Marlin 45-70 1895 Trapper

[Colt191145lover]

https://www.andysleather.com/products/carry-strap

https://www.andysleather.com/product...hodesian-sling

[gato naranja]

One of our forum members is Skinner Precision. I have used their peep sights on lever rifles. All of their products are super 1st class and reasonably priced. They ain't cheap but are not over priced. Please look here.

Leupold discontinued 2x scopes. For the 1895 I recommend mounting a long eye relief scout type scope on a Skinner rail made for that purpose. Leupold and Burris both make these scopes. To raise eye level to scope level might required one of the various pads designed for this. My opinion is that putting a scope on the receiver messes up appearance and handiness of a lever rifle.

The 1895 will kick severely unless loaded down. Bite the bullet and have a premium recoil pad installed.

I like Marlins but will say that finding one that's made right will be difficult. The Ruger versions have great reputation. The two that I examined were top notch.

Regardless of what people say, few lever guns are precision rifles. Some can be made to shoot accurately. 45-70 accuracy is best achieved with 405 grain bullets. Trap door loads will kill anything walking in North America.

Either the Skinner or some flavor of XS rear aperture sight is a big improvement for most situations, but I am not a fan of most apertures or ghost rings when it starts getting dark. If I use a threaded aperture with a cup of any size, I can black out the surrounding landscape AND the front bead, while with a ghost ring, the ghost can become alarmingly invisible... and either eventuality makes me slower than I already am. It's a conundrum.

In my old age, I want a red dot or LPVO with a good illuminated aiming point; I get that on the cheap with an old, surplus-to-my-needs 25mm UltraDot (which, incidentally, has never faltered despite being the guinea pig for some abso-effing-lutely stupid experiments).

The 1895 Trapper kicks. To those who say it is not too bad with stout loads, my hat is off to you. There is a legit reason why so many owners put a better recoil pad on them... maybe not after the first box of ammo, but the more it is shot off a bench in cold blood, the better a Limbsaver looks. I agree that "Trapdoor"-level 405 gr. loads are pretty capable in themselves, yet there are plenty of people who have to take a long, expensive, shoulder-abusing walk around the block before they come to the same conclusion.

Yeah, the "JM" Marlins can be a crap shoot quality-wise. When I was going through my 1894 phase, each one was progressively worse, with the CSS being almost "Rossi quality." If Ruger makes an 1894 CSBL before I die or go to some ghastly local God's Waiting Room, I will happily finance the purchase by selling my JM 1894's to any purist or collector who thinks they are worth a premium.

I will add that if I were taking a Marlin to go out and out look for trouble in bear country, I would probably invest in a safety delete filler piece. I leave the crossbolt safeties in my 1894's, but I have dropped the hammer on them on two occasions while shooting recreationally. I am not sure I could get a do-over in time if something big, fast and angry was incoming.