During the last few years, we’ve seen firearms manufacturers introduce a whole crop of new cartridges. We have many new 6mm, 6.5mm, 26-, 27-, 28-, and 30-caliber offerings — and Gun Tests has reported on a number of those. Two of the newest intros are the 6mm ARC (can they really bring more energy and range to the MSR platform?) and the 6.8 Western (can this one “magnumize” the 270 Win. the same way the 6.5 PRC has stepped up the game of the 6.5 Creedmoor?). Only time will tell which cartridges stick.

One of the newer cartridges is the 350 Legend. We examined three rifles chambered for the round in the July 2020 edition of Gun Tests. The concept is fascinating: produce a new cartridge that provides 30-30 Win. ballistics in the straight-wall case now allowed by many states in the Midwest for deer hunting. Do all that with a bit more energy, slightly better ballistics, and a little less recoil than the 30-30. We found the Ruger Ranch Rifle, Winchester XPR Hunter, and Savage Model 110 Hog Hunter to provide all that, albeit with a bit less accuracy than we would have liked from a scoped bolt-action rifle.

We received an email from Gun Tests reader Michael L. asking us to add the CVA Cascade Rifle to the list of 350 Legend test rifles and continue the comparison. We found that interesting since CVA didn’t do bolt-action center-fire rifles, at least not until they came out with the Cascade. Long a leader in the muzzle-loading world, CVA also has a great following in the single-shot rifle arena. Keeping in mind that CVA is part of the same corporate umbrella as Bergara, we jumped on the opportunity to test out what could be a value-priced rifle made with Bergara’s expertise. Is that what we found?

How We Shot

Testing was done at American Shooting Centers (AmShootCenters.com) on the west side of Houston. All shots were fired from a well-sandbagged position using a Caldwell TackDriver rear bag ($44 at MidwayUSA.com) and a T.A.B. Gear large/heavy rear bag ($39 at TabGear.com). Muzzle velocities were measured via a LabRadar chronograph ($559). We shot multiple five-shot groups using the same three different types of ammunition from the same lots as the previous tests. We checked out Winchester’s 145-grain full metal jacket cartridge, the Winchester 150-grain Extreme Point, as well as Hornady’s American Whitetail 170-grain soft point. Group size, muzzle velocity and standard deviation for those velocities, as well as muzzle energy and recoil energy, were tabulated and are found in the article. We mounted a Vortex PST II 3-15×44 FFP with an EBR2C reticle, about $899.

Gun Tests Grade: A (OUR PICK)

$658

This may be CVA’s first attempt at building a bolt-action centerfire rifle, but you can’t tell it by looking at it. The engineering expertise supplied by Bergara is obvious, though there are still apparent differences. The stock reminds us of Bergara all the way. It is a synthetic with fiberglass reinforcement and overmolded with the company’s “soft touch” finish, using a design they called Veil Wideland. This pattern is a mixture of greens, browns, tans, and off-white that is complemented well by the Flat Dark Earth (FDE) Cerakote on the barrel and action.

CVA Cascade CR3907C 350 Legend

The stock is free-floating and fairly stiff. We could make the stock touch the barrel when squeezing it, but just resting the forend on a bag did not force any contact. The forend sports a raised checkering pattern that is effective without being abrasive. The shooter also gets two forward-mounted sling-swivel studs — one for a bipod and the second for a real sling. The wrist of the stock has a very nice palm swell with more of the raised checkering. We really liked the way this fit our hands and the way it created a good index for strong-side or support-side thumb placement while shooting. Length of pull was measured at 13.9 inches with a 1-inch spacer installed. That can be easily removed for a smaller-stature shooter. The buttstock is capped by a “Crushzone” recoil pad that did a good job of further mitigating mild recoil from the 350 Legend cartridge.

The “bottom metal” is all polymer, but it is nicely executed. The magazine fits flush and is held in place by a well-recessed magazine-release latch located immediately in front of the mag. The rifle’s specs say this is a four-round magazine, but we could get five rounds in the magazine and still retain the ability to close and work the bolt easily.

The barrel is 22 inches of 4140 steel. Twist is 1 in 16 inches, and the muzzle is threaded at 5⁄8×24 with a thread protector provided. Winchester currently markets a 255-grain subsonic load for the 350 Legend. Matched with the right suppressor and the CVA rifle, that could be a very interesting system, especially for hog hunting. The barrel is a medium profile measuring about 1.24 inches just forward of the receiver and about 0.680 inch immediately aft of the thread protector. This is obviously not a lightweight rifle, but it isn’t heavy either. We liked the heft, and it balanced right on the forward action screw.

The action is what really caught our attention. We already knew that we liked the trigger (which averaged a mere 2.4 pounds with less than 3 ounces of deviation from the average pull weight). There was no, repeat, no take up, and overtravel was minimal. When we pulled the barreled action out of the stock, we thought the trigger looked really familiar, so we contacted CVA about it. Turns out we were right. CVA wanted to make a great rifle without reinventing all the wheels. The footprint for the Remington action is one of the most common out there, with tons of aftermarket products produced for it. This rifle not only has a Remington-style action, it has an old-style Remington-esque trigger. Even more, they don’t require the sacrifice of your first-born male child before the owner is allowed to adjust the trigger. Instructions are actually included on how to do so in Section 6 of the owner’s manual. Read the manual. Those familiar with Remingtons will also notice the expected recoil lug sandwiched between the barrel and the action. This fits down into a mortise in the stock. Fit was tight, but the stock is polymer only. It could be interesting to watch what happened to that slot after shooting some of the larger calibers in which the Cascade is also chambered.

The bottoms of Remington-style actions may be easy to produce, but the top of those actions requires a good bit more machining than preferred. Accordingly, CVA patterned the top end of the rifle after a Savage 110 (modern style using the Accu-trigger). Production is simplified. Costs are down. Everyone is happy.

The bolt is a full-diameter unit that ran very smoothly no matter what we tried to do to it. The bolt head is a three-lug design that allows a shorter 70-degree throw. Empty case removal is accomplished via a plunger-style ejector and a sliding plate extractor. One of the few criticisms of the Remington action over the years has been the bolt stop, or the potential frailty thereof. For the average hunter shooting 20 rounds per year, that is a moot point. For the competitive shooter or varmint hunter who runs his rifle a good bit harder, that could become an issue. The CVA uses a largish bolt release, which also serves as the bolt stop, that is mounted on the left side of the action. A large stud projects from the release and fits inside a raceway that runs almost the full length of the bolt. It is solid, sturdy, and smooth. The safety shows its Remington-style heritage, being the expected two-position rocker located immediately behind the bolt and designed for release via the strong-side thumb. A smaller cocking indicator protrudes from the base of the bolt shroud when the action is cocked. The instructions even show how to field-strip and maintain the bolt. We repeat — Read. The. Manual.

The CVA fed and ejected all ammo types smoothly. That isn’t always the case with some of the lesser priced rifles. We’re not going to list the CVA along with the basement-priced models, but we do think it is priced very reasonably, especially considering some of the features included. This rifle has a limited lifetime warranty, a 14-day buy-back offer, and a minute-of-angle accuracy guarantee. The reader will certainly notice that our groups did not average an inch. But please note the guarantee is for three-shot groups (and we had many of those that were sub-inch), but we just weren’t able to do that with five-shot groups. We think, in large part, that may be due to the cartridge. Remember that the 350 legend was designed as a straight-wall cartridge-rifle substitute for slug-shooting shotguns. Range was never expected to be that great, and we are sure these 350 Legend rifles will outshoot a shotgun at distance. Recoil with the 350 Legend is a bit less and energy is a bit greater than the venerable 30-30. If the shooter is indeed comparing the 350 Legend with the older 30-30, the 350 holds its own just fine. And it is legal in the Midwest. And it works well with modern sporting rifles.

Our Team Said: Average groups for this rifle were a mere 0.2 in. larger than the Savage 100 Hog Hunter we tested last year. We think the CVA’s outstanding trigger and a couple of other features make up for that, so we are going to grade this rifle as a tie with the Savage. We think either would be a great choice for the Midwestern deer hunter.

CVA also offers these rifles in 22-250 Rem., 243 Win., 6.5 Creedmoor, 6.5 PRC, 7mm-08, 7mm Rem. Mag., 308 Win., 300 Win. Mag., and 450 Bushmaster. We would be interested in trying this rifle in other chamberings and see what it does.

350 Legend Range Data

Value Guide Short-Action Bolt Rifle Scores