Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Best straight wall deer cartridge

Even though I don't have to use a straight wall cartridge where I hunt I like this 38/55.

That .38-55 is gorgeous.

I have been using the CVA Cascade XT in 350 Legend this year, and it has been great. The Bear Creek Ballistics 160gr were very accurate, but expansion and wound channel/blood trail were not great on the 2 deer I harvested with them. I switched to hand loads using the 165 FTX and the on game performance has been awesome. This shot was around 100 yards and it left a river of blood. Accuracy has been ~1/2 inch @ 100 yards.

This was the only configuration of Marlin 1895 45-70 offered from 1972 to 1979 and is one of my favorite Marlins ever made.

[quote=DrDeath]If you experts had to pick a factory available straight wall cartridge for deer hunting out to 200 yards, maybe 250 max. What would you choose? And let’s just say it can be chambered in a TC encore.
Examples
45/70
458 win mag
450 bushmaster
350 legend
444
500 S&W
460 S&w
44mag
454
Etc etc etc.[/quo

444 BEATS THEM ALL ! 44grains of IMR-4198 & 265gr. Hornady bullets !

360 Buckhammer. I have been considering a lever action and it's down to the Buckhammer or a .357. I shot a deer with a 6" revolver in .357 and the deer died. The bullet went through both sides and was not recovered. I don't believe the .357 is anywhere close to a 200 yard round but it appears the Buckhammer is.

kwg

Which to select gets narrowed down quick if you have a preferred action and other rifle characteristics. Personally I wanted a straightwall rifle to hunt Ohio a few days a year that resembled my other deer rifles I use everywhere else. A basic bolt action , scoped rifle with a mag set up that was flush to the bottom of the stock and a 22 inch barrel. There is more selection in rifles every year. My Winchester XPR in 350 L has been working for me for the last three years. While the new Tikka has my interest I will probably continue on with the rifle I have. I admit it has taken me some time to warm up and be confident in a budget rifle and straightwall but I am a getting there, at least out to 200 yards.

.444 Marlin for me! But in a levergun preferably.

We plan to have the 360 Buckhammer Core Lokt Tipped loads here in a few months.

Iowa is no longer a straight wall state and hasn't been for a few years. The 35 Whelen is not straight wall but meets Iowa's criteria. Basically, the round has to 35 caliber and larger with a length limit of a 357 mag on the short end. I know several guys that use the 375 Ruger.

My son and his boys use 450 Bushmasters with factory Hornady Black Box 250 FTX in AR platforms. My 450 Bushmaster is a Ruger American GenII. I load the Hornady 200 grain FTX that were designed for the 460 S&W on top of a stiff load of Hodgdon 'Lilgun powder. The Garmin says 2610 fps and they kill with authority.

My first choice for Iowa hunting will always be my 358 Winchester and 180 grain Speer cup and core bullets at 2700fps.


Truth be told I wouldn't feel under gunned with anything on that list. I killed deer for years during gun season out of my bow stands using a 44 mag revolver.

I would place my vote for the .350 Legend. Surprisingly effective deer cartridge. We bought a couple when Iowa went to straight wall cartridges. Have taken about 8-9 deer with it so far and have not had any go more than 40 yards after the shot and none required a second shot. Recoll is minimal and they are very accurate, even in the cheap Winchester XPR rifles we bought. Almost every load tried has been 1 1/2 inch or better at 100 yards.

My 1st 45-70 was just like that. I knew they made that version in 72, but didn't think they kept making it as long as 79. I thought it was only made that way for a couple of years before going to the pistol gripped version. I liked everything about it except the hard plastic curved buttplate. SOB kicked pretty hard.

350 legend has worked great for me. I have the first generation Ruger American Ranch.

Best is debatable with five pages and climbing but this straight wall has likely taken the most whitetail in the country...

I have killed 3 deer so far with the 350 Legend. One with an AR-15 and 150 grain Winchester Deer season XP, and two with a Savage Axis Lefty with 165 grain Hornady FTX. I haven’t had a deer run more than 50 yards (First one ran 40, second one ran 20, and the buck I shot this year ran 50. Ammo is $20 a box on sale and readily available. Half the price of 45-70 or 450 Bushmaster if you can find it. Like someone said earlier. Pick one, practice, and go kill deer.

Ron

I never have the opportunity, nor would I shoot at something 200+ yards away. There's no need to, most shots are under 100 yards, so I can't really comment on the range. About 5 years ago, we went from shotguns, to straight wall. Thank God I don't have to use the 12ga slug barrel anymore. I've got a 350L and a 45-70 barrel for it.

The 350 Legend is awesome simply because it has no recoil. It feels like a BB gun compared to the 12ga. This is a blued E. Arthur Brown barrel. Not sure about the length. I'm using Winchester Deer Season 150gr XP. I've killed several deer with it and some were DRT and the others only ran 40 or 50 yards. It inflicts an incredible amount of damage. I've got a VX-Freedom 350 Legend 3-9x40 on it that has an elevation turret on it with 10 yard clicks designed for a 150gr bullet. It's zeroed at 100 yards and I shot this buck at about 125 yards. I gave it two clicks and it landed in the boiler room. Will it work at 200+? My guess is that it will. My biggest complaint is the lack of blood trail, but the fact that it'll kill deer and the low recoil makes it worth while.





The 45-70 works good also, just not sure about hitting the target at that distance. This is an MGM stainless, fluted, heavy barrel with a Nikon Buckmaster 3-9x40. I've been using Leverevolution 325gr FTX. We have 3 more days of rifle season starting today. Since I already killed a deer with the 350L this year, I put the 45-70 on it last weekend. However, my shoulder is screwed up and I had to have an injection in it yesterday. So last night I put the 350L back on it simply for less recoil compared to the 45-70. The 45-70 still ain't schit compared to that damn 12ga.

UPDATE

So, yesterday afternoon I went out with the 350L. There were deer everywhere, but it wasn't until Dark:30 before I could get a shot on anything. I shot this deer at 130 yards. I gave the turret 3 clicks and landed the shot in the boiler room. She went about 50 yards. With this scope and shooting 150gr bullets, I think it would do fine at 200 yards as long as you put it in the right spot. These 350 Legends have a fair amount of bullet drop. There still isn't a lot of blood trail though, even in the snow. If it was grass, I probably wouldn't have been able to see the blood as well. Other than that, it'll kill deer.

The first few deer we took with the .350L were with the Winchester Deer Season loads as they shot well and were inexpensive. Lately I have found that the Hornady FTX 165 grain shoot even better with a bit more bullet weight to boot.

I always wondered if a 32-40 would be considered straight wall? 🤔