Surprise with 400 Legend and factory ammo.
- Thread starter sew
- Start date
I know for me, growing up hunting with a .280 Rem in mixed woods and farmland, my shots were either under 30yards or over 250yards. So I feel like a hobbled mule when I take out my .350Legend in the special reg's area around Pittsburgh PA. Even though - quite frankly - around here most of the shots offered are generally under 100 yards. I actually prefer to hunt with my .45cal smokeless muzzleloader - but for my type of hunting - a couple hours here, a few hours there being able to quickly unload the gun is a big help.
Last edited:
I’ve had a savage and a 300 ford
savage wore out a few barrels and the 300 went 390k and was still running well when I sold it
Have dies & Hornady 200s inbound, going to try to get it sighted in with the 215 gr stuff this weekend since the weather is unseasonably warm.
We had a foggy but unseasonably warm day (38*) so I was able to do a barrel break-in/sight-in on the new Savage. Pulled the scope off of my 350L (Leupold Mark 3HD 1.5-4X) & it was only a little high & right @ 50 yards.
I do a semi-Sinclair method for break-in, so I didn't adjust the scope until after the 1st 3 shots. After a slight zeroing, I worked my way out to 100:
(don't mind the odd 35 cal holes, I haven't changed the targets from when the kids were out sighting in their 350 ARs for deer season).
I was pretty tickled with the 100-yard groups considering I hadn't touched the trigger & it's not exactly light at the moment. I banged a little steel as I patched/cleaned:
The white box at the top of the pic is 200 yards. I had two shots left so I decided to see what the drop was (holding the second mil on the scope):
Had the elevation correct but the 10-mph west wind sent me about 3.5" east...Still pretty tickled to have the shots touching at 200 yards!
Overall, pretty happy with this rig so far, like sew, I'm not sure if I can improve on the factory loads (still need to try the 190 gr Winchesters). Dies & Hornady 200gr pills should be in next week.
TRS
I do a semi-Sinclair method for break-in, so I didn't adjust the scope until after the 1st 3 shots. After a slight zeroing, I worked my way out to 100:
(don't mind the odd 35 cal holes, I haven't changed the targets from when the kids were out sighting in their 350 ARs for deer season).
I was pretty tickled with the 100-yard groups considering I hadn't touched the trigger & it's not exactly light at the moment. I banged a little steel as I patched/cleaned:
The white box at the top of the pic is 200 yards. I had two shots left so I decided to see what the drop was (holding the second mil on the scope):
Had the elevation correct but the 10-mph west wind sent me about 3.5" east...Still pretty tickled to have the shots touching at 200 yards!
Overall, pretty happy with this rig so far, like sew, I'm not sure if I can improve on the factory loads (still need to try the 190 gr Winchesters). Dies & Hornady 200gr pills should be in next week.
TRS
Last edited:
Dies & Hor 200gr pills came in the mail today, have about 35 pieces of once-fired brass to play with. But of course, now the weather has turned. Load some up & wait for another semi-warm day.
Kind of a rebated rim version, what's old is new once again. 
Treerat-sniper,
We have the same reloading kit. This spring, reloading will begin.
Meanwhile, next to last day of Arkansas gun season (Dec 27) @4:30 a majestic 8-pt came out into the field I was overlooking, a slight rise, and stood motionless for about 15 minutes @ about 75 yards from my blind. But, I wasn’t after him. Then he started moving away from me going down the 330 yd long field.
Then off to my left moving slightly inside some grownup weeds, in contrast to the recently hayed field, I saw my target deer. He crossed about 75 yards in front of me. The 215g Winchester bullet hit just behind the shoulder. He took off straight down the valley from which he’d just come. Getting dark in the woods now. He made it 120 yards!
So, this 77 1/2 year old pulled him up the incline to the field where I could load him into my CanAm Defender. 1st deer with a CF in nearly 30 years. Hopefully the first of many with the Sav 400 Legend.
2nd 11-Pt of the year. The 1st was with a KI X1 crossbow.
We have the same reloading kit. This spring, reloading will begin.
Meanwhile, next to last day of Arkansas gun season (Dec 27) @4:30 a majestic 8-pt came out into the field I was overlooking, a slight rise, and stood motionless for about 15 minutes @ about 75 yards from my blind. But, I wasn’t after him. Then he started moving away from me going down the 330 yd long field.
Then off to my left moving slightly inside some grownup weeds, in contrast to the recently hayed field, I saw my target deer. He crossed about 75 yards in front of me. The 215g Winchester bullet hit just behind the shoulder. He took off straight down the valley from which he’d just come. Getting dark in the woods now. He made it 120 yards!
So, this 77 1/2 year old pulled him up the incline to the field where I could load him into my CanAm Defender. 1st deer with a CF in nearly 30 years. Hopefully the first of many with the Sav 400 Legend.
2nd 11-Pt of the year. The 1st was with a KI X1 crossbow.
I want to optimize whatever I use that is legal for hunting where I hunt. Increasing the BC of a projectile, maximizing it’s speed , picking the most terminally effective type of projectile and mixing in adequate accuracy, blending this all together to obtain the most efficient setup I can . This is regardless of whether it’s my 40 cal smokeless MLer, crossbow or now, SW centerfire.
If one can make a flatter shooting projectile out of any of the above w/o sacrificing other qualities, why not? If I can get the same trajectory and wind drift at 300 yards with a carefully worked up handload that I can get from a factory load at 250 yards, I’ll go for it.
Do the best with what’s legal.
Curious, why do you (if you do, that’s how I took it) quickly unload, or unload between hunts. One of the great advantages of smokeless is being able to leave the MLer loaded but taking out the priming module, 209 primer or DI primer (muzzle down,) and replacing, if desired on the 1st two, mandatory with the last, a fired cap, module or primer. I just remove and place in my gun case. Extensive testing was done on the effect of this leading up to the introduction of the Sav10ML/ML-2. Never once did this affect accuracy or velocity. Once sighted in or sighting in confirmed with a lightly fouled barrel in October I load and leave it for the season. Occasionally, I’ll leave it loaded after the season until the next October : always on. I usually check at 300 yards.
This method (of leaving loaded but not primed) is legal in Arkansas, and as far as I know, everywhere else.
Hope this is helpful.
Last edited:
Upgrades & Donations
This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.
Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.
You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.
To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.