I like the looks of your partners carbine,short and handy with a nice sight for quick shooting.
When I was guiding bear hunters some of the guides prefered the 45-70 over a shotgun with slugs.Bow and arrow hunters wounded bears sometimes and we would track them and finish them off.Mostly in very thick bush so short and sweet was the best for fast shooting.Always exciting and sometimes very tense.
Good hunt you guys and nice shooting.