I like 45-70s. I've got a couple of the Brownings, B78s. Both have what I like to call "recoil absorbing steel butt plates." They don't work very well at that task. One I've never fired, its a bi-centennial edition and it has the nicest wood I've ever owned on a gun. The Browning folks really knew how to pick it out and finish it. The one I shoot has a scope put on it.
I selected a 1-4 Leupold for the task. Its got long eye relief so you can't crawl the stock enough to get whacked. When I first bought the gun I was undecided about the scope. Then I found the BiCentennial and figured it needed to remain fixed sight. With the scope on the other, its about as accurate as I can test. Over the hood of a truck or using a picnic table, it meets my accuracy needs. Next time you see a Miller Lite can, look at the shield shaped logo. From a rest it can but an entire box of 20 into that shield at 100 yards. The gun has more than enough built in accuracy.
And someplace in my dungeon, I've got one of the Montana Centennial 1886 reproductions. Its a Browning with some unneeded gold inlay. On the plus side, it shoots good, too. The only downside of the long lever gun is its heavy. To hunt with it, you almost need a wheeled carriage.
Which brings us to another point. Bolt guns, lever guns, and even pumps all have a big drawback. The action is 6-8" long. Then the barrel starts. Folks who hunt with the repeaters pay a penalty when they carry those long toms around the forest. The single shots, and specifically the falling block like the Brownings save almost all of that wasted length. If you watch the old guys with their woods guns, they really value the short barrel versions. They out of necessity trade off the velocity of their guns to obtain the short length. Those with the Brownings (B78 or the newer 1885) have it both ways. We get the woods handling along with the long barrel.
Most people with book knowledge will tell you the 45-70 is a short range woods gun. They even suggest it has a range of 100 yards, maybe 125. But back in the calibers heyday, they regularly shot it at 1000 yards. Its not real hard, you've just got to learn how to figure the well known bullet drop tables. Just for fun, shoot yours at the longer ranges. It helps to have a spotter. Call your holdover (in feet) then have the spotter tell you how far over or under you are. You can even see them bounce at longer ranges. Sometimes you'll see the bullet come back up for 3 or 4 skips before vanishing.
You can also use heavy bullets in them (as if 405 wasn't enough). I believe it was Sierra that put out Grand Slam bullets for the 458. Somewhere in my piles of trash is a nice box of 20 of them. They're tungsten solids. Able to penetrate tall buildings at a single bound. Just like DU!
