Marlin 45-70 and 45LC?

[XDJ]

Can a Marlin Guide Gun in 45-70 govt also shoot 454 Casull and/or 45LC? I know the 45LC is considerably shorter than the 45-70 but I was wondering if when plinking you could just short stroke the handle and make it work or even just load 45LC through the ejection port.

I'm enjoying big bores more and more and this would be an interesting rifle to go with my Alaskan in 454 Casull.

 

[Gator]

Please don't. It is dangerous and even if the smaller rounds would fire they wouldn't grip the rifling and would be very innacurate.

P.S. Marlin level .45-70 loads go about 40,000 c.u.p., .454 loads go 60,000 c.u.p.

 

[mkl]

Agree with the "Please don't"

The bullets are not even the same diameter.

Even if by some fluke the extractor held the 45 Colt close enough to the bolt face to fire, you would really have a mess in your rifle chamber assuming the gun held together.

 

[32winspl]

lets say that you can short-shuck the action and get it to feed okay... imagine that the round is seated well in the chamber and that it headspaces on the rim of the case. Further imagine that you fire it and a .452 cal 454 Casull bullet loaded to 60,000 psi is travelling first down 3/4 of an inch of chamber bored to .480 (to accomodate the case of a .458 round. Further, make a HUGE assumption that this .452 bullet hits the throat perfectly centered and isn't canted the least bit sideways before it begins it's journey down a .458 bore, because if it's canted a couple degrees off center, it's gonna try to stop there for just a couple of milli-seconds and pressure behind it is gonna spike super high... pressure that is several times higher than SAMMI-spec 45/70. Lets say that this miraculously doesn't happen, and the .452 bullet enters the throat perfectly and rattles it's way down a .458 bore. Are you looking for stellar accuracy? Money savings? Or what? I promise. I'm not being a smart***. And I applaud you for asking this question prior to actually doing the deed. But this is just a really bad idea all the way around. Please don't do this. Yes, it's a legitimate question. 38 spl can be fired in a .357 mag but not the other way around. Same with 45 Colt in a 454 Casull, and .44 spl in a .44 mag. There may be others.
Thank you for asking. But don't do it.

 

[moooose102]

I Own A Marlin 45/70 Guide Gun. There Is No Way In #@77 You Could Get Me To Load One Of Those Cartridges Into My Rifle To Fire It, Short Of, "if You Don't, You Will Die" Situation. At The Absolute Minimun, You Would Probabaly Make A Mess Of Your Otherwise Fine Firearm. If You Want To Save Money, Or Make It More Comfortable To Shoot While Plinking, Just Download It To Much More Comfortable Levels. Use Trapdoor Reloading Specs. Heck, You Could Even Download It Further If You Wanted. If You Do Not Have Reloading Equipment, You May Be Able To Find Someone Who Will Load Some Shells For You.

 

[Seafarer12]

45/70 have a slight taper to them. The 45/454 don't. They also have different bullet diameters. You can't fire one in the other.

 

[JNewell]

Let's do the numbers.

Hot .45-70 load: 40k psi.

Hot .454 Casull load: 65k psi.

That's not even taking account of chamber, bolt face, etc. dimensions.

 

[XDJ]

So let me make sure I understand this correctly. I should NOT try it?

On the surface it sounded like an interesting idea. Not knowing pressures and specific diameters, I thought I would ask. Don't worry, I will not try something like this without a LOT of input and specifics. I had never heard this idea before, maybe because it's galactically stupid, but that's why I asked.

Thanks for all the great and specific reasons and input.

Dan

 

[JNewell]

Now, on to the next thread. .410 shotshells in a .45-70?

 

[TexasRifleman]

You mean to tell me I can't fire any ammo that starts with ".4" in any firearm that is chambered for something starting with ".4"?

Oh my.........

Scary. As several already mentioned, please don't.

 

[ArmedBear]

.45-70 cases are not just long .45LC cases. They're bigger and completely different, with larger bases and more taper.

Don't do it! .45 LC cases would most likely burst when fired.

That said, the .45-70 in the Marlin lever gun is a very versatile round. If you load them yourself, you can make mild plinking cartridges, and shoot bear-stoppers from the same gun. Just use .45-70 brass to do it.