Short answer: In Ohio, the 35-30 wouldn't pass muster because there IS a SHOULDER - it's a "bottle-neck." It may or may not be written that way in the actual text of the law, but that's the boiled down affect.
I'm not a lawyer either. This is my interpretation as a hunter reading the information provided by ODNR, which one MUST read each year because it changes.
The "straight-wall" moniker is a misnomer - a nick-name, colloquialism, and inaccurate as well as incomplete. The 38-5 and 375, as well as other legal cartridges have "straight" walls too - but yet they're tapered! Maybe some day the 35-30 WILL be OK based on logic and reason, but for now - we're getting there. One would have to read the actual text of the law and know the history to understand and it's just not worth it to do that.
There's a lot to it and the law has evolved for the better in Ohio since we first got handguns approved for hunting deer a few decades ago. The DNR has made and effort, listened to hunters and made decisions/drawn lines which are reasonable and practical - until we find a better way to define cartridges which are safe in the hands of idiots in a state which is both very flat (a large portion of it) and very densely populated, even in rural areas.
I also don't personally know or associate with anyone in this state who is as unhappy about the law as so many people on other forums whom it does not affect and who know nothing more about it than the misleading nick-name it has. I appreciate the tone and direction of this thread on this forum, so thank you all for not "going there."
The laws are complicated and boring and not perfect, but we're getting there and I am very pleased that I can hunt with a lever action 44 Mag (or 45-70), my 357 Max in a Contender Carbine, and my neighbor can carry his "black rifle" afield if he wants - as long as he has no more than THREE ROUNDS TOTAL in the gun.
![Very Happy :D](./images/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif)
Yeah, technically and ballistically, even the 30-30 should pass muster too, but if we'd waited until someone figured out how to keep creative minds from subverting or circumventing the law, we'd still be shooting slugs-only here while we wait. Remember, the law has to be enforced and we have very few game officers covering vast areas. They won't have time to have a ballistic debate in the field and carry micrometers, chronographs and strain gauges.
With that, you also have my apologies for the long post which has little to do with the intrigue and possibilities for a new cartridge spawned by something which affects some of us and need not be dissected for the purposes of enjoying the cartridge itself.