Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Straightwall cartridge choice?

Happy to read so many good results from 350 Legend. The reports online are so inconsistent, from deer running for miles and no blood at all, to making it a few yards and being real gushers.

Thinking of trying one for 200 yards and (usually very much less) in. With 170gr TSX and 180gr Powerpoint.

No obligation to. Just looks cool. Figure if 30-30 has been killing critters for so long, it should too.

Put me in the crowd of no blood at all with my 350 legend this year on a mature Illinois 10 pointer with the 150gr Deer Season XP.

Full disclosure, I had to thread the needle through some saplings and a bush and got him a little high and a little back. But, I’ll be damned, he only made it 60 yards before crashing. Im still perplexed how he expired so quick….

Huh, no kidding.

Have seen em go that far with a shot through the vitals with a 308 or 30-06.

Guess they ain't the "big boy rounds" that Swampy was talking about lol. Clearly underpowered for deer.


Wonder if having only an entry and no exit, located farther up on the animal than the blood filling its innards is why it didn't give you any sign on the ground?

We hunt in Iowa with the .350 Legend. Have taken about 7 deer in the last 3 years in our group, using the 150 grain Winchester Deer Season load. Not the toughest bullet available for the .350 but relatively inexpensive and accurate our guns. None has gone further than 40 yards after the shot and none have required a second shot. Ranges from 75 to 120 yards.

Got a 450 Bushmaster Henry single shot this year since Illinois opened up to the straight wall cartridge idea. Shot a buck through the lungs and clipping the vessels off the top of the heart at about 30 yards. Behaved just like every deer I've ever shot in that place with any cartridge, hopped bit, wagged his tail and shook his head a little, wandered about 40 yards and fell over.
Only way I've ever had a deer do a DRT routine is to make a bad shot, high enough to clip or severely traumatize the spine area.

I read about the 450BM recoil being heavy, but all I can say is that in the ss Henry it is mild compared to even a 7mm Mauser at modern speeds. The Winchester 2200fps load also has good ballistics (relatively speaking) out to 200 yards.

The Henry is a nice looking rig too, well made and the walnut in the stock is awesome.

One thing I've noticed with the 350L is if you load a magazine and seat the cartridges with the rims against the rear of the magazine, once you chamber the first round all the cartridges will be nose against the front of the magazine.

Do the other straight walls do this in ARs?

Seems like it could affect feed/function.
Normal AR mags have a ridge that bears on the cartridge shoulder, holding the cartridges back.

I have a straightwall only county near me. When the season opens back up after Christmas I will be toting the 45-70

Found that the 450bm gives similar performance to the 45-70 so my brother,buddy, and I all switched to ARs in 450bm for bear baiting here in Alaska. Quicker follow up shots and fast shots in the brush when going in to find them after shot. Feel it’s a great setup for sure. Lot of others use the 458 socom up here but the 450bm give better ballistics power wise.

+ 1000

i have 3 barrels in the Max. love the round. the new 360 is even better.

Lots of previously-existing cartridges will work and fit the rules, but damn few of them are readily available, either the rifles or the ammo. The vast majority of deer hunters aren’t gun cranks or handloaders. They just want to hunt, wipe their rifle off (maybe) and go back to real life. They definitely don’t want to spend the off season scrounging for hunting ammo. Rifle Loonys can pick and choose, it’s all part of the fun.

Now there are good choices for bolt-actions, leverguns, ARs, and single-shots, so everybody can use what they like.

Yes. As one has the rifle in hand, stick with a typical 405 grain slug in front of a commercial load and one should be comfortable and safe before any of north America's big game. I made the mistake of hopping up some rounds for a Marlin Guide gun. It now kills on both ends but front-end efficacy has likely remained the same. I will be going back to rounds doing about 1,250 fps where it's a puppy.

Decades of readings and my experience have convinced me there are 3 important issues with big game gunning. They are placement, placement, and placement.

I haver a Marlin 45-70 guide gun, haver killed a lot of deer and hogs with it. Mine is ported I have never minded the recoil from it. I think I have more felt recoil from my mod 88 Win in .308. One of my favorite rifles.

We have taken a number of deer with the .350 Legend due to the requirements of Iowa (which have now changed a bit) and it is an effective, accurate and light recoiling round.

I purchased a CVA Cascade 350 Legend this year. No deer yet but it feels solid and is accurate. If Browning would make one in their BAR line I would buy it also.

Sketchy at best