AMERICANRIFLEMAN.ORG SEPTEMBER (^201951)
about what I expected of two hunting loads and an FMJ.
The Winchester and CMMG test samples got the best results
from the 180-gr. Power-Point load (the CMMG in particular
had a noticeable preference for this ammunition), while
the Ruger shot the smallest 25-shot average with the
150-gr. Deer Season XPs. Overall, the Power-Points (1.28")
edged out the Deer Season (1.34") as the most consistently
accurate load across all three rearms. Given the short-
range application of the cartridge and the 8-10" target area
of a deer’s vitals, 350 Legend possesses far more accuracy
than is needed for the type of shooting in which it will
principally be used.
Between all the various testing required for this
story, I’ve shot a lot of 350 Legend in the past few
months, including multiple marathon sessions of more
than 100 rounds at a time. As a result of pulling all
those triggers, I’ve become intimately familiar with
this cartridge’s recoil impulse, and have come to view
it as a primary selling point for the new chambering.
Recoil anticipation is the death of accuracy; if you’re still
thinking about how badly the last shot rocked you, your
fundamentals are going to suffer on the next one. Totally
disproportionate to its effect on game, the 350 Legend’s
recoil is minimal enough that bracing for the kick never
even entered my mind.
For the sake of a direct comparison, the 350 Legend- ring
CMMG kicks just a sliver more than a 7.62x39 mm AK-47, and
even the 6-lb. Ruger bolt-action was docile enough to permit
extended sessions at the range with no discomfort. As such, the
350 Legend is a great, dare I say ideal, cartridge for a youth’s
rst center- re—and not a bad choice for the rest of us either.
So, what does the future hold for 350 Legend? It has
a lot going for it, and I think the potential for long-term
success is there—maybe even enough to eventually live up
to its rather vainglorious name. It’s an effective short-range
hunting cartridge designed to function in essentially every
type of action imaginable. It lls a legitimate hole in the
cartridge pantheon, and (sorry .450 Bushmaster) represents
a better mousetrap for straight-wall deer hunters. It is
accurate and fun to shoot.
Developing a new cartridge may indeed be an uncertain
proposition for an ammunition maker, but in the case of
350 Legend, I believe the calculus is pretty simple. If it is
produced by Winchester in suf cient quantities that White
Box on your local shelves can be counted on to always be
there, at prices that rival .223 Rem. and beat the rest of
the competition, and if the industry at large continues to
buy-in—then I believe the cartridge has the legs to become
a mainstay. The 350 Legend is a good, simple idea, and
those are often the best kind.
Ruger American Ri e Ranch
T
he Ranch subset of Ruger’s bolt-
action American Ri e line is
populated by models chambered
to re cartridges traditionally used in
semi-automatics (such as .223 Rem.,
.300 Blackout, 7.62x39 mm and
.450 Bushmaster) which is tting, as
the company introduced its two newest
members of the family alongside a simi-
larly 350 Legend-chambered AR-pattern
ri e—and the guns feed from AR-style
detachable box magazines. Utilizing a
push-feed, 70-degree-throw action, a
threaded (1/2x28 TPI) 16.38" bar-
rel and Ruger’s two-stage Marksman
Adjustable trigger, the two budget-
friendly Ranch ri es differ only in their
length-of-pull measurements (12½" for
the compact and 13¾" for the fullsize)
and overall lengths, with the longer
model being used for this evaluation.
A one-piece Picatinny rail scope base
comes factory-installed, a two-position
safety rides the gun’s tang, an AR-style
magazine release button is located on
the right side of the at dark earth
polymer stock and one ve-round AR
magazine ships with each ri e. Apart
from the chambering-speci c magazines,
which Ruger worked with C-Products to
design, reliable functioning with the car-
tridge only required company engineers
to tweak the ri es’ feed-ramp geometry.
MSRP: $549. ruger.com
51
350 LEGEND
CARTRIDGE
VEL. @ 15'
(F.P.S.)
ENERGY
(FT.-LBS.)
GROUP SIZE (INCHES)
SMALLEST LARGEST AVERAGE
WINCHESTER DSXP
150-GR. EP
2286 AVG.
8 SD
1,740 0.82 1.76 1.23
WINCHESTER POWER-POINT
180-GR. SP
2015 AVG.
11 SD
1,623 0.99 1.88 1.41
WINCHESTER
145-GR. FMJ
2226 AVG.
8 SD
1,595 1.22 2.54 1.81
AVERAGE EXTREME SPREAD 1.48
NOTES: MEASURED AVERAGE VELOCITY FOR 10 SHOTS OVER AN OEHLER 36 CHRONOGRAPH AT
15 FT. ACCURACY^ RESULTS^ FOR^ FIVE^ CONSECUTIVE, FIVE-SHOT^ GROUPS^ AT^100 YDS. FROM^ A^
CALDWELL LEAD SLED. TEMPERATURE: 71° F. HUMIDITY: 32%. ABBREVIATIONS: DSXP
(DEER SEASON XP), EP (EXTREME POINT), FMJ (FULL^ METAL^ JACKET), SD (STANDARD^
DEVIATION), SP (SOFT POINT).
SHOOTING RESULTS (100 YDS.) RUGER AMERICAN RANCH
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