Best straight-walled cartridge for deer hunting.

Who knows

Aside from straight walled cases for a minute. Since the area you are going to hunt has apparently allowed only shotguns for some unknown years, I would think there is a reason. Limited hunted space etc. I might skip high wall and find a Browning A bolt in 12 ga. If you still want a straight wall rifle cartage I would chose a 45-70.
I use a 405 win model 95 only because I have one.
 
If I were presented with this choice, the only thing in my inventory that would qualify is my Rossi '92 in .454 Casull. And I suppose it could work just fine, but I'd have to do some load development and see what kind of accuracy it's really capable of- haven't really wrung it out yet in that regard. It pairs well with a handgun, too.

To me, one of the main requirements would be something accurate and powerful enough to extend my range. If your rifle is limited in either regard such that you have to limit yourself to shots no farther than you could accomplish with a slug gun, muzzle loader, or handgun, then I'd be less enthusiastic about switching.
 
A Bushmaster 450 Carbine will be hard to beat. The handiness of the AR, the punch of a 444 Marlin, and the recoil of a 20guage. Love mine.
 
but is the .357 mag really up to that task?
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Maj Doug Wesson took a S&W 357 mag on a hunt right after the round came out in 1935. He used an 8 3/4" barreled revolver with a muzzle velocity of 1550fps and killed Antelope, Elk, Moose and a 700 pound grizzly bear. So yes the 357 rifle will work fine.

http://www.leverguns.com/articles/taylor/357magnum.htm

I had a 45/70 and got tired of the recoil. So I reduced the load with a 300gr bullet down to around 1600fps and killed a deer with it. Then I decided if I were going to use a reduced load I may as well just use my 44 mag. I sold the 45/70. I never did really warm up to that round.

But if I were to go back to another big bore like that it would be a 444 Marlin. I have been on the hunt for one off and on for a while. I just bought two new guns, a 30-30 and 35 remington so my gun buying is over for a while. But out to 100 yards or so a 44 mag would be a good choice and a lot easier and cheaper than a 357 mag rifle. They are scarce.
 
A 44 magnum carbine is very hard to beat. Light, handy, powerful enough and if you use 180"s they are easily good to 150 yards. I installed XS sights on my Marlin.
 
44 mag with 180gr bullets. An honest 200 yard deer gun if it had to be. 2" high at 50 yards leaves you 7.5" low at 200 yards and the bullet is still going 1100 fps which is the velocity the 10mm handgun hunters are getting at the muzzle.

I'm sure a lot of guys will disagree with using it at 200 yards but men have killed at 100-150 yards on a regular basis with a 6" handgun in this caliber.

180 gr. Bullets are moving at the same velocity as most 30-30 loads just with a much lower bc. Actually, even a hot 357 load like buffalo bore can push a bullet that weight to about that velocity.

The whole idea with these big bore bullets is penetration whereas rifle calibers use their velocity to utilize hydraulic shock and fragmentation.

What you will get with these big bore options are 2 leaky holes. Deer aren't thick skinned or tough to kill. 44 mag is Plenty so why put up with more recoil, expense, powder, etc.....unless of course you just like bigger boomers in which case flip a coin between the 45/70 and 444.
 
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A .50 Beowulf is a straight walled cartridge...just sayin...:D

As to the other rounds listed, I'd say it all depends on #1, whether you are a handloader, or rely on what you can get "off the shelf", and #2, What kind of deal you can get on what gun in what caliber that appeals to you.

They all have the power needed to deal with deer, quite effectively. And they can all do it a longer range, IF YOU CAN. And that's a key point. Traditional style lever guns have semi buckhorn style sights, which are horrid for accurate long range shooting. And their triggers aren't the best for precision work, either.

I've had or have Marlin lever guns in .357, 44Mag and .45-70.

I've done some shooting with a friend's .444

I handload, and would always choose the .45-70 over the .444. People say 444 don't want to put up with .45-70 recoil. Their choice, of course, but the .45-70 is about everywhere, components are everywhere, and you don't HAVE to make it kick badly to do its job. A 400gr slug lolling along at 1200fps doesn't kick badly unless your rifles goes 6lbs and has a steel buttplate (Ruger No.3 and put a pad on the Ruger and its much more mellow).

And you can load it even lighter if you want.

.444 is a fine round, but .45-70 is much more flexible, and if you worry about the difference in drop, you aren't practiced enough. :rolleyes:
 
I would go with the 45-70 it is a very versatile round. It can go slow and kick like a mule with a 500 great bullet or be fast and flat with very mild kick at 305 great. There also some really high power manufactures that boost the 300 great above 2000 fps.I like pistol cartridges in pistols and rifle cartridges in rifles. Just me though.
 
I know this wasn't quite what you were after, but I picked up a 24" rifled slug barrel for my mossberg 500 used for $70. It looks unused, and besides my gun being blued and the barrel being parked it is perfect.
 
44 MAG is my top choice for hunting where my shots are typically about 100 yards or less. I tend to buy Hornady ammo featuring either the Lever-evolution or XTP bullets. Both bullets produce large holes and ghastly wound channels despite the lower velocity of this round compared to other centerfire cartridges. That's why the 44 MAG is such a deadly one - it smashes large holes through game animals.

Jack
 
30.06 is an all around North American Game Animal round. But since you want a lever action my first gonto is 30/30 second would be a 45/70.
 
You didn't read the OP did you....^^

Michigan is more restrictive on the calibers. I built a .450 Bushmaster. It is very accurate and it made sense since I shoot AR's a lot. If I were you I'd get a .45-70 Marlin. Something about hunting with a levergun just feels right. The .45-70 is a very versatile round as well.
 
Marlin also claims that bringing back the Model 444 is one of their highest priorities, even though it requires all new tooling for the 444-specific parts or machine operations. Remington doesn't invest in dead-ends.
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I've been reading non-stop about these straight walled cartridges (I always do before a "big" purchase), and so far it looks like for a balance of affordability, power, commonality, I'd be looking at a .44 mag.
However, that 444 Marlin is really tempting, and I wish someone knew when/if Marlin was actually going to re-release a lever gun in that cartridge. I've looked all over, and can find nothing solid.
 
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Best straight-walled cartridge for deer hunting.
So, long story short: I moved to Iowa, which until recently only allowed shotguns shooting slugs, or muzzleloaders during deer season. This year they began to allow straight walled pistol/rifle cartridges.

This wouldn't be a problem, as I've always wanted a good lever action 30-30. However, there is a caveat: the cartridges used must be .357 or higher in diameter.

The game and parks catalog included a short list, with .357 mag, .357 maximum, .45 long colt, 10mm, .41 mag, .44 mag/spec, 45/70, .444 marlin.. but said wildcats weren't necessarily disqualified as long as they met the criteria.

Which would you go with and why? Thanks!
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I have never hunted deer in Iowa and while I have driven across Iowa I never gave much thought to the terrain which would be a prime consideration in my choice of cartridge. Here I sit in Ohio which only recently opened deer hunting to rifle and it must be a straight wall cartridge, similar to those mentioned. With Ohio's former restrictive laws I always went to West Virginia and hunted with an old friend. I seldom had a shot over 100 yards, hell most were 50 to maybe 70 yards. My rifle of choice was a little Ruger 44 Carbine which complemented my S&W Model 29. The 44 Magnum was well suited to the terrain and short distance shots. I also liked the short and handy carbine.

I did for a few years use a 444 Marlin which was a gift from my wife but as to hunting inside 100 yards I migrated back to that little carbine. So in keeping with a straight wall inside 100 yards I like the 44 Magnum, especially since it complimented my revolver. Distances over 100 yards I like the 444 Marlin. These simply being guns I had and they worked fine. I also like the 45 Colt and the 45-70 Government, either is a fine cartridge and beyond 100 yards I would, in this case, take the 45-70.

There is no shortage of good to great cartridges out there for deer and deer sized game depending on the terrain and distance you plan to shoot. Whatever you choose or have chosen I wish you the best of luck with it.

Ron
 
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