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Thread: 350 Legend Deer Load

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy
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    350 Legend Deer Load

    I bought a BCA 350 Legend Upper a couple months ago to see what it could do. I've tried 3 different boolits at this point: Lee 358-200-RF, RCBS 25-250-SP, and NOE 360-230-RF. The Lee showed some promise in the inital testing, but wouldn't cycle the action with the loads I was using. I had the RCBS loaded too hot and it is probably a little too heavy of a boolit to get the velocity I want. I recently acquired the NOE 360-230-RF from another member on here. It is the version with pins for FP, CP, and HP. I decided on the cup point for the testing. I got my hands on some Shooters World Buffalo Rifle and developed a load using Gordon's Reloading Tool. I think I have a winner with the NOE boolit. I figure 230g at 1800fps should be a good combination. Just need to tweak the scope a little and I should be in business.



  2. #2
    Boolit Master fastdadio's Avatar
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    I have the BCA in 350 also, the only boolit I've tried so far is the 170gr, .357, fp, gc. from Matt's Bullets, I've had several failures to chamber with deformed noses. I think they're a bit too flat nosed to cycle reliably, so I gave the rest of them to my son to use in his Ruger all american bolt gun. If you can get your load to cycle reliably, you have a winner there. Here's a couple molds I have book marked for possible purchase that you may find interesting;
    http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_deta...ullet=35-195RG
    http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_deta...ullet=36-180LG
    Deplorable infidel

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by fastdadio View Post
    I have the BCA in 350 also, the only boolit I've tried so far is the 170gr, .357, fp, gc. from Matt's Bullets, I've had several failures to chamber with deformed noses. I think they're a bit too flat nosed to cycle reliably, so I gave the rest of them to my son to use in his Ruger all american bolt gun. If you can get your load to cycle reliably, you have a winner there. Here's a couple molds I have book marked for possible purchase that you may find interesting;
    http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_deta...ullet=35-195RG
    http://accuratemolds.com/bullet_deta...ullet=36-180LG
    I ran 15 rds through with that boolit and all chambered and cycled just fine. I do have the MP 359-220 as well, but need some parts to get it operational again. May see what that one does for kicks if I can get it back together.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    That ought to be a Smack Daddy of a load for just about anything! Looks Good Too!

  5. #5
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    Is your mold the plain base or gc ?
    I see it's powder coated, if it's a gc did you use one?
    TIA
    Last edited by lar45; 05-01-2022 at 10:14 PM. Reason: Auto correct

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by lar45 View Post
    Is your mold the plain base or gc ?
    I see it's powder coated, if it's a good, did you use one?
    TIA
    Gas check. Alloy is 50/50 COWW/SOWW, GC, PC, sized to .357

  7. #7
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    Thanks.
    I haven't been able to get cast to shoot well out of my 450 Bushmaster. With jacketed stuff it's unbelievable. Maybe I need to try some softer bullets? I have some ww/pb in the melter pot now, maybe I'll cast some new ones to try.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by lar45 View Post
    Thanks.
    I haven't been able to get cast to shoot well out of my 450 Bushmaster. With jacketed stuff it's unbelievable. Maybe I need to try some softer bullets? I have some ww/pb in the melter pot now, maybe I'll cast some new ones to try.
    Unfortunately I don't have any experience with the 450. I've had good luck with 50/50 in pretty much all my rifles in the range of 1400-2200fps.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
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    Have you tried grinding the feed lips of your magazines back .200 front to back? Once I did that all my feed/function problems went away. I have CMMG magazines and I ground the lips back to the back of the dimple.

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
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    I am presently jug testing cast bullets for my deer load. For where I hunt 180 grains at 1900fps is perfect. Going outside right now to try the NOE 36-182 bullet cast with the cup point pin, flat nose pin and deep hollow point pin.
    Last edited by rickt300; 05-04-2022 at 08:02 PM.

  11. #11
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
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    And here they are. the one on the bottom is with the flat nose pin, the middle the cup pin and the top is using the deep HP pin.




  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
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    These were shot into 4 one gallon milk jugs filled with water at 50 yards. Powder coated with red Harbor freight. The flat nose went through 4 jugs and stuck in the 1/2 inch plywood backing of my target holder. The cup point hit the plywood and bounced back into the 4th jug, the deep hollow point base ended up in the third jug with a fragment that went through the 4th jug. The cup point and the flat nose destroyed the first two jugs. The deep HP made a mist of the first jug, made a 3/8th's inch hole through the second and ended up in the third. So either the cup point or the flat nose work for me as a timber bullet for pigs and deer. The deep HP might be the worlds best raccoon eliminator. The load being 21.3 grains of I4227 shot from a 16 inch barrel. Alloy is 50/50 WW/soft lead maybe pure.
    Last edited by rickt300; 05-04-2022 at 08:06 PM.

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
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    I notice your seating with the case mouth over the crimp groove leaving it unsupported. Not sure but I like to seat the bullet so it supports the case mouth for what seems like it would be better at headspacing.

  14. #14
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    This was confusing to follow along with rickt and rtyler lol I was convinced you were the same person. So are you shooting those plain base at 1900fps? What kind of accuracy are you getting and what twist rate is your barrel? The recovered bullets look great and don't show any signs of skidding, gas cutting or powder coat erosion.

    I have had luck with plain base Lee 158-RF with 4% Sb water dropped in my 30" twist Rossi 357 at 2000 fps but they were powder coated and then lightly tumble lubed. Plain PC left the base band naked of PC and left minor fouling in the barrel, but the addition of a light coat of tumble lube cleaned the barrel up and recovered bullets still had colored powder coat on all the drive bands. Plain base groups at 2000+ fps were 3-4 MOA at 100 yards and the gas check 158 RNFP bring it down to 1.5-2" for 10 shots. I mostly deer drive, so I need penetration for bad angle shots and the additional accuracy and softer lead with the gas check bullets doesn't mean much at 20-30 yards. In fact I have started to harden most my gas check bullets over the last 3 years to control expansion and get adequate penetration up close - 2-2-96 WD at 420 degrees penetrates almost as good as the rock hard plain base.

    Recently I have been shooting the gas check bullets because I cast and coated buckets of them, but this summer I am loading up some more hard plain base bullets for deer driving because they work so well up close and I can plink them without feeling guilty lol

    I would recommend to sight in for the cup point, then check where the flat nose hits. They will probably shoot to the same spot at 50 yards. Use the flat nose for stalking, driving, etc, then use the cup point for ambush hunting (treestand, blind, etc) where you can pick your shots and shoot broadside only. I have found that 3 jug loads don't give exit wounds, 4 jug loads do sometimes, and 5 jug loads give exit wounds almost every time. I have recovered a few "5 jug" bullets from deer but they were Texas heart shots and one was shot in the neck directly facing me. The neck shot went in under the chin, clipped every vertebrae, passed through the vertebrae to the top side of the neck, then was recovered between the shoulder blades of a 180 pound buck. I like to shoot most of my deer with 5 jug loads, but this year I killed a big doe out of state with a 4 jug load in a muzzleloader and got a small exit on a perfect broadside shot. The entry wound was about 3" and the exit was about a half inch. 315 grain .452 soft lead at 1600 fps
    Last edited by mnewcomb59; 05-05-2022 at 06:19 PM.

  15. #15
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
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    They are all gas checked. My experience with the number of jugs penetrated and exit wounds is like yours. Bullets that penetrate 4 jugs usually give plenty of penetration and exit for me most of the time unless I hit bone. I'm loading up a hundred of the deep HP bullets for my summer loads (raccoons, trapped hogs, coyotes) and will use the flat nose bullets for deer and hog hunting. I may up velocity a bit when I test my pound of 1680.

  16. #16
    Boolit Bub
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    I don’t have one or a 357 Max, but 1680 or one of the flavors of 296 (Win, Hod, AA or Alliant) ought to allow ultimate power if desired. I sure wish they would have used either a 357 or 358 bore diameter on this cartridge.

  17. #17
    Boolit Bub
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    Oh forgot the most important part: great shooting and your book it’s look great, the flat point really performed nicely !

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
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    Well I cast far more of the HP versions because it was going soooo well I hated to stop. But I bet I can shoot a couple hundred of them easily in a month. As for the diameter issue, I have taken the advice of some others and size both cast and jacketed bullets to .356 using a LEE sizer die. Easy enough and stops the occasional fail to completely go into battery issue.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master
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    I sure wish they would have used either a 357 or 358 bore diameter on this cartridge.

    I totally agree. Would have been much more practical.

    I have taken the advice of some others and size both cast and jacketed bullets to .356 using a LEE sizer die]

    I'm curious if the .356" is enough for the lead boolits. I suppose if the bore measures out at .355" it should do.

    I've been toying with various 180+ grain lead cast boolits in my 35 Whelen in an effort to mimic the 350 Legend. Technically, I cannot deer hunt with the bottleneck cartridge, but it has been a fun exercise, keeps me involved and is cheap shooting for the most part. The 45/70 lever action does just fine on whitetails but my main interest has always been bolt actions, which the old Mauser in 35 caliber is. Larry Gibson replied to someone's post a while back that for the softer boolits, like I am shooting, range scrap, accuracy is good but about shot #8 the barrel will need cleaned. That is what I've been experiencing with these powder coated pills. The water jug comparisons are quite helpful. One and Two are well blown apart at 100 yards. Three is well wounded and four can at times still hold the expanded FN slug. Broadside shots on deer at 100 to 125 yards have my confidence. Accuracy begins to fall off by 150 yards, though.
    The testing will continue.

    Thanks for sharing your efforts and results so far. Be sure to give us field reports.

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy rickt300's Avatar
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    I also have a Whelen and plan to play with some cast loads using Blue Dot when time permits. Oddly my Legend is not giving me any issues with barrel fouling. None in fact the barrel is spotless and shiny. I am surely beyond 50 shots since a thorough cleaning. My alloy of 50% WW and 50% pure must be harder than range scrap.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check