350 Legend Thoughts?

[Thoff1989]

Looking for opinions of users of the 350 legend. I have an opportunity to trade for a Savage 110 in 350 legend and was looking for other's options of the round. If you like it what ammo did you like the best for target and hunting performance?

Thanks in advance

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Unless you live in a state that requires straight wall cartridges for hunting, theres no point in owning a 350 legend.

 

[hiker270]

Bought a Ruger American 350 Legend for my grandson. It shoots the Winchester Deer Season XP 150's really good. He has shot 2 whitetails with good results. Low recoil, lightweight rifle. Realistically a 150 to 200 yard max rifle.

 

[SBR Sarge]

I built a 12.5” SBR in 350 Legend with a KAK Industry barrel. I screwed a GSL Technologies can on it and topped it with a Leupold 1.25-4x VXR scope. It groups about 1.25” at 100 yards with five shot groups.

I started with factory Deer Season loads. They killed well but left lots of lead frags in the meat.

I switched to all copper loads from Bear Creek Ballistics. https://bearcreekballistics.com/

I get 2162fps at the muzzle with their 160gr load. I saw perfect mushrooming on the one bullet I have recovered. The others have passed through leaving lots of damage in their wake.

It is not a long range round, but is a great, low recoiling option for closer range work.

 

[Thoff1989]

Thanks for the replies, I expected it to be a close range rifle. I live in Pa but am about an hour to Ohio were they require straight wall cartridges in rifles so I was thinking it would be a nice option if I ever hunted there.

 

[Goatie]

Our hunting group in Iowa had extremely bad experiences with some 180gr browning rounds. The next year we all used mixed rounds and had differing success with several unrecovered deer and little amounts of blood. My conclusions were that 350 legend is a max 175 yard gun, lighter is best, and it is less reliable feeding in an AR.

Im going to build a 350 on a bolt action for the next time I plan on hunting, but only because I bought a suppressor for that caliber. If I weren’t restricted by bore diameter, I would be building 450 bushmaster.

 

[hicountry1]

My Ohio rifle is a Browning BLR in 450 Marlin Mag.

Thumps em

 

[PlumberED]

I have a AR in 350 Legend, I’ve have some feeding issues with the AR that is not quite sorted out, however the rifle shoots 1.5 MOA. The Howa mini looks like a great platform for the 350 L. FWIW the only reason I bought a 350 L is because straight wall cartridges are required for some counties in Maryland.

 

[Boarmaster]

I shot this buck at 180 yards with Winchester Deer season 150s Ranged with my Leica rf. He went approx 20 yards.
Shot a doe the next morning at the same distance standing in the same spot. She dropped in 10 yards. Used my Winchester XPR with a VX3i 2.5-8x36 scope. Got the job done.

 

[Boarmaster]

Unless you live in a state that requires straight wall cartridges for hunting, theres no point in owning a 350 legend.

Or you hunt in one.

 

[Thegman]

One of my first tries at putting together a straight pull AR was with 20" Faxon 350 Legend barrel. Accurate and super easy to load for; shot everything I tried really well. I took a big black bear and grizzly with it. Used 180 Speer sized down and Winchester 180PP made for the 350 Legend. It was a good "thumper", but I'd agree that it's best at 150 yards and under. I'd personally go with a 16" if I built another.

 

[Fordguy]

Unless you live in a state that requires straight wall cartridges for hunting, theres no point in owning a 350 legend.

Low recoil, relatively large diameter bullets, inexpensive factory ammo, and solid performance on whitetail sized game to 200 yards make a pretty compelling point. Heck, even when I've hunted antelope the 350 legend would have been fine. I've been able to sneak within a few hundred yards on most stalks.

Standard factory ammo is 2150-2300 fps, but some companies have started making ammo in the 2600 fps range, and while I haven tested any, I'm interested to see how it performs at longer distances.

 

[roymunson]

it's a fantastic gun for accuracy and a light hitting gun that works really well for kids. i've killed deer with it. It will absolutely kill deer. But if you're not required to use a straightwall, i'd stick with my 243 or something with more energy.

I will use it if I'm sitting a field edge and want to neck shoot does and drop them there. If I'm in the woods and want to shoulder shoot a big buck, I'll be taking my 444.

The 400 legend intrigues me though, just cant get ahold of the rifle itself.

 

[Thoff1989]

Thanks again for the replies! I had never given one much thought until this one walked into my potential. It sounds like it might fit a certain niche for me.

 

[SBR Sarge]

Low recoil, relatively large diameter bullets, inexpensive factory ammo, and solid performance on whitetail sized game to 200 yards make a pretty compelling point. Heck, even when I've hunted antelope the 350 legend would have been fine. I've been able to sneak within a few hundred yards on most stalks.

Standard factory ammo is 2150-2300 fps, but some companies have started making ammo in the 2600 fps range, and while I haven tested any, I'm interested to see how it performs at longer distances.

Bear Creek Ballistics has a 140gr load with a ballistic tip made for guns that do not have magazine length issues. They advertise 2600 from a 22” barrel. They also have a 140gr with just a polymer plug n the nose for AR length mags.

This should extend the range a bit for the round.

350 Legend 140 Grain Ammunition - Bear Creek Ballistics

bearcreekballistics.com

 

[bullnose]

I moved to .350 Legend here in lower MI shortly after it came out. I use a Winchester XPR with Winchester 160 gr power max bonded, and my son uses a CVA Scout with the Winchester 150 gr. XP. Between us, we've taken 5 deer with the .350.

The longest was 115 yards with the 150 XPs. The buck was quartering toward us when shot. He kicked at the shot and ran 20 yards where he nosed in the dirt. We watched him lay there motionless for a few minutes before we walked out to find him dead. We looked for blood out of curiousity and couldn't find any. We had a hard time finding the entrance hole and there wasn't an exit hole. When we processed him we found the bullet had hit the heart, passed through a lung, and lodged in the rib cage. That would explain the quick death and no blood trail.

I've had a pass through with the 160 gr loads, but the 150s have consistently lodged in the opposite side. Luckily none have run more than 75 yards, with most dropping within sight after being hit. I chalk that up to practice and intentional bullet placement rather than just terminal performance.

We could never get the 180 grain loads to shoot worth a darn in either rifle. As others have said, stick with the lighter stuff.

 

[wesfromky]

Bear Creek Ballistics has a 140gr load with a ballistic tip made for guns that do not have magazine length issues. They advertise 2600 from a 22” barrel. They also have a 140gr with just a polymer plug n the nose for AR length mags.

This should extend the range a bit for the round.

350 Legend 140 Grain Ammunition - Bear Creek Ballistics

bearcreekballistics.com

I have been using their 160's with solid results, but have a few boxes of the standard 140's for this year.

If you have to have a strightwall rifle, the 350 is a pretty solid choice. Add a suppressor for even less recoil and muzzle blast.

 

[JustinRB]

I will say this,
Ive dumped a few deer from ground level with it
Hardly any blood trails if you hit them high
Shooting down and through a tree stand might be a different story.
I still found all my deer but only due to snow or ground disturbances

 

[Fordguy]

I moved to .350 Legend here in lower MI shortly after it came out. I use a Winchester XPR with Winchester 160 gr power max bonded, and my son uses a CVA Scout with the Winchester 150 gr. XP. Between us, we've taken 5 deer with the .350.

The longest was 115 yards with the 150 XPs. The buck was quartering toward us when shot. He kicked at the shot and ran 20 yards where he nosed in the dirt. We watched him lay there motionless for a few minutes before we walked out to find him dead. We looked for blood out of curiousity and couldn't find any. We had a hard time finding the entrance hole and there wasn't an exit hole. When we processed him we found the bullet had hit the heart, passed through a lung, and lodged in the rib cage. That would explain the quick death and no blood trail.

I've had a pass through with the 160 gr loads, but the 150s have consistently lodged in the opposite side. Luckily none have run more than 75 yards, with most dropping within sight after being hit. I chalk that up to practice and intentional bullet placement rather than just terminal performance.

We could never get the 180 grain loads to shoot worth a darn in either rifle. As others have said, stick with the lighter stuff.

I've killed several deer with the 150 grain Winchester xp from 20 yards to 150 yards or so and blood trail has been minimal on all of them. Only one has been a pass through. Like you, I've found most bullets (or at least the copper jacket) just under the hide on the off-side of the animal. None of the deer have gone far after the shot. I think the greatest distance traveled after the shot was about 65 yards. Some have dropped immediately
I've used the Hornady american whitetail 170 grain soft point and the Winchester 180 PowerPoint, and I've had pass through shots and blood trails with both. They just haven't been as accurate as the 150 xp. Even so, the difference in accuracy probably isn't enough to make a difference in ability to put one in the kill zone at the effective range of the 350 Legend, at least from personal experience.

 

[jmez]

Unless you live in a state that requires straight wall cartridges for hunting, theres no point in owning a 350 legend.

Disagree it is a great rifle/round for little kids. Great terminal performance on deer with no recoil.

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