I'm asking from a hunting standpoint and not which one can be slicked up easier than the other. I currently Deer hunt with my Henry Big boy, but I really would like to venture out with an 1860 clone and Tang sights, so which one can withstand the +p .45 Colt cartridge from Buffalo Bore? Any input would be appreciated!
BSD
It seems to me, that most people, sooner or later, are inflicted with a disease called
MAGNUMITIUS. I used to be inflicted with a near terminal dose of it.
Most shooters and
narrow-between-the-eyes gun writers, think that a magnum cartridge will kill an animal
"more dead, quicker" than a standard cartridge will. When proper bullet placement means everything when you are hunting.
If you want to use a rifle with the toggle link action, you need to forget about +P ammunition and practice your shooting and hunting skills. I know many toggle link action rifles are chambered for the .357 magnum cartridge, but why do you think you need a +P cartridge?
I watched my grandfather shoot a very large grizzly bear, with an 1873 Winchester chambered in .44-40. It took one shot to do it with proper bullet placement.
Don't fall into the trap of where you feel that you need a higher powered load, to hunt with. Shoot your rifle enough, so that you are very familiar with it's characterists.
While I prefer the .44-40 to hunt with, the .45 Colt (there isn't a 45 long colt) isn't anything to take lightly. The only thing a faster shooting load in your rifle will do, is give you a
slightly flatter trajectory.
Familiarity with your rifle and cartridge, is necessary in any shooting situation, be it target shooting, informal plinking, or hunting. Go shooting, but leave the paper targets at the range. Shoot your rifle at unknown distances, observing the bullet impact. Learn how to be a good judge of distances. To learn this, I stood at the end of a football field and looked at the opposite end, fixing the distance in my mind. Then I went out with my laser range finder and started judging distances and verifying them with the laser range finder. I became very good at judging distances.
My 1860 steel reciever Henry is made by Uberti, although it wears Cimarrons name on it. Cimarrons fonts are more suggestive of the originals in style and placement.
I prefer
Marbles tang sights because of the
windage adjustment feature in the base of the sight.
Bill