The 350 Legend and 300 AAC Blackout are two centerfire rifle cartridges that are often used to bag trophy bucks and stock freezers full of venison.
While both rounds are excellent options for taking down whitetail and feral hogs, their intended purposes differ greatly. The 350 Legend was developed by Winchester specifically as a hunting round, whereas the 300 Blackout was developed for U.S. special forces’ suppressed AR-15s.
While it may have been intended for urban combat, the 300 Blackout has been accepted by the hunting community as an effective dispatcher of whitetail deer, and is used to good effect by many each fall.
Let’s take a deep dive into the 350 Legend vs. 300 Blackout ammo debate, analyzing the advantages and disadvantages of each so you can make a more informed decision on your next hunting rifle.
What is the Difference Between 350 Legend and 300 Blackout?
The primary differences between the 350 Legend and 300 Blackout are each cartridge’s bullet diameter and case design. The 350 Legend fires a 0.355” diameter bullet from a straight-walled case, while the 300 Blackout fires a 0.308” diameter bullet from a bottleneck one.
350 Legend vs. 300 Blackout Cartridge Specs
The 300 Blackout cartridge has a bottleneck case; the 350 Legend, a straight-walled one.
The next significant difference is each cartridge’s bullet diameter. The 300 Blackout fires the popular .30 caliber bullet – 0.308” diameter, specifically. For the 350 Legend, Winchester uses a bit of marketing magic to describe their cartridge’s projectile.
Bullet diameter for 350 Legend is listed as 0.357”-0.003”. That’s odd, since caliber is usually a single diameter measurement. This is due to specific U.S. state requirements that rifle cartridges used for deer hunting must fire a bullet with a minimum diameter of 0.357”.
On its website, Winchester lists the 350 Legend as firing a 0.357” caliber bullet. However, all reloading data recommend using 0.355” (aka 9mm) bullets. Although the 350 Legend is capable of firing a 0.357” diameter bullet, it is more frequently loaded with the slightly narrower 0.355” bullet.
One similarity between the 350 Legend and 300 AAC Blackout is their identical rim diameter to the 223 Remington: 0.378”. That’s why adapting a 5.56/223 AR-15 to 350 Legend requires nothing more than a barrel change.
While the 350 Legend and 300 Blackout’s lengths are nearly identical, their case capacities are quite a different story. The 350 Legend’s longer and wider case is around 38% more capacious than the 300 Blackout’s; 36.5 grains H2O vs. 26.5.
Its higher-capacity case allows the 350 Legend to fire a heavier bullet – but how does that affect recoil?
350 Legend vs. 300 Blackout Recoil
One of Winchester’s main selling points for the 350 Legend is its low recoil: 63% less than the 450 Bushmaster, which is another popular straight-walled deer hunting cartridge. That’s impressive, but how does the 350 Legend’s kick stack up against the 300 Blackout’s?
The average supersonic 300 Blackout ammo has 6 ft-lbs of free recoil; the 350 Legend, 8.5 ft-lbs.
Although the 350 Legend does technically generate more recoil than the 300 BLK, neither is oppressive to fire. Marksmen commonly describe either as having low recoil.
Continue reading 350 Legend vs. 300 Blackout: Purpose-Driven Rifle Cartridges on Ammo.com
