Which Calibre Should Be Consigned to the Grave

[dgr416]

The 350L has one good point low recoil.
About 1/2 of a 243 and it’s a heavier bigger bullet that works well for new shooter’s.
We have stared a buch of kids with one this year makes 7 they all been able to shoot them fine.
And all have killed there first deer with it

The 350 legrnd is kinda low on power .I just got a ton of 350 legrnd ammo is massive ammo buy dont have one .I do like the 400 legend more power still not much kick .The 350 legend is really a rimless 357 rem maxium .I have heard lots of stories with lots of huge bucks being lost with the 350 legrnd .Its better than a 223 for sure .Its kinda like hunting with a 410 shotgun you better be an expert shot to be good with it on big bucks .

 

[dgr416]

This one is even funnierView attachment 728148

It got pregnant

 

[Hornedfrogbbq]

I feel like the Weatherby/velocity movement had it's day. There are better solutions. I am hopeful this .22CM and .25CM and the tiny super fast loads go the similar path.

 

[Flbt]

The 350 legrnd is kinda low on power .I just got a ton of 350 legrnd ammo is massive ammo buy dont have one .I do like the 400 legend more power still not much kick .The 350 legend is really a rimless 357 rem maxium .I have heard lots of stories with lots of huge bucks being lost with the 350 legrnd .Its better than a 223 for sure .Its kinda like hunting with a 410 shotgun you better be an expert shot to be good with it on big bucks .

I wonder what the ammo was on the lost deer.
We stared out with the Winchester whitetail with the bt ammo.
It did not pass through the deer. They did not go far but not much of a blood trail.
Change to the Hornday 170gr sp.
through and through good blood trai but they have not been needed.
I think the 170 will be good on hogs.

I think the 350 is about the same as a 30-30
But from what I have seen it’s better than any 22 cf and the 243 on deer at least inside 150 yds

 

[Rifleman97]

I wonder what the ammo was on the lost deer.
We stared out with the Winchester whitetail with the bt ammo.
It did not pass through the deer. They did not go far but not much of a blood trail.
Change to the Hornday 170gr sp.
through and through good blood trai but they have not been needed.
I think the 170 will be good on hogs.

I think the 350 is about the same as a 30-30
But from what I have seen it’s better than any 22 cf and the 243 on deer at least inside 150 yds

I've said it before but I've taken dozens of deer with the 350, never had to track one since banning winchester ammo from our hunt camp. Barnes, hornady 170/165, bear creek ballistics, are all good. Remington core lokt has had mixed results, better than winchester but I prefer others.

Furthest I've taken a deer with the 350 was over 300 yards and it went under 10 yards before falling over and giving a death bellow (heart shot, didn't hit either lung). Anyone who thinks the 350 isn't enough isn't hitting the deer in the right spot, or is using improper ammo. My sample size of deer is large enough to be statistically significant and I think it's a great round for 200 yards and in. It's more effective than the 30-30 in my personal experience at getting them to collapse faster and track shorter distances. I haven't noticed any difference between the 350 and the 450 bushmaster in speed of death, but the 350 is less noisy, cheaper to shoot, and recoils less.

 

[double rifle newbie]

Did the 6.5 Creedmoor touch you in a in appropriate way?

 

[matt85]

Anyone who thinks the 350 isn't enough isn't hitting the deer in the right spot

While i have nothing against the 350, this is a dangerous arguement. I know a guy who hunted deer exclusively with a 22LR and swore by it. His arguement was the same as yours, if the 22LR didnt kill the deer then you made a bad shot and its your fault.

In my humble opinion, what makes a cartridge suitable for game is how well it brings that animal down under less than ideal conditions.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

While i have nothing against the 350, this is a dangerous arguement. I know a guy who hunted deer exclusively with a 22LR and swore by it. His arguement was the same as yours, if the 22LR didnt kill the deer then you made a bad shot and its your fault.

In my humble opinion, what makes a cartridge suitable for game is how well it brings that animal down under less than ideal conditions.

Absolutely! But your 8 bore might be a touch more than necessary for a blacktail. Just joking, but I really do get annoyed with those that say bullet placement is the only thing that counts or that everything always goes as planned when the shot is taken.

My grandfather shot several California blacktails during the Great Depreciation when he couldn't afford to buy .30-30 ammo. He did it when he had to, but didn't approve of the practice.

 

[Rifleman97]

While i have nothing against the 350, this is a dangerous arguement. I know a guy who hunted deer exclusively with a 22LR and swore by it. His arguement was the same as yours, if the 22LR didnt kill the deer then you made a bad shot and its your fault.

In my humble opinion, what makes a cartridge suitable for game is how well it brings that animal down under less than ideal conditions.

I've went through the shoulder/leg bone on deer with the 350 and it went through both lungs and dropped the buck in his tracks. I don't believe a 22lr could do that. What I mean is that if you missed with the 350 and it didn't kill it, a 300 win mag probably wouldn't have changed the outcome by all that much. I've made some questionable shots (running, texas heart shot, quartering away, straight on, headshot, etc) with the 350 and every single one has managed to reach the vitals when using copper bullets. With the hornady ftx I havent done a texas heart shot but I've done some steep quartering away and still managed to reach the vitals and drop the deer just fine. A 22 is only good enough on the absolutely perfect shot AND perfect scenario (close range, behind the shoulder or in the head, perfect broadside or head on) where I've dropped deer with the 350 in all kinds of scenarios at up to beyond 300 yards. I've dropped around 30-40 deer with it personally, been there for over 100, and not had to track a single one that had been aimed at the vitals, all died within sight or within sight plus going behind a couple spruce trees to find it just beyond the clearing. The only time we had to seriously track a deer was when a person I was guiding used a 350 ruger with the vortex scope they come with and shot it in the front leg missing all vitals. We found it laying down but alive an hour later, and he proceeded to miss the first 2 shots at it, and then hit it in the guts. I got permission to take the shot myself, and dispatched it in one shot to the lungs from about 60 yards. Lot of wasted meat on that one from both front legs being damaged, plus a bit of a back leg hit from his 4th shot at the deer, but a 300 win mag wouldn't have changed the outcome there, and might have made it worse with a more severe flinch.

I do think the 30-30/350 legend is just about the smallest I would ever use on deer and call it 100% ethical. I wouldn't go really any smaller than either one of those cartridges.

 

[Rifleman97]

While i have nothing against the 350, this is a dangerous arguement. I know a guy who hunted deer exclusively with a 22LR and swore by it. His arguement was the same as yours, if the 22LR didnt kill the deer then you made a bad shot and its your fault.

In my humble opinion, what makes a cartridge suitable for game is how well it brings that animal down under less than ideal conditions.

All of these 4 deer were taken with a 350 legend by me within about 2-3 hours of opening day lol, by noon all were dressed and in the truck. I’d call that effective! I don’t remember the shot placement on these ones but I’ll tell you it was rapid fire and I wasn’t picky about shot placement outside of just aiming for vitals. I never try and avoid the shoulder, and often they are running shots. I do remember that I got 2 of these deer within a couple of seconds of one another as they both ran past me at the same time and I had a lot of tags to fill (8 I believe) so while I’m a pretty good rifleman, especially when shooting offhand at moving targets, I wasn’t exactly aiming for a perfect behind the shoulder broadside and would take whatever angle I had to get to the boiler room.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

View attachment 730745
All of these 4 deer were taken with a 350 legend by me within about 2-3 hours of opening day lol, by noon all were dressed and in the truck. I’d call that effective! I don’t remember the shot placement on these ones but I’ll tell you it was rapid fire and I wasn’t picky about shot placement outside of just aiming for vitals. I never try and avoid the shoulder, and often they are running shots. I do remember that I got 2 of these deer within a couple of seconds of one another as they both ran past me at the same time and I had a lot of tags to fill (8 I believe) so while I’m a pretty good rifleman, especially when shooting offhand at moving targets, I wasn’t exactly aiming for a perfect behind the shoulder broadside and would take whatever angle I had to get to the boiler room.

I'm going to guess that none of these bucks was killed at over 100 yards.

 

[steve white]

If it's equal to the 30-30 it ought to be immune to criticism, though it's a wonder the 30-30 doesn't catch more criticism! The most difficult trailing jobs I recall friends having to make were with the good ole' thirty-thutty, even with pretty good hits. I hope the 350 will do better.

 

[Rifleman97]

I'm going to guess that none of these bucks was killed at over 100 yards.

I think one was, but I can’t remember which.

But this one was taken at over 300 yards

And this one was taken at 280 with a quartering shot as he was walking into the woods opposite the field I was in (shot across a farm field to him that my hunting partner owns that’s adjacent to the public land we hunt on)

 

[Rifleman97]

If it's equal to the 30-30 it ought to be immune to criticism, though it's a wonder the 30-30 doesn't catch more criticism! The most difficult trailing jobs I recall friends having to make were with the good ole' thirty-thutty, even with pretty good hits. I hope the 350 will do better.

I do think the 350 is more effective than the 30-30. I also think the 30-30 is fine for deer but it’s the absolute least powerful cartridge I would be willing to use. I’m normally a magnum guy but I do prefer the 350 to a slug gun, I bought it when Iowa became a straight walled state and before they removed case length and shouldered restrictions and I’ve just seen too many deer drop to it to consider the 350 underpowered.

My non Iowa deer gun is a 257 weatherby magnum, and until I sold it my elk gun was a 30-378 weatherby, so I definitely prefer more, but I’ve seen too many deer drop to the 350 to argue that it’s not powerful enough. Its mild recoil and quiet (relatively speaking) noise means pretty much anyone can shoot it accurately. I think I’d trust the 350 legend more than I’d trust a 243 lol

 

[Noah_McCoy]

If it's equal to the 30-30 it ought to be immune to criticism, though it's a wonder the 30-30 doesn't catch more criticism! The most difficult trailing jobs I recall friends having to make were with the good ole' thirty-thutty, even with pretty good hits. I hope the 350 will do better.

Boy it would take a lot to upset the 30-30’s hold on the title of “greatest deer cartridge” up here in Maine. It’s held in the highest regard by many, some I’m not sure have ever owned one. Though now it’s getting priced out being hard to find and more expensive than 30-06 many don’t consider it. I feel soon it will have gone the way of the 32 Special.

 

[Doug Hamilton]

I do think the 350 is more effective than the 30-30. I also think the 30-30 is fine for deer but it’s the absolute least powerful cartridge I would be willing to use. I’m normally a magnum guy but I do prefer the 350 to a slug gun, I bought it when Iowa became a straight walled state and before they removed case length and shouldered restrictions and I’ve just seen too many deer drop to it to consider the 350 underpowered.

My non Iowa deer gun is a 257 weatherby magnum, and until I sold it my elk gun was a 30-378 weatherby, so I definitely prefer more, but I’ve seen too many deer drop to the 350 to argue that it’s not powerful enough. Its mild recoil and quiet (relatively speaking) noise means pretty much anyone can shoot it accurately. I think I’d trust the 350 legend more than I’d trust a 243 lol

I guess I had misunderstood the .350 Legend. I had read that it some thought it was little more than a handgun cartridge. I'll never hunt deer in any of the "straight wall" states but I can now see the vale of this round.

 

[Rifleman97]

I guess I had misunderstood the .350 Legend. I had read that it some thought it was little more than a handgun cartridge. I'll never hunt deer in any of the "straight wall" states but I can now see the vale of this round.

It's a 160 to 180 grain bullet going 2150-2400 fps, with a .355 frontal diameter. It's a respectable amount of power for a small cartridge in my opinion. Lot more effective than a 357 magnum out of a handgun. 357 magnum out of a 6" revolver (125gr 1550fps) is 667 ft/lb of energy, my 350 legend shoots the 165's at about 2300, for a hair under 2000 ft/lb of energy. Most of that is from barrel length and lack of a cylinder to lose gasses out of the side of, but still.

 

[dgr416]

I think the 400 legend would have alot more knockdown power than the 350 legend .Those two remind me of the 351 winchester and 401 winchester .I bought a ton of ammo this summer in the bumch was about 10000 rounds of 350 legend ammo .Its really too little for Alaska but i would love to have a ruger mini 14 in 350 legend and 400 legend .They have way more knockdown than 223 for sure .I want to try the 375 win on moose a very underrated cartridge that went used with aa1680 powder pushes a 220 grain bullet at 2400 fps .Friends had shot moose and grizzly at 100 yards and less with it .My grizzly load was a 300 gr .375 bullet at 1800 fps but never got to shoot one with it .It went through logs like crazy .I have a 444 marlin in win 94 but it kicks like a mule because its only 6 pounds .There are so many new cartridges that fade away today before 5 years its not funny .

 

[mark-hunter]

I would start with 6.5 Creedmoor

This is funny!

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I think the 400 legend would have alot more knockdown power than the 350 legend .Those two remind me of the 351 winchester and 401 winchester .I bought a ton of ammo this summer in the bumch was about 10000 rounds of 350 legend ammo .Its really too little for Alaska but i would love to have a ruger mini 14 in 350 legend and 400 legend .They have way more knockdown than 223 for sure .I want to try the 375 win on moose a very underrated cartridge that went used with aa1680 powder pushes a 220 grain bullet at 2400 fps .Friends had shot moose and grizzly at 100 yards and less with it .My grizzly load was a 300 gr .375 bullet at 1800 fps but never got to shoot one with it .It went through logs like crazy .I have a 444 marlin in win 94 but it kicks like a mule because its only 6 pounds .There are so many new cartridges that fade away today before 5 years its not funny .

@dgr416
My SMLE 444 weighed 7.5# and with 280 gn Woodleigh rnsp at 2,400fps or a 265ftx at 2550fps got the job done on Sambar deer and pleasant to shoot
Bob