"Charlie Morgan" wrote in message
Oh... My 45-70 is not a pistol! It's a big, honkin', antique buffalo
rifle. When I shoot it, I put the stock against a tree so I don't
dislocate my shoulder!

Yeah, I bet.

In fact, you've almost certainly never owned or shot one. The barrels
are very heavy, the muzzle velocity is relatively low, and the recoil
not bad.

.... They do make handguns that will take these
cartridges, but holy cow, you'd need to be very careful of your
stance, and tape up your wrists!

Two words: muzzle brake

Maxprop" wrote:
Wussie. I've shot max loads in a 3" barreled Model 27 Smith, .44 mag. And
I didn't tape my wrists. Couldn't keep the gun from rising up in my grip,
but it wasn't painful.


Now that has an air of credibility. There is a difference between
muzzle rise & wrist-tape-necessitating recoil. People with no
experience with fire arms tend to exaggerate. Besides, how the heck
are you going to get a good sight picture with the shoulder stock
against a tree?

45-70 is a black powder cartridge, not made for high internal pressures, so
it can't be loaded up like a .44mag. Not to mention that the antique guns
made for the cartridge wouldn't tolerate those sorts of high pressures. Big
slug, but slow and with the trajectory of a bowling ball dropped off the
roof.


It's a little better than that. IIRC the drop was about a foot at 100
yards. It's why those old-timey rifles had fold-up rear sights like a
tall letter "H".

If you load it up for max velocity, you also get a very impressive
muzzle flash. Have to be careful to not set the woods on fire.

DSK