Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Why so much .350 Legend ammo?

My youngest son bought a Savage of some sort so chambered when an area in SE Texas opened from muzzleloader only to allow the 350 Legend. I gave him a 2-7X FFII and the rifle was very accurate. He has since moved to here in the Hill Country and can shoot on my property subsonic. He and a former colleague have taken meat does with it using the factory Hornady ammo. Not impressed. I have just loaded and fired today the Maker 205 gr Subsonic bullet and things look good. Sub-30 yard shots here.

Well, I guess all cases start out from the same brass billet, which means they’re all the same ‘standard’ case then. Much like all F-150s start as Mustangs.

Good point. Fuds don’t hunt with ARs.

Found it:

At the same time, I can see how the Mfr could legitimately say "The .357 Max is NOT based on the .223".
After all, you can't take a .223 case, even a straight, basic case from the operation right before necking and make a .357 Max case out of it. Same thing applies to the 350L.

The 350L has a diameter of .390" at the web. The .223 is .3759", call it .376". That's a difference of .014". Put that 14 thou on a caliper and tell me a .223 case couldn't be fattened up that much. Sure, you wouldn't want to do that at 55,000psi in an AR, but it would be fine to do during the mfg process.

Yep, no doubt.

My only point is that new cartridges like the 350 Legend exist and are found stocked on the shelves because they are built using similar base components they are already using in profusion in less steps; like small primer pockets compared to large ones being used more often these days.

That's what they want you to buy, that's what we're getting.

*shrug*

Not really seeing things to complain about, unless the whole point is just calling things "fads" for its own sake.

Pretty dang close to a 35 Rem (especially with the 170gr Barnes, which doesn't lose weight). Uses less powder and produces less recoil. Works in AR style rifles and bolt rifles...cool.


As long as someone needs a 100 yard and perhaps a bit big game rifle and a 200 yard deer rifle, and a lot of people probably need that, works for me. Would rather shoot deer with that than 223, 243, etc.

When the .350 came out I read that its case and the .223 are the same until after the second draw step. Then they go their separate ways.

Here’s pics of what that looks like (not much like a case):

https://www.petersoncartridge.com/technical-information/drawing-brass/

We had gun case full of 30-06's when I worked at wally world. We would go for months before we sold a 30-06. Toward the end we were selling AR's and .223's pretty often but when it was time to clear them out it was .308's, .270's and 30-06's. None of which we could really use in Iowa.

kwg

I think we’re all coming full circle now. Development/design vs process to get there. ….but that was kinda the point: the end user can’t or shouldn’t attempt making one from the other, unlike a myriad of other stuff we load for today. The idea/design for the 357 max didn’t come from the 223 case. The 223 case design was the answer to get the max case design to tolerate higher pressures than handgun brass. There’s always the : how do we get there? That comes after the: where are we going? FWIW: I’m not saying anything makes the legend anything but a good cartridge. I just question how they got there when there were seemingly already good answers to Winchester getting there….as opposed to building a new road, altogether.

We bought a couple of .350 Legend rifles because we hunt in Iowa as one of our destinations and it is legal there. I must say I have been quite impressed with the effectiveness of this little cartridge. Used within its parameters (200 yards) it kills deer very efficiently. Ammo is not overly expensive and we have found it to be very accurate. Have only used the 150 grain loads at this point but I can't imagine that the heavier loads are any less effective. Very quiet as well.

They started putting that schidt on the shelves about 4 years ago, when it first came out. They kept putting that schidt on the shelves and it's been accumulating ever since. They thought it was going to be a huge success I guess, as many states allow straight wall cartridges for deer hunting now. Plus they thought it would be a big seller because of the popularity of the AR15. When I first started seeing it, I wondered wtf these manufactures were doing. Putting out so much of that crap, and not using those materials for other more popular cartridges. Especially during the shortages we have been seeing for the last 3 years.

I don't understand why anyone would be bothered by it, those are the Fudd types to me. Likely some of the same that dislike the 6.5 Creedmoor and called fast twist barrels a fad.

I've killed 31 deer in the past 9 years and the farthest distance was 35 yards.

People, I have found, enjoy complaining.

Imagine if we could only pick between a 22LR, a 20ga shotgun, a 223 Rem, and a 30-06.

I’ll tell you the truth, the results for lethality wouldn’t change. We’d kill the same amount of game every year.

It's a cartridge introduced pretty much specifically for the states that are now allowing straight walled rifle cartridges in their muzzleloader or shotgun seasons. However large chain stores buy in bulk and distribute to all their stores. Even the stores in states where this reason for owning a rife in 350 legend is not a factor. Outside of those states I doubt it sells very well because it really doesn't do anything a 30-30 or 35 rem won't do as a woods gun. And as a kids gun outside those states most people buy their kids something like a 243. If not many of the rifles chambered in it sell in a particular state then it follows that the ammo will still be sitting on the shelf as well.

It does one thing that the 30-30 and 35 Rem don't, you can buy a new gun chambered for it without needing to sell a kidney.

And in a bolt action.

You drastically underestimate how little the average hunter understands terminal ballistics. Lots of guys around here buying AR15s in 350 Legend because it “hits hard”. All they see is a 35 cal bullet and they think it must knock deer off their feet compared to a 270.

Now it’ll be “the .400 Legend, more knockdown power than the .350…”. The marketing writes itself.

Like EV cars! No-one wants it!!