Virginia Gun Owners Forum - VGOF

For those looking for a larger caliber in the AR platform Bushmaster has just introduced one in .450 cal. Definitely could rock a few things with it...

http://www.bushmaster.com/catalog_xm15_BCWVMS20-45.asp

Very cool AR!. Thanks for the Monday afternoon GP

Sweet. An all around sporting rifle...SHTF rifle...target rifle...all on an AR platform. Chrome lined bore and chamber...cool.

The 450 Bushmaster has been out since 2007. Cabelas has been selling the uppers for several years now. Hornaday has reloading data and bullets for it now. Here is a link for some more info on it.

http://www.450bm.com/?tag=pressure-signs

http://www.hornady.com/store/450-Bushmaster-c-1109/

VBshooter wrote:For those looking for a larger caliber in the AR platform Bushmaster has just introduced one in .450 cal. Definitely could rock a few things with it...

http://www.bushmaster.com/catalog_xm15_BCWVMS20-45.asp

I have a 16" .450 upper on a Rock River Arms lower and I love it!! Very accurate out to 100-150 yards and hits like a ton of bricks. Has about as much kick as a 20 gauge.

I figured it would be good for those occasions when just reaching out and touching something wasn't enough,,, Smacking it hard and solid would do the job much better!! Sounds like a good combo... I am thinking of one myself on a Stag Lower,

VBshooter wrote:I figured it would be good for those occasions when just reaching out and touching something wasn't enough,,, Smacking it hard and solid would do the job much better!! Sounds like a good combo... I am thinking of one myself on a Stag Lower,

I don't think you'll be disappointed! When I was looking for a "big bore" AR, I looked at the .450, .50 Beowulf, and the .458 SOCOM. I decided on the .450 because of the combination of range, knock down power, and ammo availability/price. The designed the round to take any big game in North America.

And it's a big round, too.

Yes Sir that;s the ticket right there. Income Tax refund is on the way and I think I know where its going...

crowell33 wrote:I don't think you'll be disappointed! When I was looking for a "big bore" AR, I looked at the .450, .50 Beowulf, and the .458 SOCOM. I decided on the .450 because of the combination of range, knock down power, and ammo availability/price. The designed the round to take any big game in North America.

They say any game in NA, but I'm not sold on that yet...only because of the lack of good dangerous game bullets. The big bore rifles always used the 0.458" bullets, not the 0.452" (0.451" is the common handgun variant of a "forty-five"). I have killed game with Hornady's SSTs and in general they tend to fragment/expand so much at those velocities that they have limited penetration. Absolutely fantastic for medium/thin skinned game, but I would not take one bear hunting. A good shot on a black bear and I'm sure it would be fine, but a poor shot could be trouble. Should work fine on hogs, deer, etc. The 458SOCOM actually uses the 0.458" bullet, but it is terribly expensive (factory ammo) and you need to be a reloader. Now that Remington makes a AR variant of the 450BM and with Hornady making hunting ammo for it, I expect it to take off and we should see much better dangerous game bullets in 0.452".

All of the big bore ARs basically can replicate a modest .45/70 load (once the bullet options are there). However, they all are limited by the basic AR design so they will never touch a modern, hot .45/70...at least not safely. The 450BM is probably the best compromise of the designs out there and I'm sure the bullets will follow.

Edit: http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2010 ... ment-27030

.452″ bullets, like the .450 Bushmaster uses, are used primarily for handguns and as muzzleloader sabots. Since these bullets are, for the most part, designed for .45 ACP, or at most .454 Casull velocities, the number of bullets that are suitably constructed for being launched in excess of 2000 fps and used against game that is tougher and thicker-skinned than deer is significantly less than you might expect for this ubiquitous caliber. Bullets designed for the .460 S&W Magnum and hot muzzleloader charges are about our only good choices, and they don’t get very heavy, capping out around 300 grains. The sectional density of such a bullet is not terribly impressive (0.21), or about the same as a 140 grain .308 caliber bullet. I wouldn’t want to use such a light for caliber bullet against elk, moose, or brown bear, for fear of inadequate penetration.

The .458 SOCOM does better in this regard, using (no surprise here) .458″ bullets, the same diameter that the venerable .45-70 uses, and at similar velocities (greatly expanding the range of usable bullets). This caliber choice offers a range of bullets from 250 to 600 grains, giving the .458 SOCOM far greater flexibility in the size of game that it can take, from small deer to bison. Its 1 in 14″ twist rate (as used by Rock River Arms) is simply better suited to the heavier bullets necessary to humanely kill large game. It is even designed to be able to launch the heavy 600 grain bullets at subsonic velocities, making for much greater effectiveness when using a suppressor.

I would have preferred the 458SOCOM to take off as the shoulder in theory makes it more reliable and bullet selection, but I think that the 450BM will become the standard. Better bullets will follow. If I were to buy one today, I'd 458SOCOM, but I do a lot of reloading. If you don't plan on hunting big dangerous game, the 450BM is the better choice.

Interesting. Thank you for the comment!

Ammo price weighed pretty heavily in my decision to go with the .450 BM over the. 458. I don't reload (not yet, anyway), and I didn't feel like paying $68.99/box (current price from Midway).

now that about 70$ dor a box of 20 right?