I have two “spite uppers” planned for this summer. A 224 Valkyrie and a 350 Legend. Both have had some bad reamers making bad barrels out there which have pressed a lot of negativity around the forums and Facebook. The Legend gets a bad reputation for the fact folks have measured factory ammo to include .355-.356” bullets, instead of the .357” of the SAAMI spec. So folks assume the Legend is a 9mm. I’ve installed two 350 Legend barrels so far, both have readily accepted reloaded .357” bullets, as designed. A friend has a Ruger American which will chamber reloads with .358” 180 grain HotCors without sizing.

Personally, I think the .350 Legend is right where it should be for deer and hog hunting, everything the .450 Bushmaster really should have been.

Info of value: SAAMI dimensional standards

Chamber neck diameter: 0.3789” +0.002”
Cartridge neck diameter: 0.378” -0.008”
Bullet Diameter: 0.357” -0.003”

0.9 thou isn’t much clearance, but enough. But a minimum spec 0.3789” chamber with 0.0378” case neck around a 0.357” bullet with 2 thou neck tension... 0.378-0.357+0.002 = 0.023”, divide by two, that’s 11.5 thou case neck thickness. If you buy brass with 12.5-13.5 thou wall thickness, you have to either ream/turn necks or size bullets.

Alternatively, a maximum spec chamber at 0.3809” less 0.0009” clearance, 0.380” cartridge neck, less .357” bullet plus 0.002” tension gives 12.5 thou case neck thickness. Still thin.

Sizing to the 180 HotCor to .356” would certainly chamber - only pulling it down to .357” should fit, but .356” absolutely should unless the barrel chamber is out of spec.

What’s about the .350 Legend is working around a law?

This is how I see it. Laws changed which recreated a market for straightwall cartridges, and with exceptionally limited modern options, bolt guns and AR’s, the door was open for the .350 Legend. If you want a straightwall bolt gun in Ohio/Iowa/Indiana, what options are there? Leverguns are a dying breed, arguably dead in the youngest two generations of rifle buyers, single shots unpopular and also faltering in the recent market, so the 450 Bushmaster in a couple bolt guns and AR’s was largely the singular option. Most of our straightwall cartridges are low pressure, rimmed cases, not setting the bar very high to supersede in a modern cartridge. The parameter was .357” and straightwall, with a few states requiring cases shorter than 1.8”. We already have a 45cal in the mix, so a 44cal may not have been distinct enough to play, not much interest in 40 cals as a whole - especially in the current environment - so why not go hard and fast with a common bolt face and Mag boxes, pushing a 35 cal bullet?

I might wish they’d made more accommodation for conventional brass neck thickness around the specified bullet diameters, but once cheap barrel makers stop pitching out-of-spec chambers, the Legend’s going to keep doing very well.

It’s not skirting any laws.

I don’t think the .350 Legend will enjoy the fame and fortune of the 6.5 Creedmoor, but in a specific market with virtually only one option, the .350 Legend is a welcomed addition. Even in non-straightwall required states, the Legend will enjoy a happy market - I know a bunch of hog hunters and deep woods deer hunters who are itching for more options without the short-range limitations of the “hammer” cartridges previously available for their AR’s. A few buddies up north live in “handgun and shotgun only” zones, such an AR-15 pistol is legal fare, and a .350 Legend fills a previously vacant niche between the rather lack-luster .300 blk and the 458 Socom/450bushy.

Guys wanted the 350 Legend, that’s why we’ve seen guys wildcatting rounds like the .357 MaxAR and .358 Yeti before the factory offering of the Legend came to pass. As I have said many times before - there are a lot of questions which are well answered by a 180-220 grain bullet at 1900-2200fps.