450Bushmaster.net

What are you guys pushing the 450's at for distance? I shot this girl at 250 yards and I have to admit I HIGHLY underestimated this round. It appears the round still has alot left at 250 for a whitetail kill.

Well, you just proved that there are many that don't know what they are talking about. The other Big Bore AR's are said to be 200yd weapons. So therefore, the 450b must only be a 200yd weapon, but alas they are WRONG, and you are RIGHT!! There was still residual power to be had after you did the Job at 250yds, Right?

The truth is, we have pictures and testimonies of Big Game Kills well out over 300yds, right here, by our members and they say the same thing. That they had more umph left over! It might be difficult to hit a whitetail after 300yds, but if you do your JOB it can easily kill one at 600yds, as I can personally attest, I am not that good or as confident, but there are several that HAVE done it, and still they all say.."there was more UMPH to be had"!!

Nice Job and Great Kill!!

..t

PS.. After thinking about it.. several years ago I had one facing me perfectly, or so I thought, at 175yds, if memory serves. Also I was using factory 250ftx's. The animal bent down to eat., Bang. I took it center mass, right through the tough neck bones, the bullet traveled back through the full length of the body, coming out of the VERY THICK off-side rear Quarter Panel Talk about Penetration!!

Oh yeah... the guy that processed it says it looked like I shot it with a 12 ga slug @ 25 yards. Nothing really left to be had with the shoulders since it blew through both shoulders. I was impressed!

And that is GNARLY penetration!! They have just become legal in lower MI and I've never really given the round ANY thought before this point. It has even got a couple of my non-hunting (just shooters) buddies saying that is a gnarly round and has their interest perked!

Just a note of dissent on the long range aspect. I had a disappointing experience on an elk hunt this past month, when two shots (shoulder and quartering away) with factory FTX 250 gr ammo at 200 yards failed to bring down a 5x6 bull, who was able to travel more than 500 yards onto adjoining property, on which I could not get permission to search. A better bullet selection and a closer shot would have improved my chances. There are more details and some comments here - http://450bushmaster.net/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14479. I was unaware of the Hornady H.I.T.S. calculator until the comment was made on this post, but I think it is a useful tool to evaluate your choice of round, if you are going after larger game.

That said, the experience on this forum indicates that the case for deer at long range is better, but due to the drop of the factory round, I would hesitate to go beyond 300 yards with it. Zeroed at 200 yards, the drop at 500 yards is about 10 feet, which is quite a holdover.

Jim in Houston wrote:Just a note of dissent on the long range aspect. I had a disappointing experience on an elk hunt this past month, when two shots (shoulder and quartering away) with factory FTX 250 gr ammo at 200 yards failed to bring down a 5x6 bull, who was able to travel more than 500 yards onto adjoining property, on which I could not get permission to search. A better bullet selection and a closer shot would have improved my chances. There are more details and some comments here - http://450bushmaster.net/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14479. I was unaware of the Hornady H.I.T.S. calculator until the comment was made on this post, but I think it is a useful tool to evaluate your choice of round, if you are going after larger game.

That said, the experience on this forum indicates that the case for deer at long range is better, but due to the drop of the factory round, I would hesitate to go beyond 300 yards with it. Zeroed at 200 yards, the drop at 500 yards is about 10 feet, which is quite a holdover.

Shot Placement, Bullet Selection, Shot Placement, Bullet Selection, Shot Placement, Bullet Selection, Shot Placement, Bullet Selection, Shot Placement (Even though this cartridge is very forgiving, some bullets are better than others. choose the correct bullet for the Mission! Take a pick there are Hundreds of Choices!!)..

..t

wildcatter wrote:

Jim in Houston wrote:Just a note of dissent on the long range aspect. I had a disappointing experience on an elk hunt this past month, when two shots (shoulder and quartering away) with factory FTX 250 gr ammo at 200 yards failed to bring down a 5x6 bull, who was able to travel more than 500 yards onto adjoining property, on which I could not get permission to search. A better bullet selection and a closer shot would have improved my chances. There are more details and some comments here - http://450bushmaster.net/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=14479. I was unaware of the Hornady H.I.T.S. calculator until the comment was made on this post, but I think it is a useful tool to evaluate your choice of round, if you are going after larger game.

That said, the experience on this forum indicates that the case for deer at long range is better, but due to the drop of the factory round, I would hesitate to go beyond 300 yards with it. Zeroed at 200 yards, the drop at 500 yards is about 10 feet, which is quite a holdover.

Shot Placement, Bullet Selection, Shot Placement, Bullet Selection, Shot Placement, Bullet Selection, Shot Placement, Bullet Selection, Shot Placement (Even though this cartridge is very forgiving, some bullets are better than others. choose the correct bullet for the Mission! Take a pick there are Hundreds of Choices!!)..

..t

Totally agree, you have to place the bullet where it can do it's job and you have to select the bullet that can do the job, when it gets there.

I've been hunting elk since I was 13, even killing 3 a few years, and one thing is sure, they are tough. I have seen a cow elk take 3 7mm mag rounds to the chest at 80 yards and go back to grazing! I killed my first bull at 21 with an 870 and slugs at 80 yards (Impressive DRT) and I have shot them with 10mm pistols, bows, center-fire rifles and muzzle loaders. Did I mention that they are tough? I tracked a blood trail (on a chest hit elk) for over 5 miles in 1-2 foot deep snow and 10 degree temperatures. It was shot through the lungs and the blood trail was easy (visible) to track for the entire 5 miles.

For deer, moose, maybe even bear, I would go longer on distance than elk, they are just that tough. I shoot regularly out past 600 yards and have a good numbers of animals harvested at distances most would never try. I shot my Pronghorn at 680 last year and have deer kills out past 1000 yards. My long on elk was 505, with a lot more horsepower than the .450BM.

So, to the OP, for whitetails, I would have no issue, given the right conditions and animal behavior out to about 350 yards. Mule deer, I might go to 300, elk, I would stop at 200 in most cases. The main reason I wanted the 450 Corvette was to extend the distance another 100-200 yards.

The bull elk Jim likely shot would have been in the range of 750 pounds or so. Big Whitetails are 250 pounds, most under 200. The big Mule bucks we shoot are in the range of 300-350 pounds. Mass of the animal is certainly a factor, and it is not "all about bullet placement". Sure, we try to hit the best spots, but any hunter who tells you they always hit the "right spot" is really just a fisherman. The elk I have shot and been right next to another hunter who shot an elk is probably in the area of 200 head. The ones that are DRT have mostly been hits in the chest within a few inches of the heart, or head or spine. Shoulder hits and high lung hits have a good chance of a decent track.

nice shot. I like those +200yd shots my two longest 450bm kills were 205 and 215yds with pass thru's on both.