Legend .350 primers- what type?

[Ponder_MD]

My wife won a butt-load of never fired brass for her rifle in some kind of raffle. Next year, Blackwater Wildlife Refuge has a no-lead bullet rule taking effect.
I have located a source of good, all-copper bullets and a powder recipe.

My question is about primers- Apparently this round is (or is comparable to) a 9mm Magnum. Do I want a "small rifle" magnum primer or a "pistol" magnum primer?

 

[Bountied]

Googles says CCI #41 small rifle primers.

 

[Ponder_MD]

Googles says CCI #41 small rifle primers.

My Google-fu is weak. Thanks.

 

[anfernys]

#41 is recommended for AR rifles. You can also run standard small rifle primers in bolt guns, but I would recommend loading up some of each to compare accuracy.

 

[85MikeTPI]

I loaded 165g Hornady over H110 for deer season and the Hodgdon data called for Win SR primers. I used the CCI450s I had extra.

 

[Hibs]

Next year, Blackwater Wildlife Refuge has a no-lead bullet rule taking effect.

Not until 2026...

Blackwater and Eastern Neck NWRs will propose a non-lead requirement, which will take effect on September 1, 2026

Hunting at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

www.fws.gov

 

[Ponder_MD]

Not until 2026...

Hunting at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge

www.fws.gov

Thanks! I just showed this to my wife.

 

[lazarus]

#41 is recommended for AR rifles. You can also run standard small rifle primers in bolt guns, but I would recommend loading up some of each to compare accuracy.

I can't speak to 350 legend. My general experience with 223 and grendel is that federal and CCI magnum primers (including #41) have slightly better SDs with ball powders, slightly higher velocities (generally 10-20fps average), but also generally less accuracy. Go figure with the better SDs, but reduced accuracy.

In both I can have a nice 1MOA or better (5 shot) load, use magnum primers, do a new ladder and generally the most accurate load is still at the same rung as what the non-magnum primer was. I might go from 15-20fps SDs down to 12-16fps SDs and +10fps average velocities...but that might become a 1.25MOA load.

What I've generally been doing is using SR magnum primers for hunting loads. I've yet to see convincing evidence, short of a sticky firing pin, that an AR actually needs harder magnum/NATO primers unless you are going to drop the bolt on the same cartridge many times. I was worried about it for awhile. I've dropped the bolt on the came case with a regular federal SR primer and a CCI regular SR primer 10 times and the dent in the primer was still small and neither went bang.

Now, some other guns it is NEEDED. My SKS for instance WILL slam fire a reload using federal LRP the 2nd time you chamber a round on a dropped bolt 50% of the time. It is about 100% on the 3rd chambering. Using the CCI NATO LRP is 25% slam fires on the 3rd chambering. That heavy firing pin just loves slamming forward.

I haven't tested Garands for this, but at least with regular LRP federal primers, the first bolt drop has never set off a round and the times I've ejected a round and put it back in the clip, I have also had 0 slam fires and the dent in the primer is hardly noticeable.

My SKS I did replace with a spring return firing pin. I forget who makes them, but I've tried dropping the bolt on federal primed reloads 5 times in a row and no bang and the dent in the primer is barely noticeable.

Now I want to go take my SKS to the range. Its been awhile.

PS Sorry, I was way tangent. For a hunting load, if using spherical powders, since you are probably hunting in really cold weather sometimes, I would go with a magnum primer. I don't want to find out that I end up out hunting on a 10F day and that ends up being cold enough that I have a 50ms hang fire that throws off my shot by half a foot.

 

[Doco Overboard]

In a Garand its not just the primers. Its the bolt safety bridge and oos firing pins that contribute to out of battery firing.
In a rifle with accumulated deficiencies, even hard primers will not prevent a slam fire.

 

[anfernys]

All good stuff. I wasn’t sure if the plan was for them to reload for an AR, or bolt gun. In the caste of a bolt action then not much need to worry about a slam fire.


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[Ponder_MD]

All good stuff. I wasn’t sure if the plan was for them to reload for an AR, or bolt gun. In the caste of a bolt action then not much need to worry about a slam fire.


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I'm reloading for my wife's bolt gun. Savage Axis in .350 Legend. The powder is H110. I'm not sure if that's stick or spherical, I haven't checked yet.

 

[357Max]

For 350L in an AR I use Federal GM205AR & CCI #41
Barnes TSX 170 Solids work well & are the correct .355” for the Legend.

 

[outrider58]

I'm reloading for my wife's bolt gun. Savage Axis in .350 Legend. The powder is H110. I'm not sure if that's stick or spherical, I haven't checked yet.

It's spherical.

 

[anfernys]

Ditto

I would say find a projectile yo uh may like and spend some time at the range. Try a couple different primer and load combos and see what happens.


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[6-Pack]

I use CCI Small Rifle (#400) primers for 350L. I can get 1” groups at 100 yards with a Savage Axis, which is good enough for me.

22 gr. IMR-4227, 165 gr. Hornady FTX.

 

[Ponder_MD]

I use CCI Small Rifle (#400) primers for 350L. I can get 1” groups at 100 yards with a Savage Axis, which is good enough for me.

22 gr. IMR-4227, 165 gr. Hornady FTX.

Are Hornady FTX all copper/lead free bullets?

 

[Uncle Duke]

Are Hornady FTX all copper/lead free bullets?

No. FTF has a lead core.

Hornady's all copper bullets are their CX offerings.

 

[outrider58]

Are Hornady FTX all copper/lead free bullets?

Lead core.

 

[Archeryrob]

Be careful with these ballistic tipped "rapid expansion" bullets for hunting. Make sure your shot choice is rib entrance and rib exit. If you enter or exit on a shoulder, you'll be surprised how much less meat you get back from the butcher. They kill very good and they destroy a lot of meat also. I was flat out shocked what the SST did out of a 30-06 and have heard people making the same comments about them in 350 rounds if they get in the shoulder.

I put one through a shoulder on a doe and donated most of that shoulder back to the critters with the carcass. I got some off the top and some of the shank, but the rest I tossed. I never shot them hunting again.

 

[lazarus]

Be careful with these ballistic tipped "rapid expansion" bullets for hunting. Make sure your shot choice is rib entrance and rib exit. If you enter or exit on a shoulder, you'll be surprised how much less meat you get back from the butcher. They kill very good and they destroy a lot of meat also. I was flat out shocked what the SST did out of a 30-06 and have heard people making the same comments about them in 350 rounds if they get in the shoulder.

I put one through a shoulder on a doe and donated most of that shoulder back to the critters with the carcass. I got some off the top and some of the shank, but the rest I tossed. I never shot them hunting again.

At our general distances, for sure. Now, at western hunting distance, that isn't the same issue. A shoulder shot at, say, 300 or 400yds you aren't going to vaporize the shoulder the same way. But at closer ranges like 200 and in, that's the likely result. And they'll have the best expansion at the lowest velocities.*

It is all about how you hunt for what to use. Tipped copper monolithic bullets are good all around, but don't expand well at extended ranges no matter what you hit. But you can sure take a shoulder shot at close range. A controlled expansion soft point is also great all around, but will have similar poor expansion at long range and will also do more meat damage than the copper bullet at short and point blank ranges into a shoulder.

I think the answer is, if you love shoulder shots, go all copper. If you are a rib guy and are okay that if a shot is off and hits a shoulder you are losing most of that meat, than a tipped lead controlled expansion is fine. If you want to shoot cheaper stuff or want to ensure better expansion if you miss a shoulder then a SP controlled expansion bullet is the way to go.

Probably don't shoot plain SP bullets (that aren't controlled expansion). Sure work, also sure the worst overall of all of the options out there and can just simply fragment on a bad hit dumping all of their energy shallow.

*A lot of BC tipped bullets can expand okay down to like 1600-1700fps. Most all copper tipped will expand some down to 1700-1800fps, but some are 1900fps. SP bullets are going to have a wide range, but figure maybe 1800-2000fps.