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Thread: 350 Legend boltgun rechambered 357 AR max?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master

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    350 Legend boltgun rechambered 357 AR max?

    Let me preface that I have no experience in this arena, but would it be possible to take a factory 350 Legend boltgun, set the barrel back and rechamber it in 350 AR max in order to use 223 brass and 357 mag carbide dies? If so, how much would extraction suffer with reasonable loads?

  2. #2
    Boolit Master
    Outer Rondacker's Avatar
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    I am new to even hearing about the AR max. From the info I could find it basically is the same as the legend but it claims to use pistol bullets instead of rifle bullets. I called spoke to lenths with Ruger before I bought my rifle. They assured barrel bore for reloading was .355. I have not slugged my barrel yet. Not really seeing a difference. Please educate me here if you dont mind.
    Stop being blinded by your own ignorance.

  3. #3
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by Outer Rondacker View Post
    I am new to even hearing about the AR max. From the info I could find it basically is the same as the legend but it claims to use pistol bullets instead of rifle bullets. I called spoke to lenths with Ruger before I bought my rifle. They assured barrel bore for reloading was .355. I have not slugged my barrel yet. Not really seeing a difference. Please educate me here if you dont mind.
    The AR max is simply a 223 case blown out straight to accept a .357 bullet. Same as a 357 Maximum, just without the rim. No doubt the the Max and AR Max were the origin of the Legend, they just tapered the brass a bit to in the Legend aid to aid in extraction in the AR platform. While a few members here have converted 223 brass for the 350 Legend with some success, the practice is questionable. Rechambering to 357 AR Max makes for a straightforward conversion of 223 brass.

    All this said with the caveat that I have no experience with either cartridge!

  4. #4
    Boolit Grand Master
    Mk42gunner's Avatar
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    I don't believe it would be cost effective, or even a decent idea.

    Reason being the .350 Legend is supposed to be larger in diameter than the .223 case. I have no idea just how much barrel length you would have to lose before you could clean up the chamber with your reamer.

    I am guessing at least an inch, so you might as well just start out with a new barrel from a good manufacturer.

    Robert

  5. #5
    Boolit Master Moleman-'s Avatar
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    The two are so close I wouldn't bother. I'd just use the money for the 357AR specific reamer with 9mm pilot and likely new barrel to buy a bunch of 350 brass and a push through .355"-.356" bullet sizer. A 357Max reamer doesn't cut the casemouth step in the chamber to headspace off of. There are two 357AR reamers on file at Manson. 357AR has .005" chamber taper and 357AR-2 has .003" chamber taper. You'd have to do the math to figure out how much of the old chamber would need cut off. Both the 357AR/357AR-2 are used with standard 223/5.56 cases which take a fair bit of work to expand/trim/ream or Starline 223 basic brass (trim/ream). A 357Mag/Max die set long with a Lyman 357mag/max taper crimp die works fine for reloading. They both work fine out of AR15 actions, so a bolt action wouldn't have any issues with them. The first AR15 test barrel had no taper and worked, but feeding is much better in a semiauto with some taper. There's a pretty decent load thread over at the modern sporting rifle site in the 357AR section.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master Jim22's Avatar
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    Sounds like a lot of work and money to do almost nothing. As has been mentioned before the Legend has a larger case diameter but a rim that is similar to the .223. Also there is the not insignificant problem that the Legend uses .355 bullets while the MAX uses .357-.358's. I have heard that some rifle manufacturers have used .358 barrels but have not seen a list of who does it nor whether they do it on all their Legend rifles. Then there is the concern over headspacing on the case mouth. The .45 ACP does it fine but is loaded to much lower pressures. The case length is not as touchy with the ACP. I'd think it would be critical on the Legend.

    I have a single shot rifle in .357 MAX rimmed and I don't think the Legend cartridge will provide a significant improvement over the MAX to make it worthwhile. I am getting performance similar to the .35 Remington.

    Jim

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