Completely compatible with the AR-15, the rifle requires a simple upper swap to convert over. Sectional density relates directly to penetration (a higher number being better) and normally a SD of .205 would be about the minimum for hunting Class 2 (deer size) game. The recoil was something that I mentioned above. The … Even a small amount of rubber will make shooting the Bushmaster more fun than the hard plastic or aluminum of a mil-spec stock. Get the 74th edition of the World's Greatest Gun Book. You can combine it with either AR 10 or AR 15 rifles depending on their specifications. Note: An more in-depth article about the .450 Bushmaster can be found on the Rifle Cartridges page. The .450 is about a 200 yard cartridge for Class 2 game and perhaps somewhat less for Class 3 game. bullet and produces recoil unlike that of the standard .223 Rem. A reasonable compromise for most woods hunting would seem to be 32.8 grains of Lil' Gun for a MV of 2000 fps. Interestingly, their recoil is only slightly more than the low pressure .45-70 load and considerably less than the high pressure .45-70 load when fired from a slightly lighter Marlin Model 1895 rifle. This is probably the bullet of choice for most purposes, despite its poor SD. The stainless muzzle brake, (black by special order, allows faster follow-up shots and increases the shooter's comfort. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. But as hog hunting grows in popularity, the .450 Bushmaster is well-positioned to grow right along with it. Trigger Time. The end result is a real thumper. If I had to take a shot for every time I heard some braggart talk about shooting deer at 900 yards, my liver would have shut down years ago. Velocity (… Often overlooked, much to the detriment of the hunter, is how much “kick” they’ll endure from a particular rifle-cartridge combination. If I go with an 18" barrel do I need to go with a rifle buffer , Spring , and Tube ? At the muzzle, the cartridge can pitch a 250-grain bullet 2,214 fps. The Hunter is made of the highest quality material and workmanship to deliver high performance and recoil reduction, keeping you on target, while increasing accuracy. If you’re out to hunt for deers, the 450 can very well handle that. All rights reserved. The velocity of this product can go up to 2100 fps, while it stops at 1350 fps for .45-70. However, Hornady recommends this bullet only for medium game. This bullet is one with a flexible polymer tip, not a hard one, as is used on other rifle bullets. 450 Bushmaster 16 or 22 and recoil with and wo muzzle break. Luckily, 450 Bushmaster is better by making a fast cartridge. Yes, the magazines should feed reliably, and if you have some, certainly try them. No problem. The higher the amount of eye relief, the safer your orbital bone. I read somewhere that bushmaster recommends a rifle buffer with an A2 stock. Certainly, some pride themselves in how much recoil they can endure. The case is 1.70 inches long. Hoot Posts: 4740 Joined: Tue Feb 09, 2010 4:34 pm One of the first things you may notice when picking up the Bushmaster 450 SD Rifle is its weight: 7 pounds, 7 ounces, empty, meaning nearly nine pounds with a mount and optic. That’s 20 percent better for the Flex-Tip. There has been an error with your Email Subscription. Oh, and back a paragraph? Side scopes enable you to use any normal scope. Hornady had a great idea, and a great bullet, but it needed the case to be a specific length to fit and feed. But by fitting that sort of a cartridge into an AR-15 receiver, the approach has a lot more strength. "It is important NOT to use a heavy roll crimp when loading bullets with cannelures, like the 240 and 300 grain XTP-MAG. Using too much roll crimp can allow the cartridge to travel too far into the chamber and not fire, or worse yet fire with too much headspace, which can create an unsafe condition.". The idea was to get .270 Winchester or .280 Remington out of a short-action rifle, instead of the standard-length actions those cartridges (based on the .30-06) required. The 2016 MSRP for a box of 20 Hornady .450 Bushmaster cartridges is $42.45, so the .450 is definitely a cartridge worth reloading. .450 Bushmaster is a compact but hard-hitting cartridge ideal for whitetails in thickly wooded areas. That’s one thing you have to consider if you are designing a new cartridge; what steps will the firearms makers have to undertake, to chamber their products in your new cartridge? After doing some extensive research and development I have come up with a solution! Nope, not the case. I would definitely get the longer barrel. The loaded overall cartridge length is 2.250 inches and the case takes small rifle primers. With range time the Bushmaster 450 can be shot comfortably and consistently hit the mark. Certainly, some pride themselves in how much recoil they can endure. At less than 6 pounds, recoil is stiff. Remington offers a 260 grain AccuTip bullet (SD .183), while Hornady offers their 250 grain FTX bullet. It is the only .452 inch bullet Hornady recommends for large (Class 3) game in their .450 Bushmaster cartridge. OK, I’m being a bit alarmist, perhaps, but we can certainly understand that even if the magazines are OK, the AR-15 they would otherwise fit are not going to be allowed in some locales. As more and more states allow for straight-walled rifle rounds for hunting in traditionally shotgun-only areas, we’ve seen an increasing interest in big-bore loads such as the .450 Bushmaster and more recently, the .350 Legend. There’s no denying, the 450 Bushmaster is a devastating hard hitter when it comes to deer and medium-sized game. Aside from the grain capacity, the amount of recoil also depends on your build. The rim diameter is .473, the standard American rifle case rim, which started with the .30-06 (actually, the .30-03, but who ever heard of that one?) Like the muzzle break the shorter barrels tent to be loud too. The Bushmaster is based on a sawed-off .284 Winchester case. Hoot. The Bishop Ammunition 458 SOCOM Muzzle Brake significantly reduces felt recoil and muzzle rise. A century and more ago, the British hunted all over the world with bolt action and double rifles, with the same ballistics. lbs., and at 200 yards the remaining velocity is 1515 fps and the remaining energy is 1274 ft. lbs. Learn how your comment data is processed. A magnum in performance, the .284 does not have a belt, like so many of the belted magnums do. It is a rimless, straight wall case with a rebated .473 inch diameter rim and a .500 inch diameter head. Those looking to add .450 Bushmaster capability to their AR-15 have a simple and easy-to-install solution courtesy of ATI with this excellent complete upper. The limitation is the 450 Bushmaster’s grain range ability allows it to deal with less recoil. The reloader with a .450 Bushmaster rifle can use just about any jacketed bullet intended for the .45 Colt revolver cartridge, as long is there is enough power to reliably operate the AR-15 rifle's autoloading action. It cuts recoil, but it increases blast like you wouldn’t believe. 2 Brownells – AR-15 450 Bushmaster Barrel Stainless Steel. The maximum charge of 37.9 grains gives a MV of 2200 fps, equal to the factory load velocity. They just hadn’t gotten around to making the brass with headstamps, that’s how new it was. Bullet Diameter: .452 inches (All .450 Bushmaster) 2. When comparing the 350 legend vs 450 bushmaster, it could even be a better option for ballistics in a modern sporting rifles, depending on specific consumer needs. .473-inch diameter) bolt faces. It uses .452 inch diameter bullets, as used in .45 caliber handguns, not standard .458 inch diameter rifle bullets. I & II; Gun Digest Big Fat Book of the .45 ACP, Gun Digest Book of the AR-15, Gun Digest Book of the AK and SKS, Gun Digest Book of the Glock and Gunsmithing: Pistols and Revolvers, among other titles. Mossberg Patriot 450 Bushmaster Shooting the Mossberg Patriot 450 Bushmaster Rifle. The 450 Bushmaster is a hard-hitting beast with plenty of knockdown power and recoil to match. The idea was simple: produce a hard-hitting cartridge in a compact form, one that was a real crusher at close range. Travis Roberts. For a skilled shooter, he can aim at a buffalo exactly with .45-70. It was not new, in that there had already been lightweight carbines chambered in .44 Magnum, lever-actions and self-loaders, and there was even a short-lived run of M1 carbines rebuilt in .45 Winchester Magnum. A Vietnam-era 20-round magazine will hold nine rounds, and a 30-round magazine will hold 12 or 13. Zero the Hornady factory load at 171 yards (i.e. Meanwhile, this is not the case for .45-70. Shoot it enough and know what to expect and it shouldn’t prove prohibitive, except to the most recoil shy..350 Legend vs .450 Bushmaster Rifles. .450 Bushmaster? Certainly, some pride themselves in how much recoil they can endure. Go. Please try again. The soft tip allows for the bullet to be used in lever-action rifles, where the bullet tip will rest against the primer of the cartridge ahead of it. The width of the case, at an even half-inch (.500 at the base, tapering down to .480 at the case mouth) means there is no chance whatsoever of it being a double-stack in an AR-15 magazine. Any scope with insufficient eye relief is a recipe for a rifle tattoo. Get the latest news and reviews from Gundigest.com. I wouldn’t exactly call it a spire point, because you might have a mental image of a bullet much longer than the Flex-Tip is in this instance. For this reason, loads below the minimum published in the Hornady Handbook of Cartridge Reloading should be avoided. It the buttstock of the ARs I installed a hydraulic cylinder to absorb recoil and slow the action down some for better operation. Ruger 450 BM carbine vs. Farro's Lead Farm 450 Bushmaster. 450 Bushmaster vs. .350 Legend. Calibers like this pack a punch both in terms of recoil… But there’s a new contender in town, the 350 Legend, and it might just be tough enough to dethrone the 450. For short range Class 2 game hunting, I suspect it would knock the stuffing out of deer, hogs and black bear, much as does a 265 grain .444 Marlin bullet. It produces enough power to reliably take down deer in a single shot, but it also doesn’t provide tons of recoil. I did shoot mine with and without the muzzle brake. While the SOCOM is powerful at up to 600 grain, the standard 450 doesn’t have the ability to handle even just half of that. Allow You to See Bullet Splash. Thus within a 100-yard range, you will experience less recoil with most builds when using the 450. So, if you are a hunter who has a preference for the AR-15 platform and/or who commonly hunts medium to large game species and, … Initially loaded by Hornady, the company adjusted the case length to accommodate its new Flex-Tip bullet and AR-15 magazines. The bases of the cartridges, where there would have otherwise been a headstamp, were blank, as if they had been made for some super-secret CIA plan in a foreign country. Recoil. Recoil Management: Accuracy Hinges On Absorbing The Shock, Caliber Choice: Straight-Walled Cartridge Resurgence, Truth About Straight-Walled Cartridge Ballistics, Big-Bore AR Evolution Is Larger Than Life. The Power Factor, which is not a measure used by DNR for hunting purposes, but does correlate pretty closely to felt recoil, has the .450 Bushmaster at a 550PF. So do not go cheap on mounts, and don’t be surprised if your low-cost scope dies in a short while. At 100 yards the numbers are 1835 fps and 1868 ft. The cartridge doesn’t just punch the target heavily, but it can produce a “kick”. More power to them. In Theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. This is a warning from the people who developed the cartridge, so take it to heart. For reloaders, the Hornady 300 grain XTP-MAG bullet offers superior SD and is about as heavily constructed as .452 handgun bullets normally get. The recoil was always an issue. These numbers clearly show that the Legend is a powder puff, compared with the heavy recoiling .45- and .50- caliber cartridges. To make an AR-15 in .450 Bushmaster (besides the obvious, buy one) you need a .450 Bushmaster barrel, a bolt for same and magazines. You get the best magnification power, quality lens, illuminated reticle, and it can withstand the recoil of the .450 Bushmaster cartridges. Long has the 450 Bushmaster been king of the straight-wall calibers. .450 Bushmaster What Buffer and Spring I am building a .450 Bushmaster 16" Barrel , what Buffer , and Spring would you use ? However, the Bushmaster has much greater back thrust against the bolt face, so be careful not to exceed the SAAMI pressure limit. Hornady designed a 250 grain FTX bullet (SD .175) without a cannelure specifically for the .450 Bushmaster. and 23.1 ft. The BC of the Flex-Tip used in the .450 Bushmaster is .175. The velocity is generated by a healthy chamber pressure, at 38,500 PSI max. That’s compared to a .44 Magnum, which can produce a PF between 280 and 330, and a 12-gauge slug, which can crank up a 700PF. At less than 6 pounds, recoil is stiff. The rebated rim, short case length, .452 inch (handgun) bullet diameter, poor bullet sectional density (SD), lack of a roll crimp and headspacing on the case mouth are all inherent design limitations that degrade the cartridges reliability, performance and (potentially) safety. GGW Hunter .450 BUSHMASTER Rifle Thread-On Muzzle Brake reduces recoil by a minimum of 60%, eliminates muzzle rise, dust signature and rifle torque. .450 Bushmaster What Buffer and Spring; If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. As you can see, the limitations inherent in the AR-15 action necessarily resulted in a compromised cartridge design. That’s fine and dandy. I would definitely get the longer barrel. Hornady reloading data shows that, using Hornady cases, Winchester WSR small rifle primers and the 250 grain FTX bullet, a minimum charge of 25.2 grains of Lil' Gun powder gives a MV of 1700 fps. $61.99 Brownells.com. The pressure limit is probably there as a result of the strength limit of the AR-15, but I have to think that even if the rifle could handle more pressure, more velocity would be too much of a good thing.