.350 Legend from a handgun.

[59f100292]

I’m taking a dive into handgun hunting with a SW 350 Legend. My question is kind of a 3 part question.

Does anyone have experience with store bought ammo out of a Handgun? Thoughts or preferences?

Do any reloading manuals have handgun specific recipes for the 350L? None of mine do but none are the latest version from any publisher.

Any guidance on developing a handgun specific load? Faster powders to get the most burn inside the 7.5” barrel? Reduce flash and noise beyond the muzzle? General tips with barrels shorter than the case was originally designed for?

TIA

 

[CJ6]

Hodgdon Web site.

 

[59f100292]

Hodgdon Web site.

Yea I tried that. I didn’t see the 350 listed under the cartridge options for a handgun.

 

[LiveFire]

Sorry I dont have any data for you specific to a pistol. However the powders you use for max velocity are listed for the rifles too. H110/w296 and LilGun are very popular full power magnum revolver powders and also popular for loading 350 legend rifles. Id pick a good hard primer like cci450 or remington 7-1/2 and start with one of the above powders if you want full power loads. Good luck!

 

[357Mag]

I’m taking a dive into handgun hunting with a SW 350 Legend. My question is kind of a 3 part question.

Does anyone have experience with store bought ammo out of a Handgun? Thoughts or preferences?

Do any reloading manuals have handgun specific recipes for the 350L? None of mine do but none are the latest version from any publisher.

Any guidance on developing a handgun specific load? Faster powders to get the most burn inside the 7.5” barrel? Reduce flash and noise beyond the muzzle? General tips with barrels shorter than the case was originally designed for?

TIA

59f -

IMHO -
I'd think .357Maximum Load data could give you some idea ? Hodgdons showed data for both cartridges when shooting 125gr bullets, which should serve for comparison purposes.
Be sure to take into consideration the difference is the 2 barrel lengths used, as regards the differences in obtained vel with both cartridges in the test guns.

I agree w/ Livefire about powder choices. These powders would be pretty much all consumed not far ahead of the chamber and into the barrel.

I have used ( with great results ) WW296 in .357Mag, .357Max; and my wildcat
.357AutoMag necked-up to .358" calibre.


With regards,
357Mag

 

[Paul's Black Rifles]

59f -

IMHO -
I'd think .357Maximum Load data could give you some idea ? Hodgdons showed data for both cartridges when shooting 125gr bullets, which should serve for comparison purposes.
Be sure to take into consideration the difference is the 2 barrel lengths used, as regards the differences in obtained vel with both cartridges in the test guns.

I agree w/ Livefire about powder choices. These powders would be pretty much all consumed not far ahead of the chamber and into the barrel.

I have used ( with great results ) WW296 in .357Mag, .357Max; and my wildcat
.357AutoMag necked-up to .358" calibre.


With regards,
357Mag

Like 357 Mag said pretty much a 357 Max.

I'm not saying you can use 357 Max data but the ballistics are close. Research it for yourself.

 

[Adam in WI]

1680 should work well there also, I would think. Good speed in the Max with 180s

 

[Bill K]

What handgun are you talking about using ? Does it have to be a straight wall case for hunting where you are at ?
If not then a TC or Encore with a 14 inch barrel in the old 30-30 or 357 Max would serve you well and there are plenty of load info on each from various manuals or the likes of Belm's TC.

 

[59f100292]

Sorry I dont have any data for you specific to a pistol. However the powders you use for max velocity are listed for the rifles too. H110/w296 and LilGun are very popular full power magnum revolver powders and also popular for loading 350 legend rifles. Id pick a good hard primer like cci450 or remington 7-1/2 and start with one of the above powders if you want full power loads. Good luck!

Thanks. I do have some H110 sitting around somewhere. I'll try that if I end up reloading.

 

[59f100292]

59f -

IMHO -
I'd think .357Maximum Load data could give you some idea ? Hodgdons showed data for both cartridges when shooting 125gr bullets, which should serve for comparison purposes.
Be sure to take into consideration the difference is the 2 barrel lengths used, as regards the differences in obtained vel with both cartridges in the test guns.

I agree w/ Livefire about powder choices. These powders would be pretty much all consumed not far ahead of the chamber and into the barrel.

I have used ( with great results ) WW296 in .357Mag, .357Max; and my wildcat
.357AutoMag necked-up to .358" calibre.


With regards,
357Mag

Thanks. I'll have to do some reading up on the 357 Max, but if they're similar enough I'll use that as a starting place.

 

[59f100292]

What handgun are you talking about using ? Does it have to be a straight wall case for hunting where you are at ?
If not then a TC or Encore with a 14 inch barrel in the old 30-30 or 357 Max would serve you well and there are plenty of load info on each from various manuals or the likes of Belm's TC.

https://www.smith-wesson.com/product/model-350

Yes this is a straight wall state, which is part of why I went 350 over .44 Mag. The straight wall rules are new within the last 2 or 3 years, so when they hit everyone jumped on the 350 bandwagon, and ammo is plentiful at the local shops.

 

[linebaugh]

You will likely never get a full burn in that barrel length with max velocity. Muzzle flash will be excessive due to still burning on exit. Just stick with the faster burn rate powders listed for rifles and live with the rest. As above it seems like H110/W296 or lil gun would be in your wheelhouse and likely the best of what you will get for burn and velocity.

 

[nksmfamjp]

Quickload can help with these situations. I’ll bet the result of which powder to select is similar, but velocity is wildly different.

 

[SeabeeKen]

I’m taking a dive into handgun hunting with a SW 350 Legend. My question is kind of a 3 part question.

Does anyone have experience with store bought ammo out of a Handgun? Thoughts or preferences?

Do any reloading manuals have handgun specific recipes for the 350L? None of mine do but none are the latest version from any publisher.

Any guidance on developing a handgun specific load? Faster powders to get the most burn inside the 7.5” barrel? Reduce flash and noise beyond the muzzle? General tips with barrels shorter than the case was originally designed for?

TIA

What bullet you want to use?

 

[SeabeeKen]

With a 170 Hornady:
Blue Dot will be completely burnt in 4" of barrel
Lil-gun would be burnt in 6" of barrel
N-110 burnt in 4" of barrel.

H-110 and other magnum powders show low burn rate. Those i listed are your best option and 100% burnt

 

[59f100292]

What bullet you want to use?

I haven’t done enough research yet on that. Need to figure out what should perform at the slower pistol velocities

 

[59f100292]

With a 170 Hornady:
Blue Dot will be completely burnt in 4" of barrel
Lil-gun would be burnt in 6" of barrel
N-110 burnt in 4" of barrel.

H-110 and other magnum powders show low burn rate. Those i listed are your best option and 100% burnt

That’s perfect. I appreciate the help. Does any one of the three show a distinct velocity advantage?

 

[SeabeeKen]

Lil gun. It wasnt accurate enough for this rifle so i went with 11fs for the 170.
all those powder are gonna have a large muzzle flash and noisy in a handgun.

 

[JSH]

I would chase accuracy before speed.
I won’t argue over powders for this. As mentioned it is so close to the 357 max not enough to argue over, other than the silly .355 bore. I would search out a good bullet. My go to powder for 357 maximum in a wheel gun was 4227.

 

[59f100292]

I would chase accuracy before speed.
I won’t argue over powders for this. As mentioned it is so close to the 357 max not enough to argue over, other than the silly .355 bore. I would search out a good bullet. My go to powder for 357 maximum in a wheel gun was 4227.

Thanks. My logic was that consistent burn within the barrel would drive consistent accuracy. That may obviously be wrong, this will be my first time reloading handgun ammo for accuracy, especially in this sort of scenario where the case wasn’t designed for such a short barrel.

All this being said, does anyone have recommendations for a bullet? I am fairly familiar with options on the market for rifles, but have no experience with handgun bullets aimed at hunting, or better said hunting bullets designed for handgun speeds. Any crowd favorites?