And 2 Radically New factory .45-70 Loads!
By Jim Dickson | Contributing Writer
Single-shot rifles and single-barrel shotguns have always been a big part of my life so I was very happy when I picked up the Traditions single-shot .45-70 for review at Reeves Ace Hardware in Clayton, Georgia.
Single shot rifles have a dedicated following dating back to the muzzle loading era. Often considered an expert marksman’s tool it just makes sense to have a big caliber like .45-70 when you have only one shot. While break-open action single-shots are not as popular among some folks as other action types, they have a strong following in Europe where there are even Best Quality hammerless ejector break action single shot rifles out there taking game.
The Traditions single-shot looks more like the traditional American single barrel shotgun having an exposed hammer. There is also a push through safety behind the trigger. This is an inexpensive and well proven design to manufacture and these savings are passed on to the customer.
The only thing “cheap” about this gun though is the $819.95 price for the gun with a 3-9X variable scope already attached. It locks up as tight as a bank vault and displays enviable precision machined quality.
These guns are made by Ardesa in Spain to a very high standard and imported by Traditions. Ardesa is a Basque company with state of the art manufacturing equipment. The Basque are famous for making high quality guns. Traditions is a family-owned company that has developed its own products for more than 40 years.
The rifle with scope attached weighs 7 pounds, 14 ounces and there is also a recoil pad and a muzzle brake so recoil with the .45-70 will not bother even the most recoil shy shooter. Personally, I could not feel any recoil.
The overall length is a handy 39 ¼ inches and the barrel including the compensator is 23 5/8 inches long. The barrel is ribbed for extra stiffness without extra weight, a very nice quality touch. It locks up tight in the action which is so carefully machined and mated to the barrel that there will never be any wiggle between the barrel and the action.
This gun is fitted for long term accuracy. Finish is the modern, durable, forest grey Cerakote as this is intended as a hard working hunting rifle. The stock is synthetic with an adjustable comb and spacers allowing the length of pull to be adjusted from 13 1/8 inches to 14 inches. At 6 foot two, I need a 15 9/16-inch length of pull but all the factories seem to make short stocks.
Trigger pull was 5 pounds as measured by a Lyman mechanical trigger pull gauge from Brownell’s Gunsmithing Supplies. It broke clean and crisp with no roughness or creep; just a good solid trigger pull for precision shooting. Balance point was just where the receiver and the fore end meet.
The $819.95 price includes a good solid 3-9×40 variable power scope marked for .45-70 and possessing three crosshair positions to allow for shots at 100, 200, and 300 yards based on the trajectory of the Winchester Super-X JHP 300-grain .45-70 load at 1,880 fps. When sighted in at 100 yards, this load drops 12.2 inches at 200 yards and 42 inches at 300 yards.
In the old days men learned to estimate range accurately. Today we have laser rangefinders so the trajectory should pose no problem. The lenses are vacuum coated with Magnesium oxide and the scope is rain proof, being tested to 1.64 feet underwater. For those just wanting a range adjustable scope for the 45-70 round they sell the scopes separately for $169.95.
I had 430 rounds of ammunition for test firing, consisting of:
- 60 rounds of Black Hills 325-grain Honeybadger at 1933 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 41.10
- 80 rounds of Black Hills 405-grain FPL at 1,250 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 33.1
- 60 rounds of Remington 405-grain Core-Lokt at 1,600 fps and a Taylor Knock out value of 42.39
- 20 rounds of Armscor 300-Grain JHP at 1,900 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 37.29
- 60 rounds of Hornady Leverevolution 325 grain FTX with a soft plastic ballistic tip for better aerodynamics and still safe for lever actions tubular magazines. This has a velocity of 2,050 fps and a Taylor Knock Out Value of 43.59
- 40 rounds of the new 250-grain Hornady LEVERevolution at 2,025 fps with a Taylor Knock out value of 33.5
- 20 rounds of Steinel 325-grain brass solid FP precision CNC machined on Swiss lathe at 1,740 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 37
- 20 rounds of Steinel 300-grain JHP at 1,840 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 36.1
- 20 rounds of Steinel 405-grain RNFP at 1,200 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 31.79
- 20 rounds of Steinel 500-grain at 1,080 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 35.33
- 20 rounds of Steinel 500-grain lead soft cast for expanding at 1,485 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 48.5
- 10 rounds of Steinel 777-grain Lucky Ram subsonic at 1,050 fps with a Taylor Knock Out Value of 52.89. This is in excess of the .458 Winchester Magnum 510-grain SP which only has 45.9 Taylor Knock out Values. This can be very comforting when facing an enraged grizzly at a few feet range.
As you would expect, the trajectory is steep and a rifle sighted in at 50 yards for regular .45-70 ammunition will shoot about a foot low at 50 yards. Just keep that in mind when using it and you will be fine. This would be the Afghan’s dream cartridge for fighting the Russian invaders for they found the old British .577-450 round with its 480-grain bullet superior to modern rounds for destroying the tail rotor of the Soviet Hind helicopter gunships and thus making them crash. This round should be even better at that.
The two new loads are the 250-grain Hornady LEVERevolution and the 777-grain Steinel Lucky Ram.
The 250 grain Hornady LEVERevolution is the .45-70’s answer to the .444 Marlin proving that anything the .444 Marlin can do the .45-70 can do better including a high velocity low recoil load.
The Steinel 777-grain Lucky Ram gives pure raw big game stopping power without compromising the efficiency of any suppressor mounted on the rifle. This is becoming increasingly important as more people are protecting their hearing from high decibel inflicted permanent hearing loss when hunting.
These two cartridges represent the two extremes of 45-70 loads currently available as the .45-70’s popularity is making it rival the .30-06 in the number of different factory loads available for it.
The Traditions .45-70 rifle and scope offers a precision hunting rifle in a powerful caliber with virtually no recoil. The price of the rifle and scope together are extremely affordable in this era of sky high gun prices. I don’t think that buyers of this outfit will be disappointed in its performance.
