What levergun and caliber for Indiana deer law?

[Longspring51]

As the Indiana deer law states that I have to use a shell case of 1.80 or shorter, what caliber of shell and what levergun do you all suggest? I have a Marlin 357 which i do not feel has enough knockdown power. also have a Marlin in 35 Remington which the case can be shortened. I have thought about going with a 45 Long Colt or 44 mag and even 45/70 and cutting that case down. I want the most bang for the buck, but not sure if I want to hassle with cutting cases down. Lots of options, just looking for the best one. Kinda like the looks of the Rossi 92 in 45 Long Colt with the 24 inch barrel. Open to any and all suggestions of gun brand and caliber. Thanks to you all!

[petroid]

Either of those 35s have plenty of power. Inside of 200 yards with good load development and bullet selection you are fine. If you want big bore, the 44 or 45 lc are great but that's a lot of cutting on a 45-70

[Shawlerbrook]

I have shot a couple NYS Whitetails with a 357 4" revolver. Keep shots under 100yds. and only take good shots and it will work fine. If I were in Indiana I would probably opt for a 44 mag. , but that's just a personal preference.

[Crawdaddy]

Given the options you mention, I would go with the 44 mag. I have taken a couple of whitetails with my96/44.

[PerpetualStudent]

you might find the chart at the end of this article by chuckhawks useful, scroll to the bottom. Just to give you an idea of the energy and muzzle velocity of the various common lever actions.

For my part I don't have my lever action yet, but I knew I wanted to get a revolver and lever gun in the same caliber. One of my considerations was I knew I wanted to hunt deer eventually and after doing a lot of reading I decided to go the .357 route. I know a lot of people consider a marginal round for deer but I ultimately buy that (especially out of a carbine and with a good load) it's gun enough.

[Tatume]

Your Marlin 35 Remington rifle is an excellent choice. You only need to trim a few cases about 1/10". Your practice ammo can stay at the nominal 1.92" length. They will shoot the same. Try it. Trim five cases. Load ten cartridges, all to the same overall length. Shoot a group with the 1.8" cases, and a group with the 1.92" cases.

[smokinfeathers]

Killed a train car load os deer n hogs with 357, just stay 125yds n less. I get 2100fps out of my 24" rifle with 158 sp n lil gun. Get 1975fps out of marlin 94's.. I have had 3 marlin 44's n the 357's have been twice as accurate!!

[missionary5155]

Greetings
The 45 Colt with a300 grain cast with go through any corn cruncher you or will ever see from any angle you shot it. At 1300 fps that is near 45-70 BP velocity. That was a well used bear load for 50 years and deer are no where near bear durability.
I live in east central ILLinois. Our corn / bean fed monsters are getting bigger all the time and none can survive a 300 grainer from a 45 Colt fired from a lowly Ruger Black Hawk or a Dan Wesson with an 8 inch barrel. The carbine barrel will give you another 300 fps.
Mike in Peru

[Mitch]

I have never had a problem killing deer with a 357 revolver from close in to 100 yards.Depending on how long of shot you are going to be takeing,it seems you have a fine rifle in the Marlin 357.Hey you just might love the rilfe for deer>If not you can get something else later

[JSH]

Ditto on the 357 mag on killing deer. Knock down.........that term is so over used and labeled to things.
I use 180's and have yet to loose a deer or recover a bullet from a 6" barreled revolver let alone a carbine. Run 180's in both. I try to punch both front shoulders. I am not a "necker".
Still amazes me at how much harder deer are to kill today than a meer 20 years ago.

[Rick Hodges]

Deer have been poached with 22lr for a lot of years, that doesn't mean I want to hunt with one. The .357 will work, but if its all the same give me a .44mag every time.

[M-Tecs]

As the Indiana deer law states that I have to use a shell case of 1.80 or shorter, what caliber of shell and what levergun do you all suggest? I have a Marlin 357 which i do not feel has enough knockdown power. also have a Marlin in 35 Remington which the case can be shortened. I have thought about going with a 45 Long Colt or 44 mag and even 45/70 and cutting that case down. I want the most bang for the buck, but not sure if I want to hassle with cutting cases down. Lots of options, just looking for the best one. Kinda like the looks of the Rossi 92 in 45 Long Colt with the 24 inch barrel. Open to any and all suggestions of gun brand and caliber. Thanks to you all!

Best bang for the buck is your currently owned 35 Rem. It also has the flattest trajectory of the group. As to a hassle trimming the cases it takes all of 30 seconds and how many do you need for hunting?

[dlbarr]

......
I live in east central ILLinois......Mike in Peru

I realize this is off topic, but whereabouts: Decatur, Champaign/Urbana? My mother grew up on a farm in a little spot in Dekalb County called Cerro Gordo. My own best memories goring up are there on that 280 acres. Just curious....

[Kestrel4k]

Most folks (including me) are shooting handloads here, but the Buffalo Bore 180gr hardcast loading chronographs @ 1850 fps from my 16" bbl 77/357 - which is almost 30-30 territory. So for hunting loads, that particular rifle of mine is done. But do I agree with others here re: a 44 Mag rifle though.

[Petrol & Powder]

A .357 mag with the correct bullet and enough H110 behind it will easily get the job done out of a rifle length barrel. If you wanted to cut down a few 35 Remington cases they could work as well. Since you already have those rifles those two options would be at the top of my list. A lever action chambered in 44 magnum would also work but that would require the acquisition of another rifle (which isn't necessarily a bad thing )

I'd be a bit interested in what the penalty is for hunting with a cartridge casing over 1.80". If it was a small fine I'd very likely just use standard 35 Remington and take my chances.

[rbuck351]

Get a Rossi 92 in 454 Casull. It will shoot a 300gr cast right at 2000 fps.

[Speedo66]

I pondered the same question as the OP. I didn't want a heavy recoiling rifle, the lever guns are pretty light. Did some research and determined that a .357 Buffalo Bore 180g hard cast solid at about 2000fps out of a rifle would be sufficient for whitetail, with good accuracy and little recoil.

I found a new .357 Rossi at a good price and scout scoped it with a 4x Weaver. It's light, accurate, and a pleasure to shoot with it's mild recoil.

[BrentD]

.38-40 Marlin 1894.

Because.

[Petrol & Powder]

I pondered the same question as the OP. I didn't want a heavy recoiling rifle, the lever guns are pretty light. Did some research and determined that a .357 Buffalo Bore 180g hard cast solid at about 2000fps out of a rifle would be sufficient for whitetail, with good accuracy and little recoil.

I found a new .357 Rossi at a good price and scout scoped it with a 4x Weaver. It's light, accurate, and a pleasure to shoot with it's mild recoil.

That sounds like a good solution. The forward mounted scope eliminates the ejection port issue and gives you enough optics for that job. You could probably drop that bullet weight a little and gain a slightly flatter trajectory without losing much penetration. I wouldn't go with a super hard alloy if I could avoid it. I hate gas checks but that might be a good time to use one.
That same rig with a 44 mag would give you a heavier bullet at the cost of a steeper trajectory. Either one will put game on the table.

[bruce drake]

I'd be a bit interested in what the penalty is for hunting with a cartridge casing over 1.80". If it was a small fine I'd very likely just use standard 35 Remington and take my chances.

Don't chance it. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources has the option to impound the firearm along with the vehicle you took to get to the hunting area in addition to a $500 deer replacement fine if you are caught using a long cartridge for harvesting the deer.