Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 350 Legend report

I am looking forward to some real world reports on how it kills deer. Looking forward also to more selection in Bolt action rifles but not to optimistic that will happen as it looks like a niche round to me.

I’m struggling with the decision myself. I go to Ohio for gun season every year. Normally shoot a muzzleloader or shotgun. It would be nice to have a proper centerfire like a 450bm or 350.

The 350 seems like it’s a cluster F for reloaders due to the bullet diameter, but is otherwise enticing.

I have a apex, but can’t seem to find a 45-70 barrel any longer.

Curious to see what the 350 does this year

I have 2 options and none include this wunderkind. 450 BM Ruger American or a Henry Single Shot 357 converted to 357 max.

Keep in mind 350 ammo is pretty inexpensive. Plus, it’s seems quite accurate and though I see it touted to be deer-capable to 200 yds., I think that might be stretching it; maybe 150 and somewhat beyond, but depending on circumstances.

I’m not going to bother reloading.

That would be one benefit, although the winchester factory ammo I have seen in the last few years could be much much better..

I'm talking about factory loads for both - the 350 is a step behind the 35 Rem. 350 has to use lighter bullets to reach the same velocity, 180gr vs the classic 200gr 35 Rem load, and that's from advertised ballistics which never ever exaggerate.


I'd like to see someone bring out a 158gr 38 Special duplicate load for the 350. It could be pretty popular for suppressed shooting; that load in a rifle barrel with a decent suppressor is about as close as you can get to hollywood quiet other than a .22.

Not something I plan to reload if I went 350 legend due to all the poor decisions they made in design. Just need something for 1 week a year to kill deer.

Unfortunate the apex never received much love or aftermarket barrel support or I could use it. I never have seen any custom barrels for the apex, and doubt anyone makes them

You can buy the Scout V2 in 357, 44,444.450 Bushmaster or 45/70 for near the price of a replacement barrel. Scout is based off the Apex receiver. I had a Apex muzzleloader which I should have never sold.

I have a 250 Savage barrel for my Apex. It was originally a 22-250 barrel and was stubbed, into a barrel blank. It shoots very well.

My 16” 357 Max Encore w/Bellm barrel/chamber will mudhole both factory 35 Rem and the 350....180s @2400+ from any 35, generally impress what they hit. The legend COULDA been very close to that, easily. At 2000, they’re still not bad medicine....up close. An extra 300 will make them matter much more past 150-200. For 90% of deer/hog hunting at <150yards, the legend is probably just fine.

Win’s 180 is listed at 2100 FPS on the box. If a 357 mag can take a deer reliably at 75 yds assuming correct placement, I would think you could double that with the 350. Like I said, a kind of 357 Mag long.

Probably not safe, and a long shot of course. Pressures from 350 legend probably too high

. I just emailed dead air to see if 350 legend would be safe through my ghost m 45 suppressor that should be out of nfa jail any day now. My other cans are rimfire or 30 cal cans so definitely won’t work.

Unlikely I know, but heck can’t hurt to ask. I would imagine the subsonic loads will be but here is to hoping supers would be safe!

If so I guess that’s the way I will go. If not I guess I still have options. Lol

Got a answer from dead air regarding whether or not safe to shoot 450 bushmaster or 350 legend through ghost M 45 suppressor

450 bushmaster not safe super or subsonic even though PSI lower than 10mm. Has to do with bullet weight and drag. Will stretch baffles out.

350 legend safe for subsonic, unsafe supersonic.

Dang

Spent a little more range time with my Chrony. The Win 180 PP is listed at 2100 FPS and I got 2064 fps average; the Hornady 170 is listed at 2200 but I got 2341 avg from my 22 inch barrel! I was really optimistic about the 170 Hornady until I tried a crude bullet test. I wanted to catch a bullet so I stuffed a shoe box with ~ 6 inches of dry newspaper and stuffed this in front of a larger box stuffed with dirt. Both rounds blew through the newspaper. The 170 Horn. seems pretty soft and separated, but the 180 PP really held together and only lost about 15 g. You can make out the inter-lock ring in the pic below. I'm thinking they need a little harder lead core. Although slower and a little less less accurate, the 180 PP will be my hunting load this year. I've tried to find components online but these bullets are sold out though Midsouth has dies. I still would love a 140g all copper offering loaded to ~ 2500-2600 FPS.

By the way, I tried shooting at 200 yds in very gusty winds and the Legend didn't do well although the drop was only about 6 inches with a 100 yd zero.. The stubby bullets really get tossed around in a strong wind. Best to keep shots under 150 unless things are calm IMHO.

My gut tells me your test medium is far harder on the bullets than a deer? Anyhoo, I’ve always had FAR more trouble getting 180-ish 35 bullets to expand enough in deer, and I’ve yet to see one come apart.....but they weren’t those exact bullets, either. The only 35 bullets I’ve had separate in my hotter 357 max loads were the 125/158 gr JHP/JSP pistol bullets, driven above 2700, in coyotes.....which was the intended result.

Cool bullet test. Looks like they will work great for deer. That 170 Hornady should be excellent as well. Be hard to beat either one.

Yes, I was aware that dry newspaper is a tough medium on bullets. I chose it as a worst case scenario.

The PP really surprised me with it's toughness. Too bad there isn't a perfect home test medium before slinging these at live animals. After season there will be a lot more field data on what works and how far out. My gut just tells me the heavier and tougher PP looks like the better bet right now. I'm not even going to try the 150g XP. That just looks explosive to me.

Curious about your comment on the 35 cal bullets not expanding. Existing .357 pistol bullets may have been too soft and .358 rifle bullets a little too hard at 350 Legend velocities. Maybe that's another reason why Winchester went .355. I still think they wanted to sell niche bullets/ammo for this new chambering.

For comparison, a 240gr XTP .44 mag at 1750, not a max load, sighted in at 100 yards, is an inch high at 50, almost 5.5 inches low at 150, where it still packs 868 ft lbs at over 1200fps. Sounds good to me out that far anyway.

Not out of an AR though.

Pappy348.

You post is ironic because this is replacing my Marlin 44 Mag as my primary deer gun and I was shooting it too. I also use the 240 XTP and 23.5g of H110 and only get 1600 fps; my 100 yd groups are ~3-4 inches. I have only taken a few medium sized deer with it and have never got a pass through with the XTP. The deer were dead, but I had better performance from the Speer 240. Problem is my Marlin sprayed those bullets, I guess it prefers .430 vs .429.

The 350 Legend is certainly looking like an upgrade for me, although on game performance is yet to be seen.

Unlike a lot of new calibers, I think the 350 fills a void for the straight wall states. I’ve read some very mixed reviews on execution. I hope it gets sorted out and provides good service for hunters.