How good is .350 Legend for a kid for Deer Hunting and plinking; recoil, any better options?

243win, unless your in a state where you have to use these straight wall rounds.

Why not a 44 mag? Recoil isn't bad with a semi heavy rifle. Lever action or a single with a pad.

Aim1 said:

Isn't the recoil significantly more than .350 Legend?

As a kid I remember my first deer rifle, a .243 recoiling a lot.

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There close from what I've seen the 243 only slightly more, but what load. There has been a lot of cherry picking from Winchester with the 350.

https://www.chuckhawks.com/win_350_legend.html

350 Legend has the advantage of being in an AR and thus you can usean adjustable carbine stock and that sure makes it nice for fitting to kids without using a dedicated youth stock. Nephew hunted with 300 BO his first few years for this reason.

mcb said:

350 Legend has the advantage of being in an AR and thus you can usean adjustable carbine stock and that sure makes it nice for fitting to kids without using a dedicated youth stock. Nephew hunted with 300 BO his first few years for this reason.

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That said 6.5 Grendal and 6.8 SPC are both possible options for the same reasoning.

ETA yes I did just accidentally reply to myself. I do that all the time in my head but usually not on a forum, sorry

7.62x39 has dirt cheap ammo and the ruger american is a handy package.

6.5 Grendel. Less recoil and flatter trajectory than the 350. Will kill as quickly and cleanly. Ammo more widely available.

I’d honestly favor the 6.5 G over 243win these days.

Aim1 what platform you looking at.

6.5 Grendel
Or
7.62x39
350 Legend? It's a perfectly adequate round, but I'm not in a state where I'm limited to straight walled cartridges.

I wouldn't be interested in the 350 legend unless required to limit my choices by law. I'd rather use a 223 than the 350 Legend if legal where you live. Recoil of the 350 Legend will be almost exactly the same as 243. But you're still talking about 10-11 ft lbs of recoil, which isn't much.

Of the cartridges designed to work in standard AR15 rifles the 6.5 Grendel or some variant of the 6.8's are the only ones that really improve on 223 ballistics. All of the others are simply designed to meet legal requirements.

The main reason I put together an AR in 6.8 is for deer hunting and in case I run into a feral hog or two.

Aim1 said:

So, I've read a little about the .350 Legend and being a straight wall cartridge it is supposedly super low recoil

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The .350 Legend has about the same velocity and bullet mass as the .30-30 Winchester. In a rifle of the same weight, it should have virtually identical recoil.

Buy a single shot 44 MAG such as the CVA Hunter. Shoot no-recoil 44 Special ammo for close distance training and target practice. But for hunting, I suggest Hornady Lever-evolution magnum ammo featuring their semi pointed 225 grain bullet.

TR

This helped me a lot when I was looking for a deer rifle for my wife....

https://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

Made for some easy comparisons. If you know the filter function in excel, copy and paste is your friend. You can narrow your choice pretty quick....

The cheap route for now is a .357 Magnum shooting .38 Spl for practice. I’d never fired either through a carbine until a few years ago and I confess after the first shot I froze. Why? Thought for sure I had a squib round as there was nothing more than a pop then nothing, despite the clear hole through a clean target.

If you’re looking for a rifle that builds confidence and skills in a youngster then a lever .357 is it. Reload for it and save a bundle until the politicians sort things out and the kids are old enough to hunt. I also have a .44Mag CVA Hunter .44 is not cheap), several 6.5 Creedmoor rifles, and a .350 Legend barrel being customized by EA Brown for my Encore.

All of these were procured for kids and while the oldest 3 can shoot everything including a .50 cal muzzleloader with 100 grains of Pyrodex, the younger 3 (ages 11-13) begin balking at .44 level recoil. 3 now have their own ARs they assembled with 3 more to follow shortly. That would be another great centerfire trainer with good ear pro and a linear comp.

Legend plinking ammo is 13 bucks a box here, .223/556 is 8, x39 is 7.
Recoil is noticeably more than a .223, or my 6.5Grendel.
Velocity of factory ammo from a 16" is about 200fps slower than the listed 24". My handloads are right at factory spec and should be decent enough out to 200yds or so, There does still appear to be some headroom, and something like lilgun might get another 100-150fps over the 2200 im clocking with hornady 170.

I actually really LIKE the legend, It basically duplicates a .357 Maximum. I think that its a good choice for a starting hunter, but that there are better general use options available like the 6.5Grendel.
the 6mm Arc might be an even better option with the 100gr class bullets....when ever it actually gets rolling.

The .243 Is also a very good option, but if going to a full size case, i now feel that the 6.5Creedmoor might be better option there as it allows for much heavier bullets to be used should one desire.

I currently have a Legend upper, and a Grendel upper set up completely differently. My legend comes in a 7lbs 3oz loaded with 5 10 rounds, and my Grendel is 9.5lbs. They both serve their purposes very well, but I also fell that my 7lb 527 (or any other bolt gun) in 6.5G would be a better all around hunting rifle for someone of smaller stature, or just starting out.

LoonWulf said:

Legend plinking ammo is 13 bucks a box here, .223/556 is 8, x39 is 7.
Recoil is noticeably more than a .223, or my 6.5Grendel.
Velocity of factory ammo from a 16" is about 200fps slower than the listed 24". My handloads are right at factory spec and should be decent enough out to 200yds or so, There does still appear to be some headroom, and something like lilgun might get another 100-150fps over the 2200 im clocking with hornady 170.

I actually really LIKE the legend, It basically duplicates a .357 Maximum. I think that its a good choice for a starting hunter, but that there are better general use options available like the 6.5Grendel.
the 6mm Arc might be an even better option with the 100gr class bullets....when ever it actually gets rolling.

The .243 Is also a very good option, but if going to a full size case, i now feel that the 6.5Creedmoor might be better option there as it allows for much heavier bullets to be used should one desire.

I currently have a Legend upper, and a Grendel upper set up completely differently. My legend comes in a 7lbs 3oz loaded with 5 10 rounds, and my Grendel is 9.5lbs. They both serve their purposes very well, but I also fell that my 7lb 527 (or any other bolt gun) in 6.5G would be a better all around hunting rifle for someone of smaller stature, or just starting out.

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I'd like to try out the 6mm Arc, just a 6mm grendel if I remember right.

troy fairweather said:

I'd like to try out the 6mm Arc, just a 6mm grendel if I remember right.

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yeah me too....tho I'd have preferred they keep it full length since I mostly want to shoot 100gr or so bullets.

OP asked about 350 Legend. So why not focus on it?
Yes, it is a great hunting round. I own one in Ruger American Predator with 16.5 inch bbl and muzzle brake. It is light, fast handling and accurate. Muzzle energy seems to range from about 1600 to 1800 ft lbs depending on load and bbl length.
Also as someone mentioned, it is a round that can be used in the AR platform as well as bolt guns and who knows what else.
There are many stories about hunting with the 350 Legend on the net.
Yes, the ammo is relatively inexpensive compared to most rounds of same capacity.

Skylerbone said:

The cheap route for now is a .357 Magnum shooting .38 Spl for practice. I’d never fired either through a carbine until a few years ago and I confess after the first shot I froze. Why? Thought for sure I had a squib round as there was nothing more than a pop then nothing, despite the clear hole through a clean target.

If you’re looking for a rifle that builds confidence and skills in a youngster then a lever .357 is it. Reload for it and save a bundle until the politicians sort things out and the kids are old enough to hunt. I also have a .44Mag CVA Hunter .44 is not cheap), several 6.5 Creedmoor rifles, and a .350 Legend barrel being customized by EA Brown for my Encore.

All of these were procured for kids and while the oldest 3 can shoot everything including a .50 cal muzzleloader with 100 grains of Pyrodex, the younger 3 (ages 11-13) begin balking at .44 level recoil. 3 now have their own ARs they assembled with 3 more to follow shortly. That would be another great centerfire trainer with good ear pro and a linear comp.

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This is totally in line with my thought process. I have a Rossi92. My niece has a 243 that kicked her head off. She loves shooting my 357 with 38s in it.
If the 357 is loaded with Lil gun, it can move a 180 at about 1900 fps in a 20 inch barrel.
My boys are either going to start with that or a youth h&r 223.
I could handle 90 gr ffg and a round ball before I could a 243. Black powder has a totally different recoil impulse.

I worry about 350 ammo long term, wouldn't do it unless you're in a straight wall state and even then I would look at other options which have been around for decades and will be for many more. Many better options in that space.