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Which has more recoil 30 06 or 45-70?

The heavier bullets of the . 45-70 Government translate into quite a bit more recoil over the . 30-06 Springfield. Recoil impacts your ability to shoot your gun accurately, so make sure you are prepared for this extra recoil before investing in this caliber.

How hard does a 45-70 hit?

The . 45-70 Govt is very effective out to around 150 yards with minimal bullet drop, but it’s capable of great accuracy and longer range shooting as well. Using modern, smokeless powder, most of the ammunition manufacturers currently produce a wide variety of loads of varying power for the . 45-70.

What is the hardest kicking rifle?

The T-Rex shoots 750-grain bullets at 2,400 fps and churns up over 10,000 foot-pounds of energy.

How loud is a 45-70 rifle?

Rifles decibels level examples
Ruger Model 1 .45-70 160.1
Thompson Center Encore (muzzleloader) .50 169.7
Winchester 70 XTR 7mm Mauser 159.2
M14 7.62x51mm (.308) 159.0
20 thg 9, 2017

Is a 45-70 powerful?

45-70 is a more powerful cartridge. While this isn’t an issue for medium game, it can give you better performance when you’re hunting big game. If you’re hunting elk, brown bear, or moose, stick with the . 45-70.

How much does a 45-70 drop at 100 yards?

45-70 Ballistics Chart
Ammo Bullet Drop (Inches)
Barrel Length 100 yds.
Hornady – 325 GR FTX 24 3
Black Hills – 405 Grain LFN 24
Fiocchi – 405 Gr. LFN 24
22 thg 11, 2021

How far is a 45-70 Accurate?

While the effective range of the . 45-70 on individual targets was limited to about 1,000 yards (915 m) with either load, the heavier bullet produced lethal injuries at 3,500 yards (3,200 m).

Which is better 45-70 or 444 Marlin?

444 Marlin load has a muzzle velocity that is almost 300 fps faster than the 325-grain . 45-70 load, it generates more energy out to 300 yards and, when sighted in three inches high at 100 yards, drops three inches less at 200 yards than the . 45-70.

What game is a 45-70 Good For?

Paired with a good lever gun, the . 45/70 is a consummate hunting rig for thick brush or timber. The rifles are short and handy, can be run very fast, and pack a wallop. Lever-actions, being scabbard-friendly, are great for horseback hunts, but they are also ideal for hunting from a blind.

Which caliber has least recoil?

Low-Recoil Hunting Cartridges Test Results
Cartridge Med. Game (yds) Recoil
6.5-284 Norma 525 15.4
7mm-08 Rem. 500 15.4
.240 Weath. 440 14.6
.25-06 Rem. 415 12.4
20 thg 12, 2021

What gun has the highest recoil?

950 JDJ. This gun is no joke. It uses 240 grains of powder to push a 2,400-grain bullet 2,100 fps. It bites on both ends though, generating 277 foot-pounds of recoil, or approximately 10 times as much as a 30-06.

What caliber kicks the most?

475 A&M Magnum cartridge. Shooting this is no worse than being in a plane crash. Its 600-grain bullet leaves the rifle at 2,500 fps, with 8,340 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. In a 12-pound bolt-action rifle, it produces 97 foot-pounds of recoil.

What suppressor works on a 45 70?

The Hybrid 46 is the original multi-caliber, multi-firearm compatible suppressor capable of accommodating a majority of the applications expected of a truly versatile suppressor. Designed for use with pistol calibers from 9mm to . 45 Auto, rifle calibers from 5.56mm to . 45–70 GOV, and many in between like .

How loud is a 410 shotgun?

Table-1-SHOTGUN-NOISE-DATA-DECIBEL-AVERAGES
.410 Bore 28″ barrel 150dB
20 Gauge 28″ barrel 152.50dB
22″ barrel 154.75dB
12 Gauge 28″ barrel 151.50dB
26″ barrel 156.10dB

How far away can you hear a suppressed gunshot?

A handgun shot can be heard as far as 1 mile away depending on the conditions. More powerful shotgun ammunition can be heard up to 2 miles away.

How hard does a 300 Ultra Mag kick?

When firing a 200-grain bullet at 3,185 fps, this super magnum will kick you with nearly 32 foot-pounds of free recoil energy. Compare that to 21 foot-pounds recoil from a 30-06 shooting a 180-grain bullet in a typical 8-pound rifle. You want to shoot long and flat and hard.

How hard does a 450 Bushmaster kick?

450 Bushmaster is a solid option. However, it comes with some major downsides that make it pretty much useless in all other applications. Recoil is a beast. 250 grains moving at 2,200 FPS out of a 7ish pound AR means you’re getting the felt recoil roughly equivalent to 12ga slugs.

What caliber is the T Rex rifle?

The . 577 Tyrannosaur or . 577 T-Rex (14.9×76mm) is a very large and powerful rifle cartridge developed by A-Square in 1993 on request for professional guides in Zimbabwe who escort clients hunting dangerous game.

Does an AK 47 have a lot of recoil?

The Recoil of AK-47

AK-47 Kalashnikov rifle fires 7.62 x 39 rounds, with recoil of 6.9 ft lbs. The recoil for. 223 is about 3ft lbs while . 243 has recoil of around 7.2 ft lbs.


45-70 Govt. Recoil VS Body Mass Index (Slow Motion)
45-70 Govt. Recoil VS Body Mass Index (Slow Motion)


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45-70 Govt: The Ultimate Guide To What You Need To Know – Big Game Hunting Blog

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How bad is the Recoil of a 45-70… | The High Road

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Why does every one cry about the .45-70 govt saying that it has too much recoil and makes it hard to shoot acurately? Im 17 year –

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45-70 Govt: The Ultimate Guide To What You Need To Know

There are plenty of myths and misunderstandings out there regarding the capabilities of the .45-70 Government. Here’s what you need to know about hunting with the 45-70 Govt today.

Most hunters in North America are probably familiar with the .45-70 Government. However, while the .45-70 Govt was beloved by hunters during the 1800s, popularity of the cartridge has dropped off in recent years. A loyal segment of hunters and shooters still use the cartridge, but many others are skeptical of the capabilities of the venerable .45-70, especially when compared to more modern cartridge options.

Indeed, the .45-70 Government was one of the very first centerfire rifle cartridges ever invented and was originally designed to use black powder. Though modern loadings using smokeless powder have certainly improved the performance of the cartridge, the ballistics of the .45-70 on paper simply can’t compete with many newer options like the .444 Marlin, the .450 Marlin, and the .458 Win Mag.

So, while the .45-70 is about as American as apple pie, the .30-30 Winchester, the .30-06 Springfield, and the .45 Colt, only a relatively small percentage of dedicated hunters and shooters still use it these days. This is for a variety of reasons, but there are more than a few hunters out there who are skeptical of the capabilities of the cartridge when they see its somewhat anemic looking ballistics on paper.

In this article, I’m going to do a detailed analysis of the .45-70 Government in an effort to cut through some of the myths and misunderstandings out there regarding the capabilities of the .45-70 Govt so you can make an informed decision regarding whether or not you should hunt with one.

Before we get started, I have an administrative note: Some of the links below are affiliate links. This means I will earn a small commission (at no extra cost to you) if you make a purchase. This helps support the blog and allows me to continue to create free content that’s useful to hunters like yourself. Thanks for your support.

.45-70 Government History

Designed in 1873 for use in the single-shot “Trapdoor” Springfield, the original .45-70 Government cartridge loading fired a 405 grain bullet propelled by a powder charge of 70 grains of black powder in a copper case.

In case you were wondering, the name of the cartridge comes from the black powder naming convention in common use at the time that consisted of the caliber of the cartridge followed by the standard load of powder in grains (like the .50-110 Winchester for instance). Since the new cartridge was designed at the United States government operated Springfield Armory and used a 405 grain, .45 caliber bullet (.458″ diameter) propelled by 70 grains of powder, the cartridge received the designation “.45-70-405.”

Commercial publications and catalogs also soon began referring to the cartridge as the “.45-70 Government” (.45-70 Govt or .45-70 Gov for short).

This original black powder load pushed a cast lead bullet at a velocity of about 1350 feet per second. With more than 1600 foot pounds of muzzle energy, this cartridge was one of the most powerful loads available at the time and was effectively used by the Army through the Indian Wars in the late 1800s.

The U.S. Army continued to use various models of this rifle and cartridge in limited numbers through the Spanish-American War and Philippine Insurrection in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In addition to the many variations of the Trapdoor Springfield the Army used, several early Gatling Gun models fired the .45-70 Government cartridge. The US Navy and Marine Corps also used the cartridge in a few different rifles as well.

Due to excellent the reputation it earned while in use with the Army, the .45-70 Govt also quickly became popular among sportsmen in the United States. In response to significant demand for good rifles chambered in the cartridge, it didn’t take long for the major manufacturers to began building .45-70 Govt rifles specifically marketed and designed for civilian hunters.

Soon, hunters had access to quality lever action and single shot rifles and repeaters such as the Remington Rolling Block, the Remington-Keene, the Sharps 1874 “Buffalo Rifle,” the Winchester-Hotchkiss, Winchester Model 1885 “High Wall,” and the Winchester Model 1886. Even when using the relatively simple solid lead bullets available at the time, the .45-70 was an extremely effective on game ranging from whitetail deer and black bear all the way up to the larger, tougher, and sometimes more dangerous species like moose, grizzly bear, and bison.

.45-70 Ballistics

Typical 45-70 ballistics with modern factory ammo are a 300gr bullet at 2,350fps (3,678 ft-lbs), a 325gr bullet at 2,050fps (3,032 ft-lbs), and a 405gr bullet at 1,330fps (1,591 ft-lbs). The .45-70 Govt is very effective out to around 150 yards with minimal bullet drop, but it’s capable of great accuracy and longer range shooting as well.

Using modern, smokeless powder, most of the ammunition manufacturers currently produce a wide variety of loads of varying power for the .45-70. Indeed, there are several .45-70 ammo options out there that provide vastly improved ballistics when compared to the original black powder loading.

Not all 45-70 ammunition is safe to use in all .45-70 rifles though. So, what ammo you should use depends on the rifle you intend to shoot it in.

If you have an older rifle such as a vintage Trapdoor Springfield or a Winchester Model 1886, you should avoid modern ammunition (especially anything labeled “Magnum” or “+P”) and instead stick to low pressure loads that mimic the original performance characteristics of the round.

Using modern, high pressure ammunition in one of those older rifles can be very dangerous. Fortunately, there are still some good options out there that are plenty safe to use in those older rifles.

However, most modern handguns and rifles, such as the Marlin Model 1895, the Ruger Number 1, or a converted Siamese Mauser bolt action rifle, can handle increased pressures and there are several loads in production that have significantly improved ballistics when compared to the original black powder .45-70 loading.

For instance, Federal Premium ammunition makes a load firing a 300gr Power-Shok at 1850 feet per second, generating a 2280 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle.

Since the .45-70 Govt is very popular in lever-action rifles with tubular magazines, most loads feature a round nosed or flat-tipped bullet. This is because bullets are stacked one in front of the other and recoil could potentially cause a bullet with a pointed tip to detonate the primer of the cartridge in front of it.

Unfortunately, those bullets have a low ballistic coefficient and poor downrange performance.

Well, designers at Hornady attempted to solve that problem with their “LEVERevolution”, line of ammunition for cartridges like the .30-30 Winchester, .35 Remington, and .45-70 Govt that are popular in lever guns. This ammo is loaded with bullets that have a pointed, flexible, polymer tip.

This improves the ballistic coefficient of the normally round nosed or flat tipped bullet, but is still safe to use in a rifle with a tubular magazine. Not only does this ammunition use more aerodynamic bullets, but it’s also quite a bit more powerful than traditional .45-70 ammo.

.45-70 LEVERevolution ammunition is available with either a 250 grain MonoFlex or a 325 grain FTX bullet. The 250 grain load has an advertised muzzle velocity of 2025 feet per second (2,276 foot pounds of energy) and the 325 grain load has an advertise muzzle velocity of 2050 feet per second (muzzle energy of 3032 foot pounds) with a 24″ barrel length.

Finally, Buffalo Bore produces some of the hottest .45-70 loads available. Among other options, they offer a load featuring a 405 grain jacketed flat nose bullet propelled at 2000 feet per second for a tooth rattling 3597 foot pounds of muzzle energy.

Combined with modern bullet construction, these enhanced loads dramatically improve the performance of the .45-70 on virtually all game species when compared to the original black powder load. This allows the hunter to ethically take game at longer ranges and still consistently penetrate deep enough to reach the vitals of the animal for a quick and ethical kill.

IN-STOCK 45-70 AMMO

MORE IN-STOCK 45-70 AMMO

For a more detailed discussion on .45-70 Government hunting ammunition, read this article:

Best .45-70 Ammo For Hunting Deer, Bear, Moose, & Other Big Game

Make no mistake: the .45-70 is capable of excellent accuracy in the right hands. The effective range of the cartridge is also quite a bit longer than many people probably think at first.

Unfortunately, the .45-70 Govt is difficult to shoot at longer ranges because the slow velocity and low ballistic coefficient of the bullet, even when using modern bullets such as Hornady’s “LEVERevolution,” combine to produce a pretty steep trajectory.

That doesn’t mean it’s impossible to shoot the .45-70 at longer range, it just means doing so is very challenging.

This is illustrated in the table below comparing a two different .45-70 Govt loads to a pretty typical .30-06 load.

One .45-70 load approximates the performance of the original .45-70 Govt black powder loading of a 405 grain bullet (.307 BC) at 1350 feet per second while the other is a 325gr Hornady LEVERevolution factory load (.230 BC). The .30-06 Springfield load is a 150 grain Nosler Partition (.387 BC) at 3,000 feet per second.

All three loads used a 100 yard zero.

As you can see, there’s a pretty stark contrast between the trajectory of the older .45-70 Govt load and the newer Hornady .45-70 load. At the same time, there’s an even bigger difference between the newer .45-70 load and the .30-06 Springfield load.

This table illustrates just how important precise range estimation and applying the proper hold over become at ranges past about 200 yards with the .45-70. For instance, using the ballistics of the original black powder .45-70 load, a bullet will drop nearly 90 inches between 300 and 400 yards!

For this reason, long range shooters using cartridges like the .45-70, such as buffalo hunters back in the late 1800s, used “tang” or “ladder” iron sights with Vernier scales that allowed for very precise elevation adjustments. As long as he estimated the range correctly, a skilled marksman using a high quality rifle and sight could accurately hit targets out past 1,000 yards using the cartridge.

Due to these constraints, while the .45-70 Govt is popular among black powder silhouette shooters, few modern hunters use the cartridge at ranges past 200 yards.

.45-70 Govt Advantages

Even though there are some very real challenges associated with using the .45-70 in certain situations, the cartridge also offers some significant advantages to hunters as well.

For one thing, the .45-70 Govt delivers the bone crushing power and deep penetration necessary for hunting large, tough animals such as moose and grizzly bear. Not only are those animals extremely large and, in the case of the big bears, potentially very dangerous, those hunting situations very rarely necessitate longer range shooting.

Another advantage of the .45-70 is that most of the rifles chambered for the cartridge are short barreled lever action rifles like the Marlin Model 1895 and the Henry .45-70. These rifles are often easy to carry, whether on foot or on horseback, and are quick to mount and fire.

BUY A NICE 45-70 HUNTING RIFLE HERE

For these reasons, the .45-70 is an ideal cartridge for hunting deer, black bear, feral hogs, moose, brown bear, and other big game in thick woods or heavy cover where short range shots (>100 yards) are common.

After all, there’s a reason why the Marlin Model 1895G Guide Gun is so popular among hunters and outfitters in Alaska. There are few other rifles I’d rather have in my hands if I had to deal with a charging brown bear than an easy to handle lever action loaded with heavy hitting modern .45-70 ammo!

At the same time, don’t let anybody tell you that the .45-70 Govt is a bad choice for deer hunting because it’s “overkill” or because it “ruins a lot of meat.” On the contrary, unlike high velocity cartridges (like the .300 Win Mag), the low velocity bullets used by the 45-70 do not produce large amounts of ruined, blood shot meat on thin skinned animals such as deer.

In addition to use on North American game, the .45-70 Govt can also be a very effective cartridge for an African Safari.

While it would not be my first choice for the longer range shots that are sometimes encountered in areas like the Kalahari Desert or Serengeti Plain, the cartridge shines when taking shots in the thick bushy conditions often encountered in the Lowveld or Mopani Bush areas common in many parts of Africa.

Using high quality soft point bullets, the cartridge can be absolutely deadly on plains game like blue wildebeest and kudu at short range. I took a Marlin 1895 to Namibia many years ago and successfully used it to take a gemsbok and red hartebeest with excellent results.

With all that in mind, there is no plains game animal that I would hesitate to use the cartridge on at ranges out to 100-150 yards. Even very large animals like the eland should present no problems as long as a heavy for caliber, controlled expansion bullet is used and placed appropriately.

With all that being said, I would be very cautious about using the .45-70 Government on thick skinned dangerous game like buffalo and elephant though.

Yes, I know it’s been done before, but that doesn’t mean hunting cape buffalo with the .45-70 is a good idea.

For one thing, even when using very high pressure loads designed for modern rifles, the cartridge only produces between 3,000 and 3,600 foot pounds of energy at the muzzle. This falls short of the legal minimum energy requirement of some countries (namely Namibia and Zimbabwe) for use on dangerous game.

Additionally, at .204, .238, and .276 respectively, the 300, 350 and 405gr bullets most commonly used in .45-70 fall short of the commonly recommended minimum sectional density of .300 to reliably penetrate deep enough to reach the vitals on a buffalo or elephant.

For a more detailed discussion on hunting cape buffalo with the .45-70 Government, read this article:

Read This Before Hunting Cape Buffalo With The 45-70 Government

Before we wrap up, I wanted to touch on how the .45-70 Government stacks up against the .30-30 Winchester. Those are the two most popular cartridges among hunters who use lever-action rifles in North America.

I’ve actually written a very detailed and comprehensive article on how those two fantastic lever action cartridges compare to each other. Click the link below to learn all about the pros and cons of the .30-30 Winchester vs the .45-70 Government.

30-30 vs 45-70: Which Lever Action Is Best For You

.45-70 Government Conclusions

Buffalo and elephant aside, the .45-70 Govt is a wonderfully capable rifle for hunting virtually any species of big game in the world. Get a good hunting rifle, learn to shoot it well, use quality bullets, and you’ll be all set for most hunting situations.

As a remnant from a bygone age in American history, there are few other cartridges that have as long and storied of a history as the .45-70. While it certainly has its limitations, the .45-70 Govt is still an extremely effective cartridge when used under the proper conditions. There are few modern cartridges that can match balance of power and portability that the .45-70 Government offers.

Are you just itching to take a rifle chambered in .45-70 on a hunt?

Book an incredible black bear hunt here.

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To learn more about some more modern big bore centerfire rifle cartridges that are either comparable to, or far exceed, the .45-70 Govt in terms of power, read the articles below:

450 Bushmaster vs 458 SOCOM vs 50 Beowulf: Battle Of The Big Bore AR Cartridges

458 Win Mag vs 458 Lott: What You Know May Be Wrong

.450 Marlin: Everything You Need To Know

The Lyman 50th Edition (p352-360) and Hornady 10th Edition (p754-761) reloading manuals were used as references for this article.

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The Hardest-Kicking Rounds of All Time

I’ve often said that good shooting begins with the acceptance of pain, and great shooting begins with the love of pain. So be it. If you’re going to shoot big guns, it ain’t pleasant no matter how you slice it.

The most recoil I’ve ever taken came from a .577 Nitro Express double rifle. I was invited by Bill Ward, who then ran Griffin & Howe, to test shoot a .577 Jeffrey double at G&H’s little range in the basement of the Abercrombie & Fitch store on Madison Avenue and 46th Street in New York City.

In a 15-pound rifle, which is about what this Jeffrey weighed, the .577 produces 70 foot-pounds of recoil, or about twice the kick of a 375 H&H. Now, as really big rifles go, 70 foot-pounds is not that horrific. Except this rifle doubled—both barrels fired simultaneously, due, no doubt, to a defective sear in one trigger. So, I got 140 foot-pounds in my left shoulder.

Bill Ward, a godless man in whom a love of decency did not abide, suspected the rifle would malfunction and used me as a guinea pig. He is gone now, and I bear him no ill will. The truth is, it wasn’t that bad. It was like trying to block J.J. Watt on the line of scrimmage. You went backward, and had no say in the matter.

In compiling this list, I omitted a few breathtakingly obscure cartridges and limited it to the more famous/infamous. I’ve also skipped over the old lead-bullet/black powder horrors such as the 2-, 4-, and 8-bore double rifles, and will start with cartridges from the modern era. You should get a kick out of this anyway.

I’ve also left out monstrous military cartridges with the exception of the .50 BMG because it’s shot by civilians on a wide basis, and has a legitimate place in the sporting scheme of things.

The .577 Tyrannosaur

This spine-snapping number was created in 1993 by the A Square Company, allegedly in response to two PHs who needed more power (what the hell were they hunting?) than was available in other huge rifles. The T-Rex shoots 750-grain bullets at 2,400 fps and churns up over 10,000 foot-pounds of energy. Recoil is 172 foot-pounds.

The recoil of a T-Rex is no joke. F&S Editors

A-Square, as nearly as I can tell, no longer exists, but when it did, they chambered the T-Rex in a 13-pound bolt action with three mercury recoil reducers in the stock. I got to handle one, and the rifle was so enormous that I don’t see how I could hunt with it, and I am neither small nor weak.

There’s a video on YouTube of some yahoo shooting one of these rifles indoors, and being flung to the floor by the recoil. As I said in a previous piece on the T-Rex, I’d rather take a tusk through the spleen than shoot it.

The .600 Nitro Express

Introduced by W. J. Jeffrey in 1901, this is a cartridge of extremes. No one shot a .600 as a regular thing. Elephant hunters with discretionary income would keep a .600 in camp and use it only in the direst of emergencies. The recoil was too severe to be endured on a regular basis and the rifles, which had to weigh in the 15- to 16-pound range, had to be carried by gun bearers, and in relays at that.

Measuring up the .600 Nitro Express. Range365.com

It fires a 900-grain bullet, and there were originally three loadings of different powers. The most enthusiastic of these gives its monster bullet a velocity of 2,050 fps and a muzzle energy of 8,400 foot-pounds. To put this in perspective, the .375 H&H, which is a stern kicker, puts out about 35 foot-pounds of recoil. The .600 will kiss your shoulder with 103.

Very few .600s were made. The total is probably 100, or fewer. But until the advent of the .700 Holland & Holland cartridge in 1980, it was the most powerful commercial round available. In 1970, Holland & Holland built what they advertised as the “last .600 that will ever be produced.” But an American enthusiast wanted a Great Big H&H, and so he talked them into designing and creating a .700 H&H, so that they would not break their word. But demand for the .600 increased steadily, and now Holland & Holland is making them once more.

The .460 Weatherby

Introduced by Weatherby in 1958, the .460 was, for 29 years, the most powerful commercial cartridge you could buy. It was a .378 Weatherby necked up to fire .458 bullets, and it sent 500-grain slugs down the barrel at 2,700 fps, producing 8,100 foot-pounds of energy along the way. Recoil is 100 foot-pounds.

A close look at the .460 Weatherby. Range365.com

I hunted with an old-time PH named John Knowles who used a .460 as his backup rifle and he swore that it was the only firearm that would absolutely, positively stop anything dead under any conditions, all the time. John broke .460 stocks on a regular basis. When I hunted with him, his stock was held together by Land Rover door bolts and epoxy. His regular clients used to bring him Weatherby stocks.

Field & Stream’s Warren Page may have been the first hunter to kill an elephant with a .460. Warren told me that, out of curiosity, he fired his first shot high in the pachyderm’s forehead, which is nothing but bone. The impact was so enormous that it knocked the poor old jumbo crosseyed. The elephant sagged against a tree, and after a few minutes shook his head and charged. This time, Warren shot him in the brain and that was that.

The .475 A&M Magnum

Shortly after the .460 Weatherby appeared, the rifle-making firm of Atkinson & Marquart, a builder of high-grade rifles in Prescott, Ariz., developed this beast. It is considerably more powerful than the .460, and never made it to the ranks of commercial cartridges.

The .475 A&M Magnum kicks with more than 100 foot-pounds of recoil. Range365.com

Messrs. Atkinson & Marquart necked up the Weatherby from .45 to .47, which allowed it to take 600-grain bullets and fire them at 2,500 fps with 8,040 foot-pounds of energy. Recoil was over 100 foot-pounds. Very few of these guns were made. I saw only one, which had been stocked by Griffin & Howe, who had considerable experience building heavy rifles. With the very first pull of the trigger, the dreadful recoil split the stock as neatly as an axe.

The .700 Holland & Holland

And so, in 1980, an American named Bill Feldstein went to H&H and tried to order a .600. On being refused, because they had made the last one, he said that a .700 would do, and after footing the $144,000 bill for development fees and $200,000 for the double itself, Mr. Feldstein got his rifle.

The .700 Holland and Holland produces 160 foot-pounds of recoil force. F&S Editors

The .700 H&H fires a 1,000-grain bullet at 2,000 fps, and produces 8,900 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. The rifles (there is more than one now) weigh 19 pounds. The recoil force is 160 foot-pounds, which is considerably more than the .600, and 10 times the kick of a .308.

I know three people personally who have fired the .700, all of them are highly experienced with heavy rifles, and all assure me that the gun is uncontrollable; you fire a shot and find the butt down by your hip and the muzzles pointing at the sky.

If this doesn’t deter you, you can order a .700 from Holland & Holland. It will take several years, and the price, now, is a quarter of a million dollars. And then, when you take it to Africa and go to the airport, you will get to watch the TSA goon yank it out of its oak and leather case and drop it on the floor.

The .50 BMG

John Browning’s monster cartridge (It looks like a giant .30/06.) and the M2 heavy machine gun that fires it are one of the most successful military weapons in modern history. Both were designed toward the end of World War I, and both have been used in every conceivable application since then. The cartridge was designed both as anti-personnel and anti-materiel, meaning that you could annihilate both a truck and its driver, or an airplane and its pilot, or a fortification and its cowering inhabitants.

The .50 BMG (far left) dwarfs other ammo. Matt Cleckner – Flickr

There are multiple .50 BMG loads, but for our purposes, let us reflect on the standard loading, the Lake City M33, which shoots a 660-grain bullet at 2,910 fps, with 12,413 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. Sort of takes your breath away, don’t it?

I can’t give you a realistic number for recoil in terms of foot-pounds. This is because shooting a .50 BMG built as a conventional rifle will probably put you in the hospital, so all the .50s I know about, or have shot (probably half a dozen) weigh 25 to 30 pounds and are fitted with huge clamshell muzzle brakes.

To tell you the truth, I’ve never fired a .50 BMG whose recoil was notable. What you are aware of is the colossal amount of gas that comes right back into your face. It goes up your nose, and into your ears, and stands your hair on end. It’s like a monstrous mechanical fart. Such fun! Thank you, John M. Browning.

The .454 Casull

Compared to the foregoing arsenal of horrors, the Casull is more like a BB gun. However, they are rifle cartridges, and this is a handgun cartridge. It has a place here not because it’s the most powerful handgun round around, but because its two superiors, the .500 S&W and the .460 S&W, are chambered only in huge, heavy revolvers that are fitted with muzzle brakes at the factory, and are shootable by sane people.

The .454 Casull may be small, but it packs a punch. Range365.com

Blessed with five times the recoil of the .45 Long Colt, the Casull fires a 250-grain bullet at 1,900 fps, producing 2,000 foot-pounds of energy. It operates at extremely high pressures for a handgun, which makes matters worse.

Compounding the horror is the fact that a great many Casull revolvers are handguns of standard size and weight, and produce carpal-cracking recoil. It is one of the more unpleasant experiences you can have in this life. I have shot both the .500 S&W and the .460 S&W with no particular trauma, but from where the sun now stands, I will shoot no more Casulls forever.

Some years ago, I saw a young shooter given a .454 to try out. It was a single-action with a 4 ¾-inch barrel. He was not warned about it. At the shot, the gun flew up and the front sight cracked him in the forehead. Blood descended in a curtain, and his Old Mom was on the porch, watching.

Enough.

How shooting a gun can affect your hearing

Recently the Hearing Protection Act of 2017 (HPA) was introduced. Why? Because shooting a loud gun can really damage our hearing and we need all the protection we can get! But this article is not about the HPA. Rather, it’s to help us understand just how much shooting a firearm can really affect our hearing health.

First, it’s important to determine how loud is too loud. According to studies done by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), if you are consistently exposed to noise louder than 85 decibels, you are likely to develop noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL).

If 85 decibels is the benchmark for what is deemed to be too loud, then how loud are guns? As you can see from the infographic below, a 9mm pistol typically produces around 160 decibels. Looking at that, it is clear that the noise from even a small pistol is way over the limit! To put it another way: a shot from a 9mm pistol is even louder than a jet taking off, which creates a noise of approximately 140 decibels!

If a 9mm pistol makes a lot of noise, how much does a hunting rifle create? The Council for Accreditation in Occupational Hearing Conservation (CAOHC) did some tests and came up with a list that compares the noise levels of specific rifles and shotguns.

The tables below represent a wide array of different rifles and shotguns for a broad example of the decibel levels.

Rifles decibels level examples Rifle model Ammo dB level Winchester Model 70 7mm Mag 166.5 Remington Model 742 .30-06 163.6 Remington 742 carbine (18″ barrel) .30-06 162.6 Steyer-Daimler Mannlicher .270 161.9 Browning X-Bolt .30-06 161.4 Rossi Trifecta .243 160.6 Winchester 94 .30-30 160.5 Ruger Model 1 .45-70 160.1 Thompson Center Encore (muzzleloader) .50 169.7 Winchester 70 XTR 7mm Mauser 159.2 M14 7.62x51mm (.308) 159.0 Colt AR-15 5.56x45mm (.223) 158.9 Marlin 917 VS .17 HMR 147.1 Ruger 10/22 .22LR 143.4

Shotgun decibel level examples Shotgun model Ammo dB level Remington 11-87 turkey 12 ga. (3″ ammo) 161.5 Remington SP-10 magnum 10 ga. (3.5″ ammo) 161.4 Remington 11-87 turkey 12 ga. (3″ ammo) 161.0 Beretta Gold Match AL391 12 ga. (3″ ammo) 161.0 Remington 11-78 slug 12 ga. (3″ ammo) 160.1 Remington 870 12 ga. (2 3/4″ ammo) 159.7 Rossi Trifecta 20 ga. (2 3/4″ ammo) 159.1 New England SBI .410 (3″ ammo) 157.5 Remington 11-87 field 12 ga. (3″ ammo) 156.1 Pietro Beretta 20 ga. (2 3/4″ ammo) 154.2 Mossberg 183KE .410 (3″ ammo) 151.9 Mossberg 183KE .410 (2 3/4″ ammo) 151.8 Mossberg pump 20 ga. (2 3/4″ ammo) 150.0 Mossberg bolt .410 (3″ ammo) 149.1

Based upon the above tables, it appears that most rifles generate a noise level around the 160 decibels mark (with the .22LR rifles generating closer to the 140 decibel mark). At these noise levels, if we do not use appropriate protection for our hearing health we are definitely going to feel the effects!

Hearing protection options

Fortunately, there are a lot of protective equipment products now available to help you protect your hearing. These include old fashioned earplugs and earmuffs. Based upon the infographic above, doubling up by wearing earplugs and earmuffs provides the maximum level of protection.

Of course, when you are out hunting, wearing this many layers over your ears isn’t the most comfortable or practical solution. Luckily, there are some products on the market that are designed with the hunter in mind. These include earplugs that can hang around your neck when they do not need to be in your ears as well as high tech electronic earmuffs that allow in low noise (such as a voice when someone is talking to you) while keeping out excessively loud noises (such as a gunshot).

If you are using a rifle, adding a suppressor will also reduce the noise level you are exposed to even further. And, thanks to the HPA, obtaining a suppressor will become cheaper and easier in the future (check local state laws if hunting with a suppressor is legal).

Wrapping up

We need to take our hearing health seriously. If we don’t, we will suffer the consequences possibly for the rest of our lives (think about it: how many long-time shooters do you know who have a constant ringing in their ears?). So, even if it is not very comfortable or practical, make the effort to wear appropriate protective equipment when you are out hunting. Your future self will thank you!

So you have finished reading the how much recoil does a 45 70 have topic article, if you find this article useful, please share it. Thank you very much. See more: 45-70 recoil foot pounds, 45-70 recoil vs 12 gauge, 45-70 recoil vs 308, 45-70 recoil vs 30-06, how accurate is a 45-70 rifle, 45-70 vs 357 recoil, 45-70 whitetail loads, recoil 45-70 vs 300 win mag

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