Ah yes, the venerable .45-70. Probably the last rifle chambering I would ever be without. I have successfully hunted all manner of big game with a few different rifles so chambered, and have won some important long range black powder cartridge rifle matches with a couple of others. There remains quite a strong interest in this cartridge, and quite a good number of rifles so chambered. Here are the four I currently own and shoot:
Top to bottom, these include an original Ballard Pacific manufactured in about 1878, wearing an MVA Soule type rear target sight. This is pretty much a match rifle, weighing in at over twelve pounds, but I did take the biggest mule deer of my life with it.
Next one down is an 1875 Sharps from C. Sharps Arms in Big Timber, Montana. I used this rifle years ago to win the Oregon Territorial Long Range Championship, the Ft. Lewis 1,000 Yard Championship, and other big matches. It shares the rear sight with the Ballard (you can see the base for it).
Next one down is a Winchester Model 1886, the first repeater chambered in this round. Below that is a Marlin 1895 that I picked up some time in the '80's. These two are hunting rifles, pure and simple. They are almost identical in size and weight. I prefer the Marlin for a number of reasons, but there really is little to choose between the two. I've hunted more with the Marlin, as far east as Wyoming, as far north as Alaska. Either one would do, though.
The next photo illustrates the differences between a "hunting" load and a "match" load. On the left is a smokeless powder (H322) load topped with a bullet from an RCBS mold. It weighs about 410 grains when cast from wheelweights and features a gas check (the little copper cup) on its base to accommodate high pressure smokeless loads. We call this the "Marlin bullet", as it was specifically designed for high pressure, high velocity use from the Marlin. The crimping groove is in just the right spot to provide the correct OAL to cycle reliably. Even more important, that square shoulder, or driving band on the front of it, just above the crimp groove, precludes it being chambered in something like that old Ballard. Firing one of these would absolutely destroy that Ballard, any Trapdoor, and most other rifles from that era. We'll get back to this.
The one on the right is a long range black powder match load. The bullet is cast 20:1 lead/tin and weighs 540 grains. These will not cycle through lever guns, they are simply too long. We get about 1,150-1,200 fps out of these with straight black powder loads. We get 20,000, maybe 22,000 psi out of these.
Getting back to that Marlin load, we get upwards of 40,000 psi out of these high pressure smokeless loads. I can push that 410 grain bullet to 2,100 fps if I really want to. But, well, I don't. This is quite literally the only rifle/load combination wherein my tolerance for recoil was exceeded before the rifle's tolerance for high pressure. My loads do about 1,800 fps, which is plenty. They will shoot lengthwise through a bull moose, and I've proven that. By way of comparison, loaded with black powder this bullet might do 1,300 fps or so, which is about what factory smokeless loads (safe in Trapdoors and such) will do.
Just as an interesting side note, here are the three different length .45 caliber rifle cartridges I currently shoot. Left to right, .45-70, .45-90, and .45-100. The real names, however, are .45-2.1", .45-2.4", and .45-2.6", denoting their lengths, which is a much better way to delineate them. Interestingly, Sharps loaded both the 2.4" and 2.6" cases with 100 grains of powder, using the same OAL, just less bullet in the case when using the 2.4" case. Both were match offerings only, with the 2.6" case being the rarest of original Sharps loadings, being superseded by the 2.4" case.
So, yeah, the old .45-70. My all-time favorite rifle cartridge. Over 150 years old now. Which, due to that age and the broad variety of rifles chambered over the years, begs some caution. Modern, high pressure "Marlin" or "Ruger #1" loads will destroy old rifles. Not many chamberings have this "problem", but not many are this old, either. Just know what you have, what it can safely fire, and enjoy yourself. Not many cartridges are this versatile, or fun.