Smith & Wesson's 350 Legend Double Action Revolver

As a hunting revolver, the Model 350 is not expected to be compact, light or work nicely for concealed carry applications. X Frame attributes that would be detrimental as a personal defense concealed carry firearm are mostly a benefit for a hunting firearm.

Long in length and heavy in weight mean greater velocity, flatter shooting and increased kinetic energy over a shorter barrel revolver. A longer barrel offers a longer sight radius for more precise shot placement.

The 350 Legend shares a case head with the 223 Remington, 0.378″ diameter, however, the 350 Legend has a 0.390″ body diameter compared to 0.377″ for the 223 Remington. Additionally, the 350 Legend case length is 1.710″, the 223 Remington case length is 1.760″. The 350 Legend has a slightly rebated rim, the 223 Remington is classified as rimless.

Increased heft, 4 lbs 7.6 ounces empty on the scale, means dampened recoil and reduced muzzle rise, particularly with a top ported barrel. Hunter’s chest carry holsters manage weight properly.

Grips scaled to a standard size as would appear on a mid to heavy frame revolver don’t require catcher’s mitt hands to properly grip an X Frame and they are effective as a non slip surface and  absorbing recoil.

A profusion of mismatched contextual data… Really

Not an artillery shell, the 350 Legend is certainly powerful enough to cleanly drop deer out to 200 – 250 yards, but it is a moderate cartridge that does not punish the shooter.

Above, target and hunting ammunition with factory rifle ratings, followed by actual chronograph data for the S&W Model 350 with its 7.5″ barrel and comparison to a 16.1″ barrel bolt action rifle. Nothing unusual here, as anytime a cartridge designed for a rifle is adapted to a hunting handgun, velocity is compromised.

In some cases, ballistic tradeoffs accommodate the handgun hunters who wants the lighter carry, compared to a rifle, and the challenge of mastering longer range hunting with a handgun. In other cases, the tradeoff in velocity is to work around state prohibitions on bottle neck centerfire cartridge.

Therefore, forthwith and henceforth…

I did not shoot 100 yard groups with the Model 350. I just don’t have the eyes for that type of handgun shooting, nor do I spend time to maintain proficiency. So any attempt at measuring the Model 350’s performance at this range would be a disservice to the revolver and cartridge combination.

At 25 yards, the 145 grain Winchester target ammo and 180 grain Winchester Power Point were both good for 1.8″ to 2.2″ groups. At 50 yards, 5 shot groups fell between 3″ – 3.5″. Not exactly following MOA geometry, I would suggest I was the culprit in getting familiar with the combination.

The Hornady Whitetail did not fair as well with 3.2″ to 4″ 25 yard groups and 5″ – 6″ 50 yard groups, which I would attribute to ammunition with a less than civil attitude.

145 grain Winchester target ammo and 180 grain hunting ammo were both loud, as would be expected from 37 grains of powder and a revolver’s relatively short length barrel. However, the barrel end compensator kept muzzle rise to a minimum and recoil was not significant.

The Hornady Whitetail had a very loud report, produced about a foot of vertical muzzle flash through the compensator and generated a good deal more recoil than chronograph readings would suggest. That said, there are 16 factory hunting loads to choose from so this is an issue with an easy remedy.

The big X Frame Smith & Wesson Model 350 has, as would be expected of Smith & Wesson, excellent fit and finish, clean movement of mechanical parts. The Model 350 carries the support of  Smith & Wesson’s Lifetime Service Policy. Nice revolver.