I did a search, not much came up. I'm thinking about doing a pistol or sbr in 350 legend. I like the idea of the cartridge, seems much more capable than 300 blk. 350 uses the same bolt(correct?) as .556. Modify magazines or are there specific 350 mags? I see BCA has barrels, any issues with them? How freaking loud is it compared to 556? Reloading? Can I use the 556 shell holder and 38/357 dies? Anyone on here built one and run it?
350 legend ar build
- Thread starter David Hall
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You can use the same bolt and shell holder as 223.
I think the case is tapered, so you'll need dedicated 350 dies.
It's a. 355" groove barrel, so you'll need 350 designed bullets for reloading vs the standard .357" pistol and. 358" rifle bullets. You could always size .358" bullets down to .355" with an NOE push through sizer and some Imperial lube with a large strong press...
I think the case is tapered, so you'll need dedicated 350 dies.
It's a. 355" groove barrel, so you'll need 350 designed bullets for reloading vs the standard .357" pistol and. 358" rifle bullets. You could always size .358" bullets down to .355" with an NOE push through sizer and some Imperial lube with a large strong press...
Dammit David, we already discussed this
Ballistically better than 300. More or less (but somewhat more less) than 30-30. Solid 200-250 yard deer gun.
Dedicated mags. Same bolt as 556. Only ammo that Walmart constantly has in stock.
BA barrels seem to get good reviews. Doesn't seem to matter the barrel length, the gas system is almost always carbine length.
With a barrel swap and a few mags, you can be into it for ~$200. I'm still thinking about it.
Dedicated mags. Same bolt as 556. Only ammo that Walmart constantly has in stock.
BA barrels seem to get good reviews. Doesn't seem to matter the barrel length, the gas system is almost always carbine length.
With a barrel swap and a few mags, you can be into it for ~$200. I'm still thinking about it.
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I think it’s a better 8” ‘truck gun’ than 300BLK.
I am curious if there’s much of a noise difference.
I am curious if there’s much of a noise difference.
Ballistic Advantage 16″ .350 legend ba hanson carbine length barrel w/ lo pro (performance series)
This .350 Legendchambered 16 inch Performance Series Barrel is machined from 4150 Chrome Moly Vanadium steel with a QPQ Corrosion Resistant Finish. Our Performance Series Barrels feature a Nickel Boron Coated Extra Wide Feed Ramp Extension. Hanson Series Barrels feature…
bkingsfirearms.com
I had a lower laying around that had been built. Thursday while on yet another work call that could have been an email, I swapped out the 2 stage trigger for Rise Armament SST-140 3.5# single stage trigger. Also swapped out the buffer and spring to the JP SCS I had in the parts drawer.
Installed the barrel yesterday. B Kings description says 1/2x28 threads. Nope. Ordered a 1/2x36 thread protector for now.
Put on the SLR 7 adjustable clamp-on gas block I'd had on another barrel at one point. One of the screws snapped at less than 20 in-lbs. Spec is 25 in-lbs. SLR is sending me a couple new screws.
So, now we wait...
Installed the barrel yesterday. B Kings description says 1/2x28 threads. Nope. Ordered a 1/2x36 thread protector for now.
Put on the SLR 7 adjustable clamp-on gas block I'd had on another barrel at one point. One of the screws snapped at less than 20 in-lbs. Spec is 25 in-lbs. SLR is sending me a couple new screws.
So, now we wait...
Well, I'm an idiot. The thread protector I tried to put on didn't seem like it wanted to go and I didn't want to force it. So I ordered an 1/2x36. That clearly didn't fit. So I tried the 1/2x28 I had. There must have been some crud in a thread. A little cleaning and light coaxing and it went on.
I got the screws from SLR but I haven't gotten around to getting the rest of the old screw out yet. I'll probably have to get a tiny screw extractor.
I currently have a spare 1-6 Strike Eagle I'll put on it for now. For a sub 200 yard gun that should be fine.
All I got for now
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I was poking David, we were on the phone earlier, so I thought I'd annoy him, and bring this thread back up.
I’m thinking a 350L would be a better truck gun than my 300BLK.
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so i had enough, decided to pull the trigger, BCA had a side charger 11.5 inch barrel 350 upper for $224. Did not have an account, tried to create one, i think it worked, tried to order the upper, wouldn't let me use a different billing address( PO box for my business) and a different shipping address(shop). All my commercial accounts are set up this way with no issue. Tried to use the 10% discount they keep telling me about and it wouldn't work. Tried to check out and it wouldn't give me any estimate on shipping to my address, so it wouldn't let me go to the next step. I gave up, closed the page, immediately, got two emails trying to get me to finish my check out. Their website is a mess. I may call Monday and order it
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And the 10% or free shipping is over $300 which they never say till codes don’t work. I don’t mind an inexpensive product but not a fan of the way they do web orders.
350 AR is tempting…
So I ordered it, tried to at least. BCA's website is a mess. It looks good, but trying to make an order and get the address correct and getting the discount code to work is impossible. My order got flagged and canceled. I called yesterday, stayed on hold for a while, switched to leaving a message, got a call back at 3:59. Apparently, they close at 4. I responded to the email telling them to call me, and that the problem was with their website, they told me to make another order and provide a copy of my ID. I tried to call this morning, apparently they aren't open till 9. Who works 9-4?
I did all my hunting with a 16" 350 Legend using Hornady 170gr SPs last year. Ended up taking 5 deer with nothing running more than about 15yds. I ended up with a lot of quartered shots only a single broadside opportunity. The performance was well beyond my expectations. I didn't have any DRT shots like you would expect from a 308 at 50yds, but I could almost spit to where the big bucks dropped.
The chronogaph has my 16" barrel matching the velocities on the box from Hornady. The reload data is also generally for 16" barrels. Given what I was seeing last year I don't know that you need anything other than the 16" barrel on an AR platform. You can also go with a pencil/government profile to keep things light and easy for you. My current build is under 8lbs with a full mag, sling, and spray paint.
The chronogaph has my 16" barrel matching the velocities on the box from Hornady. The reload data is also generally for 16" barrels. Given what I was seeing last year I don't know that you need anything other than the 16" barrel on an AR platform. You can also go with a pencil/government profile to keep things light and easy for you. My current build is under 8lbs with a full mag, sling, and spray paint.
What were the Hornady's doing at the muzzle? that's some good info, Im interested in anyone doing 350 with shorter barrels
2200 according to my Garmin Xero C1. I'm around 200rds on that barrel so I don't expect it to move from there. I'm planning to hand load to match that with h110 when I finish a few other projects.
Took me forever to find this again. The link is at the bottom. There's a velocity chart in there for the 145gr winchester whitebox ammo. You're not losing too much velocity in the short barrels with 350 Legend. This was the reason I opted to go with a 16" barrel over a 20-24" barrel.
Best Barrel Length for 350 Legend | Gun Tradition
I Love the 350 Legend. It's one of my all-time favorite cartridges. I have an AR-15 chambered in 350 Legend and it's a great rifle.…
guntradition.com
As to some of your other questions.
My build is actually a BCA barrel replacing an older 556 that had poor performance. The upper was a little sloppy, or maybe the M4 extension from BCA was just out of spec, but I used some loctite 620 during the assembly and I haven't had any accuracy issues. I mean it's MOA-ish and I can hit 6" steel at 300yds fairly reliably with the vortex crossfire ii straightwall BDC 3-9x50 scope. It's more than sufficient for the stands I hunt that gun with.
With an A2 muzzle device they're similar to a Grendel or ARC as far as noise. Less crack than you get out of 556 due to the lower velocity, but the sound still carries. I put a brake on mine which has made it louder, but it's not like I'm trying to get follow up shots or to bag more deer at 50yds. I really just wanted less movement after the bang and the brake did a good job of that. https://jcb-solutions.com/t/350-legend. I have the JCB compact because that fits the threads that were on my BCA barrel.
Onto reloading.... I have not loaded any 350 Legend to date. I recently acquired a set of Lee dies and I have sized all of my brass, but I haven't gotten around to doing any load development. I've been debating on whether to load up some 9mm hollow points, flat points, or polymer coated (the blue bullets) rounds to toy with. I've heard good things in other forums about reloading 350 Legend. It's seems to be rather forgiving and regular 9mm bullets work very well including on game. I've heard of the 1:10 twist barrels causing 9mm bullets to come apart when you're pushing velocity and pressure, but the BCAs are all 1:16 so you should be fine. All of the load data I've seen is for 1:16 twist barrels for what that's worth. The 556/300blk and apparently now 6mm MAX shell plates fit the 350 legend brass just fine. I even ran it through my Dillon XL750 with a universal decapping die without any issues. The case feeder didn't like it, but everything else handled it just fine.
Magazines.... I have 2 CMMG magazines which I believe are just rebranded ASCs. They have given me issues both on the range and while hunting. They have not cost me any deer nor really been at risk of costing me deer, but it does get annoying from time to time. This isn't really a life or liberty gun and ensuring I have a round properly chambered for a hunt is pretty straight forward. If I ever encounter the mythical pair of 12+ point bucks fighting in front of my stand there's a decent chance the round for the second mythical buck won't pick up out of the magazine when I really want it too. It's a risk I'm willing to take, but I can understand why some people just wouldn't have it.
As for BCA in general. I have this 16" 350 Legend barrel and a 20" 6.5 Grendel Complete Upper from them. I have some issues with the upper receiver, but it performs at the range despite it's quirks. I've gotten hits out to 700yds with it and it's been highly consistent on 1-2 MOA targets inside of 500yds. My opinion is that they are an excellent choice for building hunting ARs. Assuming you already have a decent lower you pay $250 for an upper, you chuck a reasonable BDC scope on it for $100-200 depending on your tastes, and you're ready to fill the freezer. They also do just fine at the range. I mean don't expect to win a PRS match, but you can certainly have fun and ring steel with them.
My build is actually a BCA barrel replacing an older 556 that had poor performance. The upper was a little sloppy, or maybe the M4 extension from BCA was just out of spec, but I used some loctite 620 during the assembly and I haven't had any accuracy issues. I mean it's MOA-ish and I can hit 6" steel at 300yds fairly reliably with the vortex crossfire ii straightwall BDC 3-9x50 scope. It's more than sufficient for the stands I hunt that gun with.
With an A2 muzzle device they're similar to a Grendel or ARC as far as noise. Less crack than you get out of 556 due to the lower velocity, but the sound still carries. I put a brake on mine which has made it louder, but it's not like I'm trying to get follow up shots or to bag more deer at 50yds. I really just wanted less movement after the bang and the brake did a good job of that. https://jcb-solutions.com/t/350-legend. I have the JCB compact because that fits the threads that were on my BCA barrel.
Onto reloading.... I have not loaded any 350 Legend to date. I recently acquired a set of Lee dies and I have sized all of my brass, but I haven't gotten around to doing any load development. I've been debating on whether to load up some 9mm hollow points, flat points, or polymer coated (the blue bullets) rounds to toy with. I've heard good things in other forums about reloading 350 Legend. It's seems to be rather forgiving and regular 9mm bullets work very well including on game. I've heard of the 1:10 twist barrels causing 9mm bullets to come apart when you're pushing velocity and pressure, but the BCAs are all 1:16 so you should be fine. All of the load data I've seen is for 1:16 twist barrels for what that's worth. The 556/300blk and apparently now 6mm MAX shell plates fit the 350 legend brass just fine. I even ran it through my Dillon XL750 with a universal decapping die without any issues. The case feeder didn't like it, but everything else handled it just fine.
Magazines.... I have 2 CMMG magazines which I believe are just rebranded ASCs. They have given me issues both on the range and while hunting. They have not cost me any deer nor really been at risk of costing me deer, but it does get annoying from time to time. This isn't really a life or liberty gun and ensuring I have a round properly chambered for a hunt is pretty straight forward. If I ever encounter the mythical pair of 12+ point bucks fighting in front of my stand there's a decent chance the round for the second mythical buck won't pick up out of the magazine when I really want it too. It's a risk I'm willing to take, but I can understand why some people just wouldn't have it.
As for BCA in general. I have this 16" 350 Legend barrel and a 20" 6.5 Grendel Complete Upper from them. I have some issues with the upper receiver, but it performs at the range despite it's quirks. I've gotten hits out to 700yds with it and it's been highly consistent on 1-2 MOA targets inside of 500yds. My opinion is that they are an excellent choice for building hunting ARs. Assuming you already have a decent lower you pay $250 for an upper, you chuck a reasonable BDC scope on it for $100-200 depending on your tastes, and you're ready to fill the freezer. They also do just fine at the range. I mean don't expect to win a PRS match, but you can certainly have fun and ring steel with them.
