Im looking to get my son a new gun. I wanted to get some help on what gun I should get him. I’m thinking about getting him a 350L or 243. 100-180 yds max. Anything over that He can use my 308

Here's a good read that might be helpful to you. It should be a lot easier to find .243 ammo when in a tight.

The most comparable .350 Legend and .243 Win. hunting loads should be the Super-X load using a 180 grain Power Point bullet (SD .202) in the Legend, which according to Winchester ballistics is carrying 859 ft. lbs. of energy at 200 yards. The standard Winchester .243 Super-X load, popular for decades, uses a 100 grain Power Point bullet (SD .242), which is carrying 1332 ft. lbs. of energy at 200 yards (also per Winchester ballistics). With far superior energy to power penetration and far superior SD, the .243 load should easily penetrate deeper than the .350 Legend load, so something is obviously fishy.

Chuck Hawks

Both are great rounds, if shots are CLOSE <100 yards< I think the .350 is intriguing. Being an old fart, I like the .243, but the .308 is great, 7mm-08 even better

be sure you can get ammo for whatever you decide.

My experience with both are in ARs while hunting hogs. The shots were 135 yards and in. I had better results with the Legend. All were shoulder shots and the Legend seemed to dropped them where they were standing. Locally I can still find Legend ammo.

What’s wrong with the .243 at over 180 yards?

I don't hunt anywhere with straight wall ammo restrictions so the 350L has no appeal to me.

.350 legend needs to be in a 20in barrel in my opinion (I’ve actually chrono’d loads) but it is a very capable deer caliber at the ranges you intend to use it at. Recoil is incredibly light and ammo is everywhere for it at the moment, which is a big plus in the current ammo climate. Practice ammo is also much cheaper than .243. I’d say the most important thing, however, is a gun that fits your son and that he enjoys shooting.

243. It is a much more versatile caliber and one that any feed store in rural America will have ammo for. At the distances you’re talking real world is they kill dead the same the animal ain’t going to notice a difference. At the end of the day shot placement is king. Plenty of examples of old rounds like 30/30 have taken Lots of animals that would be considered undergunned these days.

Oddly enough, you can find 350 Legend and 450 Bushmaster everywhere

If you don’t have any 243, something to think about

But if ammo availability wasn’t an issue, I’d take the 243

One of the things I enjoy with these forums is the opportunity to learn about new calibers and cartridges that others are using or considering taking to the woods.

Another vote for the .243. With 80-85 grain monometal bullets, it's better than it's ever been.

I didn't dare suggest it earlier, but this looks like the right spot for a Creed.

243 is my vote. Been around 65 yrs and not going anywhere. 350 Legend has been around a whole 2 yrs and seems
like a fad. Plus, I dont think I could get over the name when people ask what Im shooting. I can just imagine the look and laugh when i tell my grandfather its a named “legend”. Kinda like when i told him my rifle was a “creedmoor”

For your purposes 243 all the way. The 243 will carry more ft lbs of energy downrange with tolerable recoil.
Though with the ammo situation the way it is at this time, it might be easier to find 350 Legend ammo.

That took longer than I thought it would!

Agree with this 100%.

I put together a cheapo .350 legend AR this last January just for grins, pigs, and deer at short to moderate range. Didn’t buy a ton of ammo at the time, so lately I’ve been grabbing a few boxes here and there as I see them. That and .450bushmaster are probably the only center fire rifle rounds I’ve seen on the shelves.

All joking aside, I'm not a Creed fanboy, and don't even own one, but I do think it's one of the very best cartridges available for new hunters because of the combination of low recoil / muzzle blast and quality hunting bullets. I'd say the same of the .257 Bob or the .260 Remington (which I do own), but the Creed is so much more ubiquitous that the other two make no sense for casual shooters. Anyway, I think the .243 or the Creed are both much more versatile than the .350, which I view as more of a niche cartridge. Yes, you might only be hunting at 80 yards right now, but what about 5 years from now?

I don't like the 243. I'll probably get flamed for saying that, but I like a bigger, heavier bullet. I don't really have any experience with the 350 legend, but the ballistics look good to me for what you are looking at doing. Another option for you to look at, 300BLK. Low recoil, and is still good out to 200 yards. I'll probably get flamed for that too, but there are a bunch of pigs and deer that would not argue with me on that point.

I've been hunting with my single shot Handi Rifle in .357 Mag. that I reamed the chamber to .357 Maximum for the last 10 years and have taken deer and hogs out to 150 yards.
The difference between the .357 Maximum and the 350 Legend is mainly the case on the legend is rimless so it can be used in the AR platform, and the Maximum that has a rimmed cartridge.
It's not really a new cartridge as the Maximum has been around since 1983.
With a single shot rifle in .357 Maximum you can fire .38 special, .357 Magnum, and .357 Maximum which makes for a fun rifle for plinking with 38's and hunting with the .357 Maximum, and with hand loads can reach performance close to that of the .35 Remington.
The popularity of the AR's was no doubt why the Legend was developed, and what will keep the Legend around for a long time, and the .357 Maximum with it's rimmed case, kept it popular with pistol and single shot rifle shooters.
The drawback of the Maxi was you had a hard time finding ammo as manufacturers made limited runs, and also on brass, so handloading was necessary, but there was always plenty of .357 Magnum and .38's.
I may get a Legend just so I can use a bolt action in the caliber, but for a young person I would go with the Legend as it has very little recoil and punches big holes and a hammer of 180 grains of bullet down range, and it's just fun to shoot.

This seems to be a apples to oranges comparison due to the .243 and .350 being for substantially different applications.....

Seems to me the .243 should be compared to calibers like the .257 Roberts, .260 Rem and the new 6mm CM while the .350 should be compared to calibers like the .30-30, .300BLK, 300 HAM'R, and .35 Rem

Just my $ .02

Like Unclebubba I'm not a big fan of the .243 or really any caliber that's not .30cal or larger for any of my personal hunting needs. I've got a .350LG bolt gun and an AR and I've killed around 20 hogs with them with and the 170gr Hornady Interlock did a very good job. If I didn't have the more versatile and accurate 300 HAM'R I'd be a big fan of the .350LG for hogs.

Jimbo, if you are looking for a .38 caliber in a bolt rifle, look at the Ruger 77/357. I have one and love it. .357 is a great deer and pig caliber for 100 yards and under.

350 legend is a hammer out to 200 yds, I've killed several pigs with mine, all DRT. The only problem I've had with it is poor accuracy in my AR15. Its probably because of my rifle.

Which trigger is in your AR15?