Customer Reviews for Marlin 1895 Cowboy .45-70 Government Lever Action Rifle

great rifle at a really good price .

This has become my go to hunting rifle. For those that want the feeling of an old school cowboy gun with the capability an power of a modern rifle. This is the gun for you Marlin has done just that with this rifle. An to be able to have 9+1 capacity of 45-70 is great either for range or hunting.

thanks buds super accurate with 400 gr lead bullet my dream rifle thanks

Purchased to shoot long range at Cowboy matches. Took first one year and second next year at match in Parker KS. No Complaints.

I could not be more pleased with this Marlin 45-70 big bore lever rifle. The action is smooth for a factor rifle and the factory sights are pretty close to dead on accuracy at 100 yards. Only a minor and quick adjustment needed to be made to print a 2 inch group at this distance.

This rifle is a beast. I love lever guns. The 45-70 Gov't loaded hot is not for the faint of heart but this rifle eats supercharged 45-70 Gov't "pills" like candy and puts the where you aim them. If your plinking then the cowboy loads have minimal recoil out of this behemoth. I have never hunted anything bigger than a wild boar, which can get big , but I am confident that anything that walked the North American continent could be brought down with the Marlin 1895 45/70 Gov't "Cowboy" lever action (with the right load).

Love this rifle! I found a hairline Crack across the stock and had to return it to the factory but they replaced it and got it back to me quickly.
My sons and I had a blast with it "banging the gong" at over 300 yards.

I love my 'thumper!
Marlin may have been wrought with poor fit/ finish in the past. While I wouldn't give an A on my stock, neither would I consider it bad. I imagine they're getting better. I compared it to a Henry, and not like theirs was significantly better. I also love the side loader on the Marlin as compared to Henry's more cumbersome tube feed. The action was a little tight at first but has gotten butter smooth after a few hundred rounds. No feed issues, and you can't beat the round capacity of this model, although that does add into the heft.
This gun will eat up anything you shove in it, from low power cowboy rounds to shoulder breaking hot like Buffalo Bore.
IMHO the guns sweet spot is when using Hornady.
Hot enough with manageable felt recoil, with decent flat(ter) trajectory for a big bore.

There is something about a long barrel lever action rifle! I originally bought this rifle just because it looks cool (and I had some available disposable income). I have since discovered than it is accurate, reliable and a joy to shoot. I have debated using it for a long range blackpowder cartridge shooting competition, but got sticker shock from the receiver sight needed to reach 1000 yards. Instead, my 189CB has become a hunting rifle with a shorter range receiver sight. Even with the factory buckhorn rear sight, this rifle would gong consistently at 180 yard on an USPSC steel target. Very nice rifle. Despite to hate shown towards the "Remlin" levers, I have found mine as good or better than my Marlin "JM" 1895CB!

Awesome gun. Price is way cheaper than other comparable 45-70s in its class. But for dang near 1000 bucks delivered, it has 2 flaws. I wish it had an oldschool halfcock safety. The safety it does have is a push button on the side of the receiver. This wouldn't really be a problem. But mine appears to be made of plastic. I'm not a fan of that. Also the wood stock seems like its lacking with the fit and finish. It's pretty dull. Even a bit of oil rubbed into the stock would have made it look 10 times better in my opinion. Also there are some slight gaps in some places, where some of the wood meets the metal. The gaps aren't super noticeable. But I would have expected better for 1000 bucks. It shoots like a dream! It will hold 9 1, I love that part. It cycles pretty good, everything is nice and tight. I expect it to loosen up a little bit (in a good way) once I put some rounds through it. Love the tapered octagon barrel. Its pretty long at 26 inches, but that's why I wanted it. It is true to the old school style. I plan on refinishing the stock, and I'm not a huge fan of the safety. Like I said for 1000 dollars I would have hoped it be a bit better. Over all I'm pleased with it. 4/5 stars. And as always buds was great to work with

This is an accurate 45/70 and fun to shoot. Quality control could use improvement: magazine tube loosened where dovetailed to barrel. Was able to repair. Worth the price paid. Bud's shipped in timely manner. Easy to deal with.

Buds was great: sale, shipping, etc. My gripe is with Marlin. I bought this rifle with the intention of adding a scope. The receiver is drilled and tapped from the factory. When I went to add the scope, the three “dummy” receiver screws from the hammer forward backed out just fine. But, the 4th screw would not back out (closest to the barrel). I tried gently tapping it and applying heat to the screw head and made sure to use the right sized gunsmith-grade screwdriver. It still would not back out, and now the screw head is marred (very cheap slotted screws). One would think that it could be drilled out, but it’s not that simple. That screw is not visible from inside the receiver because it sits above the barrel. Thus, one would need to remove the barrel in order to safely drill it out or have any access to the screw from the underside, on the inside of the receiver. It would seem the screw was probably cross threaded at the factory, and so even if I am able to remove the screw, would there be any threads worth saving. It would need to be re-tapped! How is this acceptable on a new, somewhat pricey firearm? Now it either has to go to a gunsmith or back to Marlin, causing me further hassle, wait times, much added cost (considering what must be done to remove the screw), and frustration. My money would have been better spent on a competing brand. This is ridiculous for a new product. What a disappointment.

This is one solid, well made rifle. Fully as good as any JM I have handled.

Great rifle........love the western guns! When looking at firearms, I usually check out other dealers but more likely than not, always end up buying from Buds!

Beautiful wood however forearm needs more fitting butt stock is great.great bluing and finish,good rifling shoots dead on.I will buy again very happy.

This is one of my best buy's to date for this type of rifle! It shoot's 2-3 in groups right out of the box with open sights at 100yards. I'm sure it would do better with a scope but, I haven't gotten one yet. I love that it holds 10 rounds not 5 or 6 like the shorter models. It's a little heavier but, that helps with knocking down recoil. I put a limb saver on it and my shoulder doesn't get beat up. Killed my first Elk with it and it dropped right there on the spot. I recommend this to any big game hunter, it will get the job done. I can't say how well it will do for long shots yet but, I'm willing to say it should take anything down up to at least 300y. After that it's on you and how good you are.

I love this gun. I own more guns than I probably should but if I had to choose a favorite this would probably be close to top of the heap. I put a receiver sight on it and it will shoot 'Mickey Mouse" ear groups at 100 yards with my 405 grain hand-loads. Our shooting range has a 300 yard steel target range. Most of the targets are IHMSA style targets with the exception of a black bear with a 6" gong in its chest. I was able to run the target with this rifle without a miss, from the bench. including the 6" gong in the bears chest. pretty good for and old man, an old model rifle and iron sights.

Very pleased with this Marlin 1895CB 26” barrel. Fitment of stock to receiver is perfect. Fore end stock fit is also great. Action is smooth. The trigger is a little heavy but smooth. This is a fine gun! Marlin has improved quality control considerably! Love this rifle. Buds delivered as usual!

Another excellent rifle from marlin!

Bud’s transaction was fast and easy! The rifle is beautiful and functions well. Mine appears to have been made in 2018. The fit/finish is deffinately acceptable with the wood-to-metal fit being almost perfect. I would recommend this rifle to anybody!

Really cautious about getting into this dog fight, but - Here goes - My rifle is a 2018 production gun and - - I like it! Bought my first Marlin in the 1960's, a 336 in 30-30. These are blue collar guns for people who use them and maybe abuse them. All things considered, I think many of their manufacturing problems have been addressed. To compare - I also have a Henry in 45/70 and I like it also - -but - The scale tips a little toward the Marlin because of the tapered barrel. Marlin is a Chevy - Henry is a Cadillac. The important thing is that its lever gun. You might want to give them a chance, after all, they could be history!

Hard to beat a Marlin. Great gun to have handy on the Montana ranch. Solid and reliable, just what I need.

I read reviews and watched several videos on the Remington-owned Marlin quality and became satisfied the new Marlins are back to their previous standards. In particular, the 1895CB received good reviews. Initial "once over" of my 1895CB revealed exactly what the gun writers said: improved wood-to-metal fit over previous models & finish quality, while very good, is not quite perfect. This rifle would benefit from a higher metal polish prior to bluing. Still, initially, I was quite pleased with Marlin's build quality. At home, the demon reared its ugly head. I discovered, while mounting a Marble's tang sight, that Marlin drilled the butt stock screw hole off center on the tang. This had the effect of shifting the Marble's base off center on the crowned tang which canted the sight post 0.125" to the left. I corrected this cant by adding 0.020 brass shim under the sight base before drilling & tapping the base's front mounting screw hole. Marlin moved these rifles serial numbers to the receivers specifically to eliminate folks having to drill through them to mount tang sights, so this addition would not be considered extreme. Clearly, this rifle would qualify for replacement under Marlin's outstanding warranty had I chosen to pursue that route, but I had replaced the front sight & semi-buckhorn rear sight before discovering the stock screw issue. I'm lazy. I would purchase a Marlin product again and am quite satisfied with this 1895CB overall. I will certainly spend more time eyeballing my next purchase, regardless of brand, before that 4473 is signed.

The marlin 1895 cowboy 26" 45-70 is a EXCELLENT rifle....I'm 6'5" and 300lbs I was worried about this rifle not fitting me very well but it's perfect... It handles very nice and points perfect! I put 1 box of standard winchester 300he j.h.p thru it to break the barrel in cleaning after every round for the first 10 then shooting 3rd groups and cleaning after the group. Top notch accuracy with winchester ammunition and also if u have a hankering for pain I fired the 405gr buffalo bore ammnition thru it for accuracy and both loads shot 1-1.50" at 100yds (3rd groups)... This rifle is not to long not too heavy for walking in the pa woods it's accurate points and shoots like a dream and there's nothing like taking down ur preferred game with the 45-70gov... Good luck on your purchase!!!!

Got it a couple weeks back and am pleased with it no the woods not trimed out as nice as older ones. Am currious about price Drop?its over 50 bucks cheaper than a month ago! Its long but just what i wanted. Put a skinner peep sight on. Got sevrial sub inch groups getting it sighted in at 50ytds!