450 Bushmaster practical considerations

[BlackJack]

I think one of the strongest arguments for the .450 Bushmaster is the ability to use many of the bullets available for other handcannons like the .460 S&W Magnum and .454Casull. The .450 Bushmaster looks very much like a rimless .460 S&W Magnum and the case holds about the same amount of powder. I just finished loading a Hornady 300gr.XTP Mag bullet over Hodgdons Lil Gun,though virtually any .452 diameter jacketed bullet that would feed through a .45 1911 would work well I would think. I have found some who are loading hardcast gas checked lead for the .450 Bushmaster. I am intrigued by the Speer 300 gr. softpoint and will be ordering some of them soon. If you carry a .45 Colt revolver for backup in the woods,you can stock the same bullets for both including the 250 gr Hornady FTX. Of the big bore AR's this appears to have the best selection of bullets and be the cheapest per squeeze to shoot in my experience.

[artalon]

Ive loaded a few of the 300gr soft tips and they feed just fine im also using lilgun (I cant remember gr right now) they hold groups fair with a bit less sooting than factory. no speeds yet

[wildcatter]

Being on the front range of the rockies where the longest shot is about 200 yards for most kills I wouldnt think to hard about which weapon to use, the 450 ROCKS, but if your shots are much further I would have to use something else

Depends, consider.. I say you can get to within 300yds of any creature on the earth and I have done so. If you study the drop charts and know the range you can easily adjust for the conditions. Take for instance, elk at three hundred yards. With a 230 yds zero, using factory ammo, that will be 5.40" high @ 100yds and the bullet path never rises over 6.06" to the zero and then is only 13.98" low at 300yds, with 886ft/lbs energy. Aiming a little high, but not off the animal, even with only 886 ft/lbs, you will resoundingly decide the issue at hand. As for energy, read on..

i bought a 450b for one reason, to be able to stop larger game at shorter distances (0-200yds)... that means anything that looks at me like i am lunch and weighs over a couple hundred pounds is pretty much toast if i do my part ... i have placed several 6" patterns at 200 yards free hand, less then one second in between shots with about a ten inch drop, plenty good for me(i cant operate my 45-70 levergun that fast and stay on target)... what you wont see me doing is trying to be a "sniper" with this round...

downrange a heavier bullet does not need all that much energy anyways, it just does a "mow through"...

just a thought...

cheers

These are the most salient points, here on a post about practical considerations, in my opinion.

I've read allot about BC and Foot pounds Energy here. First of all the 6.5 Grendel, even with it's superior BC does not over take the 450b, in energy, even out to 1000yds, according to my calculators. BC and to a lessor extent Energy does not mean much to me. What I want to know is, if I have two other more important things before I try to kill an animal. The first being what is the exact range to the target and second being, do I have enough bullet, in caliber, weight, and construction, to kill the target, when I get there? Wind is always a consideration.

Let me explane my comment about energy. The charts have tons of bullets, wherein, the energy of one is more than another, but if the right bullet/cartridge is chosen, the other will always out kill the better energy bullet, in some examples. The better yard stick to use, is the Taylor Knock Out charts, but even then, those were developed about 100 +- years ago and bullets and ballistics have just gotten better. So, from extensive experience as a PH, for long years, I subjectively add 35% to Taylor's numbers, for the 450b, to arrive at a more accurate picture. Let me give you a real-world example of what I'm trying to convey. Let me say first of all, I absolutely LOVE the 6.5x55 Mauser, so don't misread what I am about to write.

My Father and Brother are both shooting the same Moose. My Brother has the 6.5x55 with 160gr bullets and my Father has an 06 using 220gr bullets. The Moose is at 300 yds. My Brother gets out of the canoe first and starts banging away, 11 times in all. Chunk flying off the animal, all shots are in the shoulder & front rib cage area, as verified by the after action inspection. The Moose never quit eating, while being hit by the 6.5x55. Between the second and third magazine reloadings, Dad got into the Action with the 06. One shot from the 06 ended the spectral, a shoulder shot, right where it stood. That 6.5 had a BC of about .400+ and a speed of 2700fps and the 06 had a BC of about .300, that's .100 less ft/lbs sports fans, with a speed of 2400 fps (you can get more, but this is a Garand and the op-rod won't take it) but the 06 did fair much better, in this example.

So the muzzle energies, in this example, for the 06 vs the 6.5x55 are 2813 vs 2589. The 6.5, with it's superior BC over comes that deficit, by the time they travel to 300yds, which is 1300 vs 1500 ft/lbs, but so what, it sure wasn't killing the Moose, making bullet placement vital, the 06 was less critical, whereas, if a 450b were being used, shot placement is even far less critical, right?

BC is most important to the Match guys or one wanting to hit very small targets at long, "Unknown" Ranges or where wind is a factor, both have gadgets to better inform the shooter of those particular conditions. Again, if I am hunting on an open square 40 acre plot, I frequent, kitty-corner it is about 619 yds and the deer I am most interested in, are crossing at the 500yd line, but they can be anywhere, of course. What is the range, how are the winds and we sure do have gadgets that will tell us both. I then look at my pre-made-up range card, that is pasted on the off side of the stock and then if I've got enough gun, I make the shot. I can tell you, that deer will simply lie down, when hit with a 450b at 500yds. A lung shot with a Grendel, may result, in a deer that is not recoverable. You can argue that if a spinal flange shot is made with the Grendel, that same deer will just fall over, but then again, my Dad has done it with a 22lr, at those ranges. Yeah I know how bad that sounds/is, but then again, you don't know my father. I can guarantee this, that a Texas Heart shot Moose, with a 6.5 Grendel, will never make the liver, BY-BY Moose, gone, dead in several days, maybe, but to further put this notion, that the Grendel has better down range energy to rest, I will use a total Smack-Down. I have a customer that with many witnesses, made that TX-shot, with a 450 Bushmaster loaded with 230gr-FMJ's and not only killed the Bull Moose, but when the bullet exited the chest of that bull, killed a cow Moose too, which was standing broadside to the bullet path. Energy doesn't mean much to me. Nuff said..t

[artalon]

I agree 100%, you can make good kills at those distances with almost any round out there and if you trust your shot by all means shoot
I, myself think that if I cant blow its head off then I wont take the shot

[wildcatter]

I agree 100%, you can make good kills at those distances with almost any round out there and if you trust your shot by all means shoot
I, myself think that if I cant blow its head off then I wont take the shot

Pretty sound advice and one not easily arguable..t

[michael5446]

just went to the "frozen tundra" range this weekend, a good start the new year!.. was about 5 degrees above zero(t shirt weather )...

shot about 30 reload rounds through the varmint rifle... 40 rounds through the 450B... and 40 through the 45-70...

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here is the result of 10 shots on a bipod at 100 yards with an eotech red dot( sighted in at 1 inch above zero)...

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the flyers were my fault, i can always tell when i pull a shot, not to bad when the red dot covers that square at a hundred yards...

now for the practicality factor of the 450B, i'll let you all decide, took some video of the last rounds(after about 68 rounds of big bore i was getting shaky) and decided to do a test... full mags at 50 yards as fast as i could keep on target.. 5 rounds of 325 gr hornandy in the marlin 45-70 lever action and 7 rounds of 250 gr in the 450B, watch the snow...
450--- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQAMbm0g6gM
45-70--- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF9iWhL6G8M

both were shot standing upright freehand to mimic a fast aq hunting situation at 50 yards, i actually slipped after the forth shot with the 450B, tried to keep it goin after that....

nothin like semi auto big bore

[wildcatter]

Pretty darn good, 12 seconds and 7rds for the 450b. 10 seconds and and 5rds for the 45-70. all @ 50 yds, how was the accuracy on those rigs, I can't quite see it?

I demonstrate 5rds all in the black of a hundred yard target, in less than 2 seconds @ 25yds, now if you've got a charging Griz or Mad Momma Moose, 25yds isn't far enough away to get a second shot off in a lever gun, but we can get all of our rounds off and on target. There isn't anything alive that can with stand the kind of punishment the 450b can dish out, with the right bullets. Now, what will be the results with an extended mag, humm..t

[michael5446]

here were the results, i shot low and and a little right, i'll have to aim a tad higher next time... another thing i noticed is that the Eotech red dot is pretty hard to see with a backround bright white snow - i will set the 450 up with iron sights, some 325 grain reloads, and next take some crony speeds and try the test again to make it more even... practice practice practice...

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have fun and be safe out there
cheers