Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Thoughts on 350 legend

I get 1900+ in my 16” barrel 357 Mag, with the Lee 200 gr cast.

Also, the Traditions G3 is a lot lighter weight - though I do like stainless more than Cerakote.

The hunting regulations in LA & MS require a single-shot, breech-loaded rifle with an exposed hammer that's >= .35 caliber for primitive hunting. When I first saw this requirement, it seemed to me they had written it with a Winchester 1885 Traditional Hunter in .38-55 or .45-70 in mind. But both of my LA friends (one who also has a camp in MS) hunt with CVA's chambered in .35 Whelen. I haven't heard them complain about the results so they seem to be pleased with that choice.

Because some states require a straight-walled cartridge and I have a fondness for 1885's, I wrote a letter to Winchester in 2021 suggesting they might want to consider producing an 1885 in .350 Legend (because many of their chamberings have been below the .35 threshold) and that there would be several areas in the country where a configuration like this would be popular. I got a reply thanking me for my input which they (until now) have chose to ignore. But that's okay because I wasn't holding my breath thinking they would actually do it.

I finally solved my MS primitive hunting needs by buying a Winchester 1885 Low Wall in .44 Magnum. I shoot Hornady FTX 225 grain LEVERevolution bullets. Similar to you, most of my shots will be fairly short (< 125 yards). Going back to your original question, I think for the needs you described, the .350 Legend would be a good choice.

I can’t believe you lasted this long with a muzzleloader! When they first started allowing crack barrel single shots about 15 years ago my dad bought a Handi Rifle in 444. I sighted it in for him and instantly knew my black powder days were over! I’ve got an identical 444 but would love to upgrade to a Scout 35 Whelen.

I originally went the Handi Rifle .444 route also, probably 14-15 years back. It was actually rather accurate, although the trigger was really heavy. Still way better of a route than a front-stuffer.

Yeah I know. But the older I get the less I want to mess around with the powder and stuff.

I HATE the trigger. Other than that no complaints but I would like to flatten the trajectory a little for hunting pipelines. Hence the wish for a 35 Whelen. Hard for me to spend the money knowing it’s only going to get used a couple of times each year. I keep waiting for Louisiana to copy Miss and allow anything on private property.

I justified the Whelen because I went stainless (the .444 was blued) and have hunted it a fair bit on rainy/nasty days during regular rifle season. It do leave a nice exit wound for tracking.

** And the CVA had a 2.5lb trigger out of the box. It's the rifle in my Avatar.

Now you just need a can for it….

That'd be nice, but I only shoot the thing about 10 rounds a year. It's got some thump on both ends.

I have most of a box of the 200 grain ftx and some Lil gun. Do you remember the powder charge on that load?

Youngest son knows a few Amish in NE Ohio who hunt with the 350 Legend. One shot a deer at a verified 285 yards. One shot kill too.

Dick Metcalf, gun writer, got a mountain of criticism over the years for promoting the 357 Magnum as a Whitetail cartridge from a handgun. Ignoring such, he has taken many with it.

If you don’t reload, .350 Legend will be great for what you describe. If you do reload and want more projectile options, .357 Max is the way to go Without having to resize bullets. .357 Mag with 180-200 gr cast will do it well also. A .357 Mag becomes a Max real quick with a reamer. I’d have to see the chronograph to believe a .357 Mag will safely push a 200 gr bullet past 1900 fps, even in a 16” barrel, no matter how long you team the throat. It’s pushing the Max hard to hit 2000 fps with a 200 gr bullet in my 18” barrel.

I just found some 200 grain .358 FTX bullets from a company that had them. I’m going to run them through a Lee sizing die like Mule Deer did and load them up with some Lil Gun. If I can safely get 2100 fps, that will equal a .35 Remington 200 grain load. I’ll post results afterwards. Once the weather warms back up.

Ron

I size my cast bullets for the 350 L to .358. Yeah, 1900fps out of a 357mag with 200gr bullets has my eyes bugging out a little. Curious what powder and primer would do this. Slower powder and small rifle magnum maybe?

Lil Gun powder should work. I think Mr. Barsness pushed them at 2100+ with no pressure signs. It was in his article in Handloader Magazine. He also used Power Pro 300-MP with good results I think.

Ron

Does anybody make a left handed gun in 350L?

Lil Gun, H110 and 296 all work well in my 350. Using a 170gr Hornady I can push them well over 2200fps from my Cascade.

The new Remington .360 Buckhammer is 1.8" case length.
Max'n the Max

A Ruger #1 in the new .360 Buckhammer would be ambi and hotter than a .357 Max.
They'll proly do a run.........in 2033 LOL