Understanding the “Why” behind straight-walled cartridges for hunting and which ones do the job the best.
Every state has their own quirks when it comes to wildlife and hunting codes. These laws and regulations range from the bizarre (it’s an offense to push a live moose out of an airplane in Alaska), funny (bigfoot hunting is totally legal in Texas), to the head-scratcher and subject of this article. In many Midwestern states, centerfire cartridges must be straight-walled when hunting whitetail deer.
If you live or hunt in one of these states, including but not limited to Michigan, Ohio, and Iowa, you’ll be dealing with straight-walled cartridges, at least when it comes to deer.
There’s quite a bit of historical context regarding these regulations, and while today we’ll focus on Ohio, much of the same context applies to other states.
Hunting Legislation History
When Ohio became a state on March 1, 1803, a wide variety of wild game was available. There wasn’t only the whitetail, but also animals we now associate with completely different regions. Elk, mountain lions, wolves, and even a few remaining bison. The common knowledge at the beginning of the 19th century was that nature was boundless and unending. In fact, while some minor state regulations such as hunting seasons began cropping up, they were largely ignored and not well enforced.
With more accurate and efficient firearms, combined with an increasing farming population and market hunting, many species simply disappeared from this region. The last bison was taken in 1803, elk in 1840, and wolves, mountain lions, and bobcats were all gone by the midpoint of the century. Bears followed shortly thereafter.
By the turn of the 20th century, it became clear that the wildlife wasn’t simply regenerating, and active steps had to be taken to prevent more wildlife from disappearing altogether. Hunting whitetail was prohibited shortly thereafter, and there wouldn’t be another whitetail season until 1943.
The first federal regulation with any teeth was the Lacey Act, passed in 1900. The Lacey Act criminalized interstate transport of illegally taken game, commercial market hunting, and killing birds solely for the feather trade. Not knowing your game was illegally harvested was no longer an excuse, though the penalties increased if they could prove you did.
Even though hunting whitetail was illegal, they were still taken. While many are under the mistaken impression that the game dried up during the Great Depression, in reality it happened far sooner in these states. Both whitetail and wild turkeys were declared extinct in the state by 1904. The last passenger pigeon died not in a field, but in the Cincinnati Zoo in 1914.
Straight Wall Cartridges Hunting Laws
When whitetail hunting opened back up in 1943, it came with some new restrictions. Centerfire and rimfire rifles weren’t allowed, long-guns had to be either a musket or a shotgun, and there was limited use of handguns. Regulations were changed in early 2017 to allow for straight-walled centerfire cartridges in rifles. The caliber must be at least .357 and no larger than .500. Many other states followed, giving us greater options.
Curiously, the state of Ohio (and similar straight-wall states) don’t particularly care what ammunition you use to take out other game. Want to use a .30-06 on a squirrel? Have at it, though there won’t be much left. As the mantra goes: unless it’s a deer or a duck, they don’t give a f***. Well, you can fill in the rest.
Given the history of residents of the Buckeye state stripping out whitetail, we can’t help but think longer-range and higher-capacity firearms were restricted due to their potential proliferation. However, when we reached out to Ken Fitz, law enforcement executive administrator for the Ohio Division of Wildlife he had more to say on the subject.
“The caliber restrictions on deer hunting are tied into safety and public acceptance. The deer firearms seasons have the highest participation rates, and in general, the straight-walled cartridge rifles are limited in range compared to bottle-necked cartridges. Most of the land in Ohio is privately owned and landowners were not in support of bottle-necked cartridges for deer, but did support the use of straight-walled cartridges.”
While the initial restrictions may have started to help combat the elimination of all of the whitetails again, now it’s largely due to public safety and the sheer numbers. Insofar as safety, the relatively large bullets mean reduced effective ranges which aids in hunter safety – it’s easier to distinguish between man and deer at close range, and hunters are less inclined to take a poke at movement outside the effective range of their weapon. That’s the theory, anyway. We welcome these new options, even though they can be a pain.
Straight Wall Legal Minutia
While it goes without saying that you should know and understand the laws of a given area you’re hunting in, there’s a bit of nuance. For example, the 350 Legend. On the surface it’d appear that this wouldn’t be a legal cartridge in states that require a minimum diameter of .357 inch, the projectile itself is larger than .350 — the name is a moniker in this instance, not a measurement. SAAMI spec on the 350 Legend calls for a projectile diameter of .3570 with a tolerance of 30 thousandths. Very specifically, Ohio allows the 350 Legend, but the last thing you want to do is assume that it’s Kosher everywhere. No one wants to get hemmed up by a game warden.
Aside from caliber restrictions, some states have minimum muzzle energy or foot-pound requirements, so it might be worthwhile to have a photo of the back of the ammunition box handy on your phone in case you run into a particularly pugnacious gamekeeper.
Best Straight Wall Cartridge Options
Traditionally straight-walled rounds are used in revolvers and lever-guns, but if you want something modern, all isn’t lost. There are several straight-walled cartridges that will work in AR-style rifles and new calibers coming out fairly regularly. Bear in mind that this isn’t an exhaustive list by any stretch, and there’s always someone out there making a crazy wildcat.
.50 Beowulf
The first big bore that comes to mind is the .50 Beowulf, likely because it was developed nearly two decades ago in 2001. The parent case of the Beowulf is the .50 Action Express, which the Desert Eagle famously eats. Bullet weights range from 200 grains all the way up to 500-grain monsters, with 350 grains being the most common. The .50 Beowulf features a rebated rim so standard .223/5.56 bolt carrier groups can be used.
While there are dedicated .50 Beowulf magazines, the conversion for a standard USGI magazine is straightforward. No follower swap or feed lip modification is required, just a trim and bevel to the front of the magazine to accommodate the massive projectiles.
Using an 18-inch barrel and 325-grain ammunition, muzzle velocities of 1,900 fps aren’t uncommon. The maximum effective range is stated by Alexander Arms as 200 yards, though some have taken game out to 300 yards with lighter rounds and massive drop compensation. The heavier stuff can act strangely at longer ranges, so your best bet is to stick to 150 yards or less if you’re going to move beyond 350 grains.
.500 Auto Max
One of the newer kids on the block is the 500 Auto Max. Essentially, the 500 Auto Max is a S&W 500 Magnum with the rim removed for use in magazine-fed semi-autos. Due to the massive recoil produced, the 500 Auto Max is based around a .308 AR receiver with a modified magwell to accept 5.56-sized magazines. Bullet weights range from 265 grains all the way to 700, with 350 grains being the most common.
Dedicated magazines are available, though USGI mags can be modified to work. The follower should be replaced with one designed for .458 SOCOM, the front trimmed and beveled like the .50 Beowulf, and the feed lips trimmed down a bit to open it up.
Out of a full-size rifle with 350-grain ammunition, the 500 Auto Max achieves a whopping 2,225 fps. Though longer shots can be taken, it would behoove you to stay within 250 yards.
.450 Bushmaster
First introduced back in 2007, the 450 Bushmaster while technically not a straight-walled case, whistles by most regulations because the case slightly tapers along the entire length instead of having a prominent shoulder. The parent cartridge for the 450 is a .284 Winchester chopped down to accommodate larger rounds. While a standard 5.56 bolt cannot be used, it does share a bolt face with its bottleneck brethren, the .458 SOCOM. Bullet weights range from 158 grains up to 300 with the most common by large margin being 250 grains. It’s popular with reloaders because most any .45 ACP projectile can be swaged down and loaded.
Though initially reported to not require dedicated magazines when using USGIs, time and experience has demonstrated a follower swap at minimum is required. Due to the slightly tapered case, the 450 Bushmaster can be rife with feeding issues — if you find a mag/follower combination that works, stick with it.
With an 18-inch barrel and 250-grain ammunition, velocities a scootch above 2,200 fps is common. The effective range for whitetail is a little better than the .500s sitting around 275 yards.
350 Legend
The current belle of the ball is the 350 Legend, and it isn’t hard to see why. Winchester produced this caliber specifically for deer hunting in straight-wall states in 2019. Unlike the other rounds covered in this article, there’s no parent case to the 350 Legend, though it does share the same bolt face as a 5.56mm. Standard AR-15 receivers are used for it, though it does take a proprietary magazine. Bullet weights range from 124 grains to 265 with 180-grain projectiles being the currently most common.
You can modify AR-15 magazines to work with the 350, but it takes extensive work and even then, it can still be sketchy; we recommend purchasing dedicated magazines for it.
Because this caliber is so new, we’re still shaking this one out. Recoil is noticeably less than the others on this list, and it also suppresses relatively well. With an 18-inch barrel and 150-grain ammo, you’re looking at just over 2,300 fps. While right now the 350 Legend is purported to be a 250-yard caliber, we’re betting you can stretch the legs a little bit more if you’re comfortable.
Loose Rounds
States opening up deer hunting to these straight-walled cartridges breathed some new life into hunting. We’re never going to complain about having the ability to bring an AR into the woods, even if we’re not using a traditional caliber. Unfortunately, many of these big bores aren’t very forgiving beyond close-to-medium range. Regardless of which caliber you choose, it’s your responsibility to know how your round performs at range before taking a shot on an animal. Remember, it’s called hunting, not maiming.
