Anybody use one to hunt deer? Give me the good, bad and ugly lowdown on it....

I only have good to say. I have a Contender in 350 legend.
Low recoil, accurate and does the job out to 150 yds.
20” barrel, light and handles great.

I haven't hunted with one. However, depending on your use you may not be disappointed. MoTex may be on to something. I say go for it.

I would say if you like the 30-30 you would really like the legend as it does everything a little better with less recoil. I don’t own one but have shot a couple of them . Light recoil and pretty accurate. No long range caliber but 200 yards is definitely in its realm .

The 350 Legend reminds me of a rimless 357 Maximum which I enjoy hunting with generally in shorter barrels 9.5 and 14 inch versions so a little less velocity than the Legend out of a rifle. That has worked well for me out to 150 yards.

When the 350 legend came out, this was my exact thought. I have hunted quite a bit with the 357 magnum, and it's a great little short distance round. A little extra velocity would not make it worse. You will be limited by distance only.

I just shot a 225 lb hog at 130 yards with my .357 Bandit [ what Win later called the 350 ] bolt carbine . Dropped him right there . I built the first 3 rifles about 5 years ago [ 2 bolts and1 AR ] for me and friends . We have shot a lot of game with them .

Never shot one but I’m curious how it beats a 30-30 at everything including recoil. More weight more speed more energy, the more doesn’t come from nowhere. Either. Of everything is more of the recoil isn’t no?

Bullet weight is more versatile in the legend . The legend will shoot a 160 gr the same speed as a 30-30 150 grain. The legend is available in a Ar platform as well as a pistol. Just from what I see it offers a tad bit more then the 30-30 . All this is a much higher cost though . The caliber is not for me . I have 2 30-30 rifles and wouldn’t trade for the legend .

Good questions RC

Bowhunter 64 nailed it from what I've read. The Legend is firing a larger diameter, heavier projectile than .30-.30, slightly faster and more efficiently, downside being a faster drop in velocity and trajectory beyond 175-200 yards than.30-.30.

Heavier and faster = more recoil.

Seems performance is pretty much the same. With LR powder load data shows the 3030 to have more velocity with a 170 grain.

I use one to hunt in Iowa and so do other guys we hunt with. They are effective on 200 lbs. doe and 300 lbs. bucks.

I use AR 350 to hunt deer and hogs and works great, drops them in their tracks.. I normally shoot deer at about 100 yards but I think they're good up to about 200 yards. Not much recoil but very loud.

looks llike it depends on the weight of the rifle:

30/30 M94: approx 12 ft-lbs

350 with 6.1lb RAR: approx 12.5 ft-lbs
350 7.7lb Sav 110 approx 10 ft-lbs

I have the 350 Legend Henry single shot rifle. I really like the rifle I have killed 2 whitetail deer and 3 hogs with it at ranges from 75 yards to 150 yards with great results. There are several choices of ammunition for it you just need to find the one that is best for your needs.

I have a 350 legend in bolt and ar platforms. Fun gun drops deer no problem. Like mentioned it is not a long range gun.
I think it is a great youth gun with little recoil.

There is only one reason I would ever use the 350 Legend. And that is to hunt deer where you have to use a straight wall cartridge. And that is what it was developed for. Other than that, there is nothing you can do with it that you can’t do a whole lot better with something else.

Except maybe a suppressed youth rifle. There is some very good information about that in this forum.

Trade for my 30-30? Yeah, right.

If you're looking at the 350 Legend, you have to take a peek at the Remington 360 Buckhammer too. A long time ago I got dies to make a 30-30 case .35 caliber, and loaded the 200gr CoreLokt in it. The "35-30" must be what inspired the 350 and 360.

Interesting discussion in the THF gun section on the .350 Legend and .300 Ham’r.

Legend vs Ham’r.

As the person who developed the round that Winchester changed the name on and marketed , I love to here other people tell what it was designed for , inspired by and so on . It is very simple , I have made a line of straight walled rifle cartridges in many calibers going back about 25 years . Nothing to do with straight wall laws . I made rifles to shoot them for myself and friends . The .357 was made for Texas hog hunting . It was made from the very common .223 case and uses cheap , common .357 pistol bullets . It works fine in bolt rifles and AR's . It is a much better hunting round from an AR than the .223 . It does fine on Texas hogs as a couple of tons of dead hogs over the last 6 years by me and friends prove .