cyan apex
So many of us know that .45-70 really performs very poorly in CotW relative to it's irl performance, and seeming that many things in game are modeled to mimic real life, I reckon that some changes are well over due for .45-70
In game the .44 magnum and .45-70 have the following stats for their flat nose hard cast and flat nose soft point bullets respectively;
.44 Mag -> 70 Penetration, 16 Expansion
.45-70 -> 40 Penetration, 6 expansion
.44 mag from a rifle platform in game weights 1 unit less, has 25 points more accuracy, has 21 points less recoil, 9 points more hipshot and holds 3 more rounds than the .45-70 all while maintaining the zeroing distances of 50, 100 and 150 meters. The .45-70 is so outclassed that it isn't even worth having when compared to .44 mag in CotW.
Irl, .44 Mag is a powerful handgun cartridge but is nowhere near as powerful as the .45-70 is, and with modern metals, construction methods and powders, .45-70 has only gotten better. According to Nosler load data, .44 Remington Magnum had a maximum muzzle velocity of 1423 ft/s (handloaded) for 300gr bullets while Strong action .45-70's could push a 300gr bullet up to 2274 fp/s (handloaded).
Perhaps handloads for CotW are irrelevant and factory loads are what counts. Well, .45-70 still proves itself there. Federal has factory loads of .44 mag with the 300gr bullets with a muzzle velocity of 1150 fp/s and .45-70 300gr loads with muzzle velocity of 1880 fp/s (for the "weaker action" rifles)
Ill leave joules and ft/lbs out of this post for now, but .45-70 absolutely outperforms .44 mag at the muzzle already and it doesn't get any better down range so I propose a buff for the .45-70 to make it competent at close range and 'competitive' in performance to the .44 rifle in game. Personally I would like to see a nerf for the handguns in game but I think that would ruffle too many peoples feathers so Ill leave it for now. I hope EW takes action as I know many players are very fond of the .45-70
