When X3030DS and X350DS have the same 20â barrel length, the 350 Legend creates more muzzle energy than 30-30 Win. (The .458 SOCOM is not included in this comparison, because its case is not straight walled.). Davidson Defense "Sargon" AR-15 Upper Receiver 16" 5.56 NATO 4150 CMV QPQ Nitride 1-8T Heavy Barrel 15" M-Lok Handguard (Assembled or Unassembled) $604.99 $324.99 Sale In Stock. A longer, smaller diameter projectile penetrates better than a shorter, fatter projectile of the same weight and construction, which only makes sense. lbs.) Winchester has also announced 150 and 160 grain hunting loads for the .350 Legend. The 7.62x39mm Soviet cartridge was also evaluated, but did not make the cut. For .44 and .45 a 16 inch barrel is perfect. Overview. Generations of legendary excellence, consistent performance and outstanding value continues with Winchester® âUSA White Boxâ 350 Legend. The data in both cases are from a 20-inch barrel, which is somewhat common in the field and is the standard test length utilized by most ammunition companies. (An exception is the Savage Model 99.) Winchester quotes muzzle velocity (MV) values for its.350 Legend loads from both 16 inch and 20 inch rifle barrels. This may not be a great concern on deer and similar sized thin skinned game that do not require a lot of penetration if only broadside lung shots are taken, because these large diameter bullets are going to deliver a lot of shock energy to the target, even if they do not always penetrate well. I feel that a +/- 3-inch MPBR is appropriate for rifles used to hunt Class 2 game, including the cartridges being evaluated here. The 300 Blackout data was with a 16â³ barrel, and the rest were with 20â³ barrels. Energy is an important component of killing power, as will be discussed below. The 16 inch barrel data are used here, for all cartridges, because 16 inches is ⦠120 grain SST: KPS at 100 yds. = 33.6, .350 Legend, Win. Then I, with helpful editorial support from Chuck, compared the .30-30 Winchester and the .350 Legend and the .35 Remington and the .350 Legend. Itâs safe to claim that the 300 Blackout gets its first win against the 350 Legend. By the time the bullet gets to the end of a 20-inch barrel, the volume of the bore is ⦠in. We started with Chuck Hawks giving an overview of the cartridge itself in The Winchester .350 Legend. Results are in descending order of MPBR. Winchester has announced that the Winchester XPR bolt action rifle will be chambered in .350 Legend. Please note the Winchester Ammunition catalog lists X3030DS with a 24â barrel, and a 20â barrel for X350DS. Note that this is a comparative system. Bullet placement is the most important factor in achieving quick, humane kills, so anything that makes hitting easier is desirable. This is why I preach the "never take a shot beyond MPBR, and closer is always better" doctrine. I would expect recoil of the 150 and 160 grain loads to be slightly less, because of the lighter weight bullets. in. Another Winchester .350 Legend promotional chart compares energy on target at 200 yards and includes the .30-30, 223 and .300 Blackout. (They do not specify what the various test bullets or loads were.) 250 grain FTX: KPS at 100 yds. They can also be useful for hunters who wish to use AR-15 rifles to hunt Class 2 game elsewhere. I do not consider these to be Class 3 cartridges, KPS scores notwithstanding. This leads to the issue of rifle platforms for the cartridge. Winchester says the .350 Legend drops 7.6 inches at 200 yards and just over 28 inches at 300 yards when zeroed at 100 yards. CMMG has announced an AR15 carbine (with a 16 inch barrel) in the cartridge, plus 5 and 10 round magazines. The loads being compared are not clearly specified, which is why I say the information is vague. The 16 inch barrel data are used here, along with .450 Bushmaster and .50 Beowulf data from 16-inch barrels, because 16 inches is the most prevalent barrel length for AR-15 rifles. The MPBR numbers say that this is an over-reach, for the 180 grain load, as well as the cartridges and loads with which it is compared. Exceptional Member Joined Aug 2008; Posts 1971; EE ... My go too rifle is a 16 inch Faxon gunner barrel with just a thread protector. Copyright 2019 by Gary Zinn and/or chuckhawks.com. Producing bolt action rifles in .350 Legend should be a snap. SD affects penetration, as all other factors being equal (bullet construction, for example) the bullet with the highest sectional density will penetrate deepest. Results are in descending order of MPBR yardage. LEUPOLD VX-FREEDOM 350 LEGEND 3-9X40 (1 INCH⦠The all-new 350 Legend is a high-performing straight-walled cartridge that is ideal for hunters and sport shooters. = 16.5; KPS at 190 yds = 13.7. The loads being compared are not clearly specified, which is why I say the information is vague. The loads are listed in descending order of their MV. The Legend looks like a prayer answered for those who hunt in areas where rifles are restricted to short, straight-walled cartridges. for the .300 BLK (all in 8 pound rifles). I suspect barrels will be back in stock now that hunting season is over. Various systems have been created to estimate the killing power of rifle cartridges, with varying results in terms of accuracy. lbs., respectively, in eight pound rifles. (Generally, a KPS of 30 to 32 may be considered a threshold power level for hunting Class 3 game.) All rights reserved. For old school deer hunters (like me) the lever action is perhaps the best all-around platform for a hunting cartridge. Therefore, it has potential as an effective hunting cartridge, especially when fed 180 grain bullets that have adequate sectional density for deer and hog hunting. 350 legend probably shoots a Hodgdon H110 type powder/same as 450bm. I came up with a tentative recoil estimate that may or may not be accurate for the .350 Legend, 180 grain load, but it is the best I can do without verified powder charge data for the new cartridge. GSL Technology GT-MAG 350 Legend. figures for our comparison loads at the muzzle, 100, 200 and 250 yards. Here are the SD numbers for our comparison bullets, in descending order. In addition, the .300 BLK load has the limitations of being the least powerful load overall and having the next to shortest MPBR. A well designed bolt rifle also carries and mounts satisfactorily, but cycles slower than a lever gun. One of the best, in terms of positive correlation with reality, has proven to be the G&S Online Rifle Cartridge Killing Power Formula. A well designed bolt rifle also carries and mounts well, but cycles slower than a lever gun. I feel that a +/- 3-inch MPBR is appropriate for rifles used to hunt Class 2 game, including the cartridges being evaluated here. The .350 Legend shares many characteristics with the .223 Remington, the overall cartridge length is 2.26 inches (57 mm) long with a rim diameter of .378 inches (9.6 mm), but it is not derived from the .223 Remington. Meanwhile, my limited experience with AR15s in the field is that they are unwieldy to carry and awkward to mount, but that may be just me. The main difference is that the Grendel carries more killing power to MPBR distance than does the SPC. Winchester has announced that the Winchester XPR bolt action rifle will be chambered in .350 Legend. Unfortunately, many such systems have no correlation with reality at all. The most significant thing about these numbers is that trajectory of all loads deteriorates quickly at ranges beyond 200 yards, with bullet drop at 250 yards roughly three to four times that at 200 yards, for all loads. and the .30-30 with 781 ft. lbs. The MPBR numbers say that this is a substantial over-reach, for all the Legend loads, which have MPBRs between 185 and 204 yards. Obviously, to kill cleanly, any hunting bullet must penetrate into the animal's vitals, so hunting bullet SD is important. These, though, are powerful handgun cartridges that have found something of a second home in rifles, rather than being designed from the ground up as rifle cartridges. The big hole in the middle is the group and the back side is Swiss cheese. (I say this even though I have carried compact, short-action bolt rifles on the majority of my deer hunts.) The bottom line is all of these hunting cartridges and loads are easy on the shoulder, so that recoil is not a significant deciding factor among them. Ballistic Advantage, Faxon, and Rosco Barrels are manufactured in the U.S.A by hardworking men passionate about barrel-making. For those interested, the recommended twist rate for .350 Legend rifles is one turn in 16 inches. The first number for each load is its MPBR yardage, the second is the far zero yardage associated with the MPBR. (Formerly 'shotguns only,' I believe, for deer hunting.)". Related GunDigest Articles.350 Legend vs .450 Bushmaster Ballistics. My choice of the Grendel, SPC, and Blackout for this evaluation is based on the results of an earlier article, Are AR-15 Type Cartridges Good for Hunting Deer?. The Legend looks like a prayer answered for those who hunt in areas where rifles are restricted to short, straight-walled cartridges. Note that all five loads, sighted-in for +/- 3 inch MPBR, shoot right at three inches high at 100 yards, which is how these cartridges should be zeroed. Davidson Defense "Legend" AR-15 Upper Receiver 16" Ultra-Match 350 Legend 4150 CMV 1-16T Barrel 15" M-Lok Handguard (Assembled or Unassembled) $489.99 $349.99 Sale Currently out of stock - ⦠Locked; emt322636. Here are the velocity in feet-per-second (fps) and energy in foot-pounds (ft. Obviously, to kill cleanly, any hunting bullet must penetrate into the animal's vitals, so hunting bullet SD is important. I am a firm believer in sighting-in hunting rifles and loads for maximum point blank range. Low extended range velocity of these loads also works against both penetration and bullet expansion. I calculated the killing power of these loads at 100 yards, as most whitetail deer, blacktail deer and feral hogs are killed at 100 yards or less. To summarize, the .350 Legend, 180 grain load, fits neatly between the Bushmaster and Beowulf loads in velocity, MPBR, and trajectory. These are not included here because the 180 grain load is the best comparison against heavier bullets in the .45 and .50 caliber cartridges; I use one popular bullet weight in those cartridges, as follows. At reasonable straight-wall cartridge hunting distances, for both velocity and trajectory, there is no real out-and-out winner between .450 Bushmaster vs .350 Legend. = 16.6. from a 20 inch rifle barrel, which is lower than any .30-30 load published in the Winchester ammo catalog. AR15 fanciers, long saddled with marginal deer cartridges, are likely to jump all over the cartridge. The 180 grain .350 Legend load just makes the minimum SD .200 rule of thumb, while the lower SDs of the 160 and 150 grain .357" bullets does not bode well for them penetrating deeply on heavy bodied animals. The abiding problem with medium and large bore bullets is that they must be quite heavy to have high sectional densities. Winchester quotes muzzle velocity (MV) values for its .350 Legend loads from both 16 inch and 20 inch rifle barrels. Winchester notes, "several other firearm manufacturers are gearing up" to produce rifles chambered in .350 Legend. Are AR-15 Type Cartridges Good for Hunting Deer? Hornady 300 grain FTX - BC .200 (Handload, based on .50 Beowulf data in Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading, 10th edition.). (.357"). for the 6.8 SPC and 7.0 ft. lbs. Next, we compared the .350 Legend .450 Bushmaster and .50 Beowulf. Evaluating recoil of the .350 Legend is shaky right now, because there is no body of reloading data that can be consulted to get load powder charges, a necessary variable in recoil calculations. The characteristics compared include velocity and energy, maximum point blank range and far zero, trajectory, sectional density, killing power and recoil. This is the subject of this article, to compare the .350 Legend with the 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 Remington SPC and the .300 Blackout. Here are the SD numbers for our comparison bullets, in descending order. TK Price: $795.95. 120 grain SST: +2.9" (100), +0.3" (200), -3.9" (250), .350 Legend, Win. .450 Bushmaster, Hornady 250 grain FTX: 191 / 164, .350 Legend, Winchester 180 grain PP: 185 / 158, .500 Beowulf, Hornady 300 grain FTX: 174 / 149, .450 Bushmaster, Hdy. Was shooting at an old propane tank. Ditto for AR15 platforms, whether complete rifles or uppers. (See Are AR-15 Type Cartridges Good for Hunting Deer?). Some straight wall handgun cartridges are chambered in rifles, notably the .357 Magnum, .44 Remington Magnum, .460 and .500 S&W Magnums. All rights reserved. 150 grain EP: KPS at 100 yds. Rugers in 350 Legend The Art of the Rifle: General The Firing Line ... 16 inches is fine, but 20 inches is better; velocity really picks up with them. If I wanted the most powerful cartridge of the lot, I would choose the 180 grain .350 Legend load, although it has the shortest MPBR. The characteristics compared include velocity and energy, maximum point blank range and far zero, trajectory, sectional density, killing power and recoil. 300 grain FTX: +2.8" (100), -3.1" (175), -20.1" (250), .50 Beowulf, Hdy. One of the best, in terms of positive correlation with reality, has proven to be the G&S Online Rifle Cartridge Killing Power Formula. These three are straight wall case designs, sized to function in AR-15 rifle platforms. Faxon sent me one of their new caliber offerings in a 16â Gunner profile.350 Legend barrel along with their 3-chamber muzzle device. Whether .350 Legend will only be popular in the four straight-wall states or spill over into the rest of the hunting world remains to be seen. Ballistics on the 30-30 vs the 350 legend are probably from the muzzle which doesn't mean squat its how fast and how much energy it has at 100-200yards that makes the difference.