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I fired the single shot 45-70

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Yornoc3
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I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by Yornoc3 » Mon Jan 08, 2018 3:53 pm

It finally warmed up enough to go out and fire off a few rounds. This is not a range report, I wasn't checking for accuracy using the original equipment sights (but did hit the pretty big target ;) ), I just wanted to see how everything felt, particularly recoil. I shot offhand at 50 yards, wearing a T-shirt and a sweatshirt, no PAST pad, etc. I would rank the recoil as about like a high base 20 ga. load in a SxS of about the same weight. Recoil feels very much like a shotgun as far as sharpness and muzzle jump, to me. The load was WInchester Super X 300 grain hollow point at 1880 fps per their published chart numbers. Not something I'll plink much with, but it'll be fine for hunting.
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JEBar
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by JEBar » Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:08 pm

thanks for the report, must say I'm a bit surprised .... I would have guessed that the felt recoil would have been much stronger
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Squatch
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by Squatch » Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:14 pm

Thanks for the update. Was this the brass or steel version?

The Winchesters are nice loads for factory stuff.
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Yornoc3
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by Yornoc3 » Mon Jan 08, 2018 4:56 pm

This is the steel version, with that nice soft recoil pad. I have no doubt it helps. I have a 30-06 in a synthetic stock that weighs 7 lbs 4 oz with scope and sling, and a 9.3 x 62 that's about 8 lbs, both of them feel like they kick more than this rifle. I do shoot a lot of 3" duck loads out of a 7 lb Franchi Intensity, so maybe I'm already so recoil addled I really can't tell ;) . I will be using a PAST pad when I mount the scope and get serious about sighting it in from the bench, though.
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North Country Gal
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by North Country Gal » Mon Jan 08, 2018 6:34 pm

Thanks for the update. Can't wait to even see one, but nice to know they're out there. I DO like that recoil pad on the steel.
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ditto1958
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by ditto1958 » Tue Jan 09, 2018 9:42 am

JEBar wrote:thanks for the report, must say I'm a bit surprised .... I would have guessed that the felt recoil would have been much stronger
A 45-70, similar to a 45 acp handgun, tends to have more of a “push” to it. The felt recoil is definitely there, but tends to not be unpleasant.
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by JEBar » Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:15 am

ditto1958 wrote:A 45-70, similar to a 45 acp handgun, tends to have more of a “push” to it. The felt recoil is definitely there, but tends to not be unpleasant.

felt recoil is very subjective .... one person's mild recoil may be perceived a harsh recoil to someone else .... I once was told by a fellow at a range that if a person can sit at a bench and fire a box shells (20 rounds) from a rifle on sandbags, without any extra padding, the rifle has a mild recoil .... he said the lower the number of rounds one can fire at a single setting, the harsher the recoil .... that made sense to me .... I know that with of CCH 45-70 as it came out of the box, I could comfortably fire a bunch of Cowboy Action rounds .... not so much, with dangerous game loads .... I also know that when I was in my 20's I could tolerate a whole lot harsher recoil than I can now that I'm in my 70's
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Yornoc3
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by Yornoc3 » Tue Jan 09, 2018 11:17 am

Exactly! The effect of recoil is cumulative, which is why I always use a PAST pad, good muffs, and limit how many rifles I'm shooting in a session when sighting in rifles prior to hunting season, changing scopes, etc. Hunting rarely involves enough shooting to affect a person, though I've had a sore shoulder after a good duck shoot in warm (wearing less padding) weather. Funny how we never notice at the time, though :) .
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by Yornoc3 » Fri Feb 02, 2018 8:07 pm

A small drift here, or maybe a bump ;) . I saw that the Hornady 250 grain Monoflex ammunition is back in stock at Sportsmans guide. They had a promotion for free shipping on orders over $50.00, so I picked up a couple of boxes. It's not cheap at $33.50/box (but no shipping, no tax, and no 45-70 ammo is cheap, anyway); that price is $7.50 cheaper/box than Cabelas, for example,though. I've read reports recoil is about 25% less than the 325 grain FTX loads, which makes sense since it's about that much lighter. I also like the idea of no lead fragmentation in game, from a meat hunter standpoint. They should be plenty as a deer bullet. Now to see how it shoots :) .
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Re: I fired the single shot 45-70

Post by Squatch » Sat Feb 03, 2018 2:12 pm

Not sure about that load. But I've shot a bit of the Hornady 325gr Leverloution stuff in 45/70. It shoots well but I don't care for it. In my H010B it is the definition of "sharp" recoil in a 45/70.
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