{"id":6139,"date":"2021-02-03T14:16:51","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T14:16:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ammunitiontogo.com\/lodge\/?p=6139"},"modified":"2025-10-06T17:14:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-06T17:14:36","slug":"straight-wall-cartridges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ammunitiontogo.com\/lodge\/straight-wall-cartridges\/","title":{"rendered":"Straight Wall Cartridges"},"content":{"rendered":"

At a time, not too long ago, straight-wall cartridges were little more than a novelty. They were fun to shoot, usually being fired from throw-back lever-action rifles, but had little practical use. You could be used for hunting (and were on occasion), but the faster, more-modern bottleneck cartridges were the ammunition of choice for most hunters. If you could<\/em> use a bottleneck round such as the .30-06 Springfield, .308 Winchester, or .223 Remington, you did<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Many shooters viewed straight-wall cartridges such as the .45-70 Government and .44-40 Winchester as novelty acts. They were decades old before the start of the 20th century and mostly used by recreational enthusiasts at the range.<\/p>\n

All but obsolete for over a century, straight-wall cartridges are once again becoming popular. It\u2019s not performance (necessarily) that as brought a resurgence in these rounds, it\u2019s changes to hunting law.<\/p>\n

Over the past decade, regions and states have opened the use of straight-wall cartridges for hunting, all while bottleneck rifle rounds remain prohibited. This new opportunity for hunters has, inevitably, led to a newfound appreciation of the classic straight-wall cartridge.<\/p>\n

Shooter\u2019s Guide to Straight-Wall Cartridges<\/h2>\n

Note: By \u201cstraight wall,\u201d we are referring to straight-wall rifle cartridges <\/strong>
\n\"A
\nWhile most handgun cartridges are, technically, straight-wall ammunition, when people discuss the topic or use the term \u201cstraight wall,\u201d they are generally referring to rifle ammunition. The issue has to do with this type of ammo used in rifles. The topic of straight vs necked ammunition (which we will address below), is almost always a rifle debate, not a handgun topic.<\/p>\n

What is a Straight-Wall Cartridge?<\/h3>\n
\"straight
44 magnum straight walled cartridges on the left next to 5.56×45 cartridges (bottleneck) on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the popular rifle cartridges have a bottleneck design. Like the classic soda bottles of old, these cartridges, when standing straight up, have a base that begins to narrow, a some point, into a thinner \u201cneck.\u201d Sometimes called \u201cnecked down,\u201d this design essentially means that the base and rim diameters are significantly wider than the neck and cartridge. (Technically the cartridge diameter will always be slightly narrower.) Because there is more available volume in the case behind the bullet, this design allows for more velocity and energy.<\/p>\n

Straight-wall cartridges, on the other hand, have almost no narrowing from the base to the neck. When standing erect on its rim, a straight-wall cartridge will basically have a straight line on the case from the top to bottom. The case is (almost) a perfect cylinder from the base to the neck.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick example of the base diameters and neck diameters of common bottleneck and straight-wall cartridges:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\n\t\n\t
<\/td>Base Diameter<\/th>Neck Diameter<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
.308 Win (Bottleneck)<\/strong><\/td>.4709 inches<\/td>.3433 inches<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
.444 Marlin (Straight Wall)<\/strong><\/td>.4706 inches<\/td>.453 inches<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n\n

As you can see by looking at the above information, the .308 Winchester<\/a> (bottleneck), significantly narrows (over a tenth of an inch) at the neck, while .444 Marlin ammunition<\/a> hardly narrows at all.<\/p>\n

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