So far I have only tried the cheap Federal blue box 150gr in the 06. The gun was shooting a foot low at 50 out of the box but the two barrels hit just under 1" apart so I didn't have to do any regulation, just a simple front sight adjustment. Hopefully I get that lucky with the 45-70.
For the 45/70 I'm going to start with some Leverevolution and some hand loads in 300gr than are similar to factory Remington. I've got some 405gr sitting around but I load them hotter for the Marlin GG and don't want to chance the confusion and putting a hotter load in this one.

The bathroom scale says it weighs 6 lbs, which feels about right. The only external differnece between the 45-70 and 30-06 is the rear sight. The 30 has a low rear sight (I guess the expect more people to scope it), the 45 is high enough that it shoulders just right.

It amy not compare to the $10k rifles, and I wouldn't expect it to, but it really is a beautiful gun thats comfortable to carry in the woods and shoots good.