper told of long range shots with it, though. I don’t know what kind of terrain of vegetation you are dealing with.
Oregon-made Leopold scopes are “Loo-polds” on the west side, and “Leo-polds” on the east side of the Cascades.
No, but that’s fine. Leever them out and back it with a Mode 19.
Have you seen the price of 45-70 ammo?
Make the trade.
Sell half then 45-70 ammo and buy another .357 rifle and pistol.
With the price of 45-70 being what it is, the ammo may be worth more than the rifle. That said, the .357 ‘94 is THE go-to gun for those who shoot SASS in CAS and anyone wanting to excel in that sport will be advised by the longbeards to get one, but Marlin doesn’t make the gun anymore. Post-Cerberus Marlin stopped manufacture of the 1894 as a whole retail unit because warranty work was consuming all their parts stockpile and had eaten into their production run, meaning they were still making all new parts without new sales. Marlins made before 1974 are worth more than those made afterward, Cerberus not withstanding. The viability of the trade depends more on the particulars of your rifle than his.
Don’t get rid of the .357s. Especially the pistol or the lever action.
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