anybody here hunt with 350 Legend?

Within reason (obviously) muzzle blast is worse than recoil. This is partly why I like the 22, 9mm Carbine and 44 Mag Rifle for kids.
 
Meroh said:
6.5 x 55? That would be my choice.
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Is it really different from the 243 though?

6.5 Grendel would be a good reduction too. Less recoil and less powder ergo less blast than either of the above.

Also from a rifle of similar weight, 7.62x39 is gonna have up to 2lbs less recoil than a 350 Legend. Grendel has the same recoil as the 7.62x39 but 400 yards of reach lol
 
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Meroh said:
6.5 x 55? That would be my choice.
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My first rifle was a custom 6.5x55 ai, I hope she will take it over some day. I also have a 6.5 swede in a tikka, but unfortunately they both recoil a bit harder than her .243. That is my long term hope though!!
 
250 savage has always seemed alot less muzzle blast to me than a 243. Heavier slightly wider bullet at a bit slower velocity but still mild recoil. Just a barrel swap on a 22 250. That's what I'm planning for my daughter when she gets a bit older.
A buddy of mine uses a 399 blkout with heavy bullets and says it works just fine on deer. Not sure what bullet he uses but I've seen pics of exit wounds which prove he was getting expansion. Enough that it interested me for my kid but being in a caliber restricted zone the 250 savage seems the best fit until she's older.

The 350 lgd seems to have a big following in the south states and is becoming popular in states without the case restrictions as well
 
Decker9 said:
For the record, she’s been shooting her custom .22’s since 3-4 y/o and took a good jag of grouse this year for her first year hunting, I’d guess upwards of 8000-10’000 rounds fired the past few years through her .22’s. She’s no rookie to shooting or hunting, but is a sensitive little person.

Absolutely no pressure on her to shoot a bigger rifle, but she’s really itching to. The .243, no matter what people say, has a snap to it, even with my reduced loads using H4895.

Also contemplated a .223 or .222 for her, but I’m not comfortable using those for deer personally.
If the internet doesn’t lie, the 350 is suppose to be milder then a .243, and I do like the fact it had a bigger bullet.
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Get her a 6.5 Grendel and she can use it to hunt deer for years.

I think a .243 is a little much for many small kids, actually. Unless you can handload it down for her.
 
Decker9 said:
For the record, she’s been shooting her custom .22’s since 3-4 y/o and took a good jag of grouse this year for her first year hunting, I’d guess upwards of 8000-10’000 rounds fired the past few years through her .22’s. She’s no rookie to shooting or hunting, but is a sensitive little person.

Absolutely no pressure on her to shoot a bigger rifle, but she’s really itching to. The .243, no matter what people say, has a snap to it, even with my reduced loads using H4895.

Also contemplated a .223 or .222 for her, but I’m not comfortable using those for deer personally.
If the internet doesn’t lie, the 350 is suppose to be milder then a .243, and I do like the fact it had a bigger bullet.
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I reckon she'd have a decent experience with the 350L in the Mossberg Bantam. The rifle be hefty compared to my RAR in that chambering, but the stock spacers on the Mossy work well for the young folk. Lots of options out there for handloaders.
 
Gatehouse said:
Get her a 6.5 Grendel and she can use it to hunt deer for years.

I think a .243 is a little much for many small kids, actually. Unless you can handload it down for her.
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I looked around a little at the Grendel, but couldn’t find much with a youth length of pull. Some nice compact options for sure and would probably be my top choice being we reload a few other 6.5’s already. Debated a Howa mini in walnut then trimming the stock down on it for her, that’s still an option I’m thinking about.

Her 243 is the Mossberg bantam, and seems to fit her perfectly with its shortest LOP. The 350 comes in the same rifle, mostly what has my leaning towards the 350 now.
 
SHELL SHUCKER said:
I reckon she'd have a decent experience with the 350L in the Mossberg Bantam. The rifle be hefty compared to my RAR in that chambering, but the stock spacers on the Mossy work well for the young folk. Lots of options out there for handloaders.
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They’ve done a good job on their youth rifle and spacers, that was the deciding factor on her .243.
 
Decker9 said:
I looked around a little at the Grendel, but couldn’t find much with a youth length of pull. Some nice compact options for sure and would probably be my top choice being we reload a few other 6.5’s already. Debated a Howa mini in walnut then trimming the stock down on it for her, that’s still an option I’m thinking about.

Her 243 is the Mossberg bantam, and seems to fit her perfectly with its shortest LOP. The 350 comes in the same rifle, mostly what has my leaning towards the 350 now.
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If you're already handloading other stuff you can make the 243 shoot as soft as you want. The 350 is supposed to recoil less but only about 20% less (10.38 vs 8.52 according to Winchester's marketing, in a 7lb rifle) and if the 243 is making her cry then that might not be enough?
 
Suther said:
If you're already handloading other stuff you can make the 243 shoot as soft as you want. The 350 is supposed to recoil less but only about 20% less (10.38 vs 8.52 according to Winchester's marketing, in a 7lb rifle) and if the 243 is making her cry then that might not be enough?
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With a light bullet, yeah. If you try a 170gr I'm getting over 10 ft/lbs from that at 2150 fps and 22 grains of powder.

That's why I really don't understand going to 350 legend here either lol

If 243 cal isn't a problem, maybe 6mm ARC? Or like you said Suther, load a 243 to 6 ARC power levels with a bullet that should perform well at those speeds but the ARC will still do it with less blast, less recoil, etc etc. Savages are cheap. No doubt easy to drop one into a youth stock.

350 Legend seems to be all cons and no pros at all here. A nearly as hard kicking slightly more than a pistol caliber cartridge.
 
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Suther said:
Oh you better believe Winchester is using the hottest 243 load they've got and comparing it to the mildest 350L lol
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LOL no doubt.

I'm getting 6.5 Creedmoor loads shooting 100gr bullets at 2900 fps from 7.5lb rifles that kick marginally less than the 170gr Legend cited above.
 
What about muzzle blast? Is the legend going to produce significantly less than even reduced 243 loads? I would consider that as well as the recoil numbers. When I first started teaching my girlfriend to shoot, the blast is what bothered and still bothers her the most. She’s a very small woman but doesn’t even ask about recoil, just how loud is it going to be. Lol
 
jbmauser said:
What about muzzle blast? Is the legend going to produce significantly less than even reduced 243 loads? I would consider that as well as the recoil numbers. When I first started teaching my girlfriend to shoot, the blast is what bothered and still bothers her the most. She’s a very small woman but doesn’t even ask about recoil, just how loud is it going to be. Lol
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Considering its only burning 2/3 the powder and its leaving at much slower speed, it should. Short barrel tho.

Know just what you mean tho and good point. A bullet though a 16" gun and the same through a 22" gun are different animals
 
I've hunted for 3 years with it.
3 big bucks
2 black bears.
All taken under 210yds outstanding power. Incredible accuracy, and wonderful light recoil.
I use a Ruger Ranch rifle.
All 1 shot kills. Don't let any pinhead tell you it's a kids gun. There's alot of goofballs say you need 300 win mag for deer and bear
Pure crap. Those black bears ran less than 20 yards.
Our whole camp uses them now.
Cheap abundant ammo.
Just a great round
I use winchester 180gr.
 
Suther said:
If you're already handloading other stuff you can make the 243 shoot as soft as you want. The 350 is supposed to recoil less but only about 20% less (10.38 vs 8.52 according to Winchester's marketing, in a 7lb rifle) and if the 243 is making her cry then that might not be enough?
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That’s what we were doing, H4895 and using the formula they provide to come up with a reduced load. In all honesty it’s not much less recoil/noise/blast than factory ammunition I found.
 
Decker9 said:
I looked around a little at the Grendel, but couldn’t find much with a youth length of pull. Some nice compact options for sure and would probably be my top choice being we reload a few other 6.5’s already. Debated a Howa mini in walnut then trimming the stock down on it for her, that’s still an option I’m thinking about.

Her 243 is the Mossberg bantam, and seems to fit her perfectly with its shortest LOP. The 350 comes in the same rifle, mostly what has my leaning towards the 350 now.
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Tod bartell put a Grendel for his young son in a chassis. Not a conventional “hunting rifle” look but
very adjustable stock. And there isn’t really a defined look for a hunting rifle these days anyway.

But since you handliad, might just be easier to load 243 using the 60% H4895 technique
 
Gatehouse said:
Tod bartell put a Grendel for his young son in a chassis. Not a conventional “hunting rifle” look but
very adjustable stock. And there isn’t really a defined look for a hunting rifle these days anyway.

But since you handliad, might just be easier to load 243 using the 60% H4895 technique
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My kid just turned nine, weighs about 65lbs. Very recoil sensitive too, the 410 has brought tears both times trying (attempts at age 6 & 8). With him going to be hunting next fall, it's time to torque up the Grendel a bit. I likely won't let him shoot beyond 125 yards in the field, so my plan was to make a reduced load with enough oomph to be in the impact ballpark of the legendary 30-30, which shoots a 150gr bullet at about real world 2300 fps MV. Due to it's piss poor ballistic shape of the flat nosed bullets (BC .220), that lands at 125Y with approx 1880 fps / 1175 ft-lbs energy

In the Grendel, I'm loading 123 grain Hornady SST over 22.0grs D8208BR. This makes 2180 fps at the muzzle, and at 125 yards it should have 1985 fps / 1075 ft-lbs energy

Recoil in 8lb rifle :
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  • [*=1]Grendel 123gr @ 2180 fps = 5.5 ft lbs recoil
    [*=1]243 Win H4895 60% 80gr @ 2700 fps = 4.9 ft lbs recoil
    [*=1]350 Legend 165gr @ 2100 fps (H110 24.3grs starting load) = 8.4 ft lbs recoil
    [*=1]223 Rem 45gr TSX @ 3200 fps (with starting load 25.0grs H4895) = 2.7 ft lbs recoil

Click pic for video


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