450 Legend - Is it worth it??

[Ricky C]

Hey, I just bought a Ruger gen2 350 to use in MI. Since I was in AK one of my cousins bought me a couple boxes of ammo, the Hornady whitetail 170 gr bullet. I've only been out hunting one so far this year, but I shot a big bodied buck. Complete pass through on a 80 yd broadside shot, ruined the heart. That part was sad, we like heart. But he went 10-15 yards and was stone dead by the time I got to him. I haven't had any feed issue either. I have found you need to be a bit aggressive when cycling the bolt. Just seems to work better even though it hasn't been a real problem going easy. I have a couple doe tags to fill so I'll have a bit more data on the ammo
Take Care

 

[Rifleman97]

Hey, I just bought a Ruger gen2 350 to use in MI. Since I was in AK one of my cousins bought me a couple boxes of ammo, the Hornady whitetail 170 gr bullet. I've only been out hunting one so far this year, but I shot a big bodied buck. Complete pass through on a 80 yd broadside shot, ruined the heart. That part was sad, we like heart. But he went 10-15 yards and was stone dead by the time I got to him. I haven't had any feed issue either. I have found you need to be a bit aggressive when cycling the bolt. Just seems to work better even though it hasn't been a real problem going easy. I have a couple doe tags to fill so I'll have a bit more data on the ammo
Take Care

Yes the aggressive cycling is the issue my nephew has. If you don't rack the bolt as hard as possible, it drops the spent case in the action right on top of the new round and they jam together when you try to push the bolt back forward. Tried several magazines to no avail, only fix is to rack it back as fast as possible to ensure ejection. My xpr can feed at any speed and even when trying to make it fail, it won't.

Not to say that the ruger can't shoot, it does some pretty good groups. But in the field my nephew has lost deer due to a jammed rifle several times in the last few years (we meat hunt with shared tags throughout our group so sometimes you shoot multiple deer in short succession.) He shot at one, cycled the bolt to shoot the next and had to stop and fix his jam, meanwhile the deer is GONE

That alone would make me avoid the ruger. If I already owned one I probably wouldn't go out and buy a new rifle but I'd take it to a gunsmith and try and figure out the issue to see if it can be fixed. And if not I'd complain to ruger, wouldn't be the first ruger I have owned that had feeding issues either. I have a 22 mag that if you pull the bolt back slowly, it launches the entire 10 round mag worth of 22 mag shells into the air at once. Their warranty covered 2 new mags for that one

 

[dem223ee]

I have a Ruger 350 legend for my kids and a ruger 450 for myself. I hunt in Michigan and switched over this year to the Barnes ammo in hopes of getting more pass throughs for better blood trails. Both of my kids shot deer this year with the Barnes 350 legend ammo and both ended up shooting their deer twice. All shots around 80-90 yard. All 4 bullets were recovered with none of them passing through. 1 made it to just underneath the hide on the opposite side. All 4 bullets mushroomed like a Banes should with very good weight retention. What ammo are you using that is giving you good penetration?? Do you get pass throughs?? What do the blood trails look like?? Just curious because it seems like what you are using is working for you.

FYI - I switched to the Barnes from the Winchester 180gr loads.

I just want to say congrats to those kiddos, those are great bucks!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Leaf Litter]

I owned a 350 legend for a few years with some success on game. I loved shooting the cartridge, light recoiling and very accurate in my Ruger American with the 22 inch barrel. I've since moved on to 35 Whelen, which is allowed in Iowa, with no regrets.

My #1 recommendation is NEVER shoot the 150 Deer Season XP ammo. The bullet is extremely accurate and works great on perfectly broadside shots, but will detonate in any dense muscle or bone and not penetrate any further if you have to take a quartering shot. I have a friend that tried the .223 Deer Season XP round for a special doe season in SE Iowa and had identical results, it just comes apart and doesn't penetrate.

As far as 400 legend, it just seems like more recoil for no added effective range, but I've never shot one, so I could be wrong.

 

[1980nano]

I just want to say congrats to those kiddos, those are great bucks!! Thanks for sharing.

Thanks. They were back to back. My daughter killed hers in the morning and my son killed his the night before. They kept dad busy!! This is the 1st year I have not taken a deer in Michigan since I was able to hunt.

 

[1980nano]

Ive not had to track one yet, good blood trail on the ammo I'm using currently for the 5 steps they're alive before they collapse

I've been using hornady for 170 interlock, and before that the Winchester 180 PowerPoint. I wasn't really unhappy with the Winchester ammo I just bought the interlock when it was on sale and it seems to have more velocity on the exit than the PowerPoint did, however the PowerPoints do seem to expand further. Pick your poison on the "all energy exerted" vs "2 holes to bleed from" camp. I know that's a whole can of worms.

170 interlock seems to penetrate more, 180 expands more. I have some ftx ammo but didn't get a chance to try it on a deer this year.

Thanks. That was kind of where I was with the 180's as well. I am going to give the 170's a look. Appreciate it.

 

[dem223ee]

I owned a 350 legend for a few years with some success on game. I loved shooting the cartridge, light recoiling and very accurate in my Ruger American with the 22 inch barrel. I've since moved on to 35 Whelen, which is allowed in Iowa, with no regrets.

My #1 recommendation is NEVER shoot the 150 Deer Season XP ammo. The bullet is extremely accurate and works great on perfectly broadside shots, but will detonate in any dense muscle or bone and not penetrate any further if you have to take a quartering shot. I have a friend that tried the .223 Deer Season XP round for a special doe season in SE Iowa and had identical results, it just comes apart and doesn't penetrate.

As far as 400 legend, it just seems like more recoil for no added effective range, but I've never shot one, so I could be wrong.

So true about the deer season XP bullets. I used them on 2 shots out of my 300WSM and looks like a 105mm cannon hit the entry side, they totally blowup. Not worth the damage so I went back to my trusty soft points.

 

[dem223ee]

Thanks. They were back to back. My daughter killed hers in the morning and my son killed his the night before. They kept dad busy!! This is the 1st year I have not taken a deer in Michigan since I was able to hunt.

Ha ha yep that's what kids will do to ya, but there no better feeling than watching them fill their tags!!

 

[MSU Marksman]

I wish the 350 Legend would have come out in .358 diameter to use existing rifle bullets. But instead it's a .355 bullet, and there haven't been a lot of options other than pistol bullets for it.

Similar, the 400 Legend will be 10mm bullets, so they might hold a little better, but still nothing with great BC.

I ended up going 450 Bushmaster, but am considering a 45 Raptor instead.

 

[FireFlyFishing]

Question:
If you can hunt with a bottle necked cartridge, why would you switch to a straight walled cartridge?

 

[Berrnard]

Question:
If you can hunt with a bottle necked cartridge, why would you switch to a straight walled cartridge?

i was just answering the question posed but now i re read the OP.
That is a super valid question.

 

[coyote wacker]

Been shooting the 450 BM since 2010 its a very good cartridge for States that have Limited Rifle cartridges for deer hunting.
One big problem is bullets when it first came out there were OK bullets for 45 caliber handguns but only one for a rifle round to use on deer....with many States making it OK to use the cartridge more bullets became avalible but none very good...
Myself theres only 2 bullets made that will properly work both are Cutting Edge Bullets first is a light weight 160 gr. Raptor the bullet I prefer it will do 2700 fps in a AR-15 for safe pressure .....in a bolt action 3060 fps load to 60'000 psi .....the other 250 gr. Raptor that will work great even up to moose and elk.....with the 250 gr. I've shot a 609 pound dressed bear and it drop at the shot....DRT

Getting into the 400 Legend the design is a very poor one with a case size of 1.65" they could have made it much closer to the State limit of 1.8" and come up with a much better cartridge and it would have worked just fine in a AR-15....
There is one very good bullet avalible to use in the 400 Legend its the Cutting Edge Bullet 165 gr Raptor it was originally designed for muzzleloaders but will work great.....keep it over 800 fps and it will expand....
I'am useing the bullet in my 40 x 1.8" cartridge been using it for over 6 years and ever deer has been....DRT

 

[Dean2]

The case on a 45-70 is 2.1". Rather than mess with the 400 Legend, is there a reason why you wouldn't just cut that down to 1.8", load the Hornady 300 grain hollow point, work up a load for the smaller case capacity and use that? You can shoot the shorter cases out of a standard 45-70 rifle as they head space on the rim.

It will definitely pass through a deer, and there won't be anything walking away from those hits. Loaded to 1200 fps they also have near zero kick.