November 27, 2023
By Firearms News Staff
Today, Novemeber 27, 2023, is the first day of deer season in Ohio and Firearms News Editor-in-Chief, Vincent L. DeNiro, nailed a nice-sized buck in the early afternoon. DeNiro used a STAG-15 rifle in .350 Legend topped off with a Hi-Lux Optics 1-8x24mm scope .
“My neck of the woods has been pretty dry as far as deer go for the last few years during gun season, so I decided to take this one. Although the rack wasn’t big, the deer was good size.” DeNiro stated. He enjoys gourmet cooking, and venison gets rotated into the family diet (watch for his recipe on “Deer Marsala” in the next month or so). DeNiro continues, “When straight-rifle-case hunting became legal, I was pretty excited since before that, we were stuck with shotgun slugs or handguns over .357. I had been working on an AR-15 pistol in .45 Winchester Magnum right when .450 Bushmaster came on the scene. And when it did, it was my caliber.”
Ohio has been one of the biggest states for straight-walled rifle cartridges with .45-70 being one of the most popular, followed by .444 Marlin. However, for those who like MSR hunting rifles, .450 Bushmaster and .350 Legend are the top two. “Then, .350 Legend became the next big straight-wall rifle caliber for semi-auto. I was hesitant at first, but kept hearing about all the great reports from colleagues and from my sons’ friends who hunted with it. So, this year, I got a STAG-15 and topped it off with a one to eight power scope from Hi-Lux.” DeNiro said. The scope that DeNiro used was a model which has a reticle calibrated for 5.56, DeNiro explains why he used it for .350 Legend, “Hi-Lux wanted me to do a review of one of their new scopes but does not currently offer a reticle for .350. I told them to send it anyway and that I would hunt with it since most shots on my property are taken between 30 to 60 yards, with few exceptions. Sighting it in 50 would make no difference. You see, I live in the hilly and heavily wooded part of Ohio, deer disappear after 30 yards into heavily treed areas.” When asked about the ammunition, “I used Winchester 160-grain bonded protected hollow points . My groups at 50 yards were slightly under .70 of an inch, so these were perfect. The awesome trigger on the Stag greatly assisted with these groups. I was also impressed with the wound cavity this projectile produced.”
Look for his full review on this rifle, optic, ammo, and this hunt sometime before fall 2024 in Firearms News.
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