New law means new rifle!

[Arkansas Paul]

I'd go with a .45 Colt rifle because I have a revolver in the caliber already.
Maybe a Winchester '73 replica, assuming it doesn't have to be a single shot.

I'm waiting on Arkansas to follow Mississippi's lead and allow these instead of muzzleloaders. Can't wait for that to happen. It fell one vote short last time (at least that's what the Game and Fish guy that I met told me).
Ours will likely be single shots though if and when they allow it. So I'll probably end up with a Handi Rifle, as much as I don't like them.

 

[Reloadron]

I hunt in ohio 4570 is now legal here I understand guys are trimming 4570 brass to the max length Michigan will allow to make 4570 legal

Michigan hunters in the southern zone are finally getting a good deal. It should be noted that this legislation was actually opposed by Michigan DNR. One of the reasons DNR opposed the change was they felt the new law would be more difficult to enforce. So keep in mind the DNR guys who oversee hunting are less than thrilled with this new law.

While I can't find why the maximum case length was set where it was my best guess would be to eliminate cartridges like the 45-70 Government and the 444 Marlin and some others with those two being the most popular. This was likely done for a reason.

The 45-70 Government has a maximum of 2.105" and a minimum of 2.085" by SAAMI specifications. So maybe trim a 45-70 Government down by what? Maybe 0.300" to get below the maximum allowable? I am not sure that Michigan DNR will buy into that. You get stopped in the field with a rifle chambered for 45-70 Government with cartridges bearing a 45-70 headstamp my guess is you get fined and your rifle confiscated and I don't care what the cartridge case lengths are in your rifle. I have never known DNR guys to carry around calipers.

While I am not sure what the outcome would be I see such a maneuver as trying to circumvent the law. Enough idiots do it and call attention to it the new laws can quickly be done away with and all southern zone Michigan deer hunters lose. You don't need a 45-70 Government to take a whitetail deer.

Just My Opinion
Ron

 

[Jason_W]

Another option could by a TC Encore in .460 S&W. Ammo is expensive, but .45 LC could be used for plinking/practice.

Edit: Never mind, I just checked and the COL of the .460 is well over the 1.8" max.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

Has something changed in the 30 years since I lived there? I thought big bore cartridges over 0.45" were allowed.

Mike

 

[Dr.Rob]

44 mag for sure

 

[Reloadron]

Has something changed in the 30 years since I lived there? I thought big bore cartridges over 0.45" were allowed.

Mike

I would guess maybe yes.

Michigan deer hunting is divided much like the Ohio of many years ago. There is a Northern zone where rifle is fine and a more densely populated and flat terrain southern zone. The southern zone was limited to handgun and shotgun with a slug. The new law allows the use of a rifle in the southern zone. However, rather than spell out calibers or actually cartridges they spelled out caliber and cartridge dimensions.

Ron

 

[beeb173]

So I mentioned 10mm because I thought deer hunting would be a good excuse to buy an EAA Witness Match. Funny that 10mm is legal in a pistol but not in a rifle.

 

[19-3Ben]

.45LC would be my vote, with .44mag as a very very very close second.

 

[Arizona_Mike]

I would guess maybe yes.

Michigan deer hunting is divided much like the Ohio of many years ago. There is a Northern zone where rifle is fine and a more densely populated and flat terrain southern zone. The southern zone was limited to handgun and shotgun with a slug. The new law allows the use of a rifle in the southern zone. However, rather than spell out calibers or actually cartridges they spelled out caliber and cartridge dimensions.

Ron

The Northern and Southern Zone go back a lot more than 30 years!

Looking at the current regs on line I see the blanket over .45 caliber exception (not subject to case length) no longer exists.

Mike

 

[wombat13]

My Marlin 1894 in .44mag has been a very good deer rifle. Quality of the "Remlin" rifles is reported to be spotty. In my case, the front sight fell off after about 250 pretty hot loads down the pipe. They'd forgotten to install both screws to secure the sight base. No way for me to know that without pushing the sight out of the dovetail.

Anyway, no big deal for me as I wanted to put a red-dot on it anyway. No need for magnification on a .44 mag. It starts dropping like a rock if your target is much beyond 125 yards anyway. I mounted a Burris FF3 and it worked quite nicely - took two deer with it last year. One dear was at 20 yards and moving fast, the other was at about 50 yards. Dropped both on the spot. The FF3 made it very easy to drop the close range, fast moving deer.

 

[Comrade Mike]

Maybe I'll be taking the 29 out this fall

 

[mgmorden]

.44 Mag or .45 Colt. In a modern lever-action you can handload .45 Colt to about the same performance level (or get specialty ammo loaded that way), though with .44 Mag you're already at that level without having to be choosy about the ammo.

 

[Gtscotty]

The case length of the .460 S&W is right at the 1.8" limit, that kind of makes it look like they picked out the .460 and decided it was the largest round they wanted folks using.

 

[Jason_W]

I misread the original post. I thought the 1.8" limit pertained to the overall cartridge length.

There is an outfit selling an AR-10 upper in a wildcat called the .45 raptor. It's essentially a rimless .460 S&W. Case length and COL are identical, and identical load data can be used for both rounds.

Might be an option if anyone already has an AR-10.