Are there "better" cartridges - sure. There is always something bigger or smaller, badder, faster, etc.
Comes down to "what are your needs ?" and what do you want to accomplish?
I don't need real loud or hard kicking calibers and my shots have overwhelmingly been inside 250 yards over the years, so it works well and checks a lot of the boxes for me.
Scaled down from a 3006. Decided to get a 350 Legend cause my 80+ yo dad keeps taking the 243 (and shooting deer with it) - think he likes the scope. Wasn't sure what to expect w Legend.
Was looking for light recoil and mild muzzle blast. It checks both those boxes.
Wanted a 200-250 yard gun. Check! With my experience, I'm very comfortable shooting a deer at 250 yards with this cartridge.
The bullet expansion stuff is where the rubber meets the road - when the bullet punches meat you need it to expand and destroy tissue. The heavier bullet weights ensure penetration.
IMO, Hornaday Interlock is too stiff a bullet for expansion at max range, jury is out on the 165 gr FTX - so far so good - have no idea what factory specs are cause they don't readily provide the data.
Fury bullet says they'll expand fully at 1,200 fps and stay together >2,600 fps. Have tried the 158 gr Fury and was cutting holes at 200 yards with around 2,400 fps velocity at muzzle. Have some 170s with higher BC and want see how those do before buying more - one of these two will be my primary hunting load.
How's it shoot? Check!
It originally seemed like a 2-inch gun and that was gonna work. BUT - Factory ammo shoots 1 to 2 inch at 100, 2 to 4 inches at 225 yds. Reloads cut holes at 100 yds and print 1 inch groups at 225 yards. 225/250 is about the max dead-hold distance for this caliber.
Shooting a Diamondback BDC 3-9x40 scope. Works good. Don't need BDC if you plan to stay below 200 yards. A nice 2-7 scope is about perfect if staying under 200 yards. I stepped from a 2-7 Viper to the 3-9 w BDC due to ease of seeing the target at 200-250. 7x is more than enough for hunting out to 250 yards.
Reloading? Check!
Using somewhere between 25 and 28 grs of powder. it is an easy to load cartridge - on 6 or 8 reloads for my test brass - shot some factory loads, kept brass and started testing reloads.
Win brass - no trimming, just lube, reside, load, shoot, repeat. Hornady brass is way softer and gives less velocity for same load.
Been using small pistol primers - don't have any small rifle primers. Hornady brass will not accept small pistol primers willingly - I gave up on using the Hornady brass after a bit.
With 7,000 gr of powder per pound, and using the max 28 gr per load, it gives about 250 loads per pound of powder.
Can fall back on 9mm-sized bullets. A 145/147 hardball would likely be a great plinker load if you couldn't get the specific rifle bullets. Likewise - inside 100 yards you could load the 145/147 XTP HPs and obliterate a deer - rib shot at say 1,600 fps (about max speed for the bullet before it just explodes) and likely see bang/flop.
Lots of bullet alternatives for this rifle with the 9mm/.355 bore. You can even get a sizer and resize .357 bullets, maybe .358. yak, yak, yak.
Anyway - as indicated earlier, this round checks a lot of boxes for this old guy. It shoots good, can shoot lotsa diff bullets from up to 3 diff calibers w 2 diff kinds of primers using light powder loads, 250-300 yard max range, light recoil, mild noise.
YMMV.
Comes down to "what are your needs ?" and what do you want to accomplish?
I don't need real loud or hard kicking calibers and my shots have overwhelmingly been inside 250 yards over the years, so it works well and checks a lot of the boxes for me.
Scaled down from a 3006. Decided to get a 350 Legend cause my 80+ yo dad keeps taking the 243 (and shooting deer with it) - think he likes the scope. Wasn't sure what to expect w Legend.
Was looking for light recoil and mild muzzle blast. It checks both those boxes.
Wanted a 200-250 yard gun. Check! With my experience, I'm very comfortable shooting a deer at 250 yards with this cartridge.
The bullet expansion stuff is where the rubber meets the road - when the bullet punches meat you need it to expand and destroy tissue. The heavier bullet weights ensure penetration.
IMO, Hornaday Interlock is too stiff a bullet for expansion at max range, jury is out on the 165 gr FTX - so far so good - have no idea what factory specs are cause they don't readily provide the data.
Fury bullet says they'll expand fully at 1,200 fps and stay together >2,600 fps. Have tried the 158 gr Fury and was cutting holes at 200 yards with around 2,400 fps velocity at muzzle. Have some 170s with higher BC and want see how those do before buying more - one of these two will be my primary hunting load.
How's it shoot? Check!
It originally seemed like a 2-inch gun and that was gonna work. BUT - Factory ammo shoots 1 to 2 inch at 100, 2 to 4 inches at 225 yds. Reloads cut holes at 100 yds and print 1 inch groups at 225 yards. 225/250 is about the max dead-hold distance for this caliber.
Shooting a Diamondback BDC 3-9x40 scope. Works good. Don't need BDC if you plan to stay below 200 yards. A nice 2-7 scope is about perfect if staying under 200 yards. I stepped from a 2-7 Viper to the 3-9 w BDC due to ease of seeing the target at 200-250. 7x is more than enough for hunting out to 250 yards.
Reloading? Check!
Using somewhere between 25 and 28 grs of powder. it is an easy to load cartridge - on 6 or 8 reloads for my test brass - shot some factory loads, kept brass and started testing reloads.
Win brass - no trimming, just lube, reside, load, shoot, repeat. Hornady brass is way softer and gives less velocity for same load.
Been using small pistol primers - don't have any small rifle primers. Hornady brass will not accept small pistol primers willingly - I gave up on using the Hornady brass after a bit.
With 7,000 gr of powder per pound, and using the max 28 gr per load, it gives about 250 loads per pound of powder.
Can fall back on 9mm-sized bullets. A 145/147 hardball would likely be a great plinker load if you couldn't get the specific rifle bullets. Likewise - inside 100 yards you could load the 145/147 XTP HPs and obliterate a deer - rib shot at say 1,600 fps (about max speed for the bullet before it just explodes) and likely see bang/flop.
Lots of bullet alternatives for this rifle with the 9mm/.355 bore. You can even get a sizer and resize .357 bullets, maybe .358. yak, yak, yak.
Anyway - as indicated earlier, this round checks a lot of boxes for this old guy. It shoots good, can shoot lotsa diff bullets from up to 3 diff calibers w 2 diff kinds of primers using light powder loads, 250-300 yard max range, light recoil, mild noise.
YMMV.
The same rifle that is great for that usually sucks to use in thick woods, like where I do most of my hunting.
