What subsonic straight wall cartridge for whitetail? Not 45-70 or crossbow

[ryanww]

Mostly theoretical thinking right now, but what straight wall cartridge and bullet would you pick for subsonic whitetail hunting? I'm in MI so it must be .35 cal or over and min case length of 1.16" and max case length of 1.8" For my personal restrictions it must fit through my .46 caliber suppressor. Other than that no restrictions, wildcats are ok. Just thinking out loud.

I'm aware supersonic is far superior for hunting and a crossbow is probably the best quiet tool for deer hunting but I would just like to hear some thoughts.

 

[EdP]

Those self imposed restrictions don't make much sense to me but I don't know the specifics of your situation. If noise is the driving issue, I'd go crossbow. I started using a crossbow a couple of years ago due to our restrictions on taking does with firearms during much of the season. The learning curve was zero vs a rifle (the shooting part).

 

[RWT]

You lost me at over .35. I use sub 308’s for head shots on hogs under 100 yards. You can keep shooting them until one of them squeals.

 

[ryanww]

Those self imposed restrictions don't make much sense to me but I don't know the specifics of your situation. If noise is the driving issue, I'd go crossbow. I started using a crossbow a couple of years ago due to our restrictions on taking does with firearms during much of the season. The learning curve was zero vs a rifle (the shooting part).

Only self imposed restriction was fitting through my .46 cal suppressor. The rest of the restrictions are put in place by the state hunting regulations. In a portion of the state you are not allowed to use bottleneck rifle cartridges. In that area the cartridge must be .35 cal and over and have a case length between 1.16" and 1.8"

 

[wesfromky]

.350L will have the most factory support. I have a couple of boxes of Hornady subs that I need to check out with my new tikka - they keyholed in my ruger gen 1, when my wolfman was attached. Would never hunt with them though, just a fun novelty.

 

[Wannabebowhuntr]

I know little about any firearms except shotguns, but all my buddies who gun hunt started using .450 bushmaster when Iowa made straight wall rifles legal for gun seaosn.

 

[Wannabebowhuntr]

.350 legend would meet the criteria as well I think

 

[EdP]

What part of the regulations require subsonic?

 

[ryanww]

What part of the regulations require subsonic?

None. Just my own interest. Just thinking about a fun caliber with the potential to take a backyard buck. Something like the 8.6 blk but straight wall. Maybe 450 bushmaster with subX bullets, 45 colt with hard lead keith style bullets. 44 mag with expanding copper bullets etc?

 

[LaHunter]

45 ACP 230 grain, joking sorta. Does your state consider the 35 Whelen a straight wall case? Some do. It is not sub sonic however.

 

[ryanww]

45 ACP 230 grain, joking sorta. Does your state consider the 35 Whelen a straight wall case? Some do. It is not sub sonic however.

No it is not a straight wall case, it is also too long. I reload so I can work up subsonic loads if there aren't any factory available.

Maybe 360 buckhammer with expanding copper bullets? again, I'm just brainstorming and wondering if there is something out there.

 

[wesfromky]

Lever in .38/.357. .38 is subsonic already, lots of loads out there, and it is super quiet out of a lever. Or, subsonic 9mm since you need to pretty pretty close with subs anyway and there is plenty of ammo that can expand at lower speeds.

Whatever you get, pay attention to the twist rate so you can stabilize heavy bullets, otherwise you risk baffle strikes / key-holing.

 

[Sccritterkiller]

44mag lever gun...most 300 grain rounds are subsonic.

 

[iamthenick]

Idk how big your yard is but if you are worried about sound it probably isn't huge. I'd be more worried about run offs with a subsonic round.

 

[ryanww]

Idk how big your yard is but if you are worried about sound it probably isn't huge. I'd be more worried about run offs with a subsonic round.

definitely a consideration and a big reason I haven't hunted there with a crossbow.

 

[mike257]

I realize that the 45/70 case is too long to be legal in your state, but living in Indiana I've jumped through their technical hoops for 20 years,,, we started at 35 cal and 1.6 case length so I had Dave Kiff grind me a 357 max reamer with an actual throat and used 180 gr hardcast bullets from a no longer available ranch dog mould. About dead even with present day 350 legend, Next year I had the Stratton brothers who were at match grade machine build a 357 wssm on an encore , that one goes by several different names with a lot of guys claiming it as their own,, wont argue with them , but i was killing deer at 300 yards long before i heard of anyone else's version,,,
Back to the 45/70. In the meantime Indiana changed the law to 1.8 case length, and that opened up a whole new world of off the wall stuff, remember this was before the Legitimate factory calibers, so i started shortening the neck on anything that was close to 1.80, , and lo and behold, anything in a single shot needs very little neck to shoot great, 35 Remington, 45/70, 450 marlin, 458x2, all got trimmed to 1.8, shot out of an encore or handy rifle, the most fun and interesting was a 45/70, trimmed to 1.8, shot with 450 grain cast bullets running subsonic with a can,, the only noise. Is the hammer strike, and the whomp of the bullet hitting the target! Most of the deer we've killed with it don't run off,, they just get weak at the knees and keel over not ever realizing what just happened, just something to think about,, if you want to tinker, the possibilities are endless.

 

[ryanww]

45/70, trimmed to 1.8, shot with 450 grain cast bullets running subsonic with a can

Sounds like what I'm after, is there a name for this cartridge?

I have an an encore and enjoy it so it would be ok to get a new barrel for it. A friend has a 357 max barrel for encore and has used it successfully for whitetail

I have a couple .475 Linebaugh, which is a 45-70 case shortened to 1.4" Due to the taper of the 45-70 case the inside dimension at that point fits a .475 bullet.

 

[z987k]

I load the Missouri bullet company 405gr cast bullets into my 44mag and they're about 1050fps from my 18in lever gun.

 

[Rjk300]

Through a suppressor I don’t feel the hornady 450bm 250gr are much louder than the subsonic so I don’t use the subsonic!


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[mike257]

Nothing special about the short neck 45/70, or any of the short neck cartridges I have experimented with,, just simply trim the neck to 1.80 oal, the straight wall cartridges I played with had negligible taper no more than I was taking off, just seat a really long bullet out as far as you can.and still have enough in the case till it stays put,, without any major run out.
If I was building a dedicated 1.8 barrel I would make up a dummy round and send it to ptg and have a reamer ground,, then have mgm build a barrel to my specs,,,, or send mike bellm a 44 mag barrel and have the same thing done on 444 marlin brass.
Word of caution though ,,, wildcatting is probably more addictive than crack,,, once you have one,,, you have to have another!