Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles 350 Legend report

Hi I'm new here wanted to share some feedback on the cartridge and the Ruger American rifle.

I picked up the 22" barrel version with a leupold 3x9 Duplex reticle scope made for the 350 legend for 729$ as a combo. Sighted in with Hornaday 170 grain and the results impressed me moving from 50 to 150 I saw maybe a 1" difference and at 200 yds I held about 4" high the top of a plate and hit center.

This week I took 3 deer with it one each day, I was blown away by what it did to these deer. Previously I had hunted with a 12gauge rifled barrel and copper solids my entire life as Ohio was a shotgun only state until recently. This had as much if not more stopping power as my 12 gauge all 3 deer being 1 shot kills with the farthest run being about 20 yards. One was at 60 to 70 another at 50 and the last one around 150yds all held right on and completely destroyed the internals.

Recoil is absolutely nothing coming from using a 12 gauge for years to deer hunt with.

This is a a game changer for us guys in Ohio. The shot I made on my last deer I wouldn't have attempted before and now I would not think about it.

Sorry about the picture quality had to reduce so much in order to upload below 97kb

Congratulations! Glad you can use them now.



Mike

Maybe if you tried a muzzle brake it might change your mind.

Mkimbel, Congrats on your success. I like you hunted with a shotgun for years. First with a smooth bore and Remington sluggers, Then with a rifled barrel and Federal Barnes expanders. The older I get, the less tolerant I am to recoil. I got the 350 Legend bug this year and bought an upper receiver for my AR-15. It shoots lights out with the 150 grain Winchester Deer Season XP although my 16" barrel gives up some velocity averaging 2165 FPS. I was only able to hunt the first day this year and didn't score. I recently purchased a box of 165 grain Hornady FTX to try out when it warms up. Also plan to try the 170 grain Hornady. I'm hoping that someone comes out with a 140ish grain mono metal bullet like a Hornady monoflex. I have some Hodgdon Lil gun which may be THE powder for reloading this caliber.

Ron

I want one for no good reason.

Ron,

Sounds like a really sweet set-up you've got there! I don't think you will be disappointed with the 170 grain Hornaday at all, very little drop between distances. They really perform well on deer.

I realize that this is a 11 month old thread, but I wanted to resurrect it to see results with the 350. I shot a full size doe the first day of the 2020 Ohio gun season with my 350 AR-15 loaded with 150 grain Winchester Deer Season XP. Broadside at 40-45 yards, the bullet punched completely through the ribs. She ran about 25-30 yards and piled up. The guy that owns the adjoining property shot a doe Tuesday, and an 8 point buck Thursday with his Savage Axis in 350 Legend. He used Hornady 170 grain ammo and was very pleased with the performance.

Ron

A lot of the guys have been buying them to let their kids use because of the mild recoil and report then end up getting one for themselves. Ammos cheap and accuracy has been very surprising to me . Didn’t need it but I traded into a MGM barrel for my G2 Contender have been very pleased with the accuracy.

Will be hunting in Iowa this coming weekend. Bought a Browning X-bolt for myself and my 75 year old father to use rather than the slug guns we had been using. I have been very impressed with the accuracy of the .350, using Winchester 150 grain Deer Season ammo. More often than not, I can get 3 shots well under an inch at 100 yards if I am doing my part. I am glad to hear good reports of the terminal ballistics for the .350. We shot the 12 inch gong at the range yesterday at 200 yards and were able to get 4 out of 5 hits. Most of our shooting will be more like 125-150 yards at most so I am pretty confident.

Target from a trip to the range yesterday with the .350 Legend. Winchester 150 gr at 100 yards

That'll work!

The Winchester 150 is one of the softer bullets. Many reports of no exits if shoulder or bone is hit.
I load the Maker 150 TREX in mine at 2450 fps. Accurate as hell and haven't had one stop even after taking out 2 shoulders.

I realize this is an old thread, but it has been revived since then.

The 350 legend was designed for various reasons. IMO, the most prominent is the adaptation of case production from a manufacturing standpoint. It's a 223 basic case, ergo a 9mm Parabellum.

It's basically a revision of the 45 ACP/30/06/308 of yesteryear, near as I can tell. It's adaptation in states where it may (or may not be) legal has suddenly been cheered into acceptance.

Where did you find an X-Bolt in 350 Legend?

I want to know as well. What I would really like is to find one in a quality light weight rifle.

Hawk 1, We here in the mid west have been at the mercy of dumb laws limiting us to shotguns or muzzleloaders (and some handguns) for deer for years. A few years ago the ODNR approved straight walled rifles. Most guys here were pretty happy about that decision. Winchester saw a opportunity to design a new cartridge for deer in these "straight walled" states. I'm no expert, but I believe they have hit a home run with the 350 Legend. Mine is accurate, shoots flat out to 200ish yards, and in my limited experience and from anecdotal experience from my friends and acquaintances, I'm giving it a thumbs up. If I'm fortunate enough to go to another state to deer hunt, and they allow rifles, I'm taking my 7x57, 30-06, or 6.5 Creedmoor. I may still sneak out some time with my Ruger 44 carbine, but right now in my mind the 350 is money.
P. S. I'm a tinkerer. When the 350 came out I saw an opportunity to tinker.

Ron

I like my 350 because it doesnt feel like I got whacked with a ball bat every time I shoot. I have the CVA Cascade in Veil camo. It's good enough. I found that if you shoot 1 deer in the neck, they fall over dead which might be a conclusion from too small a sample size so I plan to shoot more deer in the neck to draw on complete data.

You are correct. I had a brain fart when typing. It is the Winchester XPR