I run a gun shop in SC.
Constantly have had customers asking for 350. I've finally quit trying to talk them out of itand just ordered the dang things.
I can't for the life of me figure out why someone would want one when they don't have the limitations.
I keep hearing the BS of brush busting and low recoil and killing power.
Really? More than a 7-08? Better than a 30-30?

They seem mildly interesting. Kind of a 357 Maximum for bolt guns

Maybe because the ammo is cheap and freaking everywhere? Walmart ALWAYS has 350, even when 308 and 6.5cm are wiped out.

I have no interest in one because replacing a 30-30 with it would be cultural terrorism! 😇😂

Agree 100% with that... there is always ammo on shelves for it. Even when the ammo shortage was at its worst, 350 ammo was plentiful around here. At times it was basically the only ammo in stock at local shops.

I had flirted with the idea of buying one when it first came out, but the oddball bullets turned me off. If it just used standard .358 bullets, I'd probably own one.

They buy it because they want to hunt in a state that requires a straight walled case .

Let me clear this ammo thing up....
They walk into my shop with shelves full of everything from 7.7 JAP to 300 Savage to 444, 45-70, all common calibers....222, 25-06, 375 ruger, 5 different 30-30 loads....

Then they ask about a 350 legend.

When I suggest a 357 lever gun they look at me like I'm talking chinese.

^^^THIS^^^

I'm not sure what the laws are like down there, so you might have a point about people using the 350L when they don't have to.

However, up until 2 years ago, we had to use a shotgun or muzzle loader during gun season. Then they changed the law to say that you could now use a straight walled rifle or handgun cartridge. When they did that, every guy out there that had a 45-70 in his safe finally had something to use it on. Personally, I think a 45-70 is a bit of an over kill for a whitetail, but so is a 1.5oz 12ga slug. I ordered a 350L barrel for my Encore last spring and got into action about 2 months ago. It's absolutely a sweet shooting rifle with tight groups and beats the heck out of a 3" 12ga slug from a recoil aspect. I'll probably never use my 12ga slug barrel ever again. Gun season opens Saturday and I'm very hopeful to see how it performs.

“Rifle Loony”

That is why I have a 350 Legend. I wanted one. Just to try something else.

Nothing wrong with the 350 Remington Magnum. Pretty deadly on most things in South Carolina I suspect.

And we all know the .35 Remington is a POS without a track record....(schidt eating grin).

Some possibilities:

If going to another state with a straight wall rule.

If they wish to hunt using an AR15.

If they want a bolt gun in a light recoiling round for 200 or less yards.

They just want to try it.

Marketing/hype.

Ammo availability.

Gun availability.


Personally, like kandpand mentioned and as listed above...I'm a rifle looney and hunter that likes to try different things. I could pick any one standard round and hunt with it the rest of my life...but if everyone did that, there'd be no need for folks to run gun shops like you do!

It's the ballistic twin (or at least kissing cousin) to the .357 Maximum. Since I introduced myself to the Maxi I've become quite smitten with it and wouldn't mind a Legend but for the bullet diameter/selection. But if I was hell bent on using an AR or bolt gun I would make allowances. In a single shot, to me, the logical choice is the Maxi.

I'll go out on a limb and say they want it for when they take a trip back home to hunt. You know we're overran with transplants. On the other hand, it's probably not a half-bad choice for hunting in the woods. Most folks corn piles aren't even 100 yards from the stand...

Why would you stock 7.7 Jap and no 350 Legend?

gnoahh,

Apparently you haven't yet read my recent article in Handloader on the .350 Legend--which describes an inexpensive and simple way to vastly increase the selection of bullets usable in the .350....

Either he has an imaginary gunshop, or he's one of the many stupid fu cks running one... I would have told him, I didn't ask about a 357 lever gun. Are you a fu cking idiot?

In SC I would guess they are hunting bottoms or out of a blind in the pines at short distances over bait for hogs.

Eexcept the OP already established they aren't in his case. Sure, a few folks from SC are likely buying to use on out of state hunts, but not the majority of them. And those who are clearly have other options...

That's right. I've got 3 of them stupid 35 Remmy's and working on a fourth, a bolt gun of all things. I must be a special kind of stupid, lol

How do you know they don't hunt in a state that requires a straight wall case?

MD, In what issue was that article? I normally don't miss your articles but this one doesn't ring a bell with me.

It’s all in the name.

Resizing jacketed bullets through a Lee Bullet Die I imagine. My buddy has been doing it with a lot of .358 bullets.

I want to find that article by John. Does anyone know which issue of Handloader the article is in?

Easy.

Mule Deer calls them Churners.

They read or watch hunting shows. And fall in love through the endless ads.
Especially since hunting shows are nothing but an ad.

Local guy went moose hunting with Jim Shockey.
Got a call asking if he wanted to be on the show, Bobby loves attention and immediately agreed.

Then he got the list.
Rifle, scope, ammo. Down to the round being promoted and the bullet choice in the Federal ammo. For the show's promotion, all bought at full
retail cost. No deals or compensation. (Killed a dandy moose, but was disappointed. Thought he was hunting with Shockey, never saw him)


Daughters boyfriend was interested in the 350, from TV and the guys at the LGS.

He ask me and I called it a POS. "It's made for ARs and straight wall states. We cant use ARs and arent cartridge limited."

He bought into the "effectiveness".

"Come on Nate? It is a 30-30 or 35 by another name. Fine rounds, nothing
spectacular. Whats the point in a rifle that could be a 308 or 358?"

Daughter told me he had been going to buy one.


Last week.
"What do you think of the 224 Valkyrie?"

"Same as the 350. Designed for high velocity in an AR. Good twist for
heavy bullets." No point for it in a bolt gun. 1/8 22-250 in a Tikka kills it in a bolt gun."

Daughter later tells me he had a CZ on layaway in 224.

Feel bad hammering his choices. But he better learn to not ask my opinion if he don't want it.





53 years old.
Been reading every gun thing I could get hands on since grade school.
Well remember the 30-30/35Rem are dead days.
No one hunted with them. No serious hunters anyway.
Went through the magnum craze.
Ultra Magnum craze.


Now, you get the warm moist breeze up your exit hole. Pushing all these
rounds that are lucky to equal the paper numbers of rounds considered
obsolete 35 years ago.


Limited to straight wall rounds, I might buy a 350.

It's nice to have .355 rifle bullet options for the 9mm Win Mag handguns.

Tony

You guessed it! Works slickly and easily....

The HL issue is the latest, which may not have arrived yet for paper-copy subscribers.

Yep, same here. I already had bullet molds for 9mm and 38 special along with lots of bullets. Brass is cheap with small primer pockets (I have a lot of small primers, pistol and rifle). Can be shot in AR platform but I have a bolt gun. It’s a 357 maximum on caffeine and a fun gun to shoot. Also a better kids first deer rifle than the 30-30s many kids got in the past. I know levers are safer now but imagine how many accidental discharges there was when small, cold hands were dropping the hammer on their lever gun they’ve only shot 3 or 4 times..

My buddy has been doing this for years with his .400 Whelen, so it was only natural when he started messing with the .350 Legend. I think one of his favorites is the 180 grain Speer HC.

I thought business was to make money?

If trying to convince the world what they “should” use become a writer.

Just .02

You must own a 30-06 and nothing else… :-) I get what you’re saying. I read all the drivel, watched the Youtube videos, this cartridge of the year is the best killing machine since smokeless powder was invented. Probably has limited some of the other 500 calibers that can be bought but hey, it’s keeping the gun industry strong! I bought one because I wanted a cheap to reload cast bullet plinker in .35 caliber. Got one last Christmas time, got over 500 rounds through it already and I didn’t shoot at all for 3.5 months this summer. Got 45 rounds to test with 200gr cast next time I’m at the bench. Lot’s of fun to shoot and doesn’t beat the crap out of me.

My handle, 450BM… I bought one because… I wanted a 44 magnum rifle and bought a Remlin 1894 in the caliber but couldn’t get it to shoot anything at 50 yards that didn’t look like a shotgun pattern. Got sick of it after about 600 rounds and sold it. I thought the 450 BushMaster would fill the need for a large bore magnum type pistol cartridge in a rifle so I ordered a CVA Cascade. Still would have rather had a 44mag (a Rem 788 would have been beautiful but they’re like unicorns) because of all the components and a Dillon progressive setup to load for it. Well, the 450BM ain’t no 44 (43) magnum, it’s a hell of a lot more but has been as equally fun to load for as the 350 Legend. And yes, it does shoot better, lots better than the Remlin.
And the 450bm also uses the small primers I have so many of.

57 years old
Been reloading since I was 12. Couldn’t afford to buy all the factory ammo to fit my shooting habit.
Never had a 30/30/35 Rem anything. Wouldn’t mind a 30/30 now for cast loads, someday…
When I was kid, everyone who was anyone (but me) had a 30-06 and the real big dogs had 7mm Magnums!
Only “magnum” I own is a 300wsm in a Browning A-bolt. I hate recoil and this gun kicks hard. It’s only been shot about 100 times since 2002.
No ultra magnums for me, be way too hard on my eyes and my 3 vertebrae fused neck.
Good to meet ya!

Ringworm,
It’s really simple. White people, on average, are stupid as Fugk and very easily manipulated by clever marketing campaigns. Herd mentality. Sheep.
Critical thinking skills are not a strong point with your average cracker.

Ammo is everywhere too.

What's the reasoning behind not being able to use an AR??

I bought a Ruger Ranch in 350L for a few reasons:

1. I wanted a low recoil rifle for newbies/youths to enjoy shooting and be able to deer hunt with if they wanted. (So far my kids only like to fly fish, but they’re still young, and I have a nephew who’s interested)

2. Ammo availability. I love the 30-30 & the 35 REM. But 30-30 ammunition is sometimes available and 35 never is. I think the Ruger American Ranch in 300 BLK would have been ok for my purposes, and ammo is available for it, but the gun store didn’t have a 300 when I purchased the 350L. Likewise for the 6.5 Grendal.

3. I might go to Ohio to hunt sometime

4. The cartridge looks cool and I thought it would make a nice woods rifle for 100 yard shots

5. I wanted a Ruger American

taylorforce,

The 180 Speer Hot-Cor was the primary reason I decided on sizing .35 bullets down for the ".350" Legend. It works great on deer at those velocities....

Yeah I passed up a nice Remington 141 for a fair price recently because I was unable to find 35 Rem ammo anywhere

I agree that rifles with exposed hammers are potentially dangerous in the hands of inexperienced or inattentive people, particularly the older rifles with a half-cock safety notch, but wouldn't it also be irresponsible for a parent to put a loaded firearm of any style into the hands of a child without first teaching the child how to use it safely?

No semi rifles to hunt deer.
Untill a couple years ago shotguns were the only semis legal,
And with slugs only in slug only areas.

Now small game and predators can be hunted with a semi rifle.

It absolutely is irresponsible. What makes you think all parents are responsible?

I've been resizing Remington 150 grn.pspcl's .358 down to .355 for a couple years now. My load gets 2550 fps. out of them. Pretty stout deer load for 250 yds. and in here in Michigans once shotgun only zone. As a matter of fact, a pretty good deer load in most places.

Mike,
Daughters boyfriend, mentioned above, picked up a 14 in 35 a few weeks ago at auction. $250-300 if I remmber right. Never drilled.

Used, but not abused.
Perfect in my opinion, love those old guns that show honest use, and
the dings are the little ones you get no matter how hard you try.
You can be certain a gun like that hunted hard.
Didn't ride a SxS to a heated blind in 1955.

I never said that they were and if I inferred it to be so, it was not intended as such.

Other than for use in a “straight walled case” only area, or in a handgun…..I can’t understand the demand! IMO……a fad and nobody wants to be left out! 😁 memtb

Your article got me thinking of sizing bullets down to test in my 45 cal muzzleloader using .355-.357 sabots.
I can hunt with the usual rifles or revolvers on my land but Testing for Science and Research is my Civic Duty and you Sir, are a bad influence!

I probably don't need a rifle in 350 Legend...

its the name Legend like Creedmoor both kinda famous names for something most people don`t know anything about.

I'm a "snag it off the newstand but only if there's an article in it I care to read" kind of guy. I guess I'll swing by Barnes&Noble on my way out of town this morning and grab a copy, if they're open today.

John, didn't I read a caution from you not long ago about forcing jacketed bullets through a smaller diameter die, that said bullets could see their jackets separated from their cores in the process, due to springback of the gilding metal versus the lead cores staying fully compressed?

Instead of forcing the .357 Maxi .360" cast bullets I shoot exclusively, through a Lee die, and risk collapsing the grease grooves (even if already filled with lube), I would simply call Tom at Accurate Molds and have him cut me a cavity or two for the desired size and alloy and call it good. (I use a few push-through dies, but I make them myself. A chunk of 7/8-14 all-thread and a lathe is your friend.)

Notice in my original post I mentioned the AR platform and bolt guns being the province of the Legend. I'm a single shot guy when it comes to experimenting with stuff anymore, and finagling a falling block rifle to deal with a rimless case is a lot trickier than working with a simple hook extractor. Additionally, my Martini Cadet .357 Maxi (and soft 200 grain cast bullets at around 1800fps - out of my 26" barrel) will serve quite well for the amount of hunting I'll actually do in our straight wall counties (very little), so future .357 Maxi work will be to further an idea I have for a target/bench gun to use in ASSRA competition - a .35 plain base soft cast bullet of +200 grains pushed via breech seating at 1400fps or so to remain barely super-sonic at 200 yards. The Maxi case (as well as the Legend case I should think) I reckon to be about ideal for the small-ish powder charges needed to achieve that. I wouldn't want to have to work with the rimless Legend case in that endeavor. Mayhaps even a .32 straight taper wildcat based on the Maxi case, think scaled down .32-40, to make use of the library of .32 molds I already have.

Sorry, no offense intended. Kids are getting their education off the Internet now, parents don’t need to be responsible… (sarcasm)

I grew up with gun people and have had guns in my hands since I was 5. Thinking back over the years, some of the worst gun handlers owned the gun shops that would show up for a few years and then move on to selling something else. They didn’t care what they sold you, just get it sold and make a buck.

It might make it but I have a hunch it will be right there with the short magnum bunch of cartridges in 10 years.

Same. Even if I were in one of these areas I would be using a 44 Mag, 45 Colt, 444 or 45-70 or an in-line muzzleloader.

Probably lean more towards the front stuffer.

Do you powder coat any of your cast stuff and what alloy recipe are you using?

I’ve transitioned from lubrisizer to powder coat because I hated the mess. I was shooting cast in pistol only so it never bothered me much but when I started shooting cast in rifles, the lube bothered me that much more. It’s a different game, shooting cast in rifles, but very enjoyable and dirt cheap when it comes to bullets. That’s why I cast, I couldn’t afford to shoot jacketed bullets as much as I shoot cast. (Of course, I know you know all this! :-) ) The 350 Legend is an easy and cheap to load cast bullet cartridge and my rifle is a bolt gun.

With that said, 357 pistol bullets are tough to chamber and I’ve given up on them. Tried some wadcutters once, shot 10, brought the rest home and pulled the bullets as they were almost impossible to chamber with the gun on the bench. I had to hold the gun almost vertical and shake it to get the cartridge to drop into the chamber… Groups were lousy too…

Something new that justifies buying a new rifle...
Ballistically, it strikes me as a straight wall 300 Savage

No, I don't powder coat anything. I don't find traditional lubing to be messy, and in 50+ years of casting I've barely scratched the surface in pursuit of "traditional" techniques, and seriously doubt that I'll accomplish all that I wish to in that regard before I shuffle off this mortal coil. Powder coating, while I truly recognize some of its benefits, is a rabbit hole I've avoided lest it hinder my "traditional" pursuits. (But our friend and comrade here on the 'Fire, Dinny, is doing his best to sway me, and he might yet at that! He, by the way, really is an expert on the Maxi. Talking with him on the subject is a true learning experience.)

Depends on the application. At the moment I'm using either 1:20 or 1:15 tin:lead (50/50 beeswax/alox lube and a gas check). My hunting ammo is loaded with 1:20, and every experimental load, from 1600-1800fps (with a 26" barrel mind you), conducted with L'il Gun and 1680 powders, hasn't left a scintilla of lead in the barrel. Maybe I lucked into an ultra smooth barrel, but probably due to fastidious attention to bullet fit and OAL as dictated by a Cerrosafe casting of the chamber/throat/leade. It has generous dimensions: .360 throat, very long freebore, tapered leade, and .359 groove diameter - all issues that stymied me until I stopped being a dumbass and did a chamber cast.

Of course, after all that I needed some specialized tooling, specifically for bullet sizing and equally important case neck sizing. The standard .357 expander die with its button designed for .357 jacketed bullets is too tight for a .360 soft cast bullet - a case manipulated with the smaller expander will squeeze away a tiny bit of that carefully achieved larger diameter. I had to make a custom one, although they can be had from NOE. In operation I set the sizing die to only re-size the top 3/8" of the case leaving most of the case as-fired for perfect chamber fit and longer case life.

I'll leave it to the Legend shooters to see if these protocols I outlined carry over to their game. My gut feeling is that some of it may.

A great way to implement a stage of 223 brass manufacturing without further steps using the most common handgun projectile with the most common primer and the least expensive ball powders. Chambered in the most common rifle.

Those aren't virtues, just manufacturing advantages to produce "something" during a period of expenses. Gee, I wonder why there's ammo for it.

Re-introducing the 351 Winchester self loader as the bearded lady and monkey boy still garners some takers.

Yep. Not much new under the sun. Even the .357Maxi is nothing more nor less than the 150 year old Maynard .35-30 cartridge, identical outside dimensions.

Live and hunt in a straight wall restricted state. My mother and little boy use the 350 Legend. Easier for them to shoot versus a slug gun or the larger straight walled options. Have had good results the past few years with correct bullet placement and shots taken within 100yards. Definitely not a brush busting hard hitting option. I typically hunt with a 450BM or 450 Marlin.

Having lived in SC for 14 years I never thought of the 350 Legend as something useful. Too many better options when not limited to a straight wall cartridge.

Honestly, I didn’t even know what a 350 Legend was before this thread started.

I had seen a bunch of “350” ammo on the shelf at Wallyworld.
The “350” was all I noticed, and that there was a bunch of it. More of it than any of the normal hunting rounds.

I won’t buy one. But have no problem with anyone else choosing one, for whatever reason.
Maybe for some it’s a replacement for black gun ammo that Wallyworld no longer carries.

OP your question isn’t directed to me as I hunt a straight walled area, switched to 450 bm when started hunting this area, sold it and bought a 350l after shoulder replacement surgery and needed lower recoil. So it has a niche.

Throughout the latest shortage there was 350L on the shelves here in AZ. Why they would even ship it here is beyond me unless the snowbirds take it home with them.

Wow! He did well. I was impressed that I found a nice one for $550. But I passed on it when I couldn't locate 35 ammo

I live in PA and see them in just about every gun shop I go into. I have a buddy that bought one for his son, 8 or 9 years old. He gives me empty brass and I return it loaded with a 9mm cast bullet, a pistol primer and some pistol powder just to give him trigger time with his center fire. If I charged him current prices, a box of 20 would be under 3 bucks. I give him a little better deal and charge him nothing. Love seeing the kids shoot!

If I had enough brass to make it worthwhile, I’d setup the Dillon to load these. I already have everything except an extra die block.

The powder coating is a little extra time but the end result of a smooth, shiny and non sticky bullet is worth it to me. I’m not a competitive shooter, I just enjoy the experimenting to find the right combination of components for my rifles. I haven’t ever messed with different alloys, just go with straight wheel weights and keep it cheap. I’ve been thinking about it now that I’m loading cast in rifles but I haven’t made any yet. Maybe later in late winter when I’m waiting on the weather to get better.

Many things take the proper exposure. I had no, zero, interest in a 350. Just something for the AR guys.

I was at the range minding my own business and another shooter show's up. He had a 45-70 and an AR.

After shooting the 45-70 he qets out the AR. His target is at 100 yards and he shoots a group that most shooters in this area dream about.

My interest is on full alert. Yep turned out to be a 350 Legend. He said the upper was a cheep one he picked up just to try.

Ballistics' appear to be about the same as a 35 Rem. I understand that the 35 has killed boat loads of deer.

I am a transplant from Montana so I don't know but I will take the deer hunters in this areas word for it.

I am not an AR guy but lets see I cam do a barrel change on my savage 223 and wind up with a Legend.

I don't see the point unless you're in a state requiring straight walled cartridges. I live in Iowa and have been using the .357 Max in a TC Encore with 18" barrel set up as a pistol for over a decade total, mainly during the late season muzzleloader season (yes, Iowa allows this as it is technically pistol, which is legal in the late ML season). My experience with the .357 Max has been one of shooting deer once and either having them drop or following a bloodtrail that looks like it was made with a paint can with a hole in the bottom. I'd imagine the .350 Legend with 180 gr. would do the same. Most of the time I've been shooting 190 gr. cast bullets, but the past two seasons I've used the Speer 180 gr. HotCor at 2050 fps. It's taken four deer for myself and my daughter with great performance. Now that Iowa is permitting bottleneck cartridges from .350"-.500" bore diameter my daughter claimed the Encore and I've purchased a .350 Remington Magnum XP-100 with 16.25" barrel. Load development has been fun with that gun and I'll be using the same Speer bullet at 2400 fps come January.

If I was starting a young hunter out I would get him a 350

4 different 350 legend ammo variety in stock. AND a 35 remington....no 350 mag unfortunately.

Ammo is everywhere and no recoil

Ran 80 rounds through my AR in 350 Legend yesterday letting my grandson waste ammo, which was mostly cast bullets on top of I4227. He had a blast blasting empty cans and milk jugs full of water. Going to burn another 20 and load another 100 with a different cast bullet to hunt with. The round almost exactly matches the 35 Remington which is a good thing.

I had always thought a Remington 788 in 30-30 would be a neat deer rifle. Or a bolt action 35 REM.

I don’t see why anyone would say it’s pointless to have a perfectly adequate 200yard deer rifle with less recoil than a 243. It doesn’t even matter what state your in.

I have a 30-30 which is likely very similar. It definitely has less blast than a 243, but I don’t know that it kicks any less.

I still don't understand why they made it .355 and not .357/.358, I'd definitely consider one myself.

Living in Ohio I’m limited to the straight walled cartridges, slug guns, muzzleloader or handguns and I have used them all at some point. For the last 5 years I used a Marlin 45-70 with handloads but after getting arthritis, the recoil made it no fun to shoot. My son bought a Savage 350 last year and took a nice doe with it so I thought I’d see what I could find. A smaller shop had Winchester, Savage, CVA and Franchi. They didn’t have Ruger. I went in thinking I’d get a Savage, Winchester or go somewhere else for a Ruger. The guy at the shop recommended either the CVA or Franchi neither of which I knew anything about although I had previously opened a Franchi shotgun.

After some quick googling I ended up buying the Franchi Momentum. MOA guarantee with a card showing the ammo and group, 22” threaded barrel, adjustable trigger, detachable magazine, smooth 60 degree bolt throw, it also includes bases but no rings. When I got it home I cleaned it, mounted a Leupold VX3 2.5-8x36 in low Warne Maxima rings i had. I checked the trigger pull 2 different gauges and it was 2.5# on both.

I took it to the range Wednesday. I should have bore sighted at home because it was too sunny at the range. After pulling the bolt and lining up the bore and scope I was able to get the first shot on paper at 50 yards with FMJ ammo. It dialed in quickly at 50 yards. I took it out to 100 yards and after some fine tuning it was MOA with Winchester Deer Season XP ammo. I have several different types of ammo but this shot so well I didn’t try anything else yet. I’m going back to the range tomorrow to see how the others do.

There is very little recoil with this gun and I’m excited to see how it does if I get a shot Monday. With the accuracy I got from factory ammo I’m not planning on getting reloading supplies yet.

Sorry for the long post but my point is that the rifle serves a purpose here in Ohio and I’m sure other states that require straight walled cartridges. When you factor in the recoil difference between the 350 and other SW cartridges it’s a nice round so far. Time will tell if it’s effective on deer.

The same reason they didn't make it a straight walled 40, which would have made a better deer cartridge IMO, but that's not what they were "shooting" for.


It's about components, expediency and ease (less steps) of mass manufacturing and not creating another AR bolt face.

They make more 9mm bullets in taper crimp configuration than they do 38's. They make more 9mm ammo than any other handgun cartridge.

It's about using (replacing) the manufacture of other cartridges, otherwise you'd see those other cartridges' ammo on the shelves....many of the guns and other cartridges are going the semi-custom route.

Now there you go. Screwing everything up.
Wouldn't probably be my choice, but a bolt 350 would be a great
kids gun here.

There is at least one solid reason for a 350 bolt gun in rifle states.
With solid, thought out and defendable, reasons for that choice.

Wanting one is enough.

I honestly believe that.
For others.



But years ago a mentor taught me a lesson about driving a truck.

"Every move you make, have a solid reason for it. If ask, be able to
defend your actions immediately."

That burned into the brain, and carries over into my life.
Boring? Yeah.
But it has saved me a ton of money, kept me out of a lot of trouble.

[quote=gnoahhh] John, didn't I read a caution from you not long ago about forcing jacketed bullets through a smaller diameter die, that said bullets could see their jackets separated from their cores in the process, due to springback of the gilding metal versus the lead cores staying fully compressed? [quote]

I suspect you're thinking about my warning concerning hammer-type bullet pullers. They can indeed loosen the core in jacketed bullets.

I forget that us handloaders are a minority. If I didn’t handload and was limited to a straight wall cartridge or a shotgun slug, the .350 Legend is perfect. And the marketing has gone with it to make it successful. Three criteria for a successful cartridge. It does the intended job. Ammunition and guns are easily available everywhere. And marketing convinces hunters that it kills things deader than dead. The .350 Legend currently has all three. Just like the 6.5 Creedmoor. Just think if the .350 Rem Mag had not been introduced until today and was chambered in a rifle that made the recoil average. It would be the next great short mag if it had the marketing and rifles and ammunition abundance that the .350 Legend does. The Legend was developed to fit two niches by a smart marketing department. They capitalized on the popularity of the AR platform and available accessories and modularity and a number of states requiring cartridge restrictions on deer hunting. Then people discovered that ammo was everywhere, all sorts of rifle configurations are available, and it just plain works at the ranges 95% of deer are shot at - less than 200 yards. I don’t hold any animosity toward the cartridge. It’s simply an example of a good marketing team recognizing a niche they could fill in a very saturated market.

Good report on the cartridge and rifle. Thank you.

I've sighted two Rugers in for other people...using 180 grain they are very accurate.
Recoil is about like a 30-30, and the short barreled Ruger would make for a dandy woods/ blind gun.
I can see a need for the straight wall in up north in states , but I wouldn't replace my 308 handy rifle for one.
Like said above, ammo is everywhere.

Have one for Ohio. Does the job just fine on deer their. That’s the only reason for me to have one though

Since I have it I’ll let the kids use it as well if they want to.

TN doesn’t restrict us so I wouldn’t use it here unless for novelty or the kids honestly.

Couple bear hunters I know like them for shooting tree’d bears from single shot rifles for what it’s worth

Walmart is ran by people on the 40th floor in Bentonville AR...not your local stores..

I moved to Oregon in 1995, and deer hunting season is in October, and ends at the first of November.

Wally World here has quit carrying guns and ammo in Oregon, something to do with the political climate.

BUT.. what I've seen for the 27 years I have lived here, is Wally Worlds marketing and management teams, send out product for hunting season to correspond to when hunting season is in Arkansas.. So what I've seen for 27 years in Oregon, is as soon as our deer hunting general season is OVER here in Oregon, then the store gets an entire shipment of Hunting Season stuff to put on the shelves...

most people don't buy any of it... because what hasn't moved after hunting season is over in Arkansas, then they put it all on Sale., for a fraction of the price. That is when people in Oregon, go back down to Wally World, and then stock up on all of their needs for next hunting season...

Its almost like Walmart has fashioned their marketing nationwide , from Governmental Management Theory... known on the street as day late and dollar short.. or the one word description.. CLUELESS...

I've picked up two of them in a Savage Axxis...

But only because they were closing them out for $200, with a Bushnell 3 x 9 scope to boot. The Bushnell will make a good 22 scope..

I bought them because the rifles were certainly a bargain, 50% off. But I have ordered a pair of 17 Fireball barrels...
I've put one of them on one of the Savage Axxis. Same length and contour...

Walmart in Oregon has quit selling rifles and ammo, so there was no 350 Legend on the shelves... but I bought them for the actions.

If they had made the 350 Legend with a 223 case, and not made it the way they did, then I would have tried one out... as I have 10 life time supplies of 223 brass, that is pretty much range pick up brass. But they decided to be different, a marketing dept idea I am sure.

However, for the service they talk about most people using "Legend" for, I've been using a Ruger Predator in 6.5 Grendal for 3 years now.
So buying ammo, ( if I can find it) for the "Legend" isn't really motivating me to use it... The Grendal does everything 350 will do, plus a lot more.
Bi Mart has 350 Legends on the shelves, in the Ruger Ranch rifle, and they cost $100 more than I got the Predator in a Grendal. So no reason to try and reinvent the wheel for me.

The other Axxis I have, I will probably order a 223 barrel in it, with a fast twist, that heavier contour, but 18 inch length like the Barrel that the 350 came with. I like the Grendal from Ruger because I can use AR mags with it.. not so much with the Savage. But I do like the Savage Axxis that I have, as in the varmint fields I single shoot my shots. A heavier contour barrel, but shorter in length that my other guns is making sense to me, especially when my shooting rest is the Hood off my 4 Runner.

so my factory Legends are rebarreled to 17 Fireball and a 223.

I have 2. An AR-15 upper, and a Savage Axis. Both shoot great. Recoil is negligible, and they will kill Whitetails dead as Lincoln’s nuts. I’m gonna be 20 feet up in my stand on opening morning of the Ohio
Gun Season this coming Monday with my Savage Axis lefty bolt rifle loaded with my handloads. 165 grain Hornady FTX at 2200
Feet per second.

Ron

😂😆😂😆

Now that is dead! ☠️

I see these 350 Legend ammo and rifles here in Idaho. Why they are even bringing those here is a mystery to me. This certainly isn't the market for them and it would be nice to see them rounded up and shipped to where they'd be in use or demand. Out here if you roll slow it's an 30-30, 45-70, or muzzleloader.

Bought a Ruger Ranch Rifle in 350 Legend to use here in Ohio. Had it for a year or so and finally got around to shooting it. Tried several factory offerings and settled on the cheap Asspro Herters in 180 gr. Thing is a shooter with almost no recoil. What’s not to love for the Ohio woods? I’ll be perched in a tree on Monday toting the Ruger.

I don’t know. Why would anyone want to hunt with a rifle that kills deer with low recoil and you can find ammo for at a gas station.

Seems strange to me too.

The little .355 dia legend will never in a 100 years equal the 35 Remington.........Go back and study your ballistic tables for both catridges with different bullet weights.

I'd like to have one for schitzngiggles. Not deer .. jackrabbits. 147 grain XTP HP at .. 2500? .. fps SHOULD come all unglued when introduced to Jack Rabbit out in the sage.

I guess it works ok in straightwall states. 188 yards. 150 gr Winchester Deer Season. Took about ten steps . Disclaimer - no pass thru. But deader than Elvis. https://postimg.cc/gX6CwMhB https://postimg.cc/nCvnSLCw

The word "almost" outside your vocabulary? The 350 comes within 100 feet per second of equaling the 35 Remington with reloads, can be loaded to equal most 200 grain factory loads, excluding the Hornady rubber tips. That is if factory standard pressures are adhered to. My cast 200 grain load runs 1950 fps which is about what you get from Factory 200 grain Corelokts. The 35 Remington Leverevolution 200 grain load definitely out runs the 350, if you could find any of it on the shelf. I happen to own both and load them to similar velocities with 220 gr and 200 gr. cast bullets. An added bonus IF I were to shoot factory ammo is that ammo is everywhere unlike the 35 Remington which lately has been impossible to find and this includes brass. Good thing I do reload.

Please tell me more about your 350L cast load’s. I’m casting with WW and powder coating. Trying to figure out if I need to go with a harder alloy or slower powder, or both. A 200gr Lee 358-200 cast with 4227 I get to around 1400 with decent accuracy and then it falls apart trying to go faster.

Pardon me if I missed a previous post on this, but Mule Deer’s article in the current Handloader has a load with sized 200gr FTXs that fully equal standard .35 R loads. Even if they came up a bit short, the current dearth of all things .35 Remington would make the .350 a pretty good idea, especially handloaders. Then too, can’t forget its original purpose. Only Iowa, and maybe a couple of swampy states allow bottleneck .35s in previously shotgun-only areas. That’s a moving target, of course.

No dog in this fight as we can use any CF here, for now anyway.

The fastest load I have uses 1680 and you need to work it up yourself. I too am using the LEE 200 grain bullet and powder coating and a MP mold that drops 208 grain bullets when hollowpointed. PM on the way.

Switch to 1680 powder, and check your bullet fit against your throat diameter. If you're powder coating you should be able to go softer not harder which may well improve accuracy, improve expansion, and still not lead - if the bullet fits your throat. (Although I get great accuracy and velocity as well with 4227, 1680 has the edge, at least in my .357 Maximum rifle ballistic twin to the Legend.)

Well pretty close other than the Legend case is a tenth of an inch longer and has a much higher pressure ceiling. That said yes I load my 357 Max pretty hot.

I’ve never had any 1680 but I guess I’ll try to find some now. I have a couple hundred pounds of fairly pure lead, old lead pipe, but I’ve never cast anything with it. I’ve been saving it for alloy recipes but I don’t need to save it all! I’m sizing these at .358 and with the powder coating I’ve never had any leading.

1680 is also my preferred powder for both max velocity and accuracy in my .357 Maximum with 180-200 gr. jacketed and cast bullets. I'm using 180 gr. Speers with 30 gr. AA1680 behind them and getting 2050 fps from my 18" barrel.

It is new & well promoted, Low recoil & ammo has been readably available. I expect very capable out to 125 yards, like most calibers if you put the bullet where it needs to be. Are you inclined to talk all, out of the 6mm ARC as well?

I do not personally have much use for the 350 Legend. The 6mm ARC in a mini Bolt action on the other hand, has great utility for me. Liked it enough to order a barrel for a CZ 527. Would I recommend the 6mm ARC to a non-reloader? Not at this point, due to price & availability of ammo. 350 legend is not suffering either price or availability issues of the 6mm ARC. So I can see some appeal for the recoil sensative person not wanting to shoot over 100 yards or so anyway.

😂😂😂

I like the idea of using the 6 ARC or the 6.5 Grendel in this same application, but factory ammo availability is extremely limited on both. Hornady, Winchester, & Federal all offer two or three suitable options sitting on the shelf ready to buy. If I want something I don’t see on the shelf, I am confident that some reputable online retailer will have it. Many cartridges out there check the box on some of categories, but the 350L checks the most boxes. Good woods carbine, affordable and available ammunition, great options for rifles, legal to hunt with in every state. It’s fun to shoot and does what it says it will do if you do your part.

For me, I've always wanted a 357 rifle, but didn't want to pay the money they go for. I can cast bullets for it and shoot it cheap, or load it almost to a 35 rem which will work for 99.9% of my deer hunting. The Ruger American I have in 350 is very short and handy, light and accurate.

I always thought that the 357 Maximum was a well thought out hunting round. But I wasn’t going to custom fit a rifle for it. I have owned a Marlin 336C in 35 REM, but ammo became so scarce that I decided to sell it to finance a M70 Featherweight in 270.

We have to use a straight wall cartridge in Iowa (recently changed to .35 and over) but we bought a couple of bolt guns in .350 Legend rather that shotgun slugs or muzzleloading. We have taken 7-8 in the last couple years and I have been pleasantly surprised at the effectiveness of the cartridge. Mild recoil and very accurate. Using the Winchester 150 Deer Season load. No deer has gone more than 30 yards or so, good blood trails etc.. Not hard to get at least 200 yards accurately. Have the Leopold scope that has the compensation dialed in for the .350 Legend

I've had a Ruger Ranch in 350 Legend for 3 years now.
3 200lb+ Bucks and a cow doe.
I use it in my stand for recoil and short barrel and 6lb weight.
This caliber is superb for deer and black bears.
Our whole camps uses it. 8lb recoil and hits like a friggin truck.
It's closest bullet would be 35 Remington of which I've used for 40 years.
It's a great caliber.
Put your bias away guys.

There is no comparison between 357 and 350 L.
350 legend is far superior in every way.
I have both. It's a powerhouse round for its size.

I like this thread
The more you hate it
The better it is for us for ammo
It sucks don't buy it.
Stay with 300 Win Mags

Ive just recently bought a 350 legend CVA scout SS earlier this year after hunting with black powder for as long as I can remember. I was actually looking for a 35 whelen but after a long discussion with the salesman, he made a good point. My shots for this rifle are 75 yards and closer, due to where I'm going to use it and its intent. So a 35 whelen was way overkill.

He also mentioned that Louisiana is only a handful of states that still allow a necked cartridge for primitive. He didn't say whether or not they will change the rule, but he did say that there are more states trying to go to a straight walled cartridge for primitive hunting. I tended to believe him due to the fact that he's in the business of selling and why stock up on a rifle that may or may not be legal in your state for certain hunting situations. I do also understand that a 35 is a hell of a round out to 200+ yards and could be used any time of the hunting season. But after talking to him a while about it, I bought the 350.

And with 150g winchester deer season XP ammo, it will put them damn near in the same hole at 75yards.

There's a primitive weapons season in Mississippi that allows blackpowder muzzleloaders OR "single shot, breech loading, metallic cartridge rifles (.35 caliber or larger) and replicas, reproductions, or reproductions of those type rifles with an exposed hammer".

It looks like I can expand my hunting season a bit if I pick up a single-shot 350 Legend!

I have no desire to own a 350 Legend rifle at this point but the CVA Scout pistol in 350 Legend has been on my mind lately.