Moving back to Iowa - let's hear your thoughts on chambering

[selmerfan]

So...we weren't planning on this, but the Lord works in mysterious ways. We're headed back to Iowa - Britt, specifically. We lived in Iowa for the first 8 years of marriage, 2002-2010 and I used my TC Encore pistol to hunt whitetails every fall with a .454 Casull barrel first, then I swapped out to a .357 Maximum. Iowa restricts pistol cartridges for hunting deer to "straight-walled pistol cartridges", then provides a list of approved chamberings.
.357 Magnum, .357 Maximum, .375
Winchester, .38 Super, .40 S&W, .401 Powermag,
10 mm Auto, .41 Remington Magnum, .41
Action Express, .44 S&W Special, .44 Remington
Magnum, .44 Automag, .444 Marlin, .445
Super Mag, .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .45 Super Mag,
.45 Winchester Magnum, .45 Silhouette, .451
Detonics, .454 Casull, .45-70 Govt., .460
Rowland, .460 S&W Mag, .475 Widley Magnum,
.475 Linebaugh, .480 Ruger, .50 Action
Express, .50 Linebaugh, .50 Beowulf and .500
S&W Mag.

I have the Ranch Dog 359-190-RFGC 6 cavity mold that I used for shooting deer in Iowa with my .357 Max. Is there a better option on this list? I don't think so - the question is mostly for the sake of conversation. I killed plenty of deer with the Max and it NEVER came up short, even at just under 200 yds. I sold the barrel I had and now I need to order a new one. I want a 17" barrel so that it can be used as a carbine in other places and situations. I have a 17" .260 Rem MGM barrel and I love the versatility of the 17" option. So - any suggestions on makers other than MGM? My .260 Rem MGM barrel shoots incredibly good - though I had to send it back to have them throat the barrel properly. This time I'll probably send along three dummy rounds with the 359-190-RF bullet seated where I want it so they can set the throat properly. But I'm open to suggestions about other barrel makers. What do ya'll think?
Thanks!
Selmerfan

[Blammer]

Just for something different I'd go with a 41 Mag. :)

[Geraldo]

Is there anything better on the list than .357 Max? Probably not, but I'd think about .375 Winchester just because it's on the list.

Speaking of the list, who writes these things up? I'll bet legions of Iowans were just dying to take their .451 Detonics out and slay some deer.

[runfiverun]

the 375 super mag would be a bit better balanced in the short barrel.

I wonder why the 351 win isn't on the list.
and who's bright idea was it to put the 40 short and weak on there???

anyway bullberry makes some fine barrels for the contender type guns.

[MBTcustom]

44 Magnum would be my choice.

[jmort]

"I have the Ranch Dog 359-190-RFGC 6 cavity mold that I used for shooting deer in Iowa with my .357 Max. Is there a better option on this list? I don't think so."


I agree

[pjames32]

Mike Bellm has some great barrels. He is on Facebook.
I've shot 2 deer with a 10mm, one at 65yds, 1 at 75yds. Don't think I'd want to try anything much farther. .357 max is effective and recoil is reasonable from a Contender.
PJ

[Smoke4320]

357 max or 41 mag would be my choices

[selmerfan]

Well, it was a bit of a rhetorical question for conversation purposes. :) I already have the molds, sizing dies, gas checks, reloading dies, primers, and powder for .357 Max - though I need to get my hands on some brass. And I've placed an order for a 17" MGM barrel in .357 Maximum. :)

[starmac]

Odd that they consider 375 win and 45/70 pistol rounds.

[selmerfan]

starmac - agreed. I may have stirred up a bit of a hornet's nest down in Iowa. I was reading the statute carefully and noticed that "long barrel modifications" are not permitted. Because I'm a language/semantics guy and believe language and words matter a LOT, I called up the CO local to where I'm moving and asked him what "long barrel modification" means. For the purpose of semi-auto and revolvers the answer is easy. If it's not available from the factory that way, it's a long barrel modification. i.e. If I take a Ruger Super Redhawk in .44 Mag and have a gunsmith screw off the factory 10" barrel and screw on a 16" barrel, that's a long barrel modification. But with the TCs (Contender and Encore), the barrels are available in a wide variety of lengths from the factory and custom makers, and some chamberings - such as .357 Maximum - are not available as a factory chambering, so they don't know exactly how to define a "long barrel modification" on the TC platforms. The CO I was speaking with is on the code-writing committee and has checked with his peers. They don't all agree on the definition. So the code-writing committee is meeting on Monday to come to an agreement on how to define "long barrel modification" for the TC platforms so I can order a legal barrel for deer hunting in Iowa. I suggested that if they put a maximum length for single-shot pistol platforms that they set it somewhere between 16.25" and 17" so that the barrels can legally be used as carbines by BATFE laws in states such as South Dakota where rifles are legal, but still are not unreasonably long pistol barrels. The guy I'm communicating seems pretty reasonable to work with and I KNOW that I didn't want to show up hunting with a 17" barreled pistol that some CO interprets as a "long barrel modification". So I asked the question. I hope they come up with a concrete and reasonable definition. The optimist in me says they will set it just over 16" as a max, but the pessimist in me thinks that a 15" maximum is going to end up being written into code. I'll let you know what they come back with on Monday.
Back to packing boxes...the man cave is about half done.