Rossi LWC in .350 Legend and Michigan Whitetails

One in every size – rounding out my fall hunting line-up with the Rossi LWC (Light weight carbine) in .350 Legend meant taking it out to hunt for Michigan whitetails this year.

I’m a fan of exploration. Whether culinary or ballistic, I’ll try anything once. I recently finished building a hunting rifle to take to the woods this season. I am also excited about taking out a handgun again this year to chase whitetails in the late anterless season. I took it out last year, but no shot opportunity. There was a gap in my size structure, gun-wise (caliber is a separate conversation) – the carbine. Come along as we take a look at the Rossi LWC (Lightweight Carbine) in .350 Legend.

Not only do I like to try all the ballistic things, I believe it’s important to try all the price points, too. Just because something is higher-priced, doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better. Frequently, additional dollars reflect things like fit and finish, material type, ergonomics, warranties, machining tolerances and accuracy. That said, a $10,000 rifle can only hit the target if the one behind the gun does his or her part to some extent. There are things to learn and characteristics to evaluate – no matter where the decimal point is in your gun’s MSRP.

The Rossi LWC is lightweight and compact. With a 31.5 overall length, it settles nicely into the gap between my hunting revolver in .327 Federal and my suppressed 6.5x55 Swedish Mauser rifle. With the chambering being a .350 Legend, it falls in between from an effective range standpoint, as well.

The first thing I noticed was no irons. With a 150-yard and under gun, I was surprised to find only a rail. I found a scope and rings that fit both physically and practically – a Leupold VX-3HD 2.5-8 x 36 CDS-ZL. Let’s break down the why behind that selection.

The LWC is a single-shot with its hammer located at the rear of the receiver. The gun comes with a hammer extender that you can thread on either side of the hammer. With that in mind, an oversized eye-piece will cause space issues unless the extender is attached to the hammer, when a user attempts to cock the gun.

Secondly, the comb is standard in height. Since scope height relative to the bore is a critical measurement with a scoped rifle for optimum eye alignment, without some sort of additional comb pad or riser a large objective scope will place the scope too high relative to the bore for most shooters to maintain a solid cheek weld and effective scope usage. The owner has to bear this in mind when selecting a scope; but, since this is a short-range gun the shooter doesn’t have to have a large objective (long range) scope. A field of view and magnification range that is caliber- and gun-appropriate bears heavy consideration in a choice of scope. This gun is theoretically suited for whitetail size animals 150 yards and under. Keep in mind, situational and shooter limitations might alter this parameter up or down.

After mounting the scope, it came time to head to the range. I started at 50 yards to just get on paper. Because the .350 Legend cartridge design has a rebated rim, the carbine’s extractor had to extend a bit farther into the chamber volume than for a typical single-shot break-open long gun firing rimmed or rimless cartridges. As such, I had to pay close attention as I loaded them into the gun’s chamber, forcing each cartridge case to spring the extractor back slightly. I was able to get a functional 3-shot group after some scope adjustments. After extending to 100 yards and achieving passable accuracy, even with challenging cross-winds, I had data to work with. I repeated this process with both types of 350 Legend ammunition in house for this project:

• Hornady 170 grain SP (American Whitetail)
• Hornady 165 grain FTX

The “LW” in LWC stands for “LightWeight.” This is truth in advertising. It is light. Weight can be a double-edged sword when it comes to guns. Heavier guns are more cumbersome to tote around, but depending on how the gun fits the shooter may reduce felt recoil. Light-weight guns may be more fun to one-hand around in the woods, but are not always super comfortable to shoot a lot if they don’t fit or recoil stiffly. The holy grail of guns is finding the balance.

The LWC is composed entirely of polymer (plastic) and metal. With no rubber butt pad to help reduce recoil, extended range sessions may be a non-starter for some shooters. All other things being equal, however, the listed free-recoil energy of the .350 Legend is about that of the 7.62 x 39mm (AK-47 round), so recoil may not be of concern to many shooters. Since felt recoil is a combination of free recoil and the impact of firing noise/muzzle blast on a shooter, and the LWC has a short (16.5 inch) barrel, be sure to wear effective hearing protection for an ear safe and more comfortable shooting experience.

After several range sessions, I felt ready to take it to the woods. Analyzing the energy downrange of the .350 Legend cartridges, and the accuracy and shootability of the gun, I decided my max range for Michigan whitetails with this set-up was going to be 100 yards and under. I wanted to make sure that I could count on lethal effectiveness. The combination of the caliber and the carbine length barrel, led me to keep my focus a little tighter than originally anticipated.

Our rifle season opened recently in Michigan and I took the LWC to the woods. I also took my full-sized hunting rifle. Should I have a shot opportunity that fell within the ethical and situational parameters of the LWC, I was prepared to take it. However, if something came out beyond the terminally effective range of this particular .350 Legend, I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to notch a tag.

We are a few days in to the Michigan rifle opener and I passed three nice bucks the first day. The closest was 170 yards; the farthest was just over 200. None of them were quite old enough for my management mindset. I decided to depart from the blind and do a stalk for the afternoon.

Whether it was the full moon or the wind, nothing seemed to be moving. While I encountered no deer, I felt positive about the carrying experience of the LWC. It felt light, ergonomic to hold, balanced easily in the hand and allowed for easy navigation of deadfalls and hills. While compatible with a sling, I elected for a full-carry experience just to test comfort and feasibility.

After hunting with the LWC, I elected to keep a 100-yard zero so I was where I wanted to be at the closer ranges. I’ll most likely take this gun out for other hunts over the course of our season when I am looking for that middle ground distance and compact carry carbine package. For more information, check out this link at Rossi’s website.

MSRP: $333.99

About the Author

Andrea Bogard’s love for the range began at 12 with competitive handgun and expanded to encompass sporting clays a few years later. She became an NSCA instructor at 18 years old and spent the next 18 years getting married and raising two sons, ages 17 and 9 currently.

Andrea started hunting six years ago and learned to shoot a rifle and a bow. She is now 41, a full-time writer, homeschool mom and business owner and has hunted three countries, three continents and 19 states. Her sons and lab (Mr. Moose) are the focus of her world.