"This past year I chose to use a Marlin 45-70 loaded with your 540 gr. bullets for elk. The reason was that I was going to be in an area of dense dark timber and the lighter .30 cal.'s were of no advantage, easily deflected and hard to find the shaded animal with a scope. The shot I took (the only shot I had) was at about 80 - 90 yards through thick brush. It was an angled front shot. The bullet sailed through the small brush on the way, caught the elk in the front left shoulder breaking it, through the heart and lung and broke the other shoulder, exited and was found in large pine tree after it passed through a 4" pine. Bullet weight was later measured at 518 gr. Not bad weight retention!! The 6x5 Bull dropped never knowing what hit him. Thanks for an exceptional product. While your ammo is more expensive than that from the shelf in the local store - Why risk a $1,500 or more elk hunt because you are too cheap to buy the best ammo?"

"Mr. Garrett, I am a Master Guide in Alaska and a Licensed Professional Hunter in Africa. I have made a full time living as guide since 1975 and have over the years tested the bullets from every major bullet maker and from most of the custom bullet makers. I chose to use your 45-70 ammo because it is by far the best. I do not believe that any better load exists to go into thick brush after a wounded Grizzly.
When my 8 year old son (Jason) decided that he wanted to hunt Grizzly with me on the Alaska Peninsula I was pleased as he had decided this on his own with no prompting from me. (I do not believe in pushing kids into doing what the parents do) This became a goal that the two of us shared together as a father and son team. Over 9 months we prepared for his hunt. Lots of target practice for him with a 22. We spent last winter cross country skiing and practicing shooting from a variety of real life field conditions.
I had unlimited choices of rifles and calibers that my son could use. I have custom rifles in medium and big bore up to 470 Nitro. We also have friends with custom rifles made for kids that wanted to loan some very fine rifles to Jason. We decided on Jason using a factory rifle, the Marlin Guide Rifle in 45-70. The only modifications that were made was installation of peep sights, 2" cut off the stock and a decelerator pad installed. Dry fire practice and getting into kneeling and prone positions was the first thing Jason worked on with the 45-70. After he was proficient at that I let him fire a few factory 405 gr. loads from a kneeling position. I needed to see if he could handled the recoil. Jason did okay but it was too much for him to practice with. After that I only let him used the rifle with a 45 ACP adapter made by MCA Sports. This adapter let him shoot 45 pistol ammo and practice a lot so he did not develop a flinch. We never used a bullseye target for his practice. We used a paper archery target of a life sized grizzly standing broad side. No aiming point to see so he had to learn to target on the shoulder himself.
The end result is that 9 year old Jason shot a beautiful 8' 7" Grizzly with your 45-70 ammo. From 45 yards the 540 gr. bullet struck the bear broadside in the left shoulder. Breaking the shoulder, going through the rib cage on both sides and breaking the right shoulder, then exiting the bear. This was a devastating blow to a tough animal. The bear made one jump when hit then collapsed dead 18 feet from where he was standing.
Thank you for making the excellent ammo that helped make my son's hunt a success. "

"Garrett's is now offering a 540-gr. Hammerhead bullet that is designed to protect the user against anything. This is a hard cast flat-nosed bullet that clocks out at 1,575 fps (24-inch barrel). This load will take anything."

"Garrett bullets feature the broadest possible "meplats," which is the flat point forward of the ogive. This is combined with a very tough, but not brittle, lead body. In his heaviest "hammerhead" configuration the 45 caliber bullet weighs 540 grains." "This combination should prove to be about perfect for the heaviest and most
dangerous game."

"Garrett's ultra-blunt Hammerheads provide reliable stopping power on heavy game. They punch large wound channels, making them an excellent choice for such game as elk, moose, heavy bear, and buffalo. During my last African safari, I used Garrett's SuperHardCast 415-grain 45-70 load on a 2200 pound Cape buffalo in Botswana. My rifle was the Kodiak Mark IV, which handled Garrett's ammo with ease. The recovered bullet had penetrated through the buff's heart and chest, breaking a rib on the far side. It was found just under the hide in almost original condition, retaining 396-grains of its original 415-grain weight. I'm planning a return trip to the Dark Continent in the upcoming year, and plan on packing Garrett's cartridges with me on this trip as well. I'm a big fan of Garrett Hammerheads for dangerous, heavy game. They performed for me when it counted."

"I just got back from Africa where I took a great Cape buffalo with my Marlin 45-70 and Garrett's 540-grain Hammerheads. Man, what a combination! The big buffalo was broadside at 80-yards when I placed a 540-grainer through both shoulders, destroying everything in between and exiting. The buffalo dropped at the shot, but managed to struggle back to his feet and face me as the second shot hit him between the front legs and just below the neck. The frontal shot penetrated lengthwise through the buffalo and exited out the rear, turning everything from front to rear into jello and dropping the Buffalo on his ass and then his side, DEAD! Both exit wounds were big enough to insert one's fist into. You just can't get better performance than that on a killing machine like a Cape buffalo! I can't wait to get back to Africa to use up some more of those fantastic 540-grain Garrett Hammerheads!"

     "Randy Garrett of Garrett Cartridges was one of the first ammunition manufacturers to offer truly high performance 44 Magnum hunting loads with hard cast bullets. This was soon followed by another high performance round for 45-70 leverguns. Today, Garrett still offers excellent hunting ammo for really big critters using either 44 Magnum sixguns or 45-70 leverguns.
     Garrett's Hammerhead 415-grain hard cast 45-70 loading is rated +P with a muzzle velocity of 1850-fps.
     In the Marlin 45-70s, the Guide Gun and the 24-inch Limited Edition, muzzle velocities proved to be right on the mark at 1802-fps and 1870-fps; however, they picked up in the Winchester 1886, generating 1968-fps, and 1966-fps in the Browning High Wall. Garrett's load is for the truly big, mean, want-to-hurt-you type animals, and has been used successfully on the big bears of Alaska and the lions of Africa.
     Randy Garrett has long offered the 415-grain hard cast bulleted load for the 45-70 leverguns, which has an excellent reputation in the game fields all over the world. Now comes the ultimate Hammerhead load from Garrett, a 530-grain hard cast, gas-checked bullet rated at 1550-fps.
     In the 18 and 1/2 inch barreled Marlin Guide Gun, Garrett's new load clocks out at 1461-fps. The same load out the longer barreled Marlin 1895 Limited Edition goes 1551-fps.
     Old time African hunters preferred the large bore double rifle for a fast second shot. Most of us will never have the necessary funds to acquire such a rifle. However, the Marlin 1895 is reasonably priced and affords not only a fast second shot, but three, or four or more. The Garrett 530-grain Hammerhead 45-70 load combined with the fine leverguns from Marlin gives the hunter of large game a formidable combination."