350 Legend vs. 450 Bushmaster: The Battle of Straight Wall Cartridges

One of the newest cartridge debates in gun forums is 350 Legend vs. 450 Bushmaster. It is a worthy debate, as states like Ohio and Michigan require straight-walled cartridges for deer hunting.

The 350 Legend and 450 Bushmaster (450 BM) are superb cartridges that effectively take down hogs and deer. They are also versatile: fit for action in both bolt-action rifles and semi-auto ARs.

They're not the same, though. Far from it. The following sections will give you a comprehensive understanding as to why.

No matter where you stand on the 350 Legend vs. 450 Bushmaster debate, you can pick up your preferred ammo HERE.

350 Legend vs. 450 Bushmaster Caliber Comparison

While I wouldn’t choose the 350 Legend or 450 Bushmaster over a 308 Win or 270 Win, many hunters have no better choice. That's because some states, like Ohio, Indiana (on public land) and Michigan, only permit straight-walled cartridges for deer hunting. The 350 Legend and 450 Bushmaster both make life easier than it would be with muzzleloaders, but they aren’t as versatile or powerful as traditional bottle-necked cartridges.

These two cartridges are worth looking into if you want to hunt with an AR. While many will tell you that the 450 Bushmaster is superior in range and stopping power, I’m here to tell you that they both offer advantages – and that most hunters will fare better with the 350 Legend.

Cartridge Specs

It’s helpful to review two cartridges' specifications if you want to better understand how they differ on paper. If you’re already familiar with handgun rounds, then this debate essentially boils down to the rifle equivalent of 9mm vs. 45 ACP.

The 350 Legend and the 450 Bushmaster are both straight-walled cartridges designed for deer hunting in AR-15 rifles. Despite those apparent similarities, the two have noticeable differences from one another..

The most significant differences between these rounds are their max pressures, case capacities, and bullet diameters.

The 350 Legend fires a 0.357–.003" projectile out of a 1.710” case, which perfectly satisfies multiples states' regulations for deer hunting ammo. (For those unaware, Ohio only permits projectiles that are 0.357” or wider for harvesting whitetail. Winchester nominally designated the 350 Legend as having a 0.357” bullet, although narrower 0.355" diameter 9mm bullets are also suitable for it).

The 450 Bushmaster's 0.452" diameter bullet is around 1/10" wider than the 350 Legend's. The cartridge's overall length is also greater at 2.260” (which is uncoincidentally the maximum size for AR chambers). Despite having a larger case capacity, the 450 Bushmaster is loaded to a lower pressure than the 350 Legend: 38,500 psi, as opposed to 55,000 psi.

Although the 450 Bushmaster is larger than the 350 Legend cartridge, both are designed to meet stringent state deer hunting laws and function in AR-15 rifles.

Recoil

Recoil is one of the most crucial factors to consider when choosing a hunting rifle. It affects how comfortably you will fire your firearm, as well as how quickly you can land accurate follow-up shots.

Free recoil objectively describes how much kick a firearm generates. It's solely determined by four factors: muzzle velocity, bullet weight, propellant weight, and firearm weight.

Both of these cartridges chamber in the AR-15, so we can conveniently compare their free recoil using the same rifle. Typically, the 350 Legend generates 50-60% less recoil than the 450 Bushmaster.

For example, a 450 Bushmaster AR weighing 6.5 pounds firing a 250 grain bullet at 2,200 fps muzzle energy has 27.45 foot-pounds (ft-lbs) of recoil. In contrast, a 350 Legend AR of the same weight firing a 150 grain bullet at 2,350 fps muzzle velocity will produce only 11.6 ft-lbs of recoil.

The 450 Bushmaster fires heavier bullets – and often at higher velocities – so it only makes sense that its recoil should be much higher. If you want something easier on the shoulder, the 350 Legend is the better option.

Trajectory

Trajectory describes the path a projectile takes from barrel to target. This is something I always look at, because I want to see how much a bullet is going to drop over a period of several hundred yards. The bullet’s weight, muzzle velocity, and design all factor into how flat its trajectory appears.

A bullet with a flat trajectory gives us a bit of an advantage with accuracy, as it's more forgiving of ranging mistakes. While the 450 Bushmaster is more effective at long ranges, the 350 Legend has a flatter trajectory.

Trajectory varies depending on which ammo you choose, but more often than not, the 350 Legend performs better. For example, when it is zeroed in at 100 yards, Winchester Super-X 450 Bushmaster 260 grain ammo will only drop 38.5" at 300 yards. On the other hand, a Winchester Deer Season XP 350 Legend 150 grain cartridge drops only 28” under the same conditions.

This doesn’t mean you can drop a buck with the 350 Legend at 300 yards. Neither round is suitable for hunting at that distance. (I’ll discuss that in greater detail below.) The key takeaway here is that the 350 Legend has a flatter trajectory thanks to its lighter and narrower bullets.

Ballistic Coefficient

The ballistic coefficient (BC) of a rifle cartridge is important to consider for long-range shots. Each bullet caliber, weight and design has different capabilities. Particularly, the weight and design affect how well the bullet travels over a certain distance, among a few other factors.

BC does vary depending on which load you’re firing. For example, the heavier the bullet, the better it resists wind deflection, but this varies depending on which design features the bullet has(boat tail, polymer tips, etc.). The 350 Legend fires a .357 projectile weighing between 125 and 250 grains. On the other hand, the 450 Bushmaster shoots heavier (240-300 grains) and wider (0.452”) projectiles.

With lighter bullets that are typically round- or blunt-nosed, the 350 Legend has a BC between 0.186 and 0.264. This isn’t as high as long-range rounds like the 6.5 Creedmoor or 338 Lapua, but it is indicative of the 350 Legend's servicable accuracy within around 250 yards.

The 450 Bushmaster fires heavier bullets, although they are substantially wider and therefore larger targets for wind. The average BC of the 450 Legend is between 0.200 and 0.225.

If you want to take long-range shots, then it’s a good idea to select a cartridge with higher BCs than either of these rounds can manage. Neither holds a candle the 308 Win.

Even when the 450 Bushmaster's BC outranks that of the 350 Legend, the difference isn't terribly large. Ultimately, BC is unlikely to play a large role in determining whether you should favor one of these rounds over the other.

Stopping Power

There’s a lot of debate regarding how to quantify "stopping power," but everyone agrees that sectional density (SD) plays a large role in it. SD describes how efficiently a bullet penetrates its target, and it is determined entirely by two variables: bullet diameter, and bullet weight.

The SD of a 350 Legend 160 grain bullet is 0.181; a 250 grain bullet, 0.246. Even when it weighs the same, the 450 Bushmaster's wider bullet is due to encounter more frontal resistance from whichever flesh it penetrates. As such, the 450 Bushmaster's 250 grain bullet's SD clocks in at a mere 0.175. In no uncertain terms, the wider bullet is inherently less efficient at penetrating body mass.

Visualize it this way. Suppose there is a side of beef. You are given two sharpened pencils, one being about 27% wider than the other. You are instructed to insert both pencils into the beef all the way up to their erasers. You rightly suppose that insertion of the narrower pencil would require less force than the wider one. You suppose this because you have intuited the importance of sectional density.

Hunting

The 450 Bushmaster vs. 350 Legend debate always winds up in one place: Which one is better for hunting?

Both rounds are excellent for that purpose, and should prove more than satisfactory even if you aren't obligated to forgo bottleneck cartridges in compliance with Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Iowa hunting ammunition laws.

The 350 Legend is flatter-shooting, but loses too much energy to be effective past 200 yards. The 450 BM has more drop at 300 yards, but unlike the 350 Legend, it remains effective at that range.

You can’t push the 350 Legend past 250 yards. It just doesn’t have enough energy to ethically take down a medium or large critter at that range. However, most hunters in the aforementioned Midwest states don’t actually have a line of sight that far, so the 350 Legend's shorter reach rarely ever proves to be an actual setback.

If you stumble across a pack of feral hogs, either round will effectively put them down. Just ensure you have enough rounds for follow-up shots.

Ammo and Rifle Cost/Availability

If you’re limited to using a straight-walled cartridge for deer season, two big factors to consider are cost and availability. After all, what good is a hunting cartridge if you can't afford it, find it for sale, or buy a rifle for it?

It isn’t too challenging to find either of these options online (brick-and-mortar stores are another story). However, 350 Legend range ammo is much easier to find than 450 Bushmaster range ammo, and the same applies to dedicated hunting loads.

Ammo cost is a different story. Because it is less common and contains more raw materials (e.g. lead and copper), 450 Bushmaster ammunition is consistently higher priced than 350 Legend ammo.

Whichever round you adopt, you'll find plenty of rifles to choose from. As stated earlier, both of these cartridges are designed for the AR platform. That means any standard 5.56 AR-15 is a potential host for either one. All you need for a conversion is a new barrel, bolt, and magazine.

You can get bolt-action rifles like the Ruger American Ranch for a pretty decent price. Moreover, Savage, Mossberg, Winchester, Remington, and other manufacturers also offer rifles in 350 Legend and 450 BM.

Reloading

With respect to the 350 Legend and 450 Bushmaster, there are too many reasons to count why you should consider reloading. Sure, you can find this ammo online, but it’s still a niche option. Reloading is a great way to ensure your rifle mags never run dry.

Both of these options are reloadable, with readily available brass, primers, powders, and component bullets. Whether you choose the 350 Legend or 450 Bushmaster, it’s a good idea to keep the spent brass cases from your factory ammo so you (or someone else) can reload them again.

450 Bushmaster Development/History

Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper (who was instrumental in the development of the 10mm) came up with the thumper concept to increase the stopping power of AR-15 rifles. The idea was to use a .44 caliber (or wider) bullet in a smaller rifle with an effective range of 200 yards.

Tim LeGrande, CEO of LeMag Firearms LLC, was inspired by the thumper concept and began working with a 284 Winchester case. He eventually teamed up with Hornady and Bushmaster to develop the 450 Bushmaster (or 450 BM for short).

In 2007, the 450 Bushmaster joined the ranks of other excellent straight-walled cartridge calibers like the 50 Beowulf and 45-70 Government. LeGrande did an excellent job of bringing Lt. Col. Cooper’s concept to life.

350 Legend Development/History

The 350 Legend is a SAAMI-accepted straight-walled cartridge designed by Winchester Repeating Arms for AR-15s and hunters in states which prohibit bottleneck rifle cartridges for deer hunting.

Winchester wanted to provide hunters with a straight-walled cartridge that met restrictive states' required specifications, but also had lower recoil than traditional straight-walled options like 450 Bushmaster and 444 Marlin.

Winchester introduced the 350 Legend in 2019 alongside its XPR bolt-action rifles. Todau, Ruger and Savage also manufacture rifles chambered for 350 Legend as well.

The 350 Legend is known for being a worthy contender for hunting in areas where cartridges like it are required by law. Firing 0.355” projectiles with over 2,000 fps muzzle velocity and an effective range out to 250 yards, the 350 Legend fully satisfies the needs of most American hunters.

Parting Shots

The 350 Legend and 450 Bushmaster are both suitable options for hunting in states that prohibit straight-walled cartridges for hunting. While I wouldn’t say that one is "better" than the other, the 350 Legend is a better option for most shooters. It performs well over standard hunting distances, and it won’t beat your shoulder like the 450 Bushmaster.

However, if you need more stopping power at longer distances, the 450 Bushmaster is the clear winner. If its recoil feels too unruly, consider attaching a muzzle brake to your rifle (or somehow making it heavier).