My brother's .22 has micro-groves and is a tack driver. I don't know if my 45-70 has it but it will shoot a 1" hole at 100 yards with my hand loads. As for as the Cross-Bolt safety goes, I hate it/them because lever guns should not have a cross-bolt safety. However! If the safety between my ears works and I remember to disengage it before pulling the trigger it preforms flawlessly. Sure does make a elegant gun ugly though.