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.350 Legend vs .450 Bushmaster: Maker-Page Loads and SAAMI Specs Side by Side

By Cole Harlan, EditorUpdated Nov 5, 2026How we verifyEditorial standards

This page puts .350 Legend and .450 Bushmaster side by side using only our own ammo guides, .350 Legend ammo (7 loads) and .450 Bushmaster ammo (10 loads), plus the cartridge specs SAAMI publishes in ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4, its centerfire rifle standard. The guides copy bullet weights, velocities, energies and test barrels from maker product pages (checked Nov. 4, 2026). We don’t rate or rank cartridges, and we don’t subtract one maker’s velocity from another’s, because their test barrels differ.

How to read this page: every number is copied from a maker page or from SAAMI, and a test barrel length sits next to every velocity (or says the maker lists none). A dash (—) means the maker has no load in our tables for that cartridge. Fire only the cartridge your rifle’s maker says it is chambered for.

SAAMI specs side by side

These are the figures in ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4 (approved Feb. 10, 2025), as already recorded in the SAAMI sections of our .350 Legend and .450 Bushmaster guides. Pressures are as SAAMI lists them.

Measure	.350 Legend	.450 Bushmaster
SAAMI name	350 LEGEND [350 LGND]	450 BUSHMASTER [450 BM]
Drawing issued / revised	01/21/2019 / 08/01/2022	02/01/2008 / 08/23/2022
Maximum average pressure (transducer)	55,000 psi (footnote: figures based on a 16 in test barrel)	38,500 psi
Crusher pressure	Not established	Not established
Cartridge overall length	2.125 in min to 2.260 in max	2.000 in min to 2.260 in max
Case length	1.710 in (−.010)	1.700 in (−.010)
Bullet diameter	.357 in (−.003)	.4525 in (−.0030)
Bore / groove diameter	.346 in / .355 in	.442 in / .450 in
Twist and grooves	1 in 16.00 in, right-hand (marked optional), 6 grooves	1 in 24.00 in, right-hand (marked optional), 6 grooves
SAAMI reference velocity	Not yet verified (our guide could not pair each bullet weight with its velocity)	Not yet verified (our guide could not pair each bullet weight with its velocity)
SAAMI velocity test barrel	16.000 in (406.40 mm), an exception to the 24 in standard	24 in standard (.450 Bushmaster is not on SAAMI’s exception list)

SAAMI measures the .350 Legend on a 16 in barrel and the .450 Bushmaster on the standard 24 in, so their SAAMI velocity figures would not be on the same footing even if both were shown.

Load ranges by maker and test barrel

Each line groups one maker’s loads that share a test barrel, so a velocity is only ever shown with the barrel it was measured in. Ranges are bullet weight and muzzle velocity as the maker page prints them. Do not read across makers: their barrels and bullets differ. For how barrel length moves velocity, see our barrel length vs velocity data.

Maker	.350 Legend loads in our table	.450 Bushmaster loads in our table
Federal	test barrel not listed: 2 loads, 160 to 180 gr, 2,100 to 2,300 fps	test barrel not listed: 3 loads, 260 to 300 gr, 1,900 to 2,200 fps
Remington	test barrel not listed: 2 loads, 160 to 180 gr, 2,100 to 2,200 fps	test barrel not listed: 3 loads, 260 gr, 2,040 to 2,180 fps
Hornady	16 in test barrel: 1 load, 250 gr, 1,050 fps 20 in test barrel: 1 load, 170 gr, 2,200 fps 24 in test barrel: 1 load, 165 gr, 2,200 fps	20 in test barrel: 4 loads, 245 to 395 gr, 1,050 to 2,200 fps

Same maker, same line, both cartridges

Where one maker sells the same product line in both cartridges, the loads are listed side by side exactly as the maker pages print them. We match lines by the maker’s own product-line name in our guide tables. Compare only within a row, and check the test barrel in each cell.

Maker line	.350 Legend	.450 Bushmaster
Federal Fusion Rifle	160 gr Fusion Soft Point, 2,300 fps, 1,879 ft-lb, test barrel not listed, item F350LFS1	260 gr Fusion Soft Point, 2,200 fps, 2,794 ft-lb, test barrel not listed, item F450BMFS1
Federal Power-Shok Rifle	180 gr Soft Point, 2,100 fps, 1,762 ft-lb, test barrel not listed, item 350LA	300 gr Soft Point, 1,900 fps, 2,405 ft-lb, test barrel not listed, item 450BMB
Remington Core-Lokt	180 gr Jacketed Soft Point, 2,100 fps, 1,762 ft-lb, test barrel not listed, item 20012	260 gr Pointed Soft Point Core Lokt, 2,040 fps, 2,402 ft-lb, test barrel not listed, item 27941
Remington Premier AccuTip	160 gr AccuTip, 2,200 fps, 1,719 ft-lb, test barrel not listed, item 27945	260 gr AccuTip, 2,180 fps, 2,743 ft-lb, test barrel not listed, item 27943
Hornady American Whitetail	170 gr InterLock® American Whitetail®, 2,200 fps, 1,827 ft-lb, 20 in test barrel, item 81196	245 gr InterLock® American Whitetail®, 2,200 fps, 2,633 ft-lb, 20 in test barrel, item 82242
Hornady American Whitetail Tipped	165 gr FTX® American Whitetail® TIPPED, 2,200 fps, 1,773 ft-lb, 24 in test barrel, item 81197	250 gr FTX® American Whitetail® TIPPED, 2,200 fps, 2,687 ft-lb, 20 in test barrel, item 82244
Hornady Sub-X Subsonic	250 gr. Sub-X® Subsonic, 1,050 fps, 612 ft-lb, 16 in test barrel, item 81198	395 gr Sub-X® Subsonic, 1,050 fps, 967 ft-lb, 20 in test barrel, item 82247

What the sources say when you choose

These are points taken from the figures above, each with the page it rests on. They are not recommendations or scores.

If pressure rating is your question: SAAMI lists a maximum average pressure of 55,000 psi by transducer for .350 Legend (with a 16 in test barrel footnote) and 38,500 psi for .450 Bushmaster, and has not established crusher pressures for either. Source: ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4.
If bullet weight is your question: the .350 Legend loads in our table run from 160 gr (Federal Fusion Rifle F350LFS1) to 250 gr (Hornady Sub-X Subsonic 81198). The .450 Bushmaster loads run from 245 gr (Hornady American Whitetail 82242) to 395 gr (Hornady Sub-X Subsonic 82247). Sources: those maker pages.
If you want to see the printed velocities: the slowest and fastest .350 Legend muzzle velocities in our table are 1,050 fps, 16 in test barrel (Hornady Sub-X Subsonic 81198) and 2,300 fps, test barrel not listed (Federal Fusion Rifle F350LFS1). For .450 Bushmaster they are 1,050 fps, 20 in test barrel (Hornady Sub-X Subsonic 82247) and 2,200 fps, test barrel not listed (Federal Fusion Rifle F450BMFS1). These come from different barrels and bullets, so we show them side by side without a difference. Sources: those maker pages.
If you are comparing against a box or a chronograph: SAAMI measures the .350 Legend on a 16.000 in barrel, one of its listed exceptions to the 24 in rifle standard; the .450 Bushmaster is not on that exception list. Many maker pages list a different barrel or none, as the tables above show. A shorter barrel than the one a maker lists will likely give lower velocities than the box; see our barrel length vs velocity data. Source: ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4 and the maker pages linked above.
If chamber fit is your question: SAAMI publishes a separate cartridge drawing for each, with case length 1.710 in (−.010) for .350 Legend and 1.700 in (−.010) for .450 Bushmaster, cartridge overall length 2.125 in min to 2.260 in max and 2.000 in min to 2.260 in max, and bullet diameters of .357 in (−.003) and .4525 in (−.0030). Check the cartridge named in your rifle’s manual or marked on its barrel. Source: ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4.

Not yet verified

Winchester: both guides record no Winchester item for these cartridges in its sitemap, and SIG Sauer was blocked with a 403 in both, so neither is in either table.
A dash in the range table means the maker has no load in that guide’s table, not that the maker sells none.
We have no .350 Legend or .450 Bushmaster barrel-length-velocity page, so this page shows no barrel-length corrections.
Our guides could not pair SAAMI reference velocities with bullet weights for either cartridge, so none are shown.
The load counts are small (7 and 10) and say nothing about popularity or how many loads exist.
Hornady’s .450 Bushmaster 395 gr Sub-X Subsonic (82247) has a web address that reads “tbd gr”; per our guide the 395 gr was copied from its page title and ballistics table.
Prices, recoil, accuracy and hands-on results are not in our data, so this page says nothing about them.

See the full tables in our .350 Legend ammo and .450 Bushmaster ammo, the barrel length vs velocity data, 300 BLK vs .308 Win, 6.5 Grendel vs 6.5 Creedmoor, .308 Win vs .30-06, the new ammo of 2026, all ammo releases and 45-70 vs .450 Bushmaster, all comparisons.

Frequently asked questions

What is the SAAMI maximum pressure for .350 Legend and .450 Bushmaster?

SAAMI lists 55,000 psi (transducer) for .350 Legend and 38,500 psi (transducer) for .450 Bushmaster, with no crusher pressure established for either, in ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4.

Do .350 Legend and .450 Bushmaster use the same test barrel length?

No. SAAMI lists a 16.000 in test barrel for .350 Legend, an exception to its 24 in rifle standard, and the .450 Bushmaster is not on that exception list. Maker pages often list a different barrel or none.

Which is better, .350 Legend or .450 Bushmaster?

We don't rate or rank cartridges. This page copies maker-page figures and SAAMI specs side by side, and it does not cover price, recoil or hands-on results.

Where do these numbers come from?

From our own ammo guides (.350 Legend ammo and .450 Bushmaster ammo), which copy maker product pages, and from ANSI/SAAMI Z299.4.

SAAMI specs side by side

Load ranges by maker and test barrel

Same maker, same line, both cartridges

What the sources say when you choose

Not yet verified

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

Sources

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