Thoughts on 350 legend ammunition?

[jj2096]

For all the straight-wall states shooting 350 legend, what ammunition are ya'll shooting? Right now I shoot browning bxr 155gr and have some success. Just wondering if there's something else out there that people like.

 

[wesfromky]

Beer Creek ballistics 140gn all copper as been great for me for the last few years.

 

[Bbrinks]

Hornady 165 FTX have been great for me. Less than 1” at 100 yards, and dropped a nice 11 point that only went about 10 yards.

 

[satchamo]

The Hornady ftx shoots well enough for my rifle. But I’m not entirely sold on it as a killing bullet. Nor am I really sold on any of the current offerings.

I wish like hell Hornady would make a 35 cal SST…

 

[Dale264]

Hornady Ftx handloads are what I currently shoot (16" Ruger Ranch) and had good success, nearly identical to Hornady 165 Customs or their Whitetail Tipped ammo.

I've shot 180gr Federal PowerShok but those DO NOT expand unless you hit bone and are super close.

Barnes VOR-TX 170gr TSX ammo would be my lead free suggestion. I will be handloading this bullet in the future.

Several others in my group shoot Winchester 150XP tipped and the 150gr Copper Impact with decent success (recovered bullets expanded as expected). However occasionally the polymer tips have fallen off when loading their ARs.

 

[Chris in TN]

Published loads of lil'gun and the Hornady 165 FTX in my kids' single shot CVA Scout, with a 20" barrel, are around 2500' MV. My oldest has shot two deer with them, one about 50 yards, the other about 100. Both dropped instantly.

 

[rookieforever33]

Last year I shot bear creek ballistics 140 gr monolithic. 2 dead deer within 30 yards of the shot, neither passed through, not a ton of blood. This year I'm trting nosler 180 gr whitetail country. Not as flat shooting. Hoping for better blood trails.

 

[Chris in TN]

The Hornady ftx shoots well enough for my rifle. But I’m not entirely sold on it as a killing bullet. Nor am I really sold on any of the current offerings.

I wish like hell Hornady would make a 35 cal SST…

Are you wanting more expansion or more penetration?

I ask because I'd sort of like something to expand a bit more, honestly. But if you're wanting more penetration, Fury makes a 180 grain soft point spitzer. I bought some, the BC wasn't as high as I'd hoped so I just went back to the 165FTXs.

 

[Dale264]

... Hoping for better blood trails.

Out of a dozen plus whitetails I've seen shot with the 350L, none have had decent blood trails. I'm not sure what the deal is but that's with several different bullet options at ranges from 20-100yd.

 

[satchamo]

Are you wanting more expansion or more penetration?

I ask because I'd sort of like something to expand a bit more, honestly. But if you're wanting more penetration, Fury makes a 180 grain soft point spitzer. I bought some, the BC wasn't as high as I'd hoped so I just went back to the 165FTXs.

More expansion/possibly fragmenting. I’ve shot more deer than I can remember with 12 GA SSTs before IL went straight wall and they always expanded into big nasty mess of copper and lead and were always lodged in the offside hide. I have never seen a deer run more than 50 yards after shot with one….

SSTs perform a lot like eldms in my experience.

 

[Chris in TN]

More expansion/possibly fragmenting. I’ve shot more deer than I can remember with 12 GA SSTs before IL went straight wall and they always expanded into big nasty mess of copper and lead and were always lodged in the offside hide. I have never seen a deer run more than 50 yards after shot with one….

SSTs perform a lot like eldms in my experience.

That makes sense.

Moving from a controlled-expansion mentality towards a more violent expansion mentality has been a slow process for me and one thing that's made it easier is that using heavier for caliber bullets with higher BCs also as a happy byproduct have higher Sectional Densities. So a long heavy bullet that's going to fragment, sort of hedges your bet - even if it utterly comes apart, the higher SD means it's less likely to do so at a rate that prevents it from penetrating deep enough. And in typical rifle calibers, that high-BC heavy match bullet is starting at a fairly moderate speed and maintaining it well, so that the optimum performance window is really long - you don't expect it to splash up close nor fail to expand at long range, because it starts at a moderate speed then holds it well.

It's really hard to pull that off with a .350 Legend. A bullet heavier than the 165ftx can't be pushed fast enough to really expand a ton. Lighter than 165 and the thought of a shallow wound is always in the back of your mind. I've looked at lighter bullets but don't really trust them to penetrate enough, plus they have the BCs of a brick, so they lose their speed fast. I've looked heavier (in a single shot I can load almost anything) but don't think I can push them fast enough. I have considered trying to resize some hornady 358-200FTXs to .355" but that's easier said than done with jacketed bullets and I know I can't chamber .358s in this rifle. I've tried it with cast pistol bullets. Nope. Besides, I couldn't get them fast enough.

Having said that, my daughter shot two with it, I watched the first, my dad watched the second. Both were instant kills and the one I was with her for, wasn't on shoulder or spine. Perfect top-of-the-heart shot from almost broadsided and the deer just flipped over backwards and was done. But, also, that was with a handload, not factory ammo.

Until some obviously better bullet comes along, I think the best thing is to handload your 165ftx. I'm loading mine as long as I can and them still chamber easily, and with book-published loads of lil'gun I am getting 2500' and have pushed past that a little bit but settled there. That's with a 20" barrel and a suppressor. I'm sure a 16" would be slower. At the end of the day I think it will always be a 200-yard cartridge unless you have perfect conditions that allow you to be certain you can hit the heart or the thickest part of the lungs around it - maybe a 6" to 7" circle instead of the typical 8-10" vital zone we think of deer having.

I've killed A LOT of deer with hornady 40/200 and 45/250 or 45/300 SST-ML bullets (or 45/250 ftx, same thing) and I do think I prefer them to the 35/165ftx. I can easily imagine what such a projectile from a 12 gauge would do to a deer. lol.

If I was doing it over I would start with the .360BuckHammer instead of the .350 Legend, in a single shot or lever gun. But honestly the difference wouldn't be great. Perhaps a .375 Winchester?

 

[bigunit]

Published loads of lil'gun and the Hornady 165 FTX in my kids' single shot CVA Scout, with a 20" barrel, are around 2500' MV. My oldest has shot two deer with them, one about 50 yards, the other about 100. Both dropped instantly.

The published loads for Lil gun are pretty spicy. I tried going straight to max loads (I know, I know) with the 170 interlock as well as the 147 xtp. Both loads pierced primers. Ill back off a grain and try again and maybe use magnum Sr primers.

 

[Mt4+4]

The hornady custom 165 have accounted for quite a few deer in our camp the last couple years . None of the deer went very far from the shot and I think all shots were under 100 yards . I'm trying out the sub x bullets this year just to try something different now that I have a suppressor for my rifle .

 

[Nine Banger]

I shot the Nosler load and its accurate to 300 yards. We didn't kill any animals though.

 

[Rich M]

I load and use 165 gr ftx and 158 gr fury bullets the most but have sized and tried ftx 357 140 gr but not on deer. Thinking to try 180 gr 357 xtp hp and size it for Legend.

Tons of options. I was getting 2450 fps w fury bullets and pulled back thinking was getting too hot for 16 inch barrel.

I really like the caliber. A lot of bullet choices.

The only reason i havent done the 358 180-200 gr ftx is due to mv likely being too low to expand it enough.