Straight wall cartridge budget bolt action rifle

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I totally agree, as a general fun shooting gun a .44 is much more pleasant, and plenty capable enough. It just seems to me that most folks would buy the bolt gun for low cost, and possibly more performance, and probably skip the .44 bolt and spend more on a lever gun for pretty much everything else.
To be fair, most the guys who are buying .450 bolts seem to be using lightweight bullets at warp speed to get the most range out of it so my opinion is probably not widely shared. What else is new. ;):p
 
Welcome back from 1970.

38 Special hasn't been the least expensive centerfire ammo in a LONG time. 357? You're joking, right?

9mm is the least expensive and has been for a couple of decades.
I can get 158 gr +P LSWCHP from GA Arms for $.28/rd. Where are you getting US-made expanding 9mm for less? The cheapest I see on SG Ammo is Winchester 115 gr USA9HP, for $.50/rd. CCI Blazer Aluminum LRN .38 on the same site is $.34/rd, while Remington
+P 125 Hollow Point L38S2 is $.40/rd.

If you're talking FMJ, I can get Winchester Value Pack 9mm for $.27/rd...but since I was clearly talking about expanding ammo, your point is...?
 
I can get 158 gr +P LSWCHP from GA Arms for $.28/rd. Where are you getting US-made expanding 9mm for less? The cheapest I see on SG Ammo is Winchester 115 gr USA9HP, for $.50/rd. CCI Blazer Aluminum LRN .38 on the same site is $.34/rd, while Remington
+P 125 Hollow Point L38S2 is $.40/rd.

If you're talking FMJ, I can get Winchester Value Pack 9mm for $.27/rd...but since I was clearly talking about expanding ammo, your point is...?

9mm ammo is running around $0.18 a round. If you're paying $0.27 for fmj you're not shopping around. I can find hollow point 9mm for $0.28 a round. It's a jacketed hollow point vs the lead hollow point in the 38 SPL. To be fair what's the cost of jacketed hollow point 38 SPL ammo?

You're swatting at gnats here.

9mm ammo is less expensive than 38 SPL ammo. Even a caveman knows that.
 
I used a straightwall in Illinois for 12 seasons. It just came in a 7-1/2" barrel six shooter version ;)

Haha, fair point. It really doesn't make much sense to not allow pistol caliber carbines, like lever guns in 357, 44, etc.. I've always heard the reasoning is concerns about bullets carrying through the flat land and so on. Its not like a 357 out of a lever gun is going to be going THAT much farther.
 
I love .357 Mag in a rifle. I would throw money at Ruger if they made an American in .357 with an appropriately sized action and real, functioning sights. As much as I love my 77/357 it is too expensive to replace for use as a dedicated truck gun. Like others have said, A pump would be even better. I realize that I can be nostalgic, but a trim pump with a 16" barrel would be awesome!

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9mm ammo is less expensive than 38 SPL ammo. Even a caveman knows that.

Regardless of what "cavemen" know, I can get quality US expanding.38 defensive ammo for less than $15/50. I never see expanding US 9mm for less than $20/50, and it's usually much more.

Now, sure, if you're looking for cheap blasting ammo, imported 9mm is super cheap. But I've never seen any centerfire ammo I'd deliberately shoot at a living target cheaper than .38.
 
Haha, fair point. It really doesn't make much sense to not allow pistol caliber carbines, like lever guns in 357, 44, etc.. I've always heard the reasoning is concerns about bullets carrying through the flat land and so on. Its not like a 357 out of a lever gun is going to be going THAT much farther.
That is the exact argument people use to lobby the legislatures and DNR. The usual reply was slippery slope statements about rifles in deer season and how conservation officers could enforce the rules. As we have seen in other states, they were not wrong. Of course I strongly believe in another decade with more hunters aging out and continued trends in leasing, that all states will end up crossbow and modern rifle. When, not if, that comes to pass I strongly suspect compound bows, shotgun slugs, and muzzleloaders will be pushed aside to a few hardy enthusiasts with numbers similar to today's longbowman and handgun hunters.
 
my point was they don't make straightwall single shots or bolt guns in that price range

Ah but they most certainly do, witness the $249 CVA Hunter in .44 Mag. A cheap single-shot straight walled for Iowa youth season.

Now I may be a cheapskate but in two towns with sub-5,000 populations I’ve seen more expensive firearm options than anywhere short of Scheels or Cabelas. Lots of 350 Legends on the shelves along side $600-$1,000 muzzleloaders. I grant that by volume slug guns will continue to reign supreme for some time but where States have switched to straight walled cartridges I fully believe a $400 turn bolt option would easily surpass ARs in numbers.

Where I used to have a lone slug barrel for the season I now own 5 muzzleloaders, a .357 lever, and a .44 expressly for deer hunting with an Encore 350 Legend barrel inbound shortly for said same. My reason for not going bigger (450BM) is to limit recoil for young shooters. Leads to more practice and confidence when the shot is critical rather than a flinch and a miss.


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