.45/70 Govt Rifle or pistol round, or both?

Mgderf

My home state of Indiana has recently started allowing center-fire rifles to be used for deer hunting. Catch is, the rifle must chamber a pistol round. Examples given are .357 mag, .44 mag ,etc...
I have seen MANY revolvers for sale on GB and elsewhere that chamber the .45/70, but can it be classified as a pistol round?





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dfletcher

I think you'd have to read the specifics of state law and hope they have a listing of calibers or specific language. What constitutes a "handgun cartridge"? If they were ignorant enough to write the definition as "any one that a person can purchase a handgun of in that cartridge" then I'd say buy whatever you like because T/C makes handguns in a ton of calibers.

If the intent is to have you hunt with a rifle in a handgun cartridge then I would not use what is generally recognized as a rifle cartridge. I have a 45/70 handgun, a 375 H & H, a 350 Remington, 405 Win and so on, but I would not try to convince Fish & Game that my Marlin 1895 in 45/70 is shooting a "handgun" cartridge.

If the law does limit you to what would generally be recognized as handgun cartridges, I'd use a Ruger 77 or semi auto in 44 Magnum; or a T/C Encore in rifle form, slap on a 460 S & W barrel.

But again, I would read the specific law.

Edit: I found this on line. While not the specific law, it does have some good information regarding cartridge size, caliber, etc to be used. It would appear the law is crafted to include most handgun cartridges with a bore size greater than .357 diamter, but to exclude by dimension most of what would be considered "rifle" cartridges. So whether a cartridge is or is not recognized as rifle or handgun isn't the point - dimensions are what count. Seems to me the goal is to find the most powerful cartridge while staying inside the specified dimensions. The case length on a 45/70 is 2.105".

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2007/may/27/indiana-plans-rifle-season-using-cowboy/

I'm guessing that 1.625" case length wasn't an accident - that's the length of a 500 S & W and 44 Magnum. Allows use of a 454 Casull, prohibits the 460 Smith.

The case length on a 45/70 is 2.105". Unless you want to trim the heck out of your 45 - 70 brass and create a 1.625" length cartridge - which would surely require some load experimentation - the 45 - 70 is a no go.

BTW - I'll bet there are some guys in IN that will give that a try in 45 - 70 or 450 Marlin, trimming down so they can use their favorite lever action.

beantownshootah

quote:Originally posted by dfletcher

I'm guessing that 1.625" case length wasn't an accident - that's the length of a 500 S & W and 44 Magnum. Allows use of a 454 Casull, prohibits the 460 Smith.

That's too bad, though from what I understand, the hotter 454 Casull loads are essentially the same as the .460 round.

Any of these ought to be more than enough for a deer though, assuming your range is reasonable.

jtmarine0831

Here is the guidelines straight from the Indiana Hunting and Trapping guide page 16.

It took me a while even with this info to explain it to my buddy he couldn't use his Contender or Encore in 243 because it was not a pistol cartridge and was not larger than .357.

quote:Rifles with pistol cartridges that fire a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger; have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches; and have a maximum case length of 1.625 inches are legal to use only during the deer firearms season.

I am planning to use my newly aquired Winchester 94AE in 45Colt this year. I have been doing a lot of looking for data to handload a 250gr Hornady XTP pill for the season. I have found many that take it up to 1100 to over 1300fps.

eastbank

i would look for a 44 mag rifle. my ruger 77/44 loaded with 27grs H-110 and a 200gr hjhp, shoots into 2 inchs or less at 100yds. eastbank.

Mgderf

I have a Marlin 1894 lever gun in .44 mag, I guess that's what I'll be using.
Any thoughts on the new Hornaday Leverevolution ammo? I've been hearing it will really reach out there compared to the standard pistol round.