What is the rate of twist in your 45/90. Bullet selection is most likely your problem. 36gr 5744 a large magnum rifle primer and a 550gr cast postel bullet out of 20 to 1 will probable shoot well. NO FILLER!

Pre 64 Model 70 Featherweights are my favorite, I have owned 4 all aluminum buttplates circa 1955. Had a 1956 African Super Grade .458 very early gun with one crossbolt, this was a gorgeous rifle. I'd add a picture of my favorite but I haven't figured that out yet, computer dummy.

.505 Gibbs bolt gun. Somebody from WI or MI had one at the Southern SxS last year that was the best one I've ever seen.

Interesting, I hope it comes back around this year. Barie Duckworth ( legendary Zimbabwe PH, and former Parks Ranger) has the only original 505 Gibbs rifle I have held. I know he bought it from Marshall Fields rep at SCI back in the 70’s. Barie’s friend and fellow former Parks Ranger/ Hunter Richard Harlan also has another Gibbs in 505, with there being just one serial number between those rifles. Those fellas both did a lot of cull work back in their Parks ,days, but they did most of that with MS in .458 Win. Today Neil, Barie’s son, carry’s his dads .505 daily.

When that 505 goes off, if your in the same concession you know it, and you know the $hit hit the fan.

Here is a favorite from my small collection of rifles, and used for my semi-purposeful walks in the woods during Deer season. It is a 1906-era Model 1894 octagonal-barreled 30.30 cal. Winchester; and it was once owned by Robert Bumford, of Concord, Massachusetts, a hunting and fishing buddy of my father’s, and a friend who died of cancer in his mid-30s.

I retain the original buckhorn sights, but replaced them and added the Skinner aperture sights, without having to make any permanent alterations.

Another photo below shows "Bobby” on the left and my father on the right (an unidentified man is in the middle) after a day Blue-fishing in Nantucket Sound.

The rifle was inherited by my father, and then by me.

It is heavy, but carries easily, when straight-armed pendantly, and without a sling, due to its convenient balance-point and rounded forearm.

For years I puzzled over what had crudely been scratched, probably with a pocket knife, into the forearm: “L. Allen Scott/ Phantom Valley Ranch”. It sounded to me like a name right out of a Hollywood Western. It is he who probably carved a horse’s head on one side of the stock, and a daisy on the other.

Such carvings surely do nothing but diminish any residual collector value to what is a prosaic 1894 Winchester, to begin with. But for me, they invest the gun with a unique intrigue.

Due to the internet, I now know that it was probably owned by Lester Allen Scott, who ran a dude ranch, in Colorado, at one time, named Phantom Valley Ranch. It existed from early in the 20th to the mid-20th Century.

I attach a link below.

It is one of those firearms of a category where the monetary value is slight, but the story is meaningful.

I’ve shot a CZ 550 Safari in 505 quite a bit , but the only other I’ve ever held was a Granite Arms I was appraising for someone . The 505 is not as violent recoil wise as one would assume . It does move you when it goes off but it’s more of a big push rather than a violent sharp recoil .

I’ve never been much of a fan of H4198 , well that was until I started using it in my Remington ML . I used to have a BallistiCast 462-550GC mold that I used in a 45-70 lever action . I had a couple folks suggest loads to me using H322 and RL-7 . I also had a BRP 462-465GC mold that I pushed hard with H322 in a leveraction Marlin . The 465 grainer was very accurate and a relatively practical bullet for my use . The 550 grainer shot very well but not as well as the 465 also obviously the size of the bullet inside the case hurt your powder volume a bit much . While I would be fine for deer elk moose and blackies I don’t think it would be my choice for a big brownie in a 45-70 . That 465 grainer with a bit tougher alloy going as fast as possible and still being inside 2 MOA would be my choice if carrying the lever gun . Personally I’d rather have a 375 H&H for big Brownies on Kodiak .

As I recall, my fathers White Hunter, Norman Reed, used a 505 Gibbs. Papa's first cousin, Bill, had shot a beautiful Cape Buffalo with a 375 H&H and it staggered into the wait a bit thorn. Norman congratulated Bill and they disappeared into the bush only to reemerge at a run with the buffalo behind them. Norman was 6'4" and the buff flipped him separating him from the Gibbs. Bill had been a olympian and was fast a foot and side stepped the buff several times shooting the buff in the neck as it passed. Bill tripped and fell just as the WH recovered his 505 and dropped the buff with a shot behind the ear.

Bullet placement is everything no matter what your shooting at. I folded up a buff with a 400gr Swift A Frame from a 416 Taylor but made a poor shot on a Zebra with the same gun and we had a chase on our hands for a half mile or so.

I have a Ruger #1 450-400 NE that I'm trying to turn into a deer rifle:eek:

I have more rifles than I can shoot, but for me, a simple Marlin 336 in .30-.30. I bought it 20 years ago, took it to my new deer camp and I got some looks. "A lever with a peep sight?" I got a "You'll never reach out and hit them with that." It carries like a dream in one hand around the receiver and is just there, doesn't need a sling, is light...well, kind of like a good SxS or OU. So as we're coming back to the camp a few doe coming screaming past no doubt spooked by someone else coming back, and in full stride I dropped the leading, big doe with one shot. After the "Holy **** nice shot!" I just had to add, "Try doing that with your howitzer and Hubble scope..." Truth be told, as I pulled the trigger I was saying "For the LOVE OF GOD don't let me miss!!!!" It all happened in 5 seconds, just like bird hunting : )