I have one of the first New Model 1895 marlins to come out. it was blessed (?)
with a curved plastic buttplated designed by the Marquis de Sade.
Factory 400 gr. bullet loads were tolerable, but when loading the round to it's full potential for that rifle, well the "OUCH! factor" went up exponentially.
My personal choice for a load for that rifle is 16.0 gr. of SR-4759, a one gr. tuft of dacron seated lightly against the powder and the Lyman #457122 hollow point bullet, nominal weight 330 gr., while my alloy casts a 345 gr. bullet. Accuracy from the Marlin is 1.5" on the average. FWIW, the same load in a Ruger #1S is 1.25" on the average.
A 500 gr. cast bullet loaded to 1550 FPS was nicely accurate, but the "OUCH!" factor was a bit too much.
let's just say that the 1895 in a 45-70 can be as light as you want in loads or can digest loads in the same class as one in .450 Marlin. If I had to do it over again, I'd still go with the 45-70.
Paul B.