The .350 Legend is a relative newcomer in the world of rifle cartridges. In fact, compared to living fossils like .223 Remington and .22 LR, it’s downright brand new.
Now, you might be wondering why you’d want to familiarize yourself with such a new cartridge if you’re considering another rifle build. Why not stick with something you know, like .223/5.56 or .308/7.62?
These cartridges have demonstrated their abilities as well as their versatility for everything from high-volume plinking to competition and even defensive applications.
But don’t let your fixation on what you know keep you from learning about new things that might be able to benefit you.
Here are some of the best reasons you might want to consider building an AR-style rifle with a .350 Legend upper.
The Origins of .350 Legend
Winchester only released the .350 Legend at the 2019 SHOT Show, making it a true spring chicken. It’s been available to shooters for hardly 5 years.
With that said, there were some very good reasons for Winchester to develop it, as you are going to see.
Apparently, the people at Winchester took note of the fact that there was increased demand among hunters in some midwestern states for .450 Bushmaster, a straight-walled cartridge that was legal for hunting in those states.
For clarity, look at the picture of the mag below, loaded with .223 cartridges.
See where the case attenuates sharply? That’s called the cartridge shoulder, and cartridges with this design are called bottlenecked cartridges.
Bottlenecked cartridges are not legal for hunting in certain states that have high population densities and generally flat topography because they tend to retain ballistic energy more efficiently at greater ranges than their straight-walled counterparts.
Basically the line of thinking is that there’s a higher risk of a bullet over traveling, so some states have enacted straight-walled only seasons. Some states that have regulations on bottlenecked cartridges are Indiana, Ohio, and Iowa.
Straight-walled cartridges, by contrast, produce lower velocities and tend not to offer the same ballistic performance, especially at extended ranges, as bottlenecked cartridges, minimizing the risk of over-shooting a target and causing damage, injury, or worse.
Therein lies the popularity of cartridges like .450 Bushmaster, and ultimately, the reason that Winchester decided to develop a new straight-walled cartridge.
The .450 Bushmaster fit the bill for some straight-wall-only seasons, and is more powerful than both the .223 and .308, both of which are also popular whitetail cartridges (but not legal in certain states). There’s just a catch. It offers much more firepower than necessary in most deer hunting circumstances, and therefore a lot more recoil.
So Winchester decided to do something about it by producing a lighter cartridge. Their goal was to develop an alternative straight-walled cartridge that was lighter and less expensive than the .450 Bushmaster but that still delivered enough power to reliably take deer-sized game.
The .350 Legend has no parent case and sports a rimless design. Your average round is loaded with a bullet between 150gr and 180gr, delivering muzzle velocities between 2,100 and 2,325 FPS, depending on load data.
A 150gr .350 Legend bullet delivering 2,325 FPS at the muzzle will produce a muzzle energy 1,801 ft-lbs, and, when zeroed at 100 yards, will drop 7.6” at 200 yards and retain just over half of its original muzzle energy, with 905 ft-lbs conserved.
So, that’s the basic background on the origin of this cartridge and what sort of performance it delivers. Now let’s take a look at why you might want to build an AR with a .350 Legend upper.
Why .350 Legend? Practical Uses, Advantages, Performance and More
Thinking about getting a .350 Legend upper and building your AR around that? Here are some reasons that might be a good idea.
- The .350 Legend cartridge is perfect for hunters living in states with straight-wall cartridge-only hunting seasons. If you live in a state such as Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan or another one with bottleneck cartridge restrictions, and you hunt deer, the .350 Legend is an excellent, reliable cartridge that is likely permitted in your state. Be sure to check local regulations first, though.
- The .350 Legend delivers plenty of stopping power even at extended ranges. As indicated above, it retains a decent amount of ballistic energy at 200 yards. Even at 300 yards, a 150gr bullet that left the muzzle with 1,801 ft-lbs of energy would still retain almost 630 ft-lbs of energy. It’s more than adequate for hunting deer and other similarly-sized game.
- It doesn’t kick that hard. A 150gr .350 Legend bullet that produces 2,225 ft-lbs of energy at the muzzle, in a 7 lb rifle, will produce about 10 lbs of free recoil energy. While that is more than twice what a 64gr .223 bullet at 2,993 ft-lbs of muzzle energy would produce in a rifle of the same weight, yet it’s well less than half of the free recoil commonly produced by rifles shooting .450 Bushmaster.
- It’s relatively affordable. It may not be categorically cheap, and it costs a clip more than .223, but in the realm of straight-walled cartridges, it’s definitely pretty good. Per-round prices generally range from about 80 cents to 2 dollars, with average per-round prices usually in the area of $1.75. That may not be what you think of when you hear cheap, but consider the fact that per-round prices for .450 Bushmaster are usually in the neighborhood of $2.50 and it sounds a lot more appealing.
- It’s not that hard to get. Even if your local shop doesn’t have it, most major gun shops, like Cabelas, Bass Pro, and Sportsman’s Warehouse, will.
Start Your Build with a .350 Legend Upper
Ready to start your build with a .350 Legend upper? Get it here at MCS Gearup. We carry assembled uppers as well as AR build kits and all of the other parts you’ll need to build or customize a rifle, including charging handles, bolt carrier groups, grips, magazines, and lower parts kits. Take a look through our collection and get in touch with us at Sales@MCSGearup.com if you have any questions.