[Phalanx]

The XCR holds up well in the field , Branding season on horse back for nearly 4 weeks.
Very little wear to the finish riding in a scabbard , dust ,dirt ,rain , and we even had a day we had ice.
It is also the time a lot of the Heifers are birthing and fall behind ,the coyotes love to prey on these and especially the calves.
I didn't have to kill anything ,but you have to use a lot of warning shots ,and at times they are persistent.
With all you have to do there isn't a lot of time to be nursing a rifle that cant hold its own ,cleaning sometimes isn't an option.
The days of the Winchester 94 are gone ,with what goes on near the border you better have something else on you ,in case you stumble across someone you shouldn't.
This time i used a total of two 30 round Mags , Troy flip ups during the day ,and an EoTech 552 in low light and at night.
The Caballeros we hire carry an SKS ,and they sure wanted the XCR , i know it isn't combat ,but it can be extreme at times.
But like i said ,if you run into some of the people involved in Drug or People smuggling they shoot first ,then it just may become combat.
I didn't have any problems , it only got a wipe down with a rag now and then ,and was either wet all the time ,or full of sand.

 

[Scud]

What did you bring along before you had the XCR?

 

[cleric-dragoon]

before my xcr i caried a AK47. and b4 that ruger 10/22

 

[Phalanx]

I do the Branding thing as a get away , and to me it is fun .
No cell phones , internet , at the time i posted that i had just came off a ride 4 weeks before.
The other times i went i carried an 1886 Winchester 45/70 carbine , or a Bushmaster M4.
The M4 did well also , but the XCR to me has a better sight radius ,and the stock will fold up completely out of the way.
One of my friends went on this last one in August, and he took his M96 , he said it was a problem child .
I haven't gone sense i bought a VZ 58 , it is hot on the XCRs ass as far as being a good rifle ,but the 223 is a better round being that it has a better range.
But the Wolf 7.62x39 , 154gr JHP tears the crap out of anything it hits , its just not real good past 150 yards.

 

[gunner69]

Within range, that Wolf 154gr does one hell of a lot of damage. I shot a Doe at about 80 yards with it. Looked like it was poleaxed... :2cents:

 

[TerraShrewsbury]

my hometown the sheep farmers had trouble with mountain lions.... man if i was going to take on one of those effers i'd want at least a 6.8... Bad kittah! >

 

[MrSmitty]

6.8 better get that XCR-M out. Then you can take em with a 308 the way it should be done. ;D

 

[Phalanx]

Most Mountain Lions i have seen you better have a 338 ,or a 45/70 300gr JHP .
They killed one over by Carlsbad that they shot 4 times with a 300 Winchester mag before it went down.
It wasn't poor shot placement , the thing was moving so fast it was if you could even get a shot.
No way i would get near one of those without a 45/70 or 45/90 really hot load.
Go to GBO forums and read what the African hunters say about that.

So when do we get an XCR chambered in 45/70 ????? Please....

 

[dont_tread_on_me]

Give me a 12 gauge with Slugs being the first and maybe second rounds,after I missed with those two(lol) the rest in the tube #4 buckshot.Some African hunters/guides use that combination too when tracking wounded Leopards.If I had a 416.Rigby handy I wouldn't feel to unsafe with that either,preferably in a double,but a turnbolt would work too.Not that a 45/70 would be a bad choice,say a Marlin guide gun stuffed with some heavy hitters.
The problem is your not talking about an exceptionally large or heavy structured animal.The 45/70 may actually be too much gun.Yea there is such a thing.If that animal were shot with a violently expanding bullet that creates massive hydrostatic shock very quickly,the animal will shut down sooner than if poked with a really heavy non-expanding bullet that overpenetrates the animal and doesn't do much damage along a narrow wound channel.
I wouldn't be afraid to use my ptr-91 loaded with a 20 round magazine of 150 or 165 grain Winchester Ballistic Silvertips.Make no mistake that ain't a Varmint bullet,but it dose expand hard and fast but would drive deep enough on the given animal to cause catastrophic failure of his "boiler room".

 

[thadbme]

Holy cow you guys are crazy! I have no interest in a .45/70 as those are ridiculous! 3 rounds into that shoulder seperation wouldn't feel too right

 

[Phalanx]

No bolt actions ,lever actions only.
A 45/70 loaded to the loads that Lyman sets up for the Ruger #1 useing a 300 gr JHP will make anything look like a nuke went off in it.

 

[dont_tread_on_me]

I've shot a 458 Lott chambered in a Ruger #1 and "boy lemme tell ya what"!!! I don't think Mike Tyson could've hit any harder.I still think that my Benelli Nova chambered with a 3.5 inch magnum 18 pellet buckshot load is just as bad.I think I'll stick to my 7x57 in my Ruger #1 thanks

 

[Phalanx]

The secret to handling a 45/70 is the gun itself.
The stock angle has to be correct or it will nail you ,it has to be angled downwards.
This transfers the energy into the muscle mass of the shoulder , and away for those muscles that are close to bones.
The weight of the rifle is also a factor , the sharps and the 1886 do not seem to kick any more than a 30/06.
If you read the African Hunting articles they all say the modern loads in a 45/70 killed the 458 Win Mag.
Like the modern loads in a 45LC killed the 44Mag.
And the .40 S&W is hurting the 9mm badly.

 

[ArmChairCommando]

Most Mountain Lions i have seen you better have a 338 ,or a 45/70 300gr JHP .
They killed one over by Carlsbad that they shot 4 times with a 300 Winchester mag before it went down.
It wasn't poor shot placement , the thing was moving so fast it was if you could even get a shot.
No way i would get near one of those without a 45/70 or 45/90 really hot load.
Go to GBO forums and read what the African hunters say about that.

So when do we get an XCR chambered in 45/70 ????? Please....

Wow I killed my mountain lion a "SCI bronze" with 2 shoulder/chest shots from a Glock 17 9mm with 147gr. hydro shocks in New Mexico. I do hear you about a good one stop shot though the bigger the better!

 

[Bravo]

You're not alone - out here more mountain lions are felled with 9mm Parabellum than any other cartridge.