Weeks ago, on the opening day of the state's firearm deer season, a new type of ammunition became available to Pennsylvania hunters in some high-population areas, including Allegheny County.
The use of straight-walled centerfire cartridges — a low-powered alternative to high-powered ammunition — is now legal for hunting in urban counties designated as special regulations areas.
For about five years, some other deer-hunting states have been allowing hunters to use straight-walled ammunition. Pennsylvania is the most recent to make the cartridges legal for hunting in urban areas, and area outdoor supply stores say they're seeing demand for the cartridges.
"Straight-walled cartridges essentially are a short-range option for rifle shooters," said a statement issued by the Game Commission. "They lose velocity quickly, but at their optimal ranges can be highly effective ammunition."
The new ammunition and guns that shoot them could make a difference to those who hunt in Wildlife Management Unit 2B, which spans most of Allegheny County. Pennsylvania sold nearly 890,000 general hunting licenses in 2020-21, but the state Game Commission's deer management goals are achieved primarily through controlling doe populations. An additional antlerless deer license required for each doe harvested, and 925,000 doe tags were allocated statewide.
"There are [about] 20,000 hunters who hunt deer in WMU 2B, and the demand for antlerless licenses [there] has averaged about 47,000 licenses sold in recent years," said Travis Lau, Game Commission spokesman.
Until now, all of those hunters were carrying heavy shotguns loaded with rifled slugs, which are less accurate than centerfire rifle cartridges. The new ammunition ruling enables hunters to carry lighter, more accurate rifles in special regulations areas such as Allegheny County. Already some hunters have put their slug guns on consignment and replaced them with rifles chambered to fire straight-walled cartridges.
Most traditional high-powered cartridges are filled with gunpowder and crimped or "bottlenecked" at the top where the bullet is seated. The decrease in circumference causes the ignited powder to build more pressure before propelling the bullet through the rifle's barrel.
Packed with high-performance powder, bullets fired by high-powered rifles can be accurate to more than 200 yards, and some can travel for miles before hitting the ground.
The less powerful straight-walled cartridges are significantly shorter, do not have a tapered shape and hold less powder than bottleneck cartridges of the same caliber. Most pistols shoot straight-walled cartridges.
"In many states, straight-walled cartridges have become an alternative in shotgun-only areas," the Game Commission statement said.
"Their limited range is similar to a rifled shotgun inside 200 yards, but they often provide better accuracy and considerably less recoil, making their use an attractive option for smaller-framed hunters."
For decades, centerfire rifles have been banned for hunting in the heavily populated special regulations areas of Allegheny, Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties.
Firearm deer hunters have relied on less-powerful shotguns of various gauges that propel rifled slugs or lead balls. The best slug fired through the largest-gauged hunting shotgun loses much of its velocity at 100 yards and hits the ground at 400 yards.
Straight-walled cartridges give hunters in those areas the option to leave the heavy slug guns at home, and rifles chambered for straight-walled ammunition come in many calibers.
Safety zone laws remain the same. Gun hunters must be 150 yards from all occupied buildings and schools unless they have landowner permission.
In addition to being legal for hunting in the special regulation zones, the straight-walled shells may be used by hunters almost everywhere in the state.
There are still some exceptions.
"This new option does not apply throughout the entirety of the special regulations areas," said the Game Commission statement. "In all of Philadelphia County, and at Ridley Creek State Park in Delaware County and Tyler State Park in Bucks County, the hunting use of centerfire rifles continues to be prohibited."
The state Legislature permits the Game Commission to control the types of sporting arms and ammunition used in lawful hunting. Some ordinances in Allegheny County and its municipalities may not be up to date regarding the hunting use of centerfire rifles.
"Allegheny County is preempted from enforcing any ordinance banning any firearms or ammunition otherwise lawful under the Game and Wildlife Code," said Jason Raup, author of the legislation and assistant counsel for the Game Commission.
The commission's vote on straight-walled ammunition occurred after publication of the Hunting and Trapping Digest — the listing of laws and regulations provided with the purchase of a hunting license. Some hunters may not have heard the news.
But in Allegheny County, some gun shops anticipated the demand. In late October, National Armory in Moon started advertising that straight-walled shells in many calibers were on their shelves.
"We're selling a lot," manager Nick Brown said. "We're attracting attention out of Ohio, which also went to straight-wall."
Boxes of .450 Bushmaster straight-walled cartridges are selling the fastest, he said, followed by .350 Legend and .45-70 Government.
"Normally, we sell a lot of slug guns," he said, "but we've taken a bunch of traditional slug guns in on trade for straight-walled rifles."
Many of his customers seem to appreciate the advantages of using a low-powered rifle instead of rifled slugs, he said.
"The heavy slugs are going so slowly, the drop is tremendous. [With straight-walled ammunition], you're going to get a more ethical shot on an animal."
The statewide firearm season ends Saturday, followed by two weeks with no deer hunting statewide.
When the special antlerless-only extended firearm season in Allegheny County opens Dec. 27 and runs to Jan. 29, game wardens are likely to see shotguns and rifles in the arms of hunters. The only way to be sure the rifles are loaded with the right ammunition will be to examine a cartridge.
