THE .350 LEGEND

MOSTLY LONG GUNS

- Brian Pearce

In early 2019 Winchester Ammu-nition announced a new cartridge, the .350 Legend, which is advertised as the “World’s Fastest Straight-Walled Hunting Cartridge.” It is designed primarily for deer hunting at moderate distances and is suitable for AR-15 rifles. However, it is also being offered in several bolt-action rifles from Mossberg, Ruger, Winchester, Savage and others, with a Mossberg Patriot used here.

Several loads are available that serve to increase its versatility, including a 265-grain subsonic version, but the most popular loads will contain 150- to 180-grain expanding bullets at advertised velocities of 2,325 fps and 2,100 fps, respectively. The .350 provides similar energy (a term that I don’t care for) as the widely popular whitetail deer cartridge – the .30-30 Winchester – while producing approximately 20 percent less recoil than the .243 Winchester (based on measured recoil of 7-pound rifles).

The .350 is based on a .223 Remington case, but straightened to a maximum case length of 1.710 inches, while overall cartridge length is 2.26 inches. Bullet diameter is specified at .357 inch rather than the traditional .35-caliber rifle cartridge diameter of .358 inch (.35 Remington, .358 Winchester, .350 Remington Magnum, .35 Whelen, etc.). However, I pulled bullets from Winchester factory ammunition that included the 145-grain FMJ and the 150-grain

Extreme Point (XP), and both measured .355 inch. The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers’ Institute (SAAMI) specifies that the .350’s groove diameter is .355 inch and the bore is .346 inch. I have asked Winchester representatives why the above measurements are not corresponding particularly well, but no accurate responses have been offered.