Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting 350 Legend or 6mm ARC for a deer rifle

If you had to choose from these two, 350 Legend or 6mm ARC for a deer rifle, which would it be & why?

I think the 350 Legend is more of a "wood" gun for shorter ranges. 6mm ARC is flatter shooting (243 bullet), but how much downrange energy does it produce? Enough to quickly kill a deer? 350 compares to a 30-30, straight wall for states that don't allow necked cartridges. 6mm arc is a weak 243 for comparison. What about a 6.5 Grendel for a better deer cartridge out of an AR. Both can shoot out of an AR.

It all comes down to what range and how wooded are your conditions? Open fields, 200 yards? Heavy woods and can't see over 100 yards? Over green fields with less than 100 yards?

For most of my hunting the Legend.


Neither come close to something I'd chose. Or use. By choice.

My preferences run counter to many here.
I like girth and speed.
Girth, in moderation. 26-30.

Speed kills.
A loaded semi can't kill a possum at 3mph.

Too much is destructive, but that's secondary to quick kills.

I have looked at the external ballistics & a few things may be surprising to many. Muzzle energy of each is very similar & generally 350 legend has slightly more at the muzzle. I have heard where hunters in the east that are required to use a straight walled cartridge are reporting surprising terminal performance beyond 150 yards with the 350 Legend.

Dixy dude touches on the environment where the 6mm ARC may shine very well. I live in very much open country. So you may guess correctly that the 6mm ARC rose to the top rather quickly for me. Bullet placement is key with either. If you are a non reloader & 103 grain ELDX factory hunting load shoots well in your rifle The 6mm ARC may do well for you. If the one factory hunting load does not shoot well from your rifle your choices are only one from the non reloader perspective. Changing something about your rifle barrel may be your only option.

As a reloader when I was not satisfied with accuracy from factory ammo I tried different powders & charge weights below the 103gr ELDX with no joy initially. Switched to a 108 Grain Elite hunter & my rifle quickly became a sub MOA rifle with one of the best BC offerings of all the .243 caliber hunting bullet many offerings.

My first season with the 6mm ARC 22" bolt action rifle, I happened to get the opportunity an an exceptional 5ish year old 4x4 whitetail's. Opportunity was near dusk & 254 laser ranged yards. Chose a high shoulder shot placement. That hansom brute simply collapsed at the shot. That load offered 1378 LBS of energy at impact which was clearly enough.

Since that 1st season I have found a powder combination that shoots the 103gr ELDX very well. I have also found that the 87 Grain Absolute Hammer all copper hunting bullet was very effective in terms of accuracy & terminal performance.

While I prefer the 6mm ARC; If you primarily hunt the woods where shots tend to be inside of 100 yards the 350 Legend may serve you better. More factory ammo offerings to choose from at a better price point is hard to overlook as well.

Very different use cases for both - they're not really comparable. 350 Legend for 100 yards or in close shots in heavy cover, or if I had to hunt somewhere with mandatory inane cartridge restrictions. 6ARC for anything else. Neither would be in my top 10 list, and I'd be picky with shots using the 6ARC. 6.5G and 6.8SPC both beat the 6ARC for deer.

350 for me. I hunt with a silencer, and shoot deer at 100 yards or less.

6 ARC with a softish 80-85 grain bullet. Will kill under 100 or over 200.

I have both though still building the ARC. If pushed to choose one would probably be the legend as it covers 99 percent of the hunting I do and legal in Ohio where I own land, ammo being cheaper is a plus. I see the ARC as more of a fun range tool with hunting potential. The legend as more hunting tool with limited range potential.

The .350 Legend is great for shots out to 150 easy. I have hit the 12 inch gong at our range consistently at 200 yards but not shot any deer at that range.

get both, it's the only reasonable answer. It's what I did. Well I got a very similar cartridge the 6AR. Easy enough to have two uppers for your rifle. I really like the 350 Legend as it is a great cast bullet gun and works well farther than I will get a shot in the woods. In my opinion the 6ARC may give you a hundred yards more than the Legend is capable of. Just remember as range increases you are still running an approximately 100 grain bullet and when velocity gets to 2000fps you are at M1 carbine ballistics. A widely unheralded deer cartridge.

Takes 400-500 yards for velocity to drop that low.

Either would be fine for me and my hunting. Both are available in the Howa Minis I’m so fond of. Both are available in ARs, though if I wanted an AR for the ARC I’d want one with an intermediate-size upper for extra strength as some use for the Grendel. The ARC is a better all-around cartridge, and I have a couple thousand 6mm bullets on hand, so that would factor in. OTOH the .350 is quite popular, with lots of ammo available at good prices, lots of rifle choices, and in addition has some interesting personal defense possibilities in either an AR or a custom Mini 14.

Since I have a nice Grendel, I’d probably go with a Legend as an educational experience, and to have something on hand for any straight-wall state hunting opportunities that might arise.

I have both and I am on the waiting list for a suppressor. So I can wait to shoot the 350 legend with it but I love the 243 bullets on deer

Get both, you can’t have two many rifles. I have a new to me 375 Win I’m eager to try on pigs and deer this year.

I have a 350 Legend.... So I'd go with the 6 Grendel...

but I have split the difference and put a 6 x 45 barrel on a Savage 10 action.

It gives real good velocity in ratio to how little powder it takes, for 90, 95, 100 and 105 grain Bullets.

I live in Ohio which is a straight wall cartridge state, so it’s 350 Legend for me. I have 2. A 350 upper for my AR-15, and a lefty Savage Axis. Both are more than accurate enough for 150-200 yard whitetail hunting. In the area I hunt a 100 yard shot is a long one. If I lived in a state where I could use a bottleneck cartridge, I would definitely try the 6mm ARC. Like Someone else said, get both if you can afford them.

Ron