Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 350 legend

So after all the drama and rumors have settled, what's the ruling on this one? Not a problem to reload for? Bullet diameters that have been proven to work best?

Thinking I want a Henry single shot but the 357 is rare and I can get my hands on a 350 easily enough.

Any reason why I wouldn't just do that?

35 Remington

The 35 rem is not for use in ohio

You are correct, I forgot about that. The Legend will fill that bill

Do not forget the 375 Winchester. Straight walled and legal in many states now.

Yeah but no one makes a 375 in an affordable model that is easy to find

True, that.

I had to try one out, bought a cheap BCA upper and had a blast learning how to make it feed. Figured it out, magazine issue but have put hundreds of cast bullets through it already. Very close to the 35 Remington in velocities, accuracy excellent. If this one didn't shoot so well I would get a bolt rifle in 350 Legend.

If you deer hunt in a state that narrows your choices, it’s a pretty easy choice. It’s a mild cartridge, reasonably accurate, and aside from hand loading, which I don’t do for it, factory ammo is available.

I’m in Iowa and have a Ruger rifle and then got a hold of a used Contender super 14 chambered in 7 mmTCU and JES rebored it to the 350 whose chamber just cleans up the TCU’s. With scope and bipod, both should be ok to 150-175 yds.

At this point in life, it’s a fun one to shoot.

It's a little pain to reload but, for Ohio, it's a great cartridge. Case length determines headspace. Too long and your cartridge will not chamber. Too short and it will not fire or will not be accurate.

This cartridge headspaces on the case mouth. If you are right on 1.700" then all is good. The case grows in length with each firing and resizing. 1.710" will not chamber in my rifles and if forced to chamber will cause excess pressure which blows primers. Otherwise you should enjoy it and will work as promised if you control case length.

They lied from the start saying it was and I quote “the fastest straight wall”. The caliber ain’t any more useful than a 357 magnum and sucks about like a 35 Remington yet they push the hell out of it.

Anyone that claims its a “great” cartridge is just full of bovine scat or delusional.

Translation- It sucks to load for. Period. BTDT.

But, for guys that live in states that don't allow you to hunt with real cartridges, what are you gunna do? Suck it up and do it.

Welcome to marketing and advertising in the US and presumably elsewhere. There was plenty of bovine scat shoveled around when the WSMs came out too. I’m willing to bet that the 350 works better than Ageless Male works. 😉

Actually, sucking about like the 35 Rem isn’t too bad. We’re talking whitetails here. The manufacturers are just providing a specialized product for certain states’ deer hunters.

While everything has gone up in price, if it is a pain to reload, and I can see that, factory ammo isn’t insanely priced.

The 357 Maxium is ballisticly superior

I bet u dollars 2 donuts a 35 Rem reload outta a 336 action will harvest a whitetail as good as my 356 ER. Or 94 AE 356

What does that have to do with the post?

I hate the 350 "pseudo legend" and there's no reason for it to exist other than to sell new rifles and new ammo.

Have to admit I live in Intermountain west with no real need for straight wall artillery but I can still hate the 350 Legend. A better solution would be to buy an Henry 38-55 or rebore an Marlin 30-30 to 375win or 38-55. That's probably the ultimate in whitetail gear in those states. Personally I have an little Marlin SBL 44mag and numerous 45-70 rifles and those are ok.

The problem with this 350 Legend is that it's all marketing and doesn't offer anything in performance that's exceptional. We have straight wall vessels that already do all and more than that turd. The saving grace is they are making rifles for the 350 and ammo is available but I still hate it. Thank goodness I can practice in my area with a 270win, 30-06, 30-30, or whatever I see fit.

I too have been looking at the 350 Legend.

Over the past 45 years, 95% of my shots have been 100 yards or less. Over the last 10 years almost all of my shots have been between 50 and 75 yards. I think the 350 Legend would answer that call very well.

I am waiting for a bolt action with a barrel of 18-20".

Reloading for the cartridge seems to be straight forward. Small Rifle primer and the same powders used in 357 mag. Straight wall brass should last for multiple loadings.

I just saw some Browning - 350 Legend - 124 gr - ammo for $12.99 a box of 20. Cheap.

Everyone has their own opinion - and I have mine.

I see no flies on the 350 Legend.

YMMV

Many of the folk who comment on the 350 L as a cartridge first of all, keep forgetting, or don’t know, it was created for a niche group of hunters in several states which dictate cartridge spec’s that they will accept as legal for deer. It was never envisioned as some uber cartridge ballistically as it was limited (at the time) to caliber (that is another story in reference to Iowa’s requirements), case length and shape.

Secondly, similar, past straight-wall cartridges which equal or surpass it are mostly a hand loading affair. Factory ammo, if available at all, is not commonly found, nor are rifle offerings. And, yes, rifle makers need a reason to sell more rifles. Ammo makers want to sell ammo. And a lot of deer hunters here, and I presume other “350 L states” don’t reload ammo. They buy factory offerings.

So we have the 350 L, a 357 Magnum Long, which if the lesser to the 38-55 or the 357 Maximum, will not be enough to be noticed at a 150 yds.

Ironically, my state, one of which the cartridge was made for, then, kept the 357 cal minimum but opened it up to bottle-necked cartridges up to 50 cal, legalizing such as the 358 Norma Mag, 358 STA, etc. Have a 416 Rem Mag? Have at it. All of which I found pretty funny. So while I have two 350’s, I also now have a 358 Win.

George, I wished they’d ship the 350’s and 6.5’s to the states that need them because our shelves are loaded with them.

And I ain’t hounding a 35 Rem cept with factory ammo.

Did they ever stop arguing over the correct diameter bullets? Can we use the same as for .357 or is every maker speccing their barrels differently?

Daughters boy friend was gonna buy one.

I pretty much ta lied him out out it.

We can't use semis to hunt deer, but can use any centerfire cartridge.
With those conditions, I consider it junk.


Limited like some states, I'd buy one.



Heck, my luck one will show up at too cheap of a price.
Have numerous rifles I would have never sought out,
Can't turn down a good deal!

A guy I hunt with uses one. He’s killed 8-10 hogs and a couple deer with his using the 170 Hornady and Imr4227. His shots have been 30-90yds, all pass throughs and the longest track has been around 30yds.



I traded in an Axis II 350 legend with and 18” barrel and topped it off with a 4x40 Buckmaster scope I had on a 22. H110 and the 170 Hornady gave me very nice groups and it’s very handy with its short length. I don’t think it’s superior to anything but it’s light, handy, shoots good and I can buy factory ammo for $14-28 a box if I was so inclined.


I still carry my 35 Rem, 358, 708, etc etc but I enjoy my 350 also.

It's a good fit for the reason it was produced. If those limitations aren't implemented then there's lots of "better" options, especially if range and power are the focus.

Now.....if someone was wanting an efficient, low recoil, short range deer round (or hogs), especially in an AR, it still has lots of pro's going for it. For someone who'd use it as a dedicated still hunting rifle, in thick woods where they wanted quick follow up shots at short range, it seems in a light AR it would be really hard to beat. Nothing would be quicker for follow up shots and the low recoil would be back on target quicker than most rounds. Carried with a 2 point sling with a LPVO would be very quick to put in play for the first shot and easy to carry.

...just random musings....

I agree.

The marketing and hype around the cartridge is frustrating. It’s like people are convinced that it’s a magic cartridge that can somehow recoil like a 223 but also knock down deer at 200 yards like it’s a 30-06. That being said, I have lived and hunted deer in shotgun and now straight wall states and provinces my entire life and I can say that I enjoy my 350L immensely. It’s a pleasure to carry, shoot, and does an adequate job on deer inside 100yds. I can’t speak for reloading, I reload a lot of cartridges and chose to just stay factory ammo with this so far. I do believe 9mm and not 357 bullets are the standard.

Marketing sometimes blows my mind.

Sure gun/ammo companies are gonna blow some smoke,
If they don't promote, they aren't trying.

It's people that are amusing.

Just like a super popular newer round, it is the enthusiasm of
owners that drive this.

A self propagating trend, driven by chasing it's tail.
Guys touting it cause others to chase, then push it.

Read the custom gun forum.

There are a couple rounds that are really only advantageous to very few
that are popular among those guys. Re-boreing all kind of great guns from
good, solid, versatile rounds into bigger bore rounds that really are
a step back for most.

Then, they are "JUST GOT MY XXXXXX BACK!"

Gotta be honest, I was looking for a rifle factory chambered for one
of those rounds for awhile. Would still like to stumble on a gun, dies, brass
package.
Just to try.
But for deer?
Bet they would die.
Just like they do to 30-30, 308, 30-06, 6.5, 7mag.....
And the rest I've tried.

My take on the matter is that it wouldn’t matter to me if it was tricky to load, as long as I could get enough good factory ammo to hunt and practice with. Used to hunt in a shotgun-only area, and no one I knew loaded slugs, they just bought ‘em. Now, slugs, at least the fancy-schmancy ones are very expensive, hard to get, and often get discontinued and replaced with the next new thing, leaving everyone using them back on square one. I could more easily deal with buying some factory for one hunting rifle than that nightmare.

I would however, also add the .450 and maybe the .45/70 to the list of Henrys to be considered, if you can still take a beating😱. I’m out of the heavy recoil business, except for some shotgunning.

BTW, my new .357 did pretty well this morning with some ammo loaded for my S&W. Even better, the old K4 dialed like a champ.

Beating? Nope. I get nasty headaches which are probably some mild form of concussion, if I shoot the big boomers. I can handle my 6.5x55 but that's about it before I need to back off loads.

I shoot the 308 and 270 but I don't ever crank them up to full potential

The 357 I briefly owned would shoot my random hand load into an inch at 75 yards when I sighted it in. I was pretty pleased with that.

I think it was 7 grains of hp38 with a 140 Hornady hp... if I remember right. Check loads to be damn sure it's safe before you try it.

Then you have your answer, or an answer anyway. It’s definitely the easy button for Ohio & such. There certainly are better cartridges on the legal list, but all are harder to come by and spendier I think.

Mine put 158gr XTP HPs into just over an inch at 50, but I’m thinking something a bit stouter would be better at the higher speeds I’ want to reach, maybe the FP or a Monoflex. Can’t quite bring myself to pony up for the A-Frames, gotta save up for my next tank of gas, for the mower……

Need to check the bullet pile. Who know what’s down there that I might have forgotten?

They make 158 soft points. I believe guys still used the xtp bullet is the max.

Seems like at 100 ish yards a 158 would slow down to around the same as a pistol at 25 feet and perform fine?

Looks like comparing from their factory load, federal says if you start it at 1900 fps, it will be doing 1550-ish at 100 yards and packing like 850 ft lbs. It does not specify if this is rifle or pistol-length barrel.

So either leave it as-is, or choose a more streamlined bullet like lever evolution.

Doesn't make much difference in a 100 yard weapon.

Big stick would need a six twist and a four inch long bullet at 100 yards though lol

Just to be clear those loads I mentioned are for 357 only.

I personally get that, but where I am each store has a rack of various 350 L rifles they can’t give away and ammo all over the shelf. 350 L has never left the shelf here in two years.

Maybe thats a reason to get one !

No doubt. My concern is over the typical short-range pokes I get. Another possibility is the 180gr JHP. I'll know more after I check the “store”.

I’d say someone whoopsied by buying all that for Tejas, unless the figgered it for a red-hot pig-popper (which it may well be, but the folks need to be convinced).

Sounds like a buying opportunity may be forthcoming!

Local Wal-Mart has a pile of it. Shelf clear ful
And the only centerfire in stock.


If I had one, I'd stock up.
I'm guessing that one day, it will be gone.
And they won't be in a big dam hurry to make a bunch more.

Darn sure not as long as 243, 308, 270, 30-06 is out selling production.

No it is not. The 350 Legend has more case capacity and a higher pressure rating. The case is around .100 longer. As for it headspacing on the mouth of the case I am not saying it can't happen but the case taper should be taken into account also. I have a 357 Max also but in a ten inch barreled contender, like it a lot. Brass for the 350 is much easier to come by for sure.

Dunno 'bout all those things.

I'm sort of interested in it, pondering a cheap Ruger bolt action. I don't NEED a straight walled cartridge in any sort of rifle, but seen what Hodgdon data shows it doing with a 147 grain Hornady XTP HP makes me think about jackrabbits. 2600-2700 fps should make the hair (and body parts) fly. Having a gun I don't really need for tasks I don't really need to do makes perfect sense to me. Separates the curious loonies from the boring, stodgy, and hidebound people.

Tom

Isn't that a plus for the 35 Remington?

Is the 444 considered a straight wall in these states ?

I used it for Mississippi primitive seasons and my rifle sticks each and every round in the same hole.

I understand like the 450 BM they made this 350 L for the youngster puzzies that use AR platforms ?

If you are gonna use a straight wall with shiddyballistacs then you’d fair waysbetta with an existing big bore caliber.

Yep it would be fine

But isn’t the 350 Legend faster than the Hornady 444, Advertising said the 350 L is the “fastest straight wall”.

A rhetorical post

Dunno. 2400 ish, I thought?

The 444 To contend with is factory Underwood at 2,660 fps.

The 350 is a fuggin Joke and the only thing “straight” about it is the lie.

https://www.underwoodammo.com/444-marlin-220-grain-xtreme-penetrator.html

I use the 444 for MS deer & hog hunting. I like It so much that I use it all season long - not just during Primitive Weapon season. That being said, if I were looking for my first rifle to use during the Primitive Weapon season, I would get the 350L. Ranges are short where I hunt and 350L ammo is plentiful and relatively cheap. Indeed, Wally World & Sportsman's Warehouse near me has a ton of this ammo. Nowadays, it doesn't get much better than that.

Nobody hunts more than me and I choose a 444 over a 350. I have it in single shots and leverguns. I use it in several states and all year long. Its been my goto caliber for over twenty years now. I regularly take shots from 5 to 225 yards with the 444.

I understand the going cheap though.

You guys can bad mouth the 350 all you want. I’m sold on it. I caught the 350 Legend bug in 2019. I bought a Bear Creek Arsenal upper for my AR-15 and started testing. It shoots MOA at 100 yards with Winchester 150 grain Deer Season XP. Didn’t kill a deer with it until 2020. A big doe at 45 yards. Shot through the lungs, she ran about 30 yards. I wanted a bolt rifle, but being a Lefty my choices were slim. I recently purchased a Savage Axis left hand in 350 Legend. It shoots great with my handloads (Hornady 165 grain FTX with 25 grains of H110 for 2242 fps average). I hunt in the hardwood hills of Southeastern Ohio where 100 yards is a long shot. This caliber works so well and shoots so accurately that if they’d open up the state to bottleneck cartridges, I don’t see where I’d gain anything. Recoils between a .223 and a .243.

Ron

Rimmed cartridges rule in a single shot rifle. 357 Maximum for the win!

Fine round. But try finding a rifle, let alone a $500 rifle chambered for it. Once you get one, start looking for ammo and/or brass.

Point of the .350 is easy, cheap, available, legal everywhere, and good enough to get it done. As JB has pointed out time and time again, most don’t load their own. Mostly I do, but I might not for one of those since good hunting ammo and cheap practice ammo is plentiful, courtesy of its .223 heritage (for the first couple or three brass draws anyway.)

I ain’t knocking it too hard other than the lies about it being the fastest. just trying to talk about something other than the norm.

A man should be able to choose whatever caliber he wants and even shoot Womens calibers if he chooses.

Oddly even in Texas there are places with straight wall restrictions. I have a 45 Colt rifle but I can't use it as the only FOUR cartridges allowed are 350 L, 450 Bushmaster,444 Marlin and 45/70. The area is swamp so you have to hunt out of boats. Shotguns and Muzzleloaders are allowed but I bought a 350 L upper anyway. After putting 300 rounds through it using both factory and handloads I have to say I like it a lot. The stupid part being the magazines available are not designed for the cartridge as well as they should be but are easily fixed.

I do a hunt every year in Ohio. Been going there to hunt with family for 30 years. Mostly walk in hunts in big timber. For 29 years I wished I was using a scoped bolt rifle. Granted I killed many deer with a 12 gauge open sight , 12 gauge scoped slug guns , 44mag encore pistol and a 444 Marlin lever gun.

The 350Legend scratched that itch. It takes care of a niche and thats why I bought one. Certainly not because I thought it was a jim dandy of a chambering or there was a lot of choices in rifles to pick from.

I do most of my deer hunting in Alabama. Im not saying I wont ever hunt with my 350 there but mostly I imagine I will be using my 270 or 7mm08. Since Im 59 not 9 I figure most companies stretch the attributes of their product some. So long as it killed deer at a range I would be hunting at and came in a reasonably light bolt gun I didn't give a crap what they promoted it as. If I didn't hunt in Ohio I wouldn't even know what the heck it was and would have little to no interest in it.

I love my 350 Legend rifle. Perfect for Whitetail hunting in my timber. Unusually mild muzzle blast and recoil. Way more than accurate enough for 150 yard deer hunting, and more than powerful enough.

I also love my 7-08 T3x with Hornady Custom Lite ammo in the timber, or Hornady 150gr ELD-X Precision Hunter ammo for my 400 yard shots. That ELD-X ammo shoots bug holes out of my rifle.

Until recently, IL has been a shotgun, muzzleloader, revolver, single shot state. The 350 L is now legal. If I hadn't already purchased three of the stainless camo savage 220s with leupold firedot scopes for my wife, young son, and I, I'd be getting a couple rifles in 350 legend. Those 220s have proven accurate and capable. Can't knock them; but I'm still a little tempted for something a little lighter, handier, and with less recoil for my wife and son.

Shot some big deer with one in a AR pistol, because it’s legal in MN slug zones. It’s a an efficient killer and a lotta fun. People that actually have shot one, all pretty much agree. If I lived in a feral pig area, I think one would be my go-to truck gun.

A friend of mine had used his Savage 220 to kill some nice bucks. I’d have no problem hunting with one if that’s what I had. I have hunted a bunch with my 12 gauge H&R Trophy Slugster. It’s very accurate with Federal Premium Barnes Expander all copper slugs. The big difference beside the recoil is the cost of ammo. Premium sabot slugs are going for $4-$6 a pop. If you watch the Walmart shelves you can find 350 Legend hunting ammo for $24 for a 20 round box. 145 grain FMJ is $13 a box. You can also get an accurate bolt rifle for $400-$500. 3 years ago I bought a 350 Legend upper for my AR from Bear Creek Arsenal for $240 shipped. But that was before Biden and Covid.


Ron

Yeah, cost differential for ammo is massive for anything "slug" compared to .350 Legend. Hand in hand with that is ammo availability.

The Legend is a really good round to meet the requirements it was developed under. Companies have done a good job producing ammo for it. I'm not pushing it but have to give credit for it's development and follow up of companies making guns and ammo for it. Lot's of cartridges get introduced where there really isn't a "need" and they may or may not make it. This one was developed for a specific role and it's filled it well.

Another neat aspect to the 350 is VERY easy and mild subsonic loads. 7g Unique and a 170 Hornady/180 PowerPoint (Titegourp works too). So it is easy to roll your own 35 LR. Win probably never realized they crushed the 300 BO.


Use Mag primers for more consistent velocities and do NOT crimp in a bolt gun. Over-crimping will cause case separations.