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Compared: The Winchester .350 Legend and .35 Remington By Gary Zinn The .350 Legend, developed by Winchester Ammunition, made a considerable splash when unveiled at the 2019 SHOT show. Articles about the new cartridge quickly began appearing on the Internet and in print magazines, most of them very enthusiastic in tone. One pundit went so far as to suggest that the .350 Legend might become the "30-30 of the 21st Century." I tend to reserve forming strong opinions regarding the capabilities of any new cartridge until it has been thoroughly evaluated by a number of users. Such evaluations would include both trigger time at the shooting bench (mostly for accuracy and feeding reliability) and use in the field. The latter mostly reveals how good a job the manufacturer did with expanding bullet design for the new cartridge: too hard (inadequate expansion) too soft (excessive expansion), too light (inadequate penetration), too heavy (unnecessary recoil and/or rainbow trajectory). Winchester claims their .350 Legend bullets initiate expansion at impact velocities as low as 1550 fps. If true, this is lower than what might be considered the normal minimum expansion velocity of 1600-1800 fps used for many soft point hunting bullets. This reflects the .350 Legend's lower than normal downrange impact velocities. It is too early for thorough evaluations of the .350 Legend to have been conducted and reported. I am writing these words in February 2019 and the general availability of ammunition is not scheduled until April, 2019. However, there has been enough information released about the specifications and claimed performance of the cartridge that numbers can be crunched to evaluate its external ballistics. With this done, strong inferences can be drawn regarding its performance as a hunting cartridge. The purpose of this article is to explore those inferences, particularly to see how the claimed performance of the .350 Legend compares with that of the .35 Remington for hunting deer and general Class 2 game animals. Overview of the .350 Legend Briefly, the .350 Legend is a cartridge with a .223 Remington size rim (.378 inch diameter), a maximum case length of 1.71 inches and a maximum COL of 2.26 inches. The cartridge body is .390 inch in diameter at the base, tapering to .378 inch at the case mouth. The cartridge head spaces on the case mouth, which accommodates a .357 inch diameter bullet. Cartridge and chamber specifications have been accepted and published by SAMMI. In summary, the .350 Legend is a straight walled cartridge that fits neatly into AR15 size platforms, accommodating the largest diameter bullet that is practical, without getting into design gyrations, such as fat bodied cartridges with severely rebated rims, single stack magazines and such. However, be clear that the .350 Legend case is not a reformed .223 Remington case. The Legend case is .014 inch larger in diameter at the base than the .223 Remington case and .350 cases cannot be formed from .223 brass. In addition, .223 Remington magazines cannot be used to feed .350 Legend cartridges. The feed lip and magazine follower geometry for the two cartridges is quite different. It is said that hunting laws in some states, which restrict legal firearms to those with straight walled cartridges, were the main impetus for development of the .350 Legend cartridge. Being something of a cynic at times, I suspect that Winchester may also have indulged a wish to have their brand name attached to an AR15 cartridge. Whether Winchester had mixed motives for developing the cartridge is of little consequence. The more interesting question is whether the .350 Legend has the potential to become a go-to cartridge for hunting deer and other Class 2 game, even in jurisdictions where the use of conventional bottle-necked cartridges is allowed. Some of Winchester's promo material for the .350 Legend makes comparisons with the .30-30. I made my own comparison of the performance of these two cartridges in Compared: The .30-30 Winchester and the Winchester .350 Legend. Although not nearly as popular as the .30-30, the .35 Remington cartridge also has a proven track record of being effective on deer and other Class 2 game, at moderate to medium ranges. Thus, a comparison of the .350 Legend and .35 Remington is in order. The Comparisons The characteristics compared include velocity and energy, maximum point blank range and far zero, trajectory, sectional density, killing power, and recoil. At the end I will muse about rifle platforms and make some concluding remarks. Here are the loads I will evaluate and compare. .350 Legend load:
(Winchester has also announced 150 and 160 grain hunting loads for the .350 Legend. These are not included in this comparison because the bullets are much lighter in weight, with lower sectional densities, than the bullets most loaded in the .35 Remington cartridge.) .35 Remington loads:
* Denotes hand load, based on .35 Remington data in Speer Reloading Manual #14. Velocity and Energy Velocity flattens trajectory and makes hitting easier as the range increases. It is also the most important factor when computing kinetic energy. Energy is a measure of the "work" a bullet can do, which in this case means powering bullet penetration and expansion. Energy is an important component of killing power, as will be discussed below. The muzzle velocity (MV) values quoted by Winchester for its .350 Legend loads are from a 20-inch rifle barrel. This is convenient for comparing ballistics of the .350 and .35 Remington loads, for most .35 Remington rifles are lever action repeaters with 20 inch barrels. MV values for the 200 grain .35 Rem. loads, above, are quoted by Remington and Hornady for 24-inch barrels; I reduced the 24 inch barrel MVs by 50 fps to more realistically reflect what the MVs of these loads likely would be from 20 inch barrels. The Speer 180 and 220 grain hand loads, above, are quoted for 20 inch barrels. Here are the velocity in feet-per-second (fps) and energy in foot-pounds (ft. lbs.) figures for our comparison loads at the muzzle, 100, 200 and 250 yards. The loads are listed in descending order of their MV. Note that the .350 Legend load falls in the middle of the group. .35 Rem., Speer 180 grain FNSP
.35 Rem., Hornady 200 grain FTX
.350 Legend, Winchester 180 grain PP
.35 Rem., Remington 200 grain C-L
.35 Rem., Speer 220 grain FNSP
No surprise that the 180 grain Speer hand load is the fastest, while the 200 grain Hornady FTX load generates the most energy at all ranges. More interesting is the 200 grain Remington factory load generates the least energy, at 100 yards and beyond, of the loads compared. Before the advent of the Hornady 200 grain FTX load, 200 grain Remington, Federal and Winchester loads, with virtually identical external ballistics, were the most popular loads for the .35 Remington. +/- 3 inch MPBR and Far Zero I am a firm believer in sighting-in hunting rifles and loads for maximum point blank range. I feel that a +/- 3-inch MPBR is appropriate for rifles used to hunt Class 2 game, including the cartridges being evaluated here. My argument is that a prudent and responsible hunter should never attempt a shot at a game animal beyond the MPBR of the cartridge/load being used (and closer is better, always). The first number for each load is its MPBR yardage, the second is the far zero yardage associated with the MPBR. Results are in descending order of MPBR.
Winchester touts the .350 Legend as "designed for deer hunting out to 250 yards." The MPBR numbers say that this is an over-reach, for both the .350 and .35 Remington cartridges. The Remington 200 grain Core-Lokt factory load is the "shortest" range .35 Remington load. Could the historical popularity of this (and the equivalent Federal and Winchester loads) with hunters be because of effectiveness at impact, rather than speed or range? Trajectory Trajectory matters, because the flatter a bullet flies the easier it is to hit a target down range. Bullet placement is the most important factor in achieving quick, humane kills, so anything that makes hitting easier is desirable. Here are the 100, 200. and 250 yard trajectory figures in inches, with each load, sighted-in for a +/- 3 inch MPBR, computed for a scope mounted 1.5 inches over the bore. Trajectories are rounded to one decimal place; yardage is noted in parentheses. Results are in descending order of 200 yard trajectory.
The most significant thing about these numbers is that trajectory of all loads deteriorates quickly at ranges beyond 200 yards. (By the way, bullet drop at 300 yards will be approximately twice that at 250 yards, for all loads.) To me, the trajectory data indicate that taking hunting shots at ranges exceeding 200 yards with any of these loads would be both futile and irresponsible. Given the looping trajectories of these cartridges and loads, a self-imposed range limit of about 160 to 180 yards, depending on the cartridge/load combination, would be better. (I am basing this on the far zero ranges of the loads, as detailed above.) Note that all five loads, sighted-in for +/- 3 inch MPBR, shoot right at three inches high at 100 yards. This is typical of medium velocity cartridges in general. Sectional Density Sectional density (SD) is the ratio of a bullet's weight in pounds to the square of its diameter in inches. SD affects penetration, as all other factors being equal (bullet construction, for example) the bullet with the highest sectional density will penetrate deepest. Obviously, to kill cleanly, any hunting bullet must penetrate into the animal's vitals, so hunting bullet SD is important. For Class 2 game, a SD of .200 has long been considered about the minimum acceptable for medium range rifle cartridges. Here are the SD numbers for our comparison bullets, in descending order.
A longer, smaller diameter projectile penetrates better than a shorter, fatter projectile of the same weight and construction, which only makes sense. The abiding problem with medium and large bore bullets is that they must be quite heavy to have high sectional densities. For instance, a 165 grain, .308 inch diameter bullet has a SD of .248, which is comparable with a 220 grain, .358 inch diameter bullet. As shown above, lighter weight .35 caliber bullets have lower SDs, with the 180 grain items barely making the SD .200 benchmark. The 160 and 150 grain bullets used in the other .350 Legend loads fall short of this benchmark, with SDs of .179 and .168, respectively. This explains why the bullets used in the classic .35 caliber rifle cartridges, such as the .35 Remington, .358 Winchester, .35 Whelen and .350 Remington Magnum typically weigh 200-250 grains. The .350 Legend hunting loads are inferior, in terms of SD, compared with these .35 caliber cartridges, and also the vast majority of successful hunting loads in all calibers of hunting rifles. Only the 180 grain .350 Legend load can be considered acceptable for deer hunting. Killing Power Killing power is the most difficult factor to estimate, as there is no definitive scientific formula to apply. Various systems have been created to estimate the killing power of rifle cartridges, with varying results in terms of accuracy. Unfortunately, many such systems have no correlation with reality at all. One of the best, in terms of positive correlation with reality, has proven to be the G&S Online Rifle Cartridge Killing Power Formula. Not only is it generally consistent with results in the field, it can be used to compare any load at any range and includes the factors of energy at impact (which includes velocity), SD and cross-sectional area in an easy to use formula to arrive at a Killing Power Score (KPS) for a given load at a given distance, via the formula: KPS at "y" yards (you pick the yardage) = (impact energy at y yards) x (sectional density) x (cross-section area), or simply: KPS @ y = E @ y x SD x A. (Cross-section area is .1001 sq. in. and .1007 sq. in. for .357 inch and .358 inch diameter bullets, respectively.) Note that this is a comparative system. We estimate that a rifle cartridge should generate a KPS of at least 12.5 at the range the bullet impacts to be a viable hunting cartridge for common Class 2 game, up to roughly 150 - 175 pounds (e.g., deer and pronghorn), while a KPS of 15.0 gives a margin of killing power for larger Class 2 game (up to 300 pounds). I calculated the killing power of our .35 Remington and .350 Legend loads at 100 yards, as most whitetail deer, blacktail deer and feral hogs are killed at less than100 yards. 200 yard KPS values are included, to document the power of each load near the longest range at which a responsible hunter should use them. Loads are listed in descending order of 100 yard KPS values.
The results are clear. All five loads get 200 yard KPS scores that are adequate (greater than 15.0) for hunting Class 2 game. These loads are fully Class 2 capable out to their MPBR distances. Further, the first two loads are powerful enough to be used against common Class 3 game (such as elk) out to ranges of 100 yards, or a bit more. (Generally, a KPS of 30 to 32 may be considered a threshold power level for hunting Class 3 game.) The .35 Remington, 200 grain Remington factory load and the two 180 grain loads are not sufficiently powerful to be confidently used on Class 3 game (300 pounds or heavier), even at 100 yards. Our KPS parameters and results assume vital area hits, of course. A game animal hit somewhere other than in the vitals is not likely to go down cleanly, no matter the size, weight and impact energy of the bullet. This is why I preach the "never take a shot beyond MPBR, and closer is always better" doctrine. Shorter range shots improve the likelihood of placing a bullet in the right place. Recoil Evaluating recoil of the .350 Legend is shaky right now, because there is no body of reloading data that can be consulted to get load powder charges, a necessary variable in recoil calculations. Winchester has published some vague promotional material with numbers that suggest that the .350 Legend generates about 12 percent lower recoil than a .30-30. The loads Winchester compared are not clearly specified, which is why I say the information is vague. Concerning the .350 Legend versus the .35 Remington, I came up with a tentative recoil comparison that may or may not be close to accurate for the .350, but is the best I can do without verified powder charge data for the new cartridge. My guess-estimate is that the 180 grain, .350 Legend load will generate about 9 ft. lbs. of recoil in an eight pound (field weight) rifle. By comparison, recoil of the four .35 Remington loads range from about 13.7 ft. lbs. (200 grain Remington load) to 16.6 ft. lbs. (200 grain Hornady load) in eight pound rifles. Whatever the true recoil numbers turn out to be, they will surely show that the .350 Legend is a soft shooter. The case is not large enough to hold a lot of powder (Winchester has let slip that the 150 grain, .350 Legend load uses 21 grains of powder). It is using large quantities of powder in large cases, to get a little more muzzle velocity, that gives us hard kicking cartridges and loads. Commercial ammo makers and reloaders will not be able to play that game with this cartridge. Additional Thoughts and Conclusions The various parameters of hunting bullet performance, taken together, indicate that the .350 Legend cannot quite match either the .35 Remington or .30-30 Winchester as a hunting cartridge. Nevertheless, the numbers convince me that the .350 Legend has potential as an effective hunting cartridge, especially when fed 180 grain bullets that provide adequate SD for deer and hog hunting. The Legend looks like a prayer answered for those who hunt deer in areas where rifles are restricted to short, straight-walled cartridges, plus AR15 fanciers, long saddled with marginal deer cartridges, are likely to jump all over the cartridge. This brings up the issue of rifle platforms for the cartridge. Winchester has announced that the Winchester XPR bolt action rifle will be chambered in .350 Legend. CMMG has announced an AR15 carbine (with a 16 inch barrel) in the cartridge, plus 5 and 10 round magazines. Winchester notes, "several other firearm manufacturers are gearing up" to produce rifles chambered in .350 Legend. Producing bolt action rifles in .350 Legend should be a snap. Any short-action platform that handles the .223 Remington can be easily reworked to handle the .350 Legend cartridge. Ditto for AR15 platforms, whether complete rifles or uppers. For old school deer hunters (like me) the lever action is perhaps the best all-around platform for a hunting cartridge. (I say this even though I have carried compact, short-action bolt rifles on the majority of my deer hunts.) Lever action rifles, such as the Winchester Model 94, Marlin Model 336 and Henry Lever Action .30-30, carry and mount well and cycle fast when more than a single shot is needed. (Currently, the Marlin Model 336C is the only production rifle routinely chambered in .35 Remington.) A well designed bolt rifle also carries and mounts well, but cycles slower than a lever gun. Meanwhile, my limited experience with AR15s in the field is that they are unwieldy to carry and awkward to mount, but that may be just me. Unfortunately, the traditional lever rifle designs with rear-locking bolts were not designed to handle the high pressure developed by the .350 Legend cartridge. The .350 Legend's SAAMI MAP is 55,000 psi. This high-intensity MAP is no problem with bolt action and AR designs, but a lever rifle chambered in .350 Legend must have a front-locking bolt, such as the Browning BLR and Henry Long Ranger designs. I have studied the non-proprietary, larger caliber cartridges designed to work in the AR15 platform. (See Are AR-15 Type Cartridges Good for Hunting Deer?) I am underwhelmed by most of them as potential hunting cartridges, but the .350 Legend may be one that prospers. It has a lot going for it, although I will not go so far as to join the enthusiast who gave it a way too early endorsement as, "the .30-30 of the 21st Century." Meanwhile, the .35 Remington will also likely remain as it has been. It is an effective, although unglamorous, tool for hunting at short to moderate ranges in thick habitat. |
Copyright 2019 by Gary Zinn and/or chuckhawks.com. All rights reserved.
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