.350 Legend Experience

[3 Meter Para Bellum]

I was just reading ShadeTree's topic, "On game performance" and hearing all the .35 love had me wondering what anyone's experience with the .350 Legend is. It is a newer cartridge so I was always a little skeptical it was mostly marketing, and it was designed to work in an AR platform which made me even more hesitant. I read an article that claimed it had very good knockdown within 100 yards with felt recoil similar to a .243 which sounded nice, but I remained skeptical. It seems that as far as .35 caliber options go it is relatively available so I was curious if any one has had good experiences or otherwise with them.

There seems to be quite a few .35 Whelen lovers here as well, obviously there a lot of factors, but roughly what do you think the recoil of a Whelen would be comparable to. It seems to be the only other .35 that has interested me.

 

[Johnly]

I have a 350 Legend on a AR platform. Nice low recoiling round, but way behind the 35 Whelen as far as performance.

 

[JD338]

The 35 cals hit hard and the on game performance is good. The 350 Legend fits the bill but at a reduced range.
I do believe that a short barrel AR -15 in 350 Legend would be an awesome home defense set up. With a couple of 30 round magazines, it would be a force to recken with.

JD338

 

[NMachine]

The Legend behaves about like a 35 Remington, which is a hammer of a whitetail and black bear round out to about 200 yds.
The Whelen is in a whole different league. The Whelen is an effective cartridge on elk sized game to about 400 yds. You asked about recoil in the Whelen. It depends on rifle weight, barrel profile, and load being shot. Most starting Whelen loads recoil a bit more than a 30-06, but can go up near .338 Win mag levels if you are pushing fo max performance. The performance levels are worth the increased recoil in my opinion.

 

[walkinhorseman]

Here's an article on the 350 Legend.

.350 Legend Cartridge: Everything You Need to Know - Guns and Ammo

The Winchester .350 Legend straight-wall cartridge is ideally suited for hunting hogs and deer; here's everything you need to know to make it work for you.

www.gunsandammo.com

The author talks about actually shooting deer. He also incorrectly stated that PA has straight wall case regulations. That part of the article is bogus as I am a PA Hunter. I know of shotgun only restrictions around the population centers but am not aware of straight wall cases being thrown into the PGC regs.

 

[Dr. Vette]

The Legend behaves about like a 35 Remington, which is a hammer of a whitetail and black bear round out to about 200 yds.

I would suggest that the 35 Rem is better.
2100-2200fps for a 220 grain Speer in the 35 Rem vs 2100 for a 180 grain Winchester Super-X for the 350 Legend.

But, both are short-range rifles. The rainbow trajectory will get you either way.

 

[ShadeTree]

The 350 Legend uses a whole different family of bullets than what most would call a 35 caliber, being it is .355 verses .358. So I can't speak to the bullets it uses, but provided they are of similar construction, it should provide similar results within the same impact speed parameters.

On Hodgdon's data, Lil Gun is the clear winner on speed with the Win 180 gr PP. 2213 with just 25.5 gr's of powder. Pip squeak of a cartridge, but I bet it's impressive within its effective range, for all the more kick it would generate. 2213 is within 100 FPS of the highest listed velocity with a 35 Rem using a 180 gr Speer.

I would disagree slightly with Dr Vette. I'm pushing the 180 Speer 2350 in a 760 35 Rem. Using Speer's listed B.C and the Hornady calculator, sighted in 1" high at 100, I'm less than 3" low at 200. That will suffice for 90% of all game taken in North America. I don't consider 200 yds short range.

200 yds is short range of the ballistic capabilities of most cartridges, but not in real life range of what most game gets shot at.

 

[Dr. Vette]

I don't consider 200 yds short range.

200 yds is short range of the ballistic capabilities of most cartridges, but not in real life range of what most game gets shot at.

I can kill deer at 200 yards with a slug, and have. That makes it short range in my book, i.e. anything in shotgun range is short range.
But yes, most game gets taken in 200 yards or less.

 

[ShadeTree]

I can kill deer at 200 yards with a slug, and have. That makes it short range in my book, i.e. anything in shotgun range is short range.
But yes, most game gets taken in 200 yards or less.

Not following the comparison. Holding dead on an animal and and keeping it under 3" of drop out to a set distance, is not rainbowing it in, which was what I was disagreeing with. Most slug guns zeroed at 50 yds can drop as much as 4" at 100. That's short range.

I did see I failed to factor in the drag coefficient on my above trajectory 1" high at 100 gets me to 175 staying under 3" of drop. Little higher at 100 gets me to 200. 175 yds is still farther than any shot I've attempted, much less killed in the woods, regardless of what I was carrying. I've had times I could make out the shape of a deer at that distance, but never remotely a chance of getting a bullet to them.

Not arguing that the 35 Rem is in any way shape or form, long range. Only that it holds up to the distances 90% of game is killed at. It is not limited to true short range.

 

[Dr. Vette]

Most slug guns zeroed at 50 yds can drop as much as 4" at 100. That's short range.

I zero mine at 150, same as my 35 Rem and my 450 Bushmaster.
Why handicap a firearm?

 

[KinleyWater]

... You asked about recoil in the Whelen. It depends on rifle weight, barrel profile, and load being shot. Most starting Whelen loads recoil a bit more than a 30-06, but can go up near .338 Win mag levels if you are pushing fo max performance. The performance levels are worth the increased recoil in my opinion.

I would like to second this, and add a consideration of stock profile. I have a Rem 700 Classic in 35 Whelen and it feels comfortable shooting most of the shelf 200 and 250 grain loads. The notable exception being the Hornady Superformance load. That load is, hands down, the most uncomfortable thing I have ever fired out of any type of firearm, though I have come close with some hand loads. My Whelen, with that load and those aforementioned hand loads felt worse to me than shooting my 375 with 285 grain pills. On paper, the 375 out-everythings the Whelen, including out-recoils, but it doesn't feel as bad and the only thing I can conclude is that the stock profile enables me to better handle the recoil in the 375 over the Whelen.

What is is comparable to? Seeing as it is based on a 30-06, I think that would be the best way to compare it. In fact, you can probably find a 30-06 in any platform you could find a Whelen in AND there are some bullet weight overlaps in the 180 to 220 grain category. I'm not sure you could get a better way to compare.

 

[mjcmichigan]

As a 35 is has respectable bore and knock down. From what I’ve read, it takes a 355 bullet, not a 358. And it memory servers me, 9mm is 355. Hornady makes an FTX and I think an interlock in 355.
The AR is a fun platform to own and shoot.
Might be an acceptable round if you’re not hung up on 358 bullets