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New Marlin 1895 45-70 SBL First Shots Out-Of-The-Box

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For those who read my last article, I shot this brand new Ruger USA made Marlin 1895 45-70 right out of the box with Hornady 250g MonoFlex® gilding copper bullets.  

Hornady LEVERevolution 45-70 Government Ammo 250 Grain Hornady MonoFlex Polymer Tip Lead Free Box of 20

First, with iron sights, I used the rear peep, and black tip of the front sight on the first shot and hit 3 1/2 inches low out of the bull. See Target below.

 

Ok, I realized, I should have used the slightly lower green bead on the front sight, so I covered the bull with the green bead. Shots 2 and 3 grouped 1.5 inches in the bull.

Next, I mounted my Leupold VX 2×6 on the Picatinny rail and shot three shots at 50 yards (no wind) and grouped all three shots in 5/8 inch at 2x power.

I was impressed.

I moved the target out to 75 yards and shot another three shots, grouping 1.0 inch and increased magnification to 6x power (max).   

The Hornady three shots chrono an average of 1953 fps with a standard deviation SD = 3.1 fps out of my Garmin. Wow!! 

Here is the JBM Ballistic table below for the Monoflex with 100 yd zero.

 

Trajectory
Input Data
Manufacturer: Hornady Description: MonoFlex®
Caliber: 0.458 in Weight: 250.0 gr
Ballistic Coefficient: 0.175 G1 (ASM)
Muzzle Velocity: 1953.0 ft/s Distance to Chronograph: 10.0 ft
Sight Height: 1.50 in Sight Offset: 0.00 in
Zero Height: 0.00 in Zero Offset: 0.00 in
Windage: 0.000 MOA Elevation: 0.000 MOA
Line Of Sight Angle: 0.0 deg Cant Angle: 0.0 deg
Wind Speed: 10.0 mph Wind Angle: 90.0 deg
Target Speed: 10.0 mph Target Angle: 90.0 deg
Target Height: 12.0 in
Temperature: 59.0 °F Pressure: 29.92 in Hg
Humidity: 0 % Altitude: 0.0 ft
Vital Zone Radius: 5.0 in
Std. Atmosphere at Altitude: No Pressure is Corrected: Yes
Zero at Max. Point Blank Range: No Target Relative Drops: Yes
Mark Sound Barrier Crossing: No Include Extra Rows: No
Column 1 Units: 1.00 in Column 2 Units: 1.00 MOA
Round Output to Whole Numbers: No
Output Data
Elevation: 6.466 MOA Windage: 0.000 MOA
Atmospheric Density: 0.07647 lb/ft³ Speed of Sound: 1116.4 ft/s
Maximum PBR: 209 yd Maximum PBR Zero: 180 yd
Range of Maximum Height: 102 yd Energy at Maximum PBR: 809.5 ft•lbs
Sectional Density: 0.170 lb/in²
Calculated Table
Range Drop Drop Windage Windage Velocity Mach Energy Time Lead Lead
(yd) (in) (MOA) (in) (MOA) (ft/s) (none) (ft•lbs) (s) (in) (MOA)
0 -1.5 *** 0.0 *** 1967.9 1.763 2149.4 0.000 0.0 ***
25 -0.1 -0.4 0.2 0.7 1857.8 1.664 1915.6 0.039 6.9 26.4
50 0.7 1.3 0.8 1.5 1751.9 1.569 1703.3 0.081 14.2 27.2
75 0.7 0.9 1.9 2.4 1650.5 1.478 1511.9 0.125 22.0 28.0
100 -0.0 -0.0 3.4 3.2 1554.2 1.392 1340.6 0.172 30.2 28.9
125 -1.6 -1.2 5.4 4.2 1463.4 1.311 1188.5 0.221 39.0 29.8
150 -4.3 -2.7 8.0 5.1 1378.8 1.235 1055.1 0.274 48.3 30.7
175 -8.1 -4.4 11.2 6.1 1301.0 1.165 939.5 0.330 58.1 31.7
200 -13.2 -6.3 14.9 7.1 1230.9 1.103 840.9 0.390 68.6 32.7

 
12-Mar-26 17:09, JBM/jbmtraj-5.1.cgi

Overall, I’m very impressed with both the rifle and Hornady ammo. Note the 1.6 inch drop at 125 yards.

I shot 17 rounds in one sitting at the range and my shoulder is fine.

Deer are the main target here out to 175 yards for 1000 ft-lbs. On black bear, I think 50 yards would be my max distance with 1700 ft-lbs delivered energy for full penetration. 

Good Hunting!

Marlin’s 1895 SBL 45-70 Gov’t 19 inch Barrel Arrived

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The New Ruger made, Marlin 1895 SBL Lever Action 45-70 with 19 inch barrel, is now happily in my possession. The SBL stands for Stainless Big Lever.

It is a beautiful yet powerful rifle capable of all North American Big Game including, some experts say, Brown and Grizzly bear at closer range.

 My research finds its best use in thicker New England forests for deer, black bear and moose. A real thumper!  Bullets are flat pointed unless using Hornady Soft Polymer FTX bullets, 300 to 325 grains or MonoFlex Gilding Copper bullets at 250 grains. 

Upon opening the foam fitted and well protected rifle box, I was immediately impressed. I installed the hammer spur that was in the box, so I can add a scope and easily pull the hammer. 

Below, in the front of the barrel is a tritium front sight for low light shooting. 

Due to its common flat nose bullet design for tubular magazines, it best performs at modest distances out to 200 yards for thin skin game and closer for really big game. At 200 yards, the 300g FP bullets has about 1200 ft-lbs. of delivered energy for deer and black bear.

The 350 grain FP Hornady has a muzzle velocity of 1900 fps and delivers 2800 ft-lbs. at the muzzle and  1800 ft-lbs. at “100 yards or less” for big bears, moose, and elk.

Soon my first shots will be the Hornady 250g MonoFlex gilding copper bullet which has a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps and maintains nearly 100% weight retention even at close range. Penetration is better than the 300g FP. I think this MonoFlex bullet is likely great black bear medicine producing a large exit wound.

We will see some range targets soon for accuracy testing…

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Marlin Research for 45-70 For Black Bear

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Black bear, many say, are not hard to kill with good bullet placement. That said, there are bears harvested that reveal previous wounds and occasionally find the errant bullet. Bears are very tough, if not hit correctly.

So for all the easy-to-kill crowd, if you miss vitals, you are not likely to recover your bear, and if you do, you will likely be tracking with dogs for miles. Good luck with that. 

With a bigger bore like 45-70, perhaps you will make your bear guide happier too upon recovery.

In my own limited bear experience in 2024, with my 7mm Rem Mag with 160g Nosler Partitions, I hit the front shoulder of a smaller bear quartering towards me and exited on the last rib on the other side. I got blood immediately and the bear went 20 yards. My 7mm was designed for much longer range harvests and it worked but a bit clumsy with a long 26 inch barrel from a treestand shot at 25 yards.

I really would have preferred a more compact fast handling big bore rifle such as the 45-70.    

After significant research on YouTube, I saw a review of a new Marlin Lever vs a Henry in 45-70.

Listen and watch.

I likes this comparison video very much! As I said in a earlier piece,

Spring into a Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70 – Testing Soon

The action on levers, is key. I have placed a deposit on the Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70.

We shall see…

My Alaska Delivery of Halibut and Salmon Arrived In New Hampshire

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As I wrote  a few weeks ago, I purchased some Alaskan Salmon and Halibut from Tanners Alaskan Seafood.

My 24 hour Alaskan delivery arrived frozen, as promised. Here are the fish packs below.

I made a baked pistachio crusted halibut with butter herbs and lemon. It was spectacular. Looking forward to a Sockeye Salmon dish soon!

Yes, it is expensive but in June I will catch some myself and bring many pounds home.  Gotta get my Omega 3’s! Below my dishes, pistachio crusted halibut and sockeye salmon w/herbs and lemon. So fresh and delicious. 

More soon…

 

 

NH Rifleman Magazine Readership Year Ending 2025

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We are very pleased with our worldwide NH Rifleman Magazine readership since we began in 2012.

Newfoundland Moose on Gander River

We are broadly Outdoor folks who particularly enjoy the shooting and hunting sports!
We camp, we fish, we hunt and shoot rifles, reload our own ammo and shoot bows and crossbows.
We eat what we kill and enjoy cooking our wild game harvest for our families!
We like to educate and are meat-eating adventurer’s too, often going to far off wild places including Africa and Canada and soon to Alaska. 

Texas 144 Class Buck

Top countries reading New Hampshire Rifleman Magazine. 

Enjoy!

Todays Compound Crossbows Are Great Bear Medicine Especially with Swhackers – Some Hunt Thoughts

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There is no doubt that the engineering and physics of todays compound crossbows make tremendous hunting tools for speed and accuracy especially with my Swhackers.

 

My bow is a TenPoint Turbo, shooting 360 fps. I added a Burris Oracle Laser Scope. A great combination. 

Todays fastest crossbows are in the 500 fps range but for me, personally, I find crossbows better in the 300 to 400 fps range allow crossbow targets to capture the arrow without undue stress to remove the arrow, yet easily harvest game cleanly and often fully penetrate and exit.

There are limitations and concerns with such powerful bows however.

Broadhead tipped arrows of all kinds and bows can very easily deflect in brush, thus shot distances are often limited and must be unobstructed for the bolt/arrow to hit the vitals of the game you hunt.

I recall this past September in a ground blind for bear hunting in Maine with my friends at Foggy Mountain, I set up my crossbow on my steady “Death Grip™ tripod. Nice!

But once set up above, I noticed that there were tiny fir branches a few inches in front of my arrow. In the photo above you can see fir branches. 

I thought, Yes, its a tiny branch, but my decades of bowhunting experience says, even a tiny branch can cause deflection.

I took the time to clear the branches.

An hour later, I harvested a sizable handsome boar. At the 29 yard bait barrel, the boar arrived appearing as if by magic. He stuck his head in the bait barrel and immediately backed out. He faced me in the ground blind and walked  8 to 10 yards toward me. I was on him and very still. Seeing no movement he turned to head back to the goodies. When he was “momentarily broadside” my arrow tipped with a 125g Swhacker hit the big bruin in the ribs.

The swhacker went through that bear so fast that the exit speed, even with a 2.25 inch cut, was so fast as it destroyed the broadhead striking a granite rock. 

I knew the bear was mine. Very pleased with my shot I reflected on the power and accuracy of my crossbow.

I highly recommend shorter range crossbow hunting especially with Swhackers. 

Good Hunting!

 

 

Senior Hunters and Fisherman Like Me Require Adventure To Remain Healthy

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This past September, I shot a nice estimated 200 pound Maine “Foggy Mountain” black bear (a boar) with my crossbow from a ground blind. It was my 76th birthday.

It was a solo hunt as are most of my hunts. On my 75th birthday, the year previous,  I shot a nice  black bear from a tree stand with my 7mm Rem Mag. 

As I age, I have discovered that by dangling an adventure-like carrot in front of me, then I use that adventure as my health and exercise goal. 

Note: This past week in January, local hospitals were filling with possible heart attack patients from shoveling in very cold and snow conditions. 

If out in cold weather and exerting yourself, shoveling snow for example, many doctors suggest hydrating, stretching and

maybe take a baby aspirin to thin blood before heading out to shovel. 

I carry baby aspirin on my person as a rule of thumb just in case. 

It seems that I purposely become adventuresome just to maintain my body and mind health.  Maybe find non hunting adventures as I further age as well to stay healthy as well.

I like to eat what I hunt and love to chef my own food. I started a cookbook but have yet to publish it. Maybe this year. We shall see….

Adventure Awaits…

 

Broken Antler Brow Tine Repair

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See my first article on this repair.

February Antler Repair? I Ran Across A YouTube To Fix A Broken Antler Brow Tine

This is my first attempt at a brow tine repair. Came out ok. Need to paint/stain more but the JB Weld KwickWood® putty worked.

Note: I used my new GoPro Hero 13 Black to film and edit the above video.

Below is the right side brow tine fix. Not bad for my first try. I can play with paints and other stains but hey, it looks ok for me. 

Practice on other antlers, can improve my skill. Need to buy paint/stain/urethane for correcting brow color if I want a pro job. But I am happy with it as it is for now. It was as a fun repair winter lesson.

Stay Warm

 

 

 

February Antler Repair? I Ran Across A YouTube To Fix A Broken Antler Brow Tine

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A buck that I harvested 5 years ago in Texas had a broken brow tine seen below. I never had it repaired.

Too cold to do much at 0ºF outside.  Sounds like a great cold weather project for me to try. Maybe you have an antler that needs repair too.  

Below, what the brow tine should look like.

I found a few YouTube’s to fix a broken antler with epoxy putty. You can look it up as well. You can use a taxidermist putty or wood repair putty. One fellow used polyurethane dark walnut stain once the putty was hard and dry. He wiped it on and off as needed to get the color correct.

Look for my article and how my repair comes out.

Soon…