Straight wall whitetail options

[trperk1]

I'm an Ohio hunter and bought my son a Henry lever rifle in 44 mag a long time ago, like before all these recent straight wall cartridges were popular. It provided a low recoil option to the youth 20 gauge and we practiced more with cheap, low recoil cowboy action loads. He's an adult now and lives in a state without these limitations so I've been using that rifle for the last 10 years. Combined with the Hornady Revolution polymer tipped ammo, it's phenomenal. Much better that the 12 gauge slug gun I used to carry and though I haven't needed it, gives me the second shot option my muzzy doesn't.

I won a 350 legend and probably need to give it a try. Hard to move away from something proven, reliable and more importantly something I'm used too.

 

[odonata]

Would the old German 9,3x72R be legal?
It' a fantastic deer cartridge!!!

It appears that it would be legal for the states that don’t restrict the case length to a maximum of 1.8” / 45mm. So the OP & I could use the 9.3x72r where we hunt. Americans might favor the similar 38-55 for historical reasons since the 9.3x72r is less well known.

 

[Muskox]

360 Buckhammer would be my first choice.

 

[Hagler.450Ex]

.360 2 1/4 BPE or NE / 9.3X57R .360.....probably equal or even surpassing the .30-30 in overall deer kills, albeit in the UK/Europe as a whole.
Don't know why companies feel like they have to re-invent the wheel with buckwhammers or legends or whatever.

 

[mooze]

Here is a list of the legal cartridges in Illinois. The .500NE would make the woods rattle. Most laws when it surrounds guns don’t make since.

I can't believe the the 8 mm kurz made the list. is that so the WW2 fans can hunt with the STG44?

 

[illini]

The way I read this the length on the bottleneck cartridge is limited, but not straight wall cartridges. I Had this exact same question about the 458 win mag in Illinois yesterday. Also single shot means you can shoot a bolt gun you just can't have the magazine in your gun or you have to take the spring out of a flush floor plate rifle. If 458 win mag is legal that's what I would shoot. I have a 350 legend and it's nice, but I like big bore stuff. I asked a retires game warden yesterday and have yet to get a response.

 

[SFRanger7GP]

I like the 360 Buckhammer. Rimmed cartridge with a bit more power than the 35 Remington and it seems to meet all the different states straight wall and length requirements. I have an 18” TC Encore barrel that shoots the Rem 200gr CL and the Fed 220 Hammer ammo MOA. So far I have killed one pig with a shoulder shot and the bullet exited. I was shooting the Rem 200gr CL.

Safe shooting

 

[Wyatt Smith]

The way I read this the length on the bottleneck cartridge is limited, but not straight wall cartridges. I Had this exact same question about the 458 win mag in Illinois yesterday. Also single shot means you can shoot a bolt gun you just can't have the magazine in your gun or you have to take the spring out of a flush floor plate rifle. If 458 win mag is legal that's what I would shoot. I have a 350 legend and it's nice, but I like big bore stuff. I asked a retires game warden yesterday and have yet to get a response.

My buddy used a 458 win mag ruger No.1 this fall in Illinois. He didn’t get one though.

 

[Josh P]

My understanding is that most of the newer straight wall cartridges were made to adhere to the laws of restriction by the states while getting max return inside the bounds of those restrictions. There’s a good chance they’ll meet your technical and legal requirements. If you want something cool or nostalgic, it’s all personal preference. For Indiana public land, I opted for the 12ga slugs instead.

 

[Brickman301]

I use a 45-70, in a TC encore, in Illinois. It works nicely, although the 300 grain Hornady hollow point was to destructive for me. This year I will buy a mold and cast some lead bullets.

If you go with cast bullets, you’ll love their performance! I know I sure do. With that, see below.

I want to share the performance of my cast bullet, on a deer I took this past rifle season.

I took a 8 point whitetail with my Marlin 45-70. The loads is 47.5 grains of 3031. The bullet is a Lyman Gould bullet. I cast this bullet using pure lead, and it is then powder coated. Once completed the bullet weights 344 grains.

I’ve used this load to take numerous deer over the years, and have always had complete pass throughs.
This deer was taken at a little farther distance than any of the others, (range finder said 147 yards) and did not pass through! I was excited about this, as I’ve always wanted to recover my bullet to see how it performs.
I was able to recover the bullet, and couldn’t be happier with how well it did.
The bullet started out as .456 in diameter and expanded to .974!
It only lost 3.9 grains of weight!
Pretty much as perfect as it can get!
Here’s some pictures of the bullet, before and after

 

[Brickman301]

Also to the OP, see my post above, I’d recommend the 45-70! My brother in law loves his 350 legend. My son hasn’t taken anything with his 450 bushmaster, but it’s very accurate and I’m sure it will be more than acceptable.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

If you go with cast bullets, you’ll love their performance! I know I sure do. With that, see below.

I want to share the performance of my cast bullet, on a deer I took this past rifle season.

I took a 8 point whitetail with my Marlin 45-70. The loads is 47.5 grains of 3031. The bullet is a Lyman Gould bullet. I cast this bullet using pure lead, and it is then powder coated. Once completed the bullet weights 344 grains.

I’ve used this load to take numerous deer over the years, and have always had complete pass throughs.
This deer was taken at a little farther distance than any of the others, (range finder said 147 yards) and did not pass through! I was excited about this, as I’ve always wanted to recover my bullet to see how it performs.
I was able to recover the bullet, and couldn’t be happier with how well it did.
The bullet started out as .456 in diameter and expanded to .974!
It only lost 3.9 grains of weight!
Pretty much as perfect as it can get!
Here’s some pictures of the bullet, before and after

Lovely

 

[ftrovato]

I added a 45-70 to my options last year. Have not taken any game with it yet but figure anything in the US within 150 yards is not going to fair well.

I think it's a great old school cartridge and very fun to reload for too. From light to heavy loads it can get a lot done.

 

[Brickman301]

I added a 45-70 to my options last year. Have not taken any game with it yet but figure anything in the US within 150 yards is not going to fair well.

I think it's a great old school cartridge and very fun to reload for too. From light to heavy loads it can get a lot done.

View attachment 680102

Beautiful rifle!
I agree, handloading makes it so versatile.
My load mentioned above is going around 1,850fps.
I backed it down from just shy of 2,000fps. The deer don’t notice the difference, but my shoulder sure does. My load in my rifle is very comfortable to shoot, even from the bench.

 

[ftrovato]

Beautiful rifle!
I agree, handloading makes it so versatile.
My load mentioned above is going around 1,850fps.
I backed it down from just shy of 2,000fps. The deer don’t notice the difference, but my shoulder sure does. My load in my rifle is very comfortable to shoot, even from the bench.

Thx.
Like you I back it down unless I'm going to bear hunt with it.

Why not enjoy shooting it at the range.....

 

[Sabre]

I added a 45-70 to my options last year. Have not taken any game with it yet but figure anything in the US within 150 yards is not going to fair well.

I think it's a great old school cartridge and very fun to reload for too. From light to heavy loads it can get a lot done.

View attachment 680102

I'm sure everyone likes the rifle, I do as well, but can I get the info on the chair? I am looking for something with that look to match some other furniture for a room in my house.

 

[thriller]

I have to say my 458 win mage really gets the job done on whitetails

 

[BeeMaa]

I've seen the list of cartridges that's legal for hunting in the state of Illinois and have come to the conclusion that it's time for you to move. The other option is to at least start hunting in another state.

I mean for crying out loud, even the commies in NY allow the use of 30-06. Sheesh. Bunch of damn bureaucrats f'd it all up in IL.

 

[Joker12]

.360 2 1/4 BPE or NE / 9.3X57R .360.....probably equal or even surpassing the .30-30 in overall deer kills, albeit in the UK/Europe as a whole.
Don't know why companies feel like they have to re-invent the wheel with buckwhammers or legends or whatever.

They do it so that the army of deer hunters in places like southern Michigan where hunters are restricted to either shotguns or in recent years rifles chambered for straight walled cartridges that don't exceed 1.8 inches in case length will perhaps buy a rifle chambered for their ammo. Those new cartridges are certainly better than the shotguns that they were previously restricted to. Northern Michigan which is much more sparsely populated does not have those restrictions.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I’m mostly a bow hunter and have hunted illinois for the last 20 years. This year I’m thinking about getting a gun tag and hanging around for the first gun season. It is a shotgun season but in recent years straight wall single shot are are legal. So I’m looking for options. I already own a TC encore .50 muzzleloader, 300 blackout, a 400 legend which are legal options. But not opposed to buying a new barrel for the encore or a new single shot rifle. Wanting to pick y’all’s brains on what to do and straight wall calibers I might not be familiar with. The 45-70 had my interest but what say you?

@Slaton
Do they make a 444 marlin barrel.
That's one awesome cartridge and in a single shot you could use full length cases instead of the shorter factory cases.
Using the full length case you can get the 265gn FTX motoring at 2,500 fps. More than enough for any deer, hog,elk or even moose.
Bob