Responding to your 30 December above question to me:
Part of what I wrote above on 30 December is wrong, and I apologize. It was based on an incorrect interpretation of Indiana regulations.
Here's my statement that contains errors:
pitted bore wrote:I did some more poking around on the web, and I'm not sure that dogsniper's original plan of using a "450 Bushmaster Short" would be legal.
As I understand it, the current Indiana regulations specify a "pistol cartridge", which the 450B obviously is not. The 450B can be chambered in a Contender or something similar, but so can a 6mm PPC. It clearly isn't a pistol cartridge. Perhaps it could qualify if there's a wildcat loophole in the current regulations.
I cannot find the actual regulations for IN. Does it specify "straight-wall" pistol cartridges? If so, that will also exclude the 450B.
I found the current IN regulations on firearms that are legal for deer-hunting. The quote below is taken from http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/files/fw-Deer_Hunting_Equipment.pdf:
Indiana DNR wrote:Handguns: Handguns, other than muzzleloading, must have a barrel at least 4 inches long and must fire a bullet of .243-inch diameter or larger. The handgun cartridge case, without the bullet, must be at least 1.16 inches long. Full metal-jacketed bullets are not permitted. Handguns are not permitted on any military areas.
Some types of handgun cartridges legal for deer hunting include: .357 Magnum, .41 Magnum, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .45 Colt, .45 Long Colt, .45 Winchester Magnum, .35 Remington, .357 Herrett.
Some illegal handgun cartridges for deer hunting are 38 Special, 38 Smith and Wesson, 38 Colt New Police, 38/200, 38 Long Colt, 38 Super, 38 ACP, 38 Colt Auto, 45 ACP, 45 Automatic and 45 Auto Rim. All 25/20, 32/20 and 30 carbine ammunition is prohibited also.
Rifles with pistol cartridges: Rifles must fire a cartridge with a bullet of .357-inch diameter or larger; have a minimum case length of 1.16 inches; and have a maximum case length of 1.625 inches. These rifle cartridges can be used only during the deer firearms season.
Some cartridges that are legal include the following: .357 Magnum, .38-40 Winchester, .41 Magnum, .41 Special, .44 Magnum, .44 Special, .44-40 Winchester, .45 Colt, .454 Casull, .458 SOCOM, .480 Ruger, .475 Linebaugh, .50 Action Express, .500 S&W
Some illegal rifle cartridges for deer hunting are the .30-30 Winchester, .444 Marlin and .45-70 Govt.
The IN regulators are interpreting "rifles with pistol cartridges" not very strictly, except for min and max length and for bullet diameter. This has resulted in several wildcat rifle cartridges being developed for Indiana deer hunting and assorted pistol wildcats being adapted to rifles.
Do you already know of the AR-based version of the 25 WSSM necked up to 358? It's sort of cute. Here's a link to a web site by a man building these for Indiana rifle hunting under current rules: http://www.dtechsuperstore.com/WSSM%20page.htm.
As Shaun/dogsniper learned, his idea for a 450B-Short cartridge in a rifle was acceptable. Chambering the standard length 450B in a pistol would not make it a "pistol cartridge" under present IN regulations. Even though there exist many pistols chambered in 45-70, the cartridge case is too long to be legal currently in IN as a rifle cartridge.
Although the 460 S&W is a pistol cartridge, it does not work as a rifle cartridge under current IN rules; its case is too long. However, the proposed rule changes would have made it an acceptable in rifles, and would also have made legal the standard-length 450B.
Under current IN regulations, it is legal to hunt deer with handguns chambered for the 30-30, 45-70, 460 S&W, and 450B.
I made a further error in my thinking about "straight-sided". The 38 Special, 357 Mag, 357 Max, all have parallel sides, as do the .45 Colt, 454 Casull, and 460 S&W. These are clearly "straight-sided". A bunch of other pistol cartridges have tapered cases, like the 41 Magnum, 44 Magnum, 45 Win Mag. These cartridges with tapered cases are however considered "straight-sided" because they have no neck. The 450B has a tapered case with straight sides.
I hope this post has fewer errors that my earlier one.
--Bob