Bramble and everyone, please look at the Siace double rifles from Italy. Yes they chamber one in 45-70, and it is beautiful, shoots to point of regulation, and is about $7K in the US. Much more quality and beauty than all the Merkels that I looked at. Mine is a delight to carry at a little over 7 lbs, and yes it does kick a little, but at 10-11K feet above sea level recoil is just not that important. #350gr Hornady RN at 2,000fps is just so much fun to shoot!