Marlin guide gun
 

Looking at marlin lever guide gun, stainless/synthetic in 45/70 want a good bush gun for deer and anything else that lives in the bush, anybody own one and how do you like it? Is it worth the $750, don't tell me its overkill for deer, it doesn't matter what you shoot, if you hit em in the quarters you got hamburger!

I've had one for a couple of years now. Shoots great if I do my part. You're right it is not what I would consider overkill for deer. It may over penetrate, but it's not a magnum(its velocity that does the meat damage) so meat damage is minimal. I shot a white tail at 20yds with a 420gr cast at about 1900fps, you could eat up to the bullet hole.

As far as price goes, well you could buy a new one not stainless and synthetic for a lot less.

Here is a pic of a tree that was behind the deer I shot.
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j1...-11-060921.jpg

The manly Guide Gun is a rude little gun made to be shot by rude little men like yours truly!:D

At full power loads I use a PAST strap on recoil pad and it tames it down a little bit. Put .410's in it and you have a great close range chicken gun. (the patterns are terrible, so make sure you get close. Also, the hulls may have to be manually extracted.)

Are they worth 750 dollars? No, it is an absolute waste of money like all guns. I suppose a fella could save some money and take up a cocaine habit...but then you will end up looking like Bobby B. when you are half his age!:evilgrin:

People are disappointed when they try and turn the Guide Gun into something it isn't. I consider mine an excellent carbine that is great out to 100 yards. Beyond that the trajectory starts to work against you. Put a peep sight or a slick low mag variable scope on it and you will have a fine little bush gun that is really hard to beat.

You cannot buy the 18.5" configuration Guidegun with a synthetic stock.

stock
 

Oh, you're right its stainless on walnut, I was thinking of the ruger ranch rifle i was also gonna get

I have the plain Marlin 1895 with the 22" barrel and pistol grip stock, and my Dad has the guide gun with the 18.5" barrel and the straight stock. I like my rifle with the longer barrel and the stock design, it doesn't beat a guy up as bad, and the extra barrel length helps in acheiving max power with my handloads. The shorter gun, with the straight stock design, is nicer to carry. The 45-70 with 405 gr. rem core lokts really hits hard. I cannot think of a better black bear rifle. I had a red dot on mine, and it worked well, but switched to a Leupold FX 2.5x scope.

Really, if you're gonna get a Marlin 45-70, shoot handloads through it. The factory loads are downloaded, and don't get close to approaching the potential of these rifles. Good luck, Eric

Awesome rifle!
 

Just bought that exact same gun (1895 GS) this spring. I think it is a lovely looking piece and it has a great voice. I certainly agree with other the other posts regarding the range limitations - I bought mine mostly for backup when hiking back to recover/pack out my animal, though it will make a fine secondary deer gun in the bush. Handloading the 45-70 will save you some money, I have worked up handloads with 400gr Barnes original and 350gr Hornady round nose. Barnes TSX are also available in 250 and 300gr, which should be fun to try. I also picked up a bag of hard-cast 400gr lead bullets (about 50$ for 250) for cheap shooting and plinking. One last thing I'd reccommend is putting a recoil pad on the butt end, it will greatly increase the length of your shooting sesions.

Good luck!

Had the guide gun - sold it as I liked the Cowboy 1895 version better. I echo the comment to get into reloading for the 45-70 Government as it is easy, providing you don't take stupid chances and you'll really enjoy bringing down game with handloads you made yourself.

Thanks for all the info, I'm tempted to just go with a .44mag levergun, I wish I could use the blackhawk