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Finally did it - .350 Legend Carbine à la 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

4K views 16 replies 8 participants last post by  mac66 
#1 ·
Water Vehicle River Flood


It's a mix of 1970s, 1980s and 1990s style stuff. Weight unloaded is a hair under 5-3/4 pounds. Note the early style stock, smaller and lighter than the standard M4. I prefer the A1 sights so I went with the A1 upper receiver. It doesn't have a shell deflector but I'm right handed and don't need one. The flat circular handguard ring is lighter and more stylish than a delta ring. Those handguards are really trim. It has an A2 muzzle device. Balance is perfect. I still need to get a sling and sling adapters for top carry.

I haven't shot it yet. I still need to get ammo. Browning just came out with a 124gr FMJ load that is the fastest factory load offered for .350 Legend. I'll try to get some of that. They claim 2500fps in a 20" barrel. Mine is 16" long but velocity of that 9mm bullet will still be pretty high.

I have to admit I am intrigued by the 350 Legend caliber. I'm eager to give it a try.
 
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#2 ·
That is exactly the style I’m going to build next. Congratulations on building the first A1 style I’ve ever seen. I’ve become a huge fan of the 350. After my first few rifles I went the other way and started working with AR pistols. You’re rifle would be great bad weather /deer driving gun. That Sir is bad ass.
 
#5 ·
Well....it's interesting. ::)

What are you going to use it for? I built a 350 L carbine last fall to hunt with. Got my second doe of the season with it on the very last day. I'm now a big fan of the 350L.
 
#6 ·
Well....it's interesting. ::)

What are you going to use it for?
Personal protection.

I've pretty much settled on using my .300 H&H single shot and .405 Grenadier caliber Marlin 1895 for most of my rifle hunting. I also have a really nice, light, 18" barreled AR in 6.8 SPC with a 4x ACOG that I plan to use this year. So, those rifles will probably remain my hunting "battery" so to speak.

Since I am often in the woods outside of hunting season. I plan on carrying the .350 for those occasions. We don't have grizzly bears in our state. But we do have a lot of black bears and, in some areas, wolves. The rifle may be light and handy but I think .350 Legend has enough oomph for those critters.

I've ordered the Browning 124gr FMJ ammunition. If that shoots well I'll probably also relegate the .350 to home defense.

I've never been surprised by a black bear or wolf and I've never had a home invader. But we plan for those odd chances, right? I think this little carbine would fit that purpose well.
 
#8 ·
My ammo arrived.

Here's what I'll be trying out when the rain stops -
L to R: Browning 124gr FMJ, Federal 160gr Fusion, and Hornady 170gr American Whitetail.

Ammunition Bullet Gun accessory Brass Metal


It's an interesting cartridge for sure. I read comments from people making fun of Winchester for suggesting it as a LE/military cartridge. But I've got to tell you, anyone who has ever carried and shot a 9mm SMG will really see the LE/military potential of a pistol or short carbine in 350 Legend shooting something like the 124gr FMJ.

For comparison, here are (L to R) 9mm 115gr FMJ, .30 Carbine 110gr FMJ, 350 Legend 124gr FMJ, and 5.56mm 55gr FMJ

Ammunition Bullet Gun accessory Material property Brass


That 350 Legend FMJ cartridge is like a 9x19mm on steroids!

iI'm going to have fun shooting this. I'll post my results afterwards.
 
#10 · (Edited)
I had to cure some terrible feeding issues. First, I polished the feed ramps until they are bright as a mirror. Second, I had to replace the standard carbine buffer with an H2 (extra heavy) buffer. Finally, I modified one of my two 20-round magazines with the YouTube infamous "magazine fix".

In the end, the Browning 124gr FMJ feeds, fires, and ejects flawlessly in the unmodified magazine. In the modified magazine this round gets caught over the bolt when it closes. Conversely, the Hornady 170gr and Federal 160gr loads feed well from the modified magazine but when used in the unmodified magazine they get caught under the bolt when it closes. So, two different magazines to use with different ammo. Since I have decided to use this primarily as a defensive weapon I will be purchasing four more of the 20 round magazines and I will leave them as-is. That will give me one mag in the rifle and four in an old M16 20 round magazine ammo pouch, for a total of 100 rounds. The modified magazine I will keep on hand for the off chance that I want to go hunting with the heavier ammo.

Browning also came out with a 155gr BXR plastic tipped cartridge. I am looking forward to trying that out. Hopefully, it will work out in the unmodified magazines. If so, then I'll be able to do everything with the two Browning loads and standard mags. We will see.

Here are the three loads I tried. L-R Browning 124gr FMJ, Federal Fusion 160gr, and Hornady American Whitetail 170gr
Bullet Ammunition Gun accessory Brass Metal


You can see how I had to cut down the feed area of one of the magazines to get it to feed the Hornady and Federal stuff. The blunt noses on those were catching on the edge of the magazine. Modified magazine is on the left, unaltered on the right.
Material property


The Browning FMJ load was very accurate. I shot this target at 25 yards from a supported kneeling position. This zero will keep the round within 1" of the line of sight out to 120 yards! It drops from there to 3" low at 150 yards.
Shooting sport Target archery Shooting Circle Recreation


The Hornady 170gr and Federal 160gr loads were not as accurate. I think that may be due partly to the recoil in this light rifle. Anyway, this group is representative of both of those loads. Note: The groups were higher than those from the 124gr FMJ load because I flipped the sight to the long range aperture for these heavier, slower cartridges. If I were to use it in the field that's what I would do. I'd use the near range aperture for the 124gr load and the long range aperture for the heavy stuff. That method would set it up for the best trajectories within 150 yards.
Shooting sport Target archery Recreation Circle Shooting


Another view of the carbine.
Air gun Airsoft gun
 
#11 ·
I have built several 350 rifles now and each one took a few boxes to settle in. Interesting each one didn’t group well at first with the Hornady 170. However, after a few mags of just those bullets the groups shrank impressively. Shoot it and have some fun before you get too serious about accuracy testing.
 
#15 ·
Nice,

5 ways to be a felon in that package in California. Adjustable stock, Pistol grip, Mag capacity, Flash hider, and mag release.

I hope to be able to own a real machine once I retire, take my toys, tax revenue to the State, and bug out!
 
#17 ·
I suppose I should pick up some of the lighter weight loads for my 350. I've only shot the 180 gr Federal Power Points in mine. I just built mine to hunt with it but now I'm curious to see what it would do with different ammo.
 
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