.360 Buckhammer vs .350 Legend: Straight-Wall Showdown

Why these two exist

Through much of the Midwest, deer hunters were long limited to shotguns, muzzleloaders and handguns, on the logic that a slug or a pistol bullet does not carry as far as a bottlenecked rifle round over flat farm country. As states loosened those rules, many did it by allowing rifles chambered for straight-walled cartridges, often with caliber and case-length limits written into the regulation.

That created a market, and two of the cartridges built for it are the subject here. Winchester introduced the .350 Legend at the 2019 SHOT Show, and SAAMI accepted its standards on January 31, 2019. Remington introduced the .360 Buckhammer at the 2023 SHOT Show, with SAAMI acceptance announced on January 15, 2023. Same problem, very different answers.

The quick comparison

Figures are drawn from the cartridges' published specifications and manufacturers' factory-ammunition figures as summarized on Wikipedia; your rifle and load will differ.

Case design is the real difference

Look past the ballistics and the most important difference is the shape of the brass.

The .360 Buckhammer is a .30-30 case with the shoulder removed and the mouth opened to take .358-inch bullets. It keeps the .30-30's rim, which is exactly what a lever action's extractor, carrier and tube magazine were designed around. Any action that runs .30-30-length cartridges is a natural home for it, and the rim also makes it a clean fit in break-action single-shots.

The .350 Legend uses a rebated-rim case close in size to the .223 Remington, which is why it drops into an AR-15 lower with a new upper and magazines, and why bolt-action makers adopted it quickly. It was never designed with a tube magazine in mind.

That is the whole story in one line: the Buckhammer was built for the lever gun, and the Legend was built for the AR and bolt gun.

Ballistics without the hype

Remington's published Core-Lokt loads drive a 180-grain .360 Buckhammer bullet at about 2,400 fps and a 200-grain bullet at about 2,200 fps. Typical .350 Legend hunting loads run from roughly 145 to 180 grains at about 2,100 to 2,350 fps. On paper, the Buckhammer moves heavier, wider bullets at similar or higher speed, which means more energy and more momentum for the same distance.

In the field, both are short-range deer cartridges by design. That is the point of a straight-wall rule. A fair way to put it: the .350 Legend is a mild, efficient deer round, and the .360 Buckhammer gives a lever-gun hunter a little more of everything at the cost of a little more recoil. Neither is a long-range cartridge, and neither replaces a .30-06 in open country.

The rifles

.360 Buckhammer: mostly levers

Henry chambers it in its lever guns, Smith & Wesson offers it in the Model 1854, and Rossi offers it in the R95, which is usually the lowest-cost way into the cartridge.

The S&W option is the Model 1854 in .360 Buckhammer, a 20-inch stainless rifle with a threaded barrel, rail and M-LOK handguard, listed at 6+1.

.350 Legend: everything else

The Legend's strength is breadth. It is offered in AR-15 uppers and complete rifles, in bolt actions from most major makers, and in inexpensive single-shots such as Rossi's LWC.

No mainstream lever action is chambered in .350 Legend. If you are a lever-gun hunter, that settles it.

Ammo availability

The .350 Legend has a four-year head start and the AR market behind it, so you will find many more loads, including full-metal-jacket practice ammo and subsonic options. Ammunition Depot's .350 Legend aisle lists hunting loads such as Winchester Super-X 180-grain Power-Point and Remington Core-Lokt 180-grain soft point, plus cheaper 145-grain FMJ for practice.

The .360 Buckhammer menu is shorter: Remington's own Core-Lokt loads, plus offerings from a few other major makers. It is hunting ammunition first. Buy what your rifle shoots well and keep a box set aside for the season.

The other straight-wall options

These two are not the only straight-walled choices, and it helps to know where they sit. The big pistol cartridges, .357 Magnum and .44 Magnum, are straight-walled and run beautifully in lever guns, but they are lighter deer rounds than either cartridge here. At the heavy end, the .45-70 Government and .450 Bushmaster carry much bigger bullets with much more recoil. The .45-70 is a classic lever round with a century and a half of history; the .450 Bushmaster lives mostly in ARs and bolt guns.

Seen that way, the .350 Legend is the light, efficient middle option for AR and bolt shooters, and the .360 Buckhammer is the middle option for lever shooters. If you already own a .44 Magnum or .45-70 lever and it is legal where you hunt, you may not need a new rifle at all. Our big-bore lever guide covers the heavy end.

Setting up for the woods

Whichever cartridge you choose, the setup that works best is simple. A low-power scope or a red dot suits the distances these rounds are built for. Zero at 100 yards, then confirm where the load prints at the longest shot your stand or blind realistically offers. Practice from field positions, not just the bench, because most short-range misses come from rushed shots, not ballistics.

In a tube-fed lever gun, use flat-nose, round-nose or soft polymer-tipped bullets made for tube magazines, never sharply pointed spitzers. Unload completely before you climb into or out of a stand and before you get into a vehicle, and check the chamber and magazine yourself every time.

Which hunter should buy which

Choose the .360 Buckhammer if you hunt deer in a straight-wall state, you prefer a lever action, and you want the most capable lever-gun round your regulation allows. It is the cartridge a .30-30 hunter would design.

Choose the .350 Legend if you already own an AR-15, you prefer a bolt action, you are recoil-sensitive, or you want to practice with inexpensive ammunition.

Choose neither if your state allows bottlenecked rifle cartridges. A .30-30 lever gun does the same short-range job with far more ammunition choices. See our .30-30 whitetail piece.

Editorial note: This is an independent editorial overview built from manufacturer specifications, retailer listings and published sources. We have not performed hands-on testing of the products discussed, and nothing here is a performance guarantee. Verify specifications, compatibility and the law where you live.

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