is the 350 Legend weird ??

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  • Last Post 05 March 2021
Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 25 February 2021

we all like to play with new projects ... so when a friend asked me to help him get started with his new Winchester XPS/SXT/PSX ?? variant bolt gun in 350 Legend , i THOUGHT 

" OK, I will impress him with my vast store house of knowledge after 70 years of loading for almost everything out there. "

piece of cake.

so i ordered from Midway some Lee Pacemaker dies and a Lee factory crimp die ... ( aside:  also 200 of rare MJ bullets for 6.5 .. Lapua Scenars 107 grain ... dang they are pretty ! ) ...

no mj  35 deer bullets .. out of stock ...  anyway while waiting i googled everything about the 350 Legend ... 

? what the ? ....... a 0.355 groove barrel ... and a 0.357 short throat .... plus some of the internet reports show bulged case necks if a 0.357-0.358 bullet is seated ... 

so are we supposed to load only 9mm pistol ( 0.355 ) bullets, which are rated at 1600 fps max ...

i think i have some commercial non-gas check lead bullets for 9 mm ... my friend might be restricted for the next 4 years to 110 gr. hardball round nose at about 1300 fps...  

***************

one improvement i think is to ream a new throat for a 160 gr. 357-8 bullet .. maybe 3 degree or so included ... 

meanwhile any comments are welcome ... apparently my vast storehouse of loading knowledge needs a little help ... but hey, that is why it is called a project ...

ken,  ... humbled ... again another time once more ...

 

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gemihur posted this 05 March 2021

Once again, the popularity of the black rifles has been responded to by the gun industry before the manufacturing of components can be built to handle the new 'need'. When the 6.8 SPC was introduced the .277" bullet weight most easily found was best suited for the 270 Win. When the Grendel came out, the bullets on the shelves were for the Swede. Now, a bore diameter recommending a .355" bullet for use in what would typically be a rifle barrel using a standard .357 or .358 bullet. 

 

I shoot, therefore I am

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gard72977 posted this 04 March 2021

I can assure you from the very beginning it was designed for a MSR.

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Wheel Weights posted this 03 March 2021

Lube the jacketed bullets and run them thru a Lee 9mm bullet sizing die.

It's a purpose built cartridge for states with crazy laws.

A 3" rifled 20 bore will be a better deer killer and 100% legal

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tomme boy posted this 01 March 2021

It was not designed to run in a ar15. It just happened that cmmg had the first guns available to buy. It started in the Winchester XPR bolt action.  The reason for the 0.355" bore is to aid in extraction. The case has a rebated rim. The web is larger so you can't use 223 brass. To get the right taper they had to go larger in the web and use a 0.355" bullet. 

 

Try slugging your barrel on your 357, most will be 0.355" Most reloaders just like to complain.  Look at almost all straghtwall cartridges made, almost ALL have a tapered body. Ssoo what is the problem?

 

I know what the problem is. You wanted to use your 0.357" bullets in it. They work fine once sized down. But don't shoot any animal with them they will blow up! But what about 0.358" rifle bullets? Nope they will sail right thorough whatever you shoot.  Too hard

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gard72977 posted this 28 February 2021

The 223 brass is not large enough in the base. People have done it anyway

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Shootingfun posted this 27 February 2021

I thought people were taking 223 brass and making legend brass? Also Ed I think the legend use is mainly states that have a restricted cartridge list for deer hunting ( like Iowa) where it’s suppose to be a straight wall under 1.8” case

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Ed Harris posted this 27 February 2021

To my way of thinking the.35/ .30-30 is much more flexible and easily manageable. Find a .39-30 or .32 Special or even a .38-55 with shot out barrel, relief it and enjoy

73 de KE4SKY In Home Mix We Trust From the Home of Ed's Red in "Almost Heaven" West Virginia

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gard72977 posted this 27 February 2021

I think the 350 legend is about maxed out at .355 This cartridge is designed to run in a MSR. The base is slightly enlarged to give it some taper for easier extraction.

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DBW posted this 26 February 2021

I am presently using using accurate 35-155 W powder coated and sized .3555". Starline brass sized and run through the lee dies. using (Hodgen) Lee loading data supplied with the die set and 4227 powder and the data for the  147 gr. Hornady 2 inch groups at 50 yds at about 2200 fps. I will be using this on pigs in fairly close woods in Arkansas. It functions the AR reliably. With powder coating and sizing to .3555, jacketed  data can be used  if the accuracy with the hardness of your alloy is acceptable. Kinda have to make some compromises. I have loaded some of the brass six times no problems so far, but all of my loads have been starting loads adjusted a little plus or minus for velocity and accuracy...........DBW

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JeffinNZ posted this 25 February 2021

Why would we believe cartridges are designed with handloading in mind?

Cheers from New Zealand

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John Alexander posted this 25 February 2021

Agree with Ric and GP.  Marketing smart guys get big salaries but sometimes do more harm than good for the company. What a bush league trick.

John

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GP Idaho posted this 25 February 2021

My opinion of the  350 Legend mirrors Ric's. If ever a cartridge was designed to frustrate reloaders the 350 would be it. I'm going to pass on that one!  Gp

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RicinYakima posted this 25 February 2021

This was a nightmare from the word go since they wanted to sell factory ammo. Move on to something traditional and useable.

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tomme boy posted this 25 February 2021

You can real the throat all you want. It still may not let you chamber the round as the neck will be too big. There are all kinds of custom bullet makers out there if you really want to go that route. REX is a good one. Get them in 0.355" as it was designed. 

 

Then you may run into another problem.  Winchester brass is the only brass made correctly. Everyone's else brass mainly starline, the web is too low in the brass and you can get case head ruptures from unsupported brass. 

 

The Lee 200gr is really a good choice if you want subsonic  up to about 1900fps. Past that you will start to run into pressure problems. H110 and Lilgun  are what you will see most people using. You will have casehead expansion before you see it on the primer.  I had both a ar15 and still have. A ruger bolt gun. None of the brass shot out of the ar15 can be used in the ruger. The chamber was just too large on the ar. The case head swelled too much for the fl die to size it back enough to use in th e ruger. 

 

So what I did was use a 9mm Lugar die to size the cases that did not fit. But then I started to get case head separations from over working the brass.  All of those are used for subsonic use only. I lost almost 300 rounds because of the ar15 chamber. Brass is very precious as we all know right now. 

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