350 Legend Opinions Required

Old Jalopy

Old Jalopy

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I sometimes wonder about the people on the internet. Especially when it comes to firearms and more often rifle chamberings. One of the biggest is the 350 Legend. I see a lot of people who love the 357 Mag in a lever action, but say they can't stand the 350L. It's the same caliber bullet used for both. The 350L is a better choice for hunting, if you read the stats. Better reach, a little more knockdown power at those longer yardages, just over all better performance. Maybe it's some of the hunters who dislike the round because of being old school, and hating any new round/chamberings that comes out. Or, maybe it's something else?

My research is mainly reading charts, looking at and reading comparisons, and talking to only a couple of guys who have both. I own a 350L, but not a 357 Mag. I know out to about 150 yards, my rifle will group 5 right around a half dollar.

So, I come to the members of this fine organization.

For those who have a 350L what are your thoughts?
If you own both and have hunted deer with both, which did you like more?
 
FP1201

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Old Jalopy said:
I sometimes wonder about the people on the internet. Especially when it comes to firearms and more often rifle chamberings. One of the biggest is the 350 Legend. I see a lot of people who love the 357 Mag in a lever action, but say they can't stand the 350L. It's the same caliber bullet used for both. The 350L is a better choice for hunting, if you read the stats. Better reach, a little more knockdown power at those longer yardages, just over all better performance. Maybe it's some of the hunters who dislike the round because of being old school, and hating any new round/chamberings that comes out. Or, maybe it's something else?

My research is mainly reading charts, looking at and reading comparisons, and talking to only a couple of guys who have both. I own a 350L, but not a 357 Mag. I know out to about 150 yards, my rifle will group 5 right around a half dollar.

So, I come to the members of this fine organization.

For those who have a 350L what are your thoughts?
If you own both and have hunted deer with both, which did you like more?
Click to expand...
I own a "Handi-Rifle" that I rechambered from .357mag to .357Max and it shoots very well....I also own MSR's in ,350 Legend and they're pretty damn close to the same...because the .350 is .355 and not .357 there may be bullet limitations, but with determination and a Lee Bullet Sizing die one could easily squeeze down the .357's to the needed size....I haven't killed anything with either, but would feel comfortable taking shots out to 150yds with either...Ones we sold in the Shop were very popular with positive reports.
Tangent: I just got the upper for .400 Legend and I can't wait to try it our against a 10mm Carbine (which is about 5/8" shorter)
Reading posts about penetration brought me back to when there was a massive Junk Yard very close by and I'd go down back after hours when they were crushing cars and do penetration tests on them....fire enough rounds and you'll learn a thing or two.
 
Robin

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I cannot do any comparisons cuz I no longer have a .357, but I do have a .350 and load for it. It reloads fine and is not fussy about bullet, powder, primer variations as it seems to be pretty accurate with whatever I throw at it. My results are measurably about like yours, but with better eyes there is no doubt it would achieve even tighter groups. People like to compare everything to everything so I have pretty much come to rely on my own findings for most things. It is a good deer hunting cartridge all by itself.
Robin
 
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Nothing wrong with . 350, most of the people I know that hate it aren't from rifle restriction states.


I think a better comparison frankly would be . 350 and . 30-30. .350 is the . 30-30 for ars is kinda my take.


I personally don't own one because I can have ar10s where I live.
 
Old Jalopy

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If you like to hunt deer with an MSR and stay with the 15 platform the 350L is a good option as you really dont have to swap the bcg, buffer, or spring from a 5.56/223. Feeding can be a small issue but all I did was buy dedicated 350L mags and file the front a little and round it off. Lip from bullet to case was snagging but that little work seemed to have fixed the issue.

With all this BS with ammo here I went with a round that doesn't also have a pistol counter part. If s 30/30 lever could be had in good shape for under a $800 I may have went that route. But levers are crazy priced these days. I remember when you could get a new one for a good price.
 
repete

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I've been toying with the idea of dumping my .300BO barrel and getting a 350L, I just wish they had made it .357 dia.
 
FP1201

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repete said:
I've been toying with the idea of dumping my .300BO barrel and getting a 350L, I just wish they had made it .357 dia.
Click to expand...
I believe someone DOES make a .357 that is very close to the .350 Legend.
While I haven't done so myself yet I suggested getting a Classic Bullet Sizing Kits and squeezing the .357 Bullets down...I have used these dies for truing projectiles that were pulled-down, and even took surplus .311 diameter bullets from 7.62x54R and sized them for use in .308
It's a modern .351 Winchester Self Loading Rifle IMHO.
If you like the .300BLK but it just doesn't quite get it done, may I suggest the .338ARC in Sub-Sonic...that bastard thumps!
 
1075tech

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SAAMI spec for the 350L is .357 with a tolerance of +0.000/ -0.003.

You can use a .357, or a .355. A .358 you might want to reduce.

I built a 10.5" AR in 350L. Cartridge specific mags with a little tweek and it runs fine. It's a little finicky with the suppressor but I think that's going to be a gas or buffer weight adjustment.

Essentially a 357 mag on steroids.
 
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1075tech said:
SAAMI spec for the 350L is .357 with a tolerance of +0.000/ -0.003.

You can use a .357, or a .355. A .358 you might want to reduce.

I built a 10.5" AR in 350L. Cartridge specific mags with a little tweek and it runs fine. It's a little finicky with the suppressor but I think that's going to be a gas or buffer weight adjustment.

Essentially a 357 mag on steroids.
Click to expand...
I thought using .357 bullets would cause the cases to swell/seat irregularly when reloaded? I have the rifle, Factory ammunition, and reloading components, but as of yet haven't rolled any.
 
Robin

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I'm not much for going outside the boundaries in my reloading and use bullets made for that caliber specifically. I think the one I settled on for deer is a 170 gr, soft point. I did buy a box of 140Gr. hollow points for the fun of it, they are very accurate and explode water filled milk jugs at 100 yards spectacularly!!!! I will look into that resizing die though.
All around, I enjoy reloading for it and just the fun of shooting it as well. I have so many to choose from with, muzzleloaders at the top, that it hasn't found itself in the deer hunting rotation, yet.
Robin
 
1075tech

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FP1201 said:
I thought using .357 bullets would cause the cases to swell/seat irregularly when reloaded? I have the rifle, Factory ammunition, and reloading components, but as of yet haven't rolled any.
Click to expand...
I haven't loaded for it yet either.

I only have weekends available right now and am deep into another project for the next several weeks.

I did try some of Hornady's Sub-x 250 gr . Pretty good at the 50 yards I had to work with with the suppressor on
 
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1075tech said:
I haven't loaded for it yet either.

I only have weekends available right now and am deep into another project for the next several weeks.

I did try some of Hornady's Sub-x 250 gr . Pretty good at the 50 yards I had to work with with the suppressor on
Click to expand...
Thinking for a second, Many/Most? of the American Rifles that fire 7.62x39 use .308 diameter Barrels while the Com-Bloc Cartridge is .311 and there doesn't seem to be an issue with the .003" (half for the bore of .0015) difference
I wouldn't try .358 Bullets one for size and secondly they are designed to be used at much higher velocities. (I have a couple .358 Winchesters and have had several .35 Rem and .35 Whelen's over the years...puts down some serious thump!
 
Old Jalopy

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I've read a lot that the 350L uses a .357 diameter bullet. Its designed to maximize the bullet to be more effective for hunting.
 
1075tech

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Old Jalopy said:
Nice rifles. Mines NY neutered with a Thordsen Gen 3. Originally had the mag fixed but the only dedicated 350L 5 round mags I found were steel and a pain in the ass to remove the butt plate to fix a bad feed.
Click to expand...
Supposedly, you can modify a pmag to reliably feed 350L. I haven't tried it yet.

The 350L in my picture was previously my 12" 6.5 Grendel pistol I had on my permit when I lived in NY.
 
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Old Jalopy said:
Nice rifles. Mines NY neutered with a Thordsen Gen 3. Originally had the mag fixed but the only dedicated 350L 5 round mags I found were steel and a pain in the ass to remove the butt plate to fix a bad feed.
Click to expand...
Dura-Mag makes (5) and (10) round magazines specifically for .350 Legend...https://dura-mag.com/duramag-ss-350-legend/
 
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1075tech said:
Supposedly, you can modify a pmag to reliably feed 350L. I haven't tried it yet.

The 350L in my picture was previously my 12" 6.5 Grendel pistol I had on my permit when I lived in NY.
Click to expand...
The problem with using Magazines other than those specified for the cartridge is the Bullet Guide (that deep vertical crease towards the front of the magazine) is very pronounced in 5.56 mags which guides along the shoulder to aid in feeding.
FWIW: The .400 Legend Dura-Mag is the optimal choice for .338ARC (6.5 Grendel necked to .338)
 
Old Jalopy

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1075tech said:
Supposedly, you can modify a pmag to reliably feed 350L. I haven't tried it yet.

The 350L in my picture was previously my 12" 6.5 Grendel pistol I had on my permit when I lived in NY.
Click to expand...
You can file off the little tabs towards the front of the mag that keep the 5.56/223 aligned. I tried and ruined the magazine because it still didn't want to feed properly. The #1 issue I hear from people using thee 350L in a MSR is feeding problems. I've seen guys on YT polish the feed ramps, put in heavier buffers and springs, file the tabs off 5.56 mags, and some odd stuff that made me scratch my head. After a jam trying to lod the first round, I studied where the problem seemed to be coming from. The bullet was being pushed up at an angle. I took the mag out and as I was unloaded the other 3 rounds I noticed it was catching on the front of the magazine and either not pushing the round out or popping it out at an odd angle. I filed the front of the magazine down a little and cured the issue, like I mentioned. Rounds now eject from the mag as they should, and feeding has been fine. KNOCK ON WOOD!
I don't hunt with it often. A few times a year. I also don't shoot it often. Just a few rounds to make sure it's still sighted in.
 
1075tech

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On the pmags, you have to strip them and then grind off the rib on the inside. I have NOT tried this myself. But there are videos on YouTube.

I'm running 10 and 20 round Duramags. Made by CMMG, just cheaper.

But yeah, the common fix is to trim the front of the mag and cut the feed lips back. 5 minutes with a Dremel.

Hopefully, I can get this project finished in the next month or so and I'll have some time to get back to fine tuning it.
 
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