Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ohio - Straight Wall Cartridges and Rifles?

Friend of a friend asked recommendation for straight wall cartridges in Ohio. For healthy teenage farm boy. Preferred straight wall cartridges? Preferred rifle platform? As always, cost will be a consideration. LGS says rifles chambered for .350 Legend and new .400 Legend are the current hot items. .350 is available in Savage and Ruger rifles. .400 appears to only be available in Savage at the moment...

What say the 'Fire straight wall shooters?

If ammo availability (offline) is a consideration, 350 Legend is EVERYWHERE. If there was ever the possibility of pairing it with a revolver, a used lever gun in 357 mag or 44 mag would be cool to have when the kid gets older.

Don't forget 450 bushmaster. Ruger does some in the American line.

Big fan of the 44mag lever gun also use a 450 bushmaster Ruger #1

If he has an AR already, then there are plenty of uppers available.

BCA has em cheap, they get decent reviews.

I like the 350. Low recoil, accurate enough, flat enough for 200yds, seems like it works in an AR with ammo I like good enough to blast deer with.

I picked up a Ruger Ranch in 450 BM a few years ago for Iowa deer. I really liked that combo until Iowa opened to bottleneck .35s and up. I could still be set up pretty well with that outfit- there and here at home.

Oh yes the .450 Bushmaster no doubt, plenty of factory ammo options...probly just make it a Ruger American go wild edition or a CVA Cascade 👍....Hb

That 400 Legend has my attention

Don’t forget the Remington Buckhammer…. :-)

I bought a 450BM after a very disappointing (the least accurate rifle I’ve ever owned) Marlin 44Mag lever. I also have a 350 Legend and both are good straight walled cartridges. Either of them would work well for deer. If it’s just a deer hunting gun and that’s the only time it gets used for, I’d go with the 450BM. Cost of ammo should be a little lower for the 350 Legend so if he’s going to be shooting it a lot, go with the 350. I can’t imagine he’d be disappointed with either one of them.

I cast for both of mine and can plink all day long with either except my lead is going to last a lot longer with the 350 Legend shooting a 127 TC 9mm bullet. Lightest I shoot in the 450 is 235gr…

Both of mine are in a CVA Cascade.

Yeah, me too…. Just about the last thing I need but it doesn’t come down to need! :-)

Got a 350 in a cva single shot scout, I like it pretty well

I hunt with a Browning 1885 single-shot falling-block in .44 Magnum. I love it for the seven stands I hunt out of that have a range of less than 100 meters. Light recoil. Good kills if I do my job correctly. Legal for the Mississippi primitive season. If I needed more range, then the Legends might be a better choice but this round has worked really well for me. Since cost is a consideration, an 1885 won't be an economical choice. But the round is very good for deer hunting at the ranges I'm using it at & I think would make a good youth cartridge.

After years of hunting with a muzzleloader and a slug gun in Ohio, I bought a 350 Legend two years ago. I’ve shot 2 with it and one went about 10 yards and other maybe 30. As others have said, almost zero recoil and accurate. I am careful with shot placement and try to avoid the front shoulder.

I primarily use a Ruger 77/44; my backups are a Contender Carbine in 357 Maximum and (for long range) an Encore in 460 S&W. But for a new deer hunter in Ohio, my recommendation would be buy a Ruger American in 350 Legend.

I really like the 350L so far. Very little recoil is a bonus. Seems to be on par with the 30-30 as far as killing power.

If recoil an issue, avoid 450 BM - kicks almost as much as my 7mm RM. 350 will easily take you out to 200 yards, 250 with good placement. 450 gets you an extra 50 yards (at the cost of recoil). Even though 450 had a 2 year head start, I've seen MUCH more 350 ammo in Michigan than 450. YMMV. My buddy uses 450 to hunt the swamp and regularly drops deer at 225 yards.

There have been some complaints about minimal blood trail from certain 350 bullets, but placement eliminates that issue. My Savage Axis II with 22" bull barrel is hitting 3" circles at 200 yards using Federal 180gr, and I just picked up Barnes Vortex 170 which I won't get to try until after holidays. I previously had the Axis XP with std barrel and, similar to Axis II, it preferred heavier 180gr bullets for best accuracy (the Axis II also liked 150gr...go figure). Again, YMMV.

I did buy the BCA 350 upper, but was disappointed with accuracy and sold it.

A marlin in 357 with the flex tip Hornady bullets would be just the ticket. 2-7 or similar scope and it’s money.

That said, a 350 upper on an AR is easy to acquire and inexpensive to feed.

A 1-6 or 1-8 scope it’s done and done.

This past summer I developed a load for my CVA Scout 444 Marlin rifle. Love the gun and trigger. I used a 225 gr. Bear Creek copper bullet. It shot a .682 MOA 3 shot group with an average velocity of 2,725 fps. I’ll admit I haven’t done a ton of research on straight wall cartridges but I feel this is setup is about as good as it gets.

.350 Legend!!

Next question

I jumped in with both feet when Michigan made straight wall 35 or larger caliber with a 1.8" maximum case.....
Called Cutting Edge Bullets back in 2014 had them sell me some of there 160 gr Raptors with out a sabot and loaded them in my 450 Bushmaster.....in a AR-15 with a 20" barrel 2700 fps shot 2 8 points the first season both were DRT at the shot safe pressure in a AR-15 just under 38'000 psi.....
For several years I've been loading for several bolt actions with the 160 gr Raptor just under 3000 fps with a 20" barrel no problem DRT just past 200 yards....
Shot a 600 lb dressed black bear with the load it rolled over and kicked its feet a couple times ......DRT.....

Over 20 bucks shot with Cutting Edge Bullets 160 gr. Raptors all but one was DRT that one ran 40 yards because of a extreme quartering shot.....

Is the 375 Winchester legal??

In Ohio it is. I’ve used one several times.

I hunted Ohio for years with a 44 and no complaints, but my new 350L impressed the hell out of me this year. It's a perfectly capable 200yd whitetail round and as previously said, ammo is everywhere.

We have a 350 Legend and a 450 Bushmaster. Both were used to take deer the past few weeks at ranges from 70-120 yards. I much prefer the 450 and do not find the recoil to be much at all. My grand daughter uses the 350 and has been very proficient with it but we keep her shots under 100yds and only take broadside shots. I personally feel it is adequate, but that’s about it. The 450 is a much more decisive killer IME. I think the new 400 Legend will be the better of the 2 Legend rounds.

Appreciate all of the input. Looks like it will be a 350 Legend. FWIW, buddy at the LGS thinks the 400 Legend will eventually surpass the 350. However 350 still has the upper hand regarding ammo availability at the moment.

350L or 450BM will suit him well. Like others have mentioned ammo is available anywhere that has an ammo section here in Ohio. Would have to recommend a 450BM for a stout teenaged boy. Prefer the extra bullet weight and diameter for the larger bodied bucks and different shot opportunities. Couple local stores are pushing the 400L hard but I haven’t seen enough factory ammo available to recommend that for someone that doesn’t reload. If he’s in central Ohio I have a couple different rifles in both calibers and would be happy to allow him to shoot them before he makes a decision.

45-70 comes to mind for me , you can get all sorts of power levels
Oldie but goodie
Kenneth

I hunt primarily in Alabama but I do a hunt in Ohio every year. I went with a 350 Legend Winchester XPR. It checked the boxes for me as my goal was to have a lighter weight , set up as similar to my bolt action rifles I shoot in Alabama with lower recoil. I wanted my mag flush with the stock and a 22 inch barrel. This was my first budget rifle so I was skeptical. Dang thing shoots great.

I have killed 3 deer with it ( all I have shot at). Two big bucks and a doe. They all died 1-20 yards from where they were shot. All shot between 170-190 yards. All killed with one shot. This years buck was DRT. I use Winchester Deer Season 150s.

This years deer weighted in at 180 Field dressed. Guts weighted 50 Lbs so 230 total.
Last years slightly smaller.

I been down the whole trail with Ohio deer hunting firearms. I started 30 years ago with rifled slugs in my smoothbore shotgun, then a rifled barrel with rifle sights, on to a scoped rifled shotgun barrel shooting sabot slugs, 44 mag encore pistol, 44 mag ruger carbine and then a .444 marlin lever. When the 350 came out I bought one. It is by far my favorite set up for Ohio. So far.

I’m not running into anyone first hand that is have any trouble killing deer in Ohio with their 350s.

Yeah when I was a young buck I liked the 450 Marlin because I didn't care for those light loads. Now I love the 45-70 and gravitate towards Trapdoor loads

Folks around here are using the 350L for our primitive weapons season and reporting results about like a 30-30 or .35Rem. Recoil is fairly similar as well. My buddy shot a 100lb hog with his recently and got nearly end-to-end penetration. After a few kills, he’s convinced it’s a slayer.

The 400L is new this year and so far only Winchester is making ammo for this season. That will change by fall 2024. But I imagine stores are pushing the 400L hard to generate sales which will generate demand for ammo from other manufacturers. Far as I know, the only combo for 400 Legend is Savage rifle with Winchester ammo. A number of other rifle makers (Ruger, Savage Arms, Mossberg, CMMG) have already committed to chambering rifles next year.

Also, look at the Mossberg Patriot line, great rifles, economic, lots of options

Since Ohio went straight wall I've killed deer with .44mag, .45-70, .350 Legend, and .375 Win

If I could only pick one it would be a marlin in .45-70.

The .350 Legend is an excellent choice in whatever rifle fits your need