An in-depth look at 360 Buckhammer ballistics with velocity, energy and bullet drop data for the most popular loads.

360 Buckhammer is Remington’s response to the straight-wall renaissance brought on by Winchester’s 350 and 400 Legend cartridges.

A bit of a thumper, here’s a look at what 360 Buckhammer loads are commercially available and popular today, along with their ballistic capabilities.

360 Buckhammer Ballistic Chart

The Backstory on Buckhammer

Today isn’t Thanksgiving, so we won’t delve into whether state governments have legitimate authority to ban hunters from hunting with bottlenecked cartridges. We’ll simply acknowledge that states like Iowa, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois do require residents to hunt with shotguns or rifles chambered for straight-walled rounds such as 44 Magnum, 444 Marlin, 45-70 Government and 450 Bushmaster.

Why do some states require straight-walled cartridges? In theory, it is because those rounds have a shorter range, and therefore pose a reduced risk to faraway bystanders. This isn’t universally true, of course. A 45-70 bullet can travel much farther than that of a 5.7x28mm, although we’ll admit that’s an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Nevertheless, state laws against bottlenecked cartridges have created a demand for straight-walled alternatives. Some ammo manufacturers have taken it upon themselves to meet that demand. Winchester’s 350 Legend is the most successful recently introduced straight-walled whitetail cartridge. The 400 Legend came quickly behind.

Remington Enters the Straight-Wall Game

Remington decided not to exclude themself from the action – hence their introduction of the 360 Buckhammer in 2023. It features what is essentially a 30-30 Winchester case that they’ve necked up to seat a .358 caliber bullet. (This is just like the 35 Remington, an outstanding round for taking medium game that is criminally underutilized). Uncoincidentally, Ohio requires a minimum bullet diameter of .357 for deer hunting. In Iowa and Michigan the minimum is .35. In Illinois it is .30.

Remington humbly boasts the 360 BHMR’s superiority over many popular rounds. By their measure, it has higher striking energy at 200 yards – and a flatter trajectory to the same distance – than the 30-30, 350 LGND and 450 BM. Remington also claims the 360 BHMR’s muzzle velocity is 300 fps faster than the 350 LGND’s, and with only marginally greater recoil. And unlike the 350 LGND (which was admittedly designed for AR-15 compatibility), the 360 BHMR’s rimmed case is optimal for lever-action rifles. Indeed, Henry already makes some fine lever guns chambered for 360 BHMR.

How Does the 360 Buckhammer Perform?

Remington lauds the 360 BHMR as accurate at 200+ yards, with ideal velocity, energy and drop across all conventional hunting ranges. Let’s take a closer look at the 360 BHMR’s ballistic performance to 200 yards and judge whether that’s truly the case. (Note: at the time of writing, options for 360 Buckhammer only available options for 360 BHMR are Remington’s own Core-Lokt series 180 and 200 grain round nose soft point cartridges. Federal Premium also launched their own Power-Shok series 180 and 200 grain soft point loads.

It should be noted that the 200 grain bullet, if it achieves its advertised muzzle velocity, would hypothetically avoid transonic destabilization until approximately 323 yards (at which range its velocity becomes lower than 1,125 feet per second, i.e. the speed of sound, and it picks up an accuracy-destroying wobble as a result). For the lighter 180 grain bullet, transonic destabilization would occur around 357 yards.

Effective Range of 360 Buckhammer

Theoretically, these rounds may exhibit sufficient accuracy for hunting beyond 300 yards – but a bullet doesn’t merely have to hit its target. It must also strike it with sufficient kinetic energy to ensure a clean, humane kill. It is possible to ethically take down medium game with striking energy less than 1,000 ft lbs. Although we believe 1,000 ft-lbs is a fair minimum threshold for whitetail.

By our math, the 200 grain load conserves at least 1,000 ft lbs of energy until it reaches approximately 182 yards. The 180gr load does the same until it reaches 195 yards. These figures justify Remington’s claim of effective 200+ yard performance. Although the 360 BHMR may prove plenty accurate at 300 yards, its effective range – the maximum distance at which it will produce its desired result, which in this case is wasting Bambi’s dad – is indeed 200 yards, give or take a few.

There are flatter-shooting cartridges, but the 360 BHMR’s trajectory isn’t so parabolic as to frustrate novice shooters. If your rifle’s sights are 1.5” high, then you can reasonably anticipate the 200gr bullet’s trajectory to peak at ~4.86” en route to a 200-yard zero (with -21.72” drop at 300 yards). The flatter-shooting 180gr bullet accomplishes the same feat without having to rise by more than ~4.03” (with -18.37” drop at 300 yards). Pretty flat trajectories, relatively speaking!

Is the 360 Buckhammer Worth It?

If you live in a state where you are obligated to hunt deer with a straight-walled cartridge, the 360 BHMR is worth considering. It absolutely delivers the ballistic and terminal performance requisite for tagging and bagging whitetail within ranges around 200 yards.

Just take care that the 360 BHMR is still extremely new. It may become as popular as the 350 LGND. That would ensure your reliable access to a wide range of cartridges. But if it fails to achieve commercial success – a possible fate for any type of ammunition, however well it may perform – then you may one day find it exceedingly difficult to buy ammo for your expensive lever-action rifle.

$29.95

20rds – 360 Buckhammer Federal Power-Shok 180gr. JSP Ammo

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