Lots of good advice here already. Love lever guns. Don’t shoot them as much as I used to because even in my mid-fifties, iron sights are getting harder to use. For me, I can do alright with barrel mounted irons, but cannot use a peep sight for love nor money.
On the 45-70, it’s overkill for deer and bears. And most of the people I’ve known who’ve bought Marlin lever guns in that caliber have sold them or don’t shoot them much due to high recoil. That said, I’ve always wanted an 1886 in that caliber.
I will also second the suggestion for a Savage 99. Great lever guns. 250 Savage would be a super cool caliber for deer and black bears. It’s also a caliber that dates back to 1915. You can also find them in 300 Savage, 308, 243, and other calibers. I have a buddy that has two 300 Savages (One of them is his new saddle gun for horse packing in WY and MT). The 150 Hornady SST factory load is a great choice. It’s a gun you can scope, run a peep sight on, or use factory iron sights.
The 1895s are also super cool guns, but you are pretty stuck with 30/06 in the reproductions. I like the Browning versions that have the traditional half cock notch and no tang safety. The Winchesters have the tang safety and a much heavier trigger. Theses guns are also on the pricier side.
A 357 lever gun is a super handy thing and it will kill deer. But from a ballistics perspective, you are going to end up doing more tracking than you would with a Savage. The 357 is not going to create the same wound channels as the calibers you are going to run through the Savages. I prefer to do as little tracking as possible.
On the 45-70, it’s overkill for deer and bears. And most of the people I’ve known who’ve bought Marlin lever guns in that caliber have sold them or don’t shoot them much due to high recoil. That said, I’ve always wanted an 1886 in that caliber.
I will also second the suggestion for a Savage 99. Great lever guns. 250 Savage would be a super cool caliber for deer and black bears. It’s also a caliber that dates back to 1915. You can also find them in 300 Savage, 308, 243, and other calibers. I have a buddy that has two 300 Savages (One of them is his new saddle gun for horse packing in WY and MT). The 150 Hornady SST factory load is a great choice. It’s a gun you can scope, run a peep sight on, or use factory iron sights.
The 1895s are also super cool guns, but you are pretty stuck with 30/06 in the reproductions. I like the Browning versions that have the traditional half cock notch and no tang safety. The Winchesters have the tang safety and a much heavier trigger. Theses guns are also on the pricier side.
A 357 lever gun is a super handy thing and it will kill deer. But from a ballistics perspective, you are going to end up doing more tracking than you would with a Savage. The 357 is not going to create the same wound channels as the calibers you are going to run through the Savages. I prefer to do as little tracking as possible.
