by My morning email brought news that both Federal and Remington would be releasing a new straight-walled cartridge. It is called the .360 Buckhammer. The cartridge’s primary market appears to be those states where hunting regulations have changed to allow the use of a straight-walled cartridge in areas formerly restricted to shotgun or muzzle-loader only. From the comments by the marketing teams at both companies, they are aiming this initially for use in lever action rifles.
Federal will be releasing the cartridge in 180 and 200 grain jacketed soft point versions. The cartridge is intended to match the energy and velocity of the venerable .30-30 Winchester but with softer recoil and better accuracy.
Likewise, Remington will be releasing the .360 Buckhammer in 180 and 200 grain versions. However, it will be with their Core-Lokt bullet. From Remington:
360 Buckhammer’s key features include:
- Ultimate straight wall cartridge
- Accurate & deadly at 200 yards or more
- Easy to shoot with low recoil
- 35% more energy than 350 Legend
- Muzzle velocity: 2,215-2,400 FPS
- .358 diameter bullets deliver deadly results on-game
Remington and, I presume, Federal are partnering with Henry Rifles to introduce the new cartridge. It will be available today to shoot at Range Day in a Henry lever action rifle. If I get a chance to shoot it, I’ll give my impressions.
UPDATE: The weather at Industry Day at the Range was challenging. That is a nicer way of saying very windy and then it got worse. They had to close the ranges due to thunder and lightening in the area. I don’t know if it resumed after the storm as I had left by then.
Nonetheless, one of the first things I did after getting to the range was shoot the Henry rifle in .360 Buckhammer. I had never shot a Henry lever action before but it is slick. It had a very smooth lever stroke. As to the .360 Buckhammer, I found the recoil to be quite reasonable and I hit the steel target off-hand every time. For those that must use a straight-walled cartridge for big game hunting, I can’t see any reason not to give this combination serious consideration.