I told you to stop eating those mushrooms from the woods behind your townhouse.. hehe.. unless you like that halucinatory experience
Dave, you are too kind but I 'm afraid you give me too much credit
If anyone knows about the 350 it's Rick. He 's been inside his a couple of times and has tuned it with a JM kit (guides, spring, seal, lubes, etc.). I have only removed the stock and cleaned and oiled the metal parts I couldn't get to before. Pretty soon Rick will probably shorten the barrel, re-crown it and turn his 350 .22 into a carbine so he 'll be the #1 350 resource in the world with most mods on a 350 than anyone else
In fact if you go back and read all my posts here and in other forums, you will be surprised to discover that I am endorsing the 460 (and 34) more than the 350!
I want to be one of few to have the 350 so I don't recommend it as much. I don't want there to be thousands of 350's circuilating so mine will have pretty good value 10yrs from now
Seriously though, lets face it. The 350 started getting a bad rep by a few people that were used to medium powered springers and their tuned guns that were smooth shooters, or couldn't wait to put a couple of thousand pellets through theirs to tame it some more. Then everyone jumped on the bandwagon, people that didn't even own one, further stigmatizing it. It's a Magnum sporting rifle built for hunting that serves its purpose well, and can be had for a great price IMO. Patriots & Kodiaks that are "worse" sell for a premium price on the classifieds.. If you want a match gun there are several other better choices out there. If you want a smoother and more accurate gun or get the most out of the 350, you can always tune it with a JM kit like Rick did and a couple others here, or send it to Paul Watts or Ed K. for an ADV tune, and sacrifice 1-2fpe.
I just posted maybe 10% of my 350's hunting stories here. My 350 has had over 30 succesful hunts in just a few short months during the small game hunting season from Sept.1 to Feb.29/today. If that's endorsing the 350 then I 'm guilty as charged. For me the 350 .22 has performed beyond my expectations and frankly, my wildest dreams. I had never expected it to take down 15lb groundhogs with a single shot beyond 30yds or a crow at 45 without a scope or 2 crows within 15 secs. I was very skeptical and was even wondering if I wasted my $ and was going to wound and torture these larger creatures. It feels great filling up a hole in my lawn and not find another one right next to it the next day, week or month, or not having to maneuver around them when cutting the grass with the lawn tractor. These problematic creatures were causing a lot of problems for me and my family. It was not pretty tripping or twisting your ankle by walking into one of these holes in the ground. That was the sole reason for the 350 purchase over the summer but the gun is so much fun and practical, I decided to use it almost exclusively for the entire season.
I have a scoped 850 .22 (CO2) that is recoiless and admittedly a little more accurate than the 350. For some reason I don't enjoy that gun as much. It's too easy to hit the target and strangely enough the lack of recoil or any kind of reaction from the gun when shooting it, is not gratifying to me. The 850 is too good you could say. I know this may sound strange but it's not challenging enough for me. I like a challenge and the 350 provides that. I don't even shoot a squirrel anymore unless I 'm 25-30yds away but that is also the 850's limit, so I tend to grab the 350 more often. Today last day of the season, a squirrel came within 11-12yds of the back window out in the open, where I was stationed trying to ambush a crow that was hanging around the edge of my property. I let him go as he made his way around the front of the house and crossed the street. There 's no challenge in shooting a 14"x3.5" target from so close, especially when almost all of the previous squirrels were taken between 22 & 40yds.
The 350 has earned its place on my gun rack. I don't need to endorse it, show it off, or tell anyone to get it. As a matter of fact I hate telling people what gun to get. I try to avoid it. I 've seen people selling their 34 or complain about it because they feel it shoots "rough" or it broke one of their scopes. Not everyone shares the same feelings about a gun, a car, or whatever and I wouldn't want anyone to complain about advice I gave on buying a 350. All I know is, the 350 replaced my .22 rimfire guns overnight, has performed superbly in the field, and has gotten a couple of the neighbors off my back. That 's more than I had hoped for and for that that I 'm grateful.