Lever action 45-70. I'm struggling with it..are you?

[Tommy]

I'm struggling to like this gun, even close it seems to suffer from penetration issues.

I've been using the hollow point bullets, mainly as they were more expensive i expected them to be more effective. Not sure if this is the case, anyone hunted with both bullets? I'm aware the other bullet has better penetration.

It seems good for black bear, that's only animal I've found it to be effective with.

Anyone got any good tips for this gun, or is it just a bit crap and a matter of taste? I wanna like it, just too many non vital hits with it.

Cheers

[76561198088759410]

use cheaper ammo and you will see

[saphire jinn]

dont bother buying the scope for this one, its very expensive and not that good. this weapon is best used for short close up shots and with that scope, its too magnified. needs a 1x4.
i carry it as my number 3 with iron sights so when that bear or bison are charging at me, i have that to work with.

[KaiEr]

I was just about to write up something similar about the 30/30. The problem with the lever actions is that they have no ammo that can penetrate. Either soft nosed or hollow points. It's ridiculous. Sure, they may not be spitzer, but at least they could have hard cast or jacketed. And the penetration in game is nothing like real life either. And to top it all off... the worst scope known to man.

[Bowfin]

It's a older rifle, use the soft-point ammo and remember it's not a long range rifle, I think it's max range is 164 yards. Scope takes some getting used to, use this rifle if you want to hunt old school.

[woodsmn]

Originally posted by KaiEr:

I was just about to write up something similar about the 30/30. The problem with the lever actions is that they have no ammo that can penetrate. Either soft nosed or hollow points. It's ridiculous. Sure, they may not be spitzer, but at least they could have hard cast or jacketed. And the penetration in game is nothing like real life either. And to top it all off... the worst scope known to man.

both the lever actions mentioned here are antique weapons...they have large calibur bullets but muzzel velocity is low due to the lack of strength in the action ..these guns were originally loaded with black powder...so muzzel energy is not much better than a pistol...add to that the bullet design for these rounds is flat nosed so the bullets do not set each other off in the tube feed magazine durring recoil events...flat nose bullets have lousy balistic coeffecient numbers meaning they do not retain speed in flight...limiting these rounds to short range work...if you want an antique gun you don't get modern gun performance also.... the bullet type known in game as hard cast implies a cast lead bullet with a harder lead alloy..but it still has NO copper jacket..such bullets will smear lead in the barrel due to the back of the bullet melting at firing chamber tempraturs... if fired with loads that the copper jacket was designed to fix...any copper jacked bullet should greatly out perform any lead cast bullet regardless of alloy..again I say SHOULD...but in game ...well..what can I say?...the devs don't have to follow reality do they?

[Tommy]

Originally posted by woodsmn70:

Originally posted by KaiEr:

I was just about to write up something similar about the 30/30. The problem with the lever actions is that they have no ammo that can penetrate. Either soft nosed or hollow points. It's ridiculous. Sure, they may not be spitzer, but at least they could have hard cast or jacketed. And the penetration in game is nothing like real life either. And to top it all off... the worst scope known to man.

both the lever actions mentioned here are antique weapons...they have large calibur bullets but muzzel velocity is low due to the lack of strength in the action ..these guns were originally loaded with black powder...so muzzel energy is not much better than a pistol...add to that the bullet design for these rounds is flat nosed so the bullets do not set each other off in the tube feed magazine durring recoil events...flat nose bullets have lousy balistic coeffecient numbers meaning they do not retain speed in flight...limiting these rounds to short range work...if you want an antique gun you don't get modern gun performance also.... the bullet type known in game as hard cast implies a cast lead bullet with a harder lead alloy..but it still has NO copper jacket..such bullets will smear lead in the barrel due to the back of the bullet melting at firing chamber tempraturs... if fired with loads that the copper jacket was designed to fix...any copper jacked bullet should greatly out perform any lead cast bullet regardless of alloy..again I say SHOULD...but in game ...well..what can I say?...the devs don't have to follow reality do they?

Cheers buddy, good info & background, none of which i was aware of.

[saphire jinn]

the only reason i use the lever action 45-70 is its decent up close, say 20 feet and its fast cocking so you get three shots into them fast, good for that dangerous charging beast that didnt go down with your first shot from a real weapon.

[KaiEr]

Originally posted by woodsmn70:

Originally posted by KaiEr:

I was just about to write up something similar about the 30/30. The problem with the lever actions is that they have no ammo that can penetrate. Either soft nosed or hollow points. It's ridiculous. Sure, they may not be spitzer, but at least they could have hard cast or jacketed. And the penetration in game is nothing like real life either. And to top it all off... the worst scope known to man.

both the lever actions mentioned here are antique weapons...they have large calibur bullets but muzzel velocity is low due to the lack of strength in the action ..these guns were originally loaded with black powder...so muzzel energy is not much better than a pistol...add to that the bullet design for these rounds is flat nosed so the bullets do not set each other off in the tube feed magazine durring recoil events...flat nose bullets have lousy balistic coeffecient numbers meaning they do not retain speed in flight...limiting these rounds to short range work...if you want an antique gun you don't get modern gun performance also.... the bullet type known in game as hard cast implies a cast lead bullet with a harder lead alloy..but it still has NO copper jacket..such bullets will smear lead in the barrel due to the back of the bullet melting at firing chamber tempraturs... if fired with loads that the copper jacket was designed to fix...any copper jacked bullet should greatly out perform any lead cast bullet regardless of alloy..again I say SHOULD...but in game ...well..what can I say?...the devs don't have to follow reality do they?

I don't mean this to sound ill-willed, but the lever-actions in game are not antiques; they are reproductions (i.e. new rifles modeled after the originals). I collect, so I'm fully aware the types of rounds you want to put into an antique (if you actually ever consider using them). But putting a coper jacketed round through a reproduction shouldn't have any issues whatsoever. While I don't use any of my antiques that are truly from the 1800's or before, I do put new ammunition through my Savage M99A (a 1922 reproduction of a 1899).

(And I've used that rifle for every whitetail I've ever taken. And I've never had to shoot twice.)

[Leadmagnet]

Winchester, in 1895, made the .30WCF (Winchester Center Fire). Marlin answered with their version and used 30-30 designation so they didn't put "Winchester" on their product. The dash 30 or "-30" meant it was loaded over 30 grains of early smokless powder.

From what I've more or less seen...200yds (183 meters) is the effective range for most all of the modern factory ammo. Hornady's "Leverevolution" is a plastic tipped round with better ballistics. The sharper plastic point is soft & acts as a shock absorber during recoil & goes back to its original shape.

I won't even get started on devs & reality. Suffice to say, I won't be using the 7mag, 338 or even their version of the 30-30 due to reality in my neck of the woods versus the dev version.

[VonStreed]

I tried to love it, but I dumped it into storage. It is too powerful for the integrity bonus on many animals in the medium to small range, and too weak to effectively work on the largest animals. The scope seemd very dim to me making it hard to see through, especially at night. Bought the 7mm for bigger animals and a bow for medium to small animals. I also started carrying the .223 for when the foxes refuse to come toward my calls and I can't get the bow shot.

[Tommy]

Originally posted by VonStreed:

I tried to love it, but I dumped it into storage. It is too powerful for the integrity bonus on many animals in the medium to small range, and too weak to effectively work on the largest animals.

^^ This. :(

[miky]

close combat, medium sized game, and soft point bullets. everything we dont like

[Tommy]

edit: *What i was replying to has been removed*

[™1Shot1KiLL®]

l love the lever action guns for close up follow up shots on wild boar or other animals but the pump action shotgun with 6x slugs beats everything out there. so sadly cant find any pont for the lever guns when l have the pump shotgun with slugs.