Straight Wall Cartridges
for Hunting
Mark took this massive boar in Hungary with 180-grain Remington
ammo from one well-placed shot. The T/C Encore with SSK Firearms
barrel and Burris scope made a great hunting combination.
Straight-wall cartridges have been around for decades and handgun hunters have utilized them effectively. Some of these cartridges are much older than I am, such as the .45-70, serving hunters well, punching tags and filling freezers. In the past few years, the proliferation of new straight-wall cartridges has been increasingly evident. The .350 Legend is a prime example. Winchester has seen robust sales and recently followed up by offering their .400 Legend. So, what is the reason behind the resurgence of these straight-wall cartridges?
A big part of the rationale is generated by some states that only allowed shotguns or muzzle-loaders in the past, allowing straight-wall cartridges today. Several of these states have restrictions regarding caliber and case length. Some require at least .35 caliber, and for whatever reason, case length cannot exceed 1.800″. This mandate eliminates several older straight-wall rounds such as the .375 Winchester, .45-70, .444 Marlin and others featuring a case length exceeding 1.800″.
The .350 Legend became popular in these states as it fulfilled legislative criteria plus fits nicely in ARs and bolt-action rifles. The round also resonated with handgun hunters employing single-shot platforms such as the T/C Contender and Encore. Smith and Wesson offered their X frame and BFR, utilizing their long cylinder models, and produced revolvers chambered for the .350 Legend. Other straight-wall cartridges, such as the .460 S&W Mag. and .450 Bushmaster, experienced a spike in interest for whitetail hunters in case-restricted states. Needless to say, there was an obvious demand for these straight-wall rounds.
Remington and Federal offer 180- and 200- grain ammo for the .360 Buckhammer.
Buckhammer Time
In ever paid a lot of attention to these types of cartridges — until Remington introduced its .360 Buckhammer. Some engineer under the Big Green tent had a brainstorm and decided to use a rimmed .30-30 case, trimmed to 1.800″ and top it with a .35 caliber bullet. It wasn’t exactly this easy, but with a lot of determination and experimentation, Remington launched their .360 Buckhammer.
The rimmed case would lend itself to lever actions and Henry jumped on the bandwagon. The case also works superbly in single-shot platforms such as the T/C Contender and Encore. Remington topped the case with their 180- and 200-grain Core-Lokt, round-nose bullet, which has been around for over 80 years. There is no telling how many deer and other game this bullet has accounted for since 1939 when it was first introduced.
I called my friends at SSK Firearms and immediately ordered an Encore barrel. The barrel was fitted with a Burris 2-7x scope on a T’SOB base. With a box full of Remington 180-grain Core-Lokt ammo, I hit the range. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well this straight-wall cartridge with round-nose bullets performed. I was getting 1.5″ groups at 100 yards when I did my part. Eventually, I moved out to 150 and 200 yards, shooting three-shot groups. After the range session, I wouldn’t have any hesitation shooting a deer out to 200 yards.
Mark and Karen both hunted with Remington’s new straight-wall cartridge
— using the BFR revolver in .360 Buckhammer. They brought two
New Mexico black bear hides back to Missouri.
In The Field
My first hunt with the .360 Buckhmmer was in Macedonia. Karen and I were celebrating our 44th wedding anniversary — at least that is what I told her. During our special occasion, I managed to take a dandy wild boar, red stag and water buffalo. If the .360 Buckhammer can handle this type of game, it surely will drop whitetail cleanly and effectively.
We followed up with a hunt in Hungary for fallow deer and some huge wild boar. Hungary is well-known for some of the biggest fallow bucks in the world, plus those hogs are massive. The cartridge performed flawlessly thanks to the 180-grain Core-Lokt bullet. The guides were even impressed.
By now, BFR was manufacturing their long-cylinder revolver in .360 Buckhammer. With an upcoming bear hunt, I begged them to send one my way for the New Mexico hound hunt. Karen was also shooting a .360 Buckhammer in Henry’s X Model lever-action rifle. The BFR came with a 10″ barrel and was fitted with a Gen 2 Ultradot optic. This made an ideal set-up for hunting bear behind a pack of hounds. After five days of following hounds in the beautiful mountains of New Mexico, Karen and I both punched our tags and headed back to Missouri with two bear hides for the taxidermist.
It was now time to turn our attention to whitetail hunting. I took several deer on our farm here in Missouri, with the longest shot around 120 yards. My season ended by taking a respectable 7-pointer in Alabama. When the smoke cleared, I had taken 11 head of big game with as many shots.
During the fall hunting season, I observed a straight-wall cartridge launching a round-nose bullet perform like a champ. The .360 Buckhammer may be intended mainly for whitetail but it’s capable of so much more. It’s refreshing to see simplicity still working so well for hunters.
