Haven't seen this years model but can say that until now the differences between the 45-70 Guide Gun and my 44 Mag. Marlin bought in '74 were the added weight and fewer rounds. Great guns and love both calibers. My own TC Contender 12", 45-70 has cleanly dropped every whitetail and groundhog it spoke to......but the # of stories, camps, adventures my own .44 holds secret can't be touched. Far from the most expensive, fancy rifle, but well loved, used and caressed. Love this rifle and it's still the first one I grab from the safe for so many things. Hand load all my rounds for everything and really don't know much either caliber won't shoot through.

Capt,
OK, you asked for it;
357,30-30,35 Rem,30-06,44 mag,44 spl,32 H&R,38 Spl,32 acp,380 acp,45-70,22lr,22mag,9mm,45acp but no 270 for obvious reasons.

Wayne

O.K. Wayne.....you've confused me (easily & frequently done), but am I to ass-ume your post is a response to Chris' April/'09 lead post on this thread?? Or what? I'd like to comment on your's BUT.....I'm not sure where we're going. I do like how you've started though, so Rock On!

Duke,
Yep,it was in response to the Capt's lead post.

Started many decades ago since I was 5 years old. I had not purchased ammo with the exception of carry rounds and 22 lr/Mags since 1958 when I started to reload.

Don't worry about not being sure of where you are going,you will know when you get there!!!!!!

Don't worry about being confused,half the fun is trying to figure out what you are confused about!!!!

Wayne

What a couple of years can do...

I'm going to be using 25-06 for southern hunting (hogs, whitetail deer) and 7mm Rem mag for northern hunting (Montana mountains; deer and elk).

Looks like next year I'll be in the market for a Browning/Winchester B78 or M1885, or maybe the Ruger #1.

Your 25-06 will work on mule deer and elk, very close to a .257 Weatherby Mag. I shot a 7Mag for 25 years, an early Ruger, and no complaints. 61 grains of 4350 and a 160 grain Nosler Partition. Good for any critter in North America.

Pap

I was thinking the same, but I know I'm new to bigger game hunting. I try to not second-guess someone that's more seasoned on the subject, especially when they're the host of my hunting trips.

I was talking with my uncle about hunting deer and elk, said I was working up a 25-06 load. He replied, "oh that's not going to be enough."

That was before I could explain that I'm looking at 115gr Nosler BTs, which are a relatively heavy load for .25-06.

Ah well, it's another excuse to expand my horizons.



Thanks for the recipe!

Rob,

My .02c,

Pappy is correct 25-06 & .257 WBY similar. WBY gets it going a bit faster. Nosler BT's are very velocity sensitive. Box even lists effective velocity range. They seem to excel at long range and not blow apart. Better choice would be 110 grain Nosler Accubond or the original 117 grain Hornady. Most guns like mine seem to hate 120 Nosler Partition in .257WBY. Have no idea why but the Accubond is a good bullet and group's well. YMMV.

I was a hunting guide the fall of 1975 in SW Montana at Lake View Lodge. Just before that in the summer I was a fishing guide. I spent most of my pay on wine, women and song, and the rest I spent foolishly. So, by the time I was a hunting guide, I had a Ruger .243 left. When a dude would screw up a shot, I finished the elk off with a head shot. The last 3 dudes passed up rag horns, 5X5, and I had 1 tag, and shot a spike. They all wanted me to give them some meat since they didn't shoot anything. I was smart in that I didn't mark my tag and made them mark theirs to take the meat. Point eing, most any modern hipowered rifle can kill an elk with a good shot. You don't need a 338mag or 300 Weatherby to drop an elk. In the past 20 years, I've killed more elk with a 12ga slug, than my rifles.

Pap

Box on the Nosler BT 115s (25115) says "1800-3200fps." While it may be possible to eek out better than 3200fps at the muzzle, we're not going to see that speed downrange.