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
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