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http://www.walshgunandtackle.com/product.sale-16-450-upper-wmag-michigan-outdoor-news-special-2070

I will pick up a 5.56 at a later time, to swap out as needed.

I got the 20" version when Cabelas had them on sale last year. Would rather had the shorter 16" but I pulled the flash hider to shorten it up a couple inches. I picked up a 5.56 upper from PSA to swap out, but then built up another lower when Cabelas put Anderson lowers on sale for $50.

.375 Win. Yum.

The Savage 99 would be great.

However, this all rear-view-mirror stuff. There are Win 94's out there and a few Marlins, but no current production. The other problem I see is the ammo. Unless you're loading your own and casting your own, the ammo that's out there is more fit for a moose than a whitetail. Most of the factory bullets are for 375 H&H and they're meant for big stuff and dangerous game.

That's the other thing I see with these Ohio regs: If you transpose it onto the list of what's really out there, the choices of available ammo are mostly all shoulder busters. I'm no wimp, but 3 rounds of full-house 45-70 factory ammo usually is the highlight of my afternoon. Most of the others leave a serous mark as well.

375 WIN is better in that regard. In fact, recoil-wise, it's getting right in folks' comfort zone. I'm hunting 10 miles from the Ohio River on the south side. We get to fling everything we want at the little critters. Gimme a nice 30-06 any old day. 375 WIN has about the same punch.

Recoil on the .450BUSHMASTER is not bad. About the same as a .20ga shotgun. Only issue I had while sighting in the AR, was the bipod bit my forward hand a little bit. A glove will solve that.

(There is a guy claiming 400yard range shots on bowling pins is an all day easy shot with this round in an AR, and a measured 9" of penetration in Aspen when he misses.)

My nephew bought a dandy farm south of Dayton and has issued an invitation to a couple of us to join him for deer hunting this fall. I stumbled onto another small Martini that ought to be chambered for .357 or .357 Max (if it'll make the bend into the chamber) for the occasion, but I don't know if I can pull it off in time. Probably just use my Ohio-style Vincent rifle, .45 patched round ball shooter. Besides, it would be fitting.

I too dislike the thought of using full strength .45-70 rounds or their close cousins to whack a 100 pound whitetail. I dislike even more the thought of bruising range sessions with such a beast. Were it me, I would down-load said .45-70 with 250-300 grain bullets to around 1600 fps (or less) for a perfectly suitable round for killing itty bitty deer across a small cornfield.

When will American hunters learn that more is less?

More isn't less when you are trying to get trajectory flat enough for 200 yd shots out of a straight walled case that falls within ODNR regulations. I agree that most shots are at < than 100 yds but I hate to pass up 200 yd shots at nice bucks that are out around 200 yds in the crop field edges & I have passed up several when using a rifled bbl shotgun or muzzle loader w/sabots.

I don't find the recoil of the 45-70, 444 Marlin, 405 Winchester class rifles any more objectionable than a 12 ga shotgun w/ slugs or sabots.

Last buck We took topped my game scale at more than 300lbs. (His head was still on the ground.) Sorry if they ain't very big, but that's Ohio for ya

Shotguner:

That's good to hear. I've not tried 450 Bushmaster yet, but I've shot 458 SOCOM-- very comfortable out of a semi auto.

Kellory:
We get those occasionally on this side of the river as well. At 300 lbs, you get a real "Quint, we're going to need a bigger boat!" kind of feeling.

On the cheap, it would be a Ruger American bolt gun in 450 Bushmaster. Money no object, it would likely be a Winchester Big Bore 94 in 375 Winchester.

Frontal area has a quality all its own, and a 240-grain cast bullet will penetrate for days. The problem is that it runs out of trajectory before it runs out of punch.


Okie John

Which is exactly what ODNR wants. Slow fat bullets, not small fast bullets.

I never had much respect for the .44 mag rifle.............until I used one. The last three bucks taken on my property were with a Ruger 96/44 using plain 'ol WW 240 gr hollow points. Two were broadside behind the shoulder shots, in and out, 50 yd death run with lots of blood. The third was an 80 yd quartering to shot that entered the onside shoulder and stopped under the skin just ahead of the off side rear leg. The bullet was a cover photo worthy mushroom. I have more respect for the 44 now, but will give the .450 a try this year and expect even better performance, although three bullets three deer is hard to improve upon.

Careful. I'm not sure MLs are legal during the rifle season like in most places. Not gospel, but what someone told me.

EDIT: Nevermind. Just checked; you're good to go.

EABCO sells .375 brass made from .30/30, probably with hydraulic forming of some sort. It is a bit short, so crimping could be tricky (so they say).

$59.95 per 50.

In a perfect world, I'd work toward a .375 Winchester. In the real world, I'd get a 44 Magnum long gun and work up a fast load using a 240-grain cast LFN. Not sure what make or model, but probably a Marlin lever gun or a Ruger bolt action if I could get one that groups. Other contenders are a Ruger #3 or a Remington 788, but that's moving back toward a perfect world again.


Okie John

Well, I'm at the point in my life when I don't give a rat's patoot if I have to pass on a shot beyond my effective/comfortable max distance, even if said distance is only a "measly" 100 yards away. Happens to me every year at least once and invariably I walk out of the field whistling a happy tune. It ain't just about the killing anymore for me.

As for recoil of those heavies being no worse than a 12 gauge with slugs, well, I rest my case. Who in their right mind has fun spending multiple range sessions firing multiple boxes of slugs to gain a modicum of skill with the gun, and whom of those folks can look me in the eye and honestly swear he hasn't developed a flinch to one degree or another, bruised the dickens out his shoulder, and/or contributed mightily toward eventual arthritis/nerve damage? Those who can may be tough SOB's, but they're still foolish IMO.

gnoahhh,

You sound like a man that knows his limitations & I can respect that.

For the rest of us who hunt Ohio we thankfully now have a few more options that let us take advantage of equipment selection & shooting ability & I don't think that it is foolish to be prepared for the longest shot you are comfortable in taking with the expectation of a clean kill.

For me, the ODNR rule change moved my limit from 150 yds to 200 yds. & depending on where & how you hunt, that may or may not be a big deal.

I should be able to do 200 with my Knight, but wouldn't try it until I can try it on paper. Longest shot fom my current stand is 158, according to Google Earth.

BH209 factory data shows bullets in the 290-300gr range at around 2100fps with 120gr (vol) or 84gr (by weight).

Question is, how's that gonna feel on my end of the 7lb rifle?

Wonder if they consider a 9.3x74 a straight-wall case?

Here! Here! Folks keep saying they don't care. The truth is they just ain't thinking ahead. I was an Ohio Buckeye hunter for my first twenty seasons or so. There is truth in what you're saying.

My shoulder probably went from practicing for bow hunting, but shoulder busting shotguns and rifles did not help it any. I'm on the south side of Sixty, and I'm already having to ration my bench time. I had to give up archery in 2007 due to a bum shoulder.

I'm working my way back down from early life as a recoil hound. Right now 30-06 from a well-fitted rifle is about as much as I want to handle. I've re-purposed my 35 Whelen for cast lead and it shoots well now at 35 Rem levels.

Honestly, I should have seen this coming. At 42, I touched off a 3" load of #4's at an Ohio gobbler in April, and I was still feeling it in my shoulder on Labor Day. If I don't watch myself, I'm feeling sighting-in in September clear until the Super Bowl. I've got a twinge now from my reloading session last weekend. The question in my mind is not about immediate pain or even the stiffness I might feel for the next week. The problem now is the cumulative effect.