45-70 without open sights

[ejpaul1]

So, I sent my action in to get one of the 45-70 barrels with open sights. When it was returned to me 140 bucks later, no open sights. I did get a scope mount with it. I aint sending it back. Anyway, I was really looking forward to using this as a brush gun for elk/mule deer here in nor-co and would consider a scope, but was wanting some idea's suggestions from anyone here on the matter. I looked at a cabelas scope designed specifically for 45-70 leverrevolution ammo, has a nice long eye relief of like 5 inches or so. 100 bucks. Any real low power scopes for not much dough that anyone can reccomend? Any idea's are helpful. EJ

[ejpaul1]

I forgot to mention, it is a NEF 45-70 barrel, the 22 inch flavor. As well, last year I got a nice zeiss scope for my 7mm WSM model 70 from my wife, so a real pricey scope isnt currently an option. I wish it was, I'd get a fixed power scope from zeiss for this thing. EJ

[jls]

EJ, howdy from so-co. I have a Buffalo classic with iron on it, couldnt see squat with my tri-focals so had to go the scope route. I've also used a red dot with good results. the cabelas would be a good choice but I'd steer clear of super cheap, don't know if they would hold up under that recoil.

[ejpaul1]

Red dot? Never really thought of that. How good can you get at a hundred with it? I mean, a hundred is more like what I'll be shooting at. I dont think I could do much further than that without a scope. 3 or 4 MOA would be acceptable to me.  EJ

[kitchawan kid]

The williams FP-H&R reciver sight is a great buy at $91.00 shipped,and you can get target or hunting apertures.

[DonT]

2-3 MOA is more than doable with a red dot fi the load will do that. I have a bushnell with the 4 reticles and no magnification.  It isn't on a 45-70 but is on my AR15.  I have used these on a number of guns (pistols and rifles) and out to 100 yds with realistic expectations they are great and bushnell can be had for under $100 (batteries included).

A few areas where they really shine:
Very quick target acquisiton, especially when something breaks out of cover close to you, say 50 yards or closer. 
You keep both eyes open so you have a better field of view
Where ever the dot is, thats where the bullet goes.  So if the dot is in the upper right corner of the scope but on the kill zone pull the trigger.  You don't need the dot in the middle.
Very user friendly in low light.
Only one focal point, don't have to line up the front and rear sites and then the target.

Limitations:
Not as useful over 100 yards but can be used with practice.
You should always carry one spare battery (the flat oversized watch kind).
Ya might take a little ribbing from your hunting partners for having that new fangle thing hanging on a 45/70.  That is till they start complaining about loosing the reticle of their scopes in the low light of dusk or early dawn and you already have your tag filled...

Try one you will like it and I like them better then iron sites.

Good luck...
DonT

[pitman_mm]

 Was thinking about a Red-Dot for my 45-70 as well. Just wondering if they will stand up to the recoil. Any one have experience with the Simmons, Tasco, Truglo or other affordable Red-Dots. Thanks

[jls]

JMO I put a $50 dot on my 45-70 and I could'nt have taken it apart any faster than if I hit it with a 3lb sledge. I put a Leopold/ Gilmore dot on it and was happy with that set-up. could have used a little larger dot though (1 moa sort of disappears in dark timber) Any reputable brand should be ok and I do like the multi reticle set-ups. thats whats going on it next. The small dots are great for punching paper but I prefer something a little bigger for where I hunt.

[quickdtoo]

I tried a $40 BSA red dot, it fogged up internally on me the first time I used it in the rain, this was on a shotgun for turkeys, it worked ok functionally for that with the exception of the reliability issue, but for a rifle the dot covered way too much as 100yds for real accuracy and the parallax error was terrible, not my cup O'tea, I'll stick with a peep sight or a low power scope for any big game at reasonable hunting ranges.

Tim

[mechanic]

I took the Simmons diamond scope off my shotgun, put it on my BC, and haven't had a moment's trouble.  I've seen these lately for about $60.00.  Mine is, I believe 4 power.

[Jimbo47]

I read up a little on the numerous reviews on the Cabela's site about that scope, and it's interesting as several claim that it's set up for using the LE ammo, and it's pretty accurate out to 200, and some say 300 yards.

Won't do you much good if you don't have a range finder and know the distance so you will know which bracket to aim with, but if I want to shoot that far I think a holdover would work just as well, and the old .270 would work much better if there is a chance for that long of a range.

The one thing I saw pop up several times, and that's the red flag I was looking for is they say it's got a cloudy view at over 100 yards, so that would nix that scope in my opinion.

For about the same price or a little more get you a Bushnell Banner, and you'll never look back.

BTW, a trick I use with the 45-70 is I mount the scope as far forward as I can so when I put the gun up to my normal cheek weld I may need to adjust barely forward to get a full sight picture.  I mean just a tad if any at all, and that assures me that I'm not going to get scope eye!

You'll know you have the scope in the right place when with your eyes closed you anchor the rifle to your shoulder, place your cheek on the stock and then open your eyes.  If you have a full sight picture, and then barely move your head rearward, and get the dark outer circles in your sight picture, then you have it adjusted correctly enough forward.

Give it a try, and for me it makes me concentrate on the shot rather than worrying if I'll get nailed by the scope.

[quickdtoo]

I ordered one of the Cabela's Lever-Action scopes for my 444 a couple years, ago, I gave it one star on the evaluation, needless to say  I returned it for credit without ever mounting it, it's got the typical thick black halo around the field of view, very typical of cheap glass, instead of the FOV extending out to the very edge of view with a thin halo. The elevation turret adjustment ran out of adjustment long before I was able to center the reticle mechanically using the Leupold mirror method. 

Tim

http://reviews.cabelas.com/8815/712741/reviews.htm?sortOrder=rating&ascending=true

[dpe.ahoy]

I've got a Truglo 2 power red dot on my 444 Handi, still works just fine after a a couple hundred rounds.  Some have said it will fall apart , hasn't happened yet .  It has a 2.5 MOA dot on it and I liked it good enough I bought 2 more.  Still haven't mounted them on anything yet, they have an eleven brightness level on them and I paid about $80.00 from Natchez, maybe $90.00.  CRS has ahold of me again.   DP

[BC Steve]

I got this Bushnell 3x9x40 Dusk to Dawn on my 45-70.  It has 6" of eye relief and you can practically hunt in the dark with it.  MSRP is $108, but I've picked up a couple of brand new ones on E-bay for $75-$80.  You can't beat the quality of scope at this price.  I love mine.

http://www.shopbushnell.com/product_detail.asp?T1=BSN+713947

This is a good one too.  Has the 6" relief also, but more compact.  My brother has it on his 444.

http://www.bushnell.com/general/riflescopes_banner_71-1436.cfm

[mattl]

I have 2 Weaver K4 Fixed power 4X38.  One is on my TC Encore in .270 win, the other is on my Marlin 1895 45-70.  Both scopes hold their zero very well.  I have hunted coyotes with the 270 several times in the rain and snow and have never had a problem with fogging.  I reload all my 45-70 cartridges and do run some pretty hot loads through it quite often and have never had a problem with the scope.  Weaver does make a K6 scope, but I like the 4 power for close to medium ranges.  I can shoot out to 200 yards as long as I do my part. 

Mattl

[ejpaul1]

WOW! Lots of good info. I hunt in section 19 of northern colorado and there are a few opportunities for long shots in this section of the state, but more than most likely, 150 yards and under. I will take a look at a red dot after I get back from vacation. The wife is asking me what I want for my birthday, sounds like it might be optics. The only thing I am concerned about if I use a scope is eye relief and power. I dont want anything high power and I have been whacked in the nose by too many scopes. Thats how my wife got me the Zeiss, she was with me on a doe mule deer hunt when I had a pentax mounted on my 7mm WSM, took an offhand shot, dropped the deer cleanly, but I think I bled more than the deer. She immediatly said to spend whatever I needed on a good scope with plenty of eye relief. She said 500 on a good scope is cheaper than an emergency room visit for a broken nose. Regretfully, I cant use that argument on this one! EJ

[Rustyinfla]

  I have the Simmons shotgun scope with the diamond recticle on my .30-30 and I like it a lot. Mine is 1.5-5 and works great.

[Dillohide]

A fixed 4x works well on a 45/70. I put a Pentax on mine and love it.

[45-70.gov]

i  have had  a ultra dot on  44 wincester 94
for about 30 yearnever had to re-zero  tho it even  got dropped a time or to
mostly shot with 280gr WFN

can't be beat  for fast  action..low light

i  prefer  scopes  and red dots  to open sights....but  have a few guns  with  open sights

if  you don't already  have or tried  a red dot
don't  you think  its  time to see what  youve  been missing??

[SHOOTIST TOO]

Just bought a 45-70 Guide Gun for hog hunting next month. My good friend, HAPPY HUNTER, advised me not to use a dot. Took a nice scope off a Knight rifle I don,t use any more and put it on.  I have 4 UltraDots on bullseye guns and they are one of the ones to have.Natchezss.com has them on sell for $119.00 now or UltraDotWest.com with free shipping.

[45-70.gov]

did  he give a reason  not  to use the dot?

[twoshooter]

I was at Cabelas in KC recently and looked at their Leveraction scopes and was reasonably impressed, I had been intending to put the Simmons Pro-Diamond Turkey scope from Midway on the gun, but they were out and I had a few Cabelas points to use. I wound up buying a Cabelas "Powderhorn" scope. It is a 3-10 power designed for muzzleloaders. It was very sharp and clear, and I loved the reticle. It has 3 prominent cross bars on the reticle as aim points and they are different length. The eye relief is about 4 inches. I plan to use with cast bullets only, so I intend to set it at 6 power and locate the range at which the reticles are operative, probably 150 yards since I am using target loads. The different length bars will be useful also in range estimation and windage. This was $99. I suggest you guys check it out. If not, Midway has the 4 power Turkey scopes back in stock, they work very well and are I believe about $ 62.

[SM Bob]

I set my 45-70 up with a scout mount using a Weaver 92A base and a Swift 4X32mm
pistol scope. I think it will work out just fine. As far as price goes: The scope was $95,
the base was $9, the Warne Maxima low rings were $30.

                                     Robert


 

[JerryKo]

So this barrel came drilled and tapped for scope mount and scope mount, but is it drilled any where else for a sight or no?  Just wondering.  The order form does say with sights.  Just wondering how this all started.  I'd like a 30-30 barrel with sights again one day and would be ticked if they send scope mount instead.  Especially if not even tapped for sights.  I know you could put a williams peep in the scope holes, but I guess a drill and tap would be need for the front sight, if not already there.

Good luck anyway.

Jerry

PS got the Pro-diamond 1.5-5 on my Prohunter Muzzleloader and it is a nice scope.  Very large field of view and crisp in my opinion.

[brad925]

I have a Bushnell Trophy 3-9 on my H&R Ultra in 450 Marlin. It has almost 900 rds through it without a problem. Its in that 100 buck range.

[swordfish]

Was thinking about a Red-Dot for my 45-70 as well. Just wondering if they will stand up to the recoil. Any one have experience with the Simmons, Tasco, Truglo or other affordable Red-Dots. Thanks

I got my 1895G 45-70 with a RedDot on it. I didn't like it and have gone back to the original iron sights. The dot was blurry with my right eye beeing a bit off 20/20 (nearsighted). The blurry dot was too large of a target to pin point anything and didn't trust it for hunting. The dot is better with my left eye, but I don't shoot lefthanded.

Anyone else have this problem with the blurry dot?

It seemed to hold up fine, that wasn't my problem with it.

[petemi]

I have a fluid leak in the back of my right retina that causes serious blurring in my right, shooting eye.  All my rifles are scoped 3-9X50 and it helps very much.  I don't know about red dots, but I whacked my deer at 220 yards last fall with a Handi .45-70 and a 3-9X50 Bushnell scope.

Pete

[Hodr]

I put a truglo 2x red dot on a new 308 handi right out of the box.  I have fired almost 120 175grain lead rnd nose jacketed slugs with only one problem so far.  My brother in law loaded them to close to max.  Blame things have left me beat up.  Kicks like a 12 guage buckhammer in a 5 pound shotgun.  I have bought a bullet puller and intend to step the load down.  I will say that his loads have all held within a 3" circle at 100 yds.  Now I have to go find an elk.

blindhari

[45-70.gov]

Was thinking about a Red-Dot for my 45-70 as well. Just wondering if they will stand up to the recoil. Any one have experience with the Simmons, Tasco, Truglo or other affordable Red-Dots. Thanks

I got my 1895G 45-70 with a RedDot on it. I didn't like it and have gone back to the original iron sights. The dot was blurry with my right eye beeing a bit off 20/20 (nearsighted). The blurry dot was too large of a target to pin point anything and didn't trust it for hunting. The dot is better with my left eye, but I don't shoot lefthanded.

Anyone else have this problem with the blurry dot?

It seemed to hold up fine, that wasn't my problem with it.

did  you shoot  with  BOTH  eyes  open??

if  not  try it again.........you did  it wrong........
i can  hit with  the front end of scope taped  over....just to show  it can be done  and  to train others how to  use  it

[Swampman]

I'd get a Nikon Prostaff 2-7X32.