Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 350 Legend in the AR

So apparently my barrel at CMMG was cancelled. So I guess I'll see who else can make it.

BCA has complete uppers in stock, but they are 16" chrome vanadium barrels. Craddock precision and Deadshot barrels will make barrels.

I found it interesting that Craddock claims standard 5.56 magazines will not feed correctly, which is a surprise given the cartridge is just a blown out 5.56.

Fixed that part for ya.



The ribs in 5.56 magazines are intended to contact the 5.56 case at the neck - a .35 cal case contacting in the same spot causes the rounds to go pigeon toed in the mag. The same issue occurs with some heavy bullet 300 Blk loads (especially straight nosed cast bullets) and other large caliber wildcats like my 358 Herrett. A solution is to remove the ribs; on metal mags I mill out the rib area, and on Pmags you can disassemble the mag and file down the ribs.

Of course, the 300 Blk Pmag has reduced ribs for this same reason, and might work with the 350. If not, you'd have to file the ribs down further.

Ruger is now shipping both ARs and American Ranch in .350 Legend.

I've been looking at the 350 Legend as well and I understand they actually created an new case. nearly identical but not to a blown out .223. I'd also consider trying subs with a suppressor.

What is the bullet size for the Legend?? I went and had a 357 AR barrel made (223 straight walled - 357 Max load data) a year and a half ago, and have been searching for the 180gr SSP bullet that Hornady and Speer offered during the IHMSA heyday. Finding limited supply at $.50 a bullet prices - I passed. My thinking was that when bullets come out for the 350 Legend, the cost will come down. So, is the Legend .355, .357 or .358 bore?

Midway has AR-Stoner uppers on sale, FWIW

May be some what late with this information but you might want to look at the 300 Ham'r, all kinds of 308 dia bullets for it. Don't hold me to this but I think it has a higher MV than the 350 Legend. You can check it out at Wilson Combat .com. My upper should be here tomorrow.

The 300 Ham'r isn't straight walled and doesn't meet minimum caliber requirements in the states the .350L was designed for.

Unfortunately, it's .355

I also heard 2nd hand, that if you stick a .357" bullet in the case, it won't chamber. However, that may or may not be correct information.

Tony

I received a CMMG barrel a few weeks ago but due to health issues just got around to assembling an upper. Set up carbine length test fired for function with Winchester 145 gr FMJ factory loads ($8.99) it fired slightly over gassed for ejection and ran 11 rounds through it flawlessly . Used 10 round CMMG magazines fed perfectly. will mount a scope on this later today and see what's what....

I had a .38 Super. They are nominally .356. I shot both .355 and .357 bullets out of it. It shot the tighter fitting .357's a lot better.

If I had one, I'd probably try some .357's, starting with light bullets, and see what happened.

If need be, you could turn .02 off the "necks" to keep the over all OD the same.

My rant: The effort required to screw up a wet dream that could have been with the 350 Legend, is freaking astounding. Instead of commercializing the 357 AR or just slightly shortening the case for running common 357/358 bullets and straight/blown out 223 brass, they reinvented the wheel by replacing it with a square. Genius. Now it ONLY makes sense in certain states AND don’t load.

IF I decide to run a 35 AR15, it’ll be a 357 AR or other proposition, and just load for it. There will likely always be more bullets, brass, and load options.....regardless of what the ‘Legendary’ almost does.

Yeah, I’m peeved. I was hankering for this, so badly, and they went full retard on it.

Just my take.

HH, it reminds me of the 30 Remington AR debacle. Same dumb cartridge design decisions. At least they got the bullet diameter right on that one!

Got some glass on the AR 350 today (a proven scope and mount) with 145 gr FMJ Winchester ammo 10 shots was 2.5" at 100 yds. Nothing to write home about but serviceable. Have Hornady and Federal 170's and 180's on the way and will post that performance on arrival . This is a CMMG barrel free floated in a Aero upper and tube. Giving it a chance to be good. We will see....Dana

Not quite sure what debacle, but a buddy has one and its SWEET on hogs at night. I really love shooting his gun on hog hunts. Not that its better or worse than others but dang that thing runs well and kills well

Jeff, they don't make the 30 RAR anymore. It was a total sales failure.

I agree, the concept is wonderful and I wish they hadn't screwed it up. But special bolts, barrel extensions, and especially brass that can't easily be made out of anything else killed it.

Another part of the debacle around the 35 Legend....


It was designed to meet certain requirements to be deer hunting legal in some Midwest states.

Part of the requirement apparently, was a minimum bore diameter of .357".

Now Iowa has rejected the 35 Legend because bore diameter is .355"......oooops….lol!

A lot of people are going to think that was an AH move. But I applaud it. Maybe the 350 L will get straightened out now.

I wish Hornady would just come in and commercialize the
357 AR, and drop about 3, 55k-60k rated hunting loads, while re-starting the 180SSP.....and watch Winchester squirm. They don’t EVEN have to make guns, barrels, etc.....Aftermarket would be all over it.

I got a horde of those 180 SSP hornadys as well as a ton of remington 150 grain, intended for 35 remington. Got all excited when the legend was announced. I am 35 caliber nut. i have been wanting a 35 caliber AR but not bad enough to spend the money on custom. Thought I was all set with the legend of course Winchester f'ed it up. This was definitely a cartridge designed by engineers and bean counters.Hornady should do this cartridge right.

BCA put the uppers on for $264, which is a lot less than a RAR, so that made it a relatively cheap experiment. I notice Hornady now has a 170gr bullet for it.

I'm wondering if a typical 5.56 lower might benefit from a heavier buffer before mounting this upper?

It is legal in Iowa. Do a little more research.

That's the way I went & just received my BCA upper. I picked up some of the Hornady 170gr loads for it too. Haven't tested for accuracy but a quick 10 round "function test" went without a hitch.
I'm no AR expert by any means, but if it uses the same bolt group and runs at the same pressure as 5.56, it would seem the same buffer would be fine?

I get it some folks are incensed with not being able to use .223 cases, but with readily available and relatively inexpensive brass and FMJ (<$10) plinking ammo, I don't see it as a huge stumbling block. In the big picture of things, it's a very small percentage of people who buy into the .350 that such things matter.

After doing some looking into this I'm going to pass. I still want to do a heavier cal, ar15 upper but I want it to be easy to load for and get components for. If it gain some traction, the .300 Ham'r from Wilson shows good promise. I like the .458 SOCOM also but it would get expensive to shoot much.

About where I’m at on the 30/35 bore in ARs. Nothing is a large enough improvement over my 6.8s for hunting, when all the variables are taken into account, for me to add another head stamp to the current collection. I do have a 300 BO that’s mostly a house/farm/truck gun. It’ll work for some close hunting, but the HAMR/TAC 30/Herrett would be better all around. The 357 AR is still a big step up from the legend, in every way except box labels.

I still have a stash of Barnes 30-30 bullets to load in something that a HAMR or Herett might really be nasty with, too.

hamr still getting it done here...

Great front flip on that last hog!

The BCA upper shoots well; after zeroing I put the first four into 1 3/8" at 100 yards.

Mags? Well, they are a problem. You can single load out of 5.56 mags but that's a headache. Guess I should bought some of the CMMG's when Midway had them

Just take some Pmags apart, and file the front, inside guide ribs away, with a bastard file, and they’ll probably run like a champ.

Yeah, I have heard you can do that as well.

Looking at the Winchester web site, they apparently re-figured or unfigured something. They're now saying the bullet diameter is .357.
https://winchester.com/350-legend/faq

I see there is a .355 165g FTX too, I wonder how they might fair in my 357 MAX. its a 357 bore and sees no difference with 358s, so I wonder how much another 001 or 002 would matter

Saw the cartridge for the first time tonight.

It looks neat.

My friend's Nephew has one and it is for his Daughter to use deer hunting this year.

He tried some 357 pistol bullets but they would not fit in the chamber.

So i will pull them for him.

The thought hit me:Has anyone sized jacketed pistol bullets down a smidgen?

In the morning i will try and see what happens.

Yeppers. Done that. I sized some .312s through a .308 Lee bullet sizer die to use them in a .30-30. They actually come out .309 but that's better that .312. I have a TC contender barrel but haven't tested them yet. That was a last winter project, or maybe the previous winter project, that I haven't quite gotten around to.

Regarding the .350 Legend, the velocity that Hodgdon's site claims for a 147 grain 9mm XTP has me interested in one for winter jackrabbit blasting. I shot some with a Marlin .357 lever action and 158s at about 1700 or so .. bunny blew up leaving a hair (hare? :)) cloud drifting in the wind. A 147 at 2400 or so seems even more diabolically interesting.

Tom

It will be. I’ve run 125-158 pistol bullets above far above 2400, in the 357 max, and coyote results are entertaining.

The reason for the re-sizeing was he bought a box of bullets for a 357 mag and didn't notice the smaller bullet in the 350.

I used some imperial sizing lube and did the whole box in my RCBS sizer/lube press.

At first i thought it was going to break something but it went smooth after the first few.

Hit them with some carb cleaner to get the lube off and they all measured .355+-.

Thank goodness he only had 4 loaded when he found out the difference.

Bought a 16" BCA complete upper and put on an Aero Precision lower I have. They were sold out of the 20" barrel.

FMJ 145's do "ok" out to 100 yds 2-3 MOA.

150gr polymer tips from Winchester were 1 - 1 1/2 MOA.

180gr Winchester Deer Season XP's.... whoa nelly!! 1/2-1 MOA at 100 yds. 2" high @ 100 and expecting 3" low out to 200 yds. Can't wait for deer season...

I killed a spike the weekend before last with the .350. The shot was about 90 yards, broadside, and I hit him in the heart. He went 20 yards, blood pouring out both holes, and piled up. The load was the Winchester Factory 180gr softpoints, which group well. On game at moderate range, I think this setup is a very satisfactory deer rifle.

The BCA upper has carbine gas, and seems to correctly gassed, as it ejects at 3:30. Using a 10 round CMMG magazine, there's been no malfunctions. RCBS supposedly has dies coming, but I've not seen them in stock anywhere. Redding and Lee have dies but I don't like Lee and won't pay big bucks for the Reddings. Starline has brass, and Hornady has bullets.

My chamber only has about .002"-.003" neck clearance with the Winchester brass - which is probably why it shoots well. I've not yet tried seating .358 bullets, since I have no dies, but they won't slip into fired cases.

I don't know if this will prove reliable enough for serious social purposes, but I'm pleased, so far.

.I wish you guys would stop grouseing about this round until they make some subsonic loads with 250 grain bullets, then I will be able to buy some cheap bullets for my 9mm mauser!!

My BCA upper with a 16" barrel shoots sub MOA groups at 100 yds. with the Winchester 150 grain Deer Season XP ammo. Averages 2165 fps.

Ron

Do you think you will be able to use .358 bullets. Everything I hear the 350 Legend uses a .355 bullet.

My bud's Nephew has one and tried to load some 358 bullets.

The brass wound not chamber at all.
Maybe the later ones might be opened up a tad.

He did kill an 8 pt.with it 2 weeks ago and it sure did the job.

I have a 6.8 SPC which kills deer no problem with the 95 grain TTSX, what does the 350 Legend do that the 6.8 will not do, unless I am hunting in a chit hole .357 straight case state? The pistol in 350 would I guess be cool, but why over a 300 BO?

Unfortunately I live in one of those chit hole straight walled states. I ordered a 350 upper yesterday and will play with it next summer dialing it in. I still love my 450 AR so we will see how the legend does

I run a 6.8 on deer and hogs, a lot. A REAL straight walled 357/358 AR pushing 180s right, is some added emphasis. The 350 legend isn’t all that, but it’s still plenty to kill with.

If you're already using the 6.8, try one of the .358 wildcats based on the 6.8 case and 357 Herrett cartridge. I just call mine a 358 Herrett - it'll do 200gr @ 2200 fps easily in a 16" barrel, and is also good for heavy subsonic hollow points.

Yeah.....we get into wildcats for performance, and that 30/6.8 case does well

this pretty much wraps up november...

PSA has complete upper in 350 good price?

https://palmettostatearmory.com/psa-16-350-legend-carbine-length-1-16-stainless-steel-13-5-lightweight-m-lok-upper-with-bcg-ch.html?trk_msg=VIPLAS84AQI4H3U54V3DUCP7IC&trk_contact=PRONIAHTI69QGH9TL8A6LEIFBO&trk_sid=3VR56BFGB65D4I2LM1DJ44PE20&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=https%3a%2f%2fpalmettostatearmory.com%2fpsa-16-350-legend-carbine-length-1-16-stainless-steel-13-5-lightweight-m-lok-upper-with-bcg-ch.html&utm_campaign=Daily+Deal&utm_content=5%3a00+Email

I bet the pieces don't run very far. Cheers NC

Took the 350 out last weekend deer hunting in Iowa. Shot 2 deer with it and it dumped both of them.

First was at approximately 50 yds and shot was low and back (was running) through low hips. Adjusted my lead, second shot directly into the chest and piled her up.

Second deer (bonus tags in our county), ran out of a wooded draw into corn field at 70-80 yds. First shot took out the liver, second shot top of the heart and third shot piled him up with a spine hit.

I am very pleased with how the round performed with minimal meat damage but very good performance from the Winchester 180 gr soft point ammo in regard to piling up the deer quickly and making an ethical harvest.

the legend deer season 150 grain looks like a black v-max at 2300 fps. Yondering's 358 Herrett makes more sense to me, 200 grain V-max at 2200. I don't get things right now, a straight wall case that is not able to be used in a straight walled state.

My 358 was always intended to duplicate 35 Remington performance (I've liked that old cartridge since I first started learning about rifles and handloading), and it does a good job of that. For straight up hunting performance in an AR it's probably a better choice in most states, but I certainly get the appeal of the 350 Legend. I have to admit, if the Legend had been available 5-6 years ago, I may not have bothered with my 358.

I'm still tempted to pick up a Legend barrel; with the right twist rate I think it could be a sweet suppressed setup with heavy subsonic loads. If Winchester (or somebody) would release a 350 Legend load that approximates a 158gr hollow point 38 Special for suppressed use, they could have a real winner, especially if used in something like a Ruger American Compact. I'd buy one.