The 350 Legend was the first cartridge developed to specifically address the case-dimension parameters (no less than 1.16 inches, no more than 1.80 inches) of straight-walled deer seasons implemented in Midwestern states such as Michigan, Indiana, Iowa and Ohio. These are states formally allowing only shotgun slugs and muzzleloaders during general firearms seasons in the interest of limiting range and possible downrange property or human endangerment. Winchester released the 350 Legend in 2019, since joined by Winchester’s 400 Legend and Remington’s 360 Buckhammer. The 350 Legend has arguably remained the most popular.

There are plenty of rifles chambered in the straight-walled rounds mentioned above, supplementing older classics like the 38-55 Winchester, 44 Remington Magnum and 45 Long Colt. Rounds such as the 405 Winchester, 444 Marlin and 45-70 Government exceed the 1.60-inch maximum case length implemented by most straight-walled regulations, except Ohio. Still, there is a greater variety of firearms chambered in the 350 Legend today. This includes modern AR-15s and bolt-action rifles, while the excellent 360 Buckhammer has remained a lever-gun or single-shot proposition.

The 350 Legend is the least powerful of the four modern straight-walled cartridges, but supplies ample energy delivery to do exactly what it was designed to do – bag white-tailed deer at typical Eastern treestand ranges like the ballistically-similar 35 Remington has been doing since 1908. This also makes it ideal for wild hogs or black bears taken at moderate ranges. Realistically, the 350 Legend is a 150-yard round, though it will deliver about 1,000 foot-pounds (ft-lbs) of kinetic energy at 200 yards.  

Proper .355-caliber hunting bullets for the 350 Legend are also much easier to find at this time. That .355-caliber diameter is the same as the 9mm Luger, while rounds such as the 357 Magnum use .357-caliber bullets; the 35 Remington, 356 Winchester and 35 Whelen, as examples, utilize .358-caliber slugs. Early on, handloading the 350 Legend required choosing pistol bullets, but a plethora of bullet makers now offer pointed .355-inch bullets targeted specifically to the 350 Legend to help deliver superior downrange energy.

Today, handloaders can choose anything from a 125-grain monolithic copper bullet to 200-grain options. Bullets weighing 165 to 170 grains seem to be most popular in factory 350 Legend loads, a bullet weight that likely offers the highest degree of efficiency. Rounds such as the 400 Legend still require handloaders to choose sturdier .40-caliber pistol bullets, while the 360 Buckhammer (.358 caliber) remains largely a lever-rifle option, with flat- or round-nose bullets required to accommodate tubular magazines.

As a popular AR-15 round, factory 350 Legend ammunition holds the same 55,000 pounds per square inch (psi) pressures as the 223 Remington. This means that with typical 165- to 170-grain bullets, muzzle velocities of around 2,200 feet per second (fps) generally result from 16-inch barrels. With stouter bolt-action rifles, and given the 22-inch barrel of the Mossberg Patriot Walnut test rifle, I was able to safely run those numbers up to 2,500 fps with maximum loads of select powders. Muzzle velocities of 2,700 to 2,800 fps were possible with 125-grain nontoxic copper bullets.

Seeking to create the last word on loading big-game hunting rounds for the 350 Legend, I tested seven different bullets and selected powders promising top velocities. This included Hammer Bullets’ 125-grain Shock Hammer, Lehigh Defense's 150-grain Controlled Chaos, Northern Precision’s 150-grain Soft Nose, Cutting Edge Bullets’ 160-grain .355-caliber ER Raptor, Hornady’s 165-grain FTX and 170-grain InterLock softpoint (SP) and Northern Precision’s 200-grain roundnose (RN). New Hornady brass was used, each trimmed to 1.70 inches (trim-to), sized and chamfered.  

The nontoxic/milled-copper 125-grain Hammer measures .81-inch long, and includes a hollowpoint and boat-tail. This creates a .189 G1 ballistic coefficient (BC). This light bullet allows generating some serious velocity, with a 2,750 fps average generated by Hodgdon Lil’Gun and Accurate No. 11 FS. Combine these factors, and the Shock Hammer generates around 1,455 ft-lbs of kinetic energy at 100 yards, while also generating gentle recoil.

The nontoxic/milled-copper 150-grain Lehigh bullet measures .905-inch long and includes a hollow point and boat-tail design, resulting in a .179 G1 BC. It requires only 1,500 fps to initiate expansion, several peddles fracturing from the nose, and the solid base pushing through. Using Accurate 4100 and Shooters World SBR-SOCOM, velocities averaged around 2,550 fps. Given those numbers, the Controlled Chaos generates about 1,449 ft-lbs of energy at 100 yards.