450Bushmaster.net

I just registered but have been reading on here for a little over a year. I got into the AR world just over a year ago, with a 5.56 and a 6.8spc. I'm from Indiana and I really wanted something I could use for multiple species and could legally hunt deer with here. I after a little thought, I decided the 6.8 had to go (for now) and invested in a 16" Bushmaster 450 upper. I'll be honest I wasn't real excited about having to work kinks out of a brand new gun, but after giving my mags and ejection port a little love, I had a perfectly functioning big bore AR. I can't believe how effective this round is, I've killed 2 deer and a hog with it. The hog and a doe didn't take another step and the buck I shot was a pretty marginal shot and he laid down after 20 or 30 yards and died. Just wanted to say thanks for all the info that is shared here, it saved a lot of time, money and frustration having this resource. Here are the casualties of my thumper.

Redman232 wrote:I just registered but have been reading on here for a little over a year. I got into the AR world just over a year ago, with a 5.56 and a 6.8spc. I'm from Indiana and I really wanted something I could use for multiple species and could legally hunt deer with here. I after a little thought, I decided the 6.8 had to go (for now) and invested in a 16" Bushmaster 450 upper. I'll be honest I wasn't real excited about having to work kinks out of a brand new gun, but after giving my mags and ejection port a little love, I had a perfectly functioning big bore AR. I can't believe how effective this round is, I've killed 2 deer and a hog with it. The hog and a doe didn't take another step and the buck I shot was a pretty marginal shot and he laid down after 20 or 30 yards and died. Just wanted to say thanks for all the info that is shared here, it saved a lot of time, money and frustration having this resource. Here are the casualties of my thumper.

Redman, Welcome-Welcome...

And your DRT experiences give all some additional Help.

What were the loads, where did you hit them, etc., etc..

..t

I have only shot the factory Hornady 250 gr FTX. After initial sight in with cheap 3x9 Tasco scope I just threw on it, I didn't see any reason to shoot any other loads(Still don't for me anyways). Sometime between sight in and my first hunt with the gun, the scope ended up shooting about 3'' right at 25 yards. The doe I shot was about a 30 yard shot, it was a reduction hunt so I wasn't looking to track anything, so I figured straight through the shoulder would drop her. In the photo I posted you can tell the entrance hole is about 3" right of aim. I'm not an expert marksman, so I assumed I flinched when I fired. It didn't make any difference, the trauma caused by the round made her pop a wheely and tip over. She was very dead before she ever hit the ground. The buck I killed was another 25-30 yard shot. The location I was hunting is extremely thick and it's a bear to track deer in there, so given the performance of the round on the previous doe, I decided on another high shoulder shot. I probably rushed the shot as the buck was quartering to me and I didn't take the time to analyze that. Due to the quarter to shot and the scope still being off 3", the bullet went in just behind the shoulder blade, exiting a little in front of the off side hind leg(exit is visible in the photo). The buck took three bounds and then stopped, after the first bound I lost visual but could hear him stop in the weeds. By his reaction to the shot I new I didn't hit where intended, so I was going to sit for a few hours before getting down. After about a half hour I heard him lay down. I waited another half hour, drank a cup of coffee and got down. He was dead not 30 yards from where I shot him. I hit the back of one lung and the liver was liquified, not much blood, but it obviously put the hurt on him for him to only make it that far. The hog that I killed was even more impressive. I swapped out the magnified scope for an Eotech(absolutely love that thing too), zeroed it at 50 yards. I jumped the hog off the end of a ridge and shot once at it as it crossed a creek at the bottom of the valley. It was 200-300 feet below me but the horizontal distance was probably 30 or 40 yards, I hit just over it's nose as it was facing away from me. It continued up the next ridge and as it got to the crest of the ridge it stopped, in a more or less vertical position on the hillside, giving me the entire spine as a target. At this time the hog was 125-150 yards away, I put my sight between the back of the head and the shoulder blades and let one loose. The boar tipped over and kicked a couple times and that was it. Anyone with knowledge of a hogs anatomy knows that the spine curves down in front of the shoulders, enter the skull almost at the mid point. My round entered just above the shoulder blades, leaving a fist size hole. It continued in the soft tissue in the neck right into the back of the skull. The accuracy and just utter "stopping power" of this caliber and the hornady ammo amazes me. Once I got the gun running correctly, I don't know if I could ever have anymore confidence in a setup than what I have now. It's a Bushmaster 16" upper, YHM 13" free float tube(nothing wrong with the one BM supplied but they didn't include a railed dummy gas block so I had to change the handguard to mount BUIS), magpul BUIS, Spikes lower, couple of converted 5.56 20 round steel magazines(thank you Texassheepdog for the video) and topped with an Eotech 512.

Doesnt get better than that! Nice shooting!

Where was the hog killed?

The hog was from Alabama.

Y E A H !!!!!!

..t

I love it when I read these stories! And you're very welcome, sir. Thanks for watching my videos!