Help me decide on the best upper for me

[Hic28]

Hey all, I'm new to this forum however not new shooting.

I have a 5.56 AR and was thinking of building a .45 acp AR but wanted to have a little better ballistics while keeping a big bore that I could use on one of my standard lowers... So I started researching the .50 beowulf and .458 socom. While reading tons about those I came across the 450b. I just seems like the right choice(price/availability wise), I already reload .45acp and liked the fact that I could reload for the .450b with the same .451 230gr fmj rounds but throw them from 2200-2600fps especially since I will mainly be using this for range play, maybe coyotes if they are in my yard.

I have many questions about the .450b upper so I guess I will just dive into it.

Pros/cons of 16 v 20?

I'm leaning towards the 20" but have read a lot on this forum about the 16 being adequate. Shouldn't you be able to squeeze a little more velocity out of the 20?

Bushmaster v Trident?
Since I am leaning towards shooting a lighter bullet, which would be the way to go? Twist rate seems like the trident leans towards shooting the heavier bullet I like the fact that Tridentarmory answers questions directly and IMHO that is top notch customer service.
I like the aesthetics of the bushmaster and would like to buy a complete upper assembly but they are spendy ($770) and back ordered until 6/11/12 on midway and bushmaster themselves told me july yesterday. I guess I should research trident more however the website doesn't seem to have any uppers, only complete rifles.

I have more questions but am completely drawing a blank now. Please feel free to let me know your opinions, I would greatly appreciate it.

[kottke_35]

Welcome!

You are at the right place to have your questions answered about this cartridge/rifle platform.

If you go factory bushmaster upper, either length you can't go wrong. I have 16 inch and love it. Very easy to carry and points well (also have a 16 inch mid length 5.56 patrol carbine for work). If you want maximum performance and don't mind sacrificing a little portability then go with the 20!

Tridents stuff seems to be well put together. James is here on this site quite regularly and seems very friendly and knowledgeable. A couple members here have his uppers. The price for one of his custom uppers is just a tad higher than the price you are looking to pay from midway. I'll let him chime in when he is done eating his s'mores..

Any direction you go, you are going to be happy!

Good luck and keep us posted!

B.

[Ghost Dog]

Welcome, I have the 20" upper, you pick up a few 100 fps over the 16". I'm not a reloader so I figured - get all that you can.
I just went deer hunting a few weeks and carried all day with no problems. A good sling DOES help!

[tridentarmory]

"Nom nom nom"... ok smores gone, lets talk uppers.
no problem, if you like the classic style of a traditional AR flat top upper. Theyre convenient, and timeless in design.
if there is anything we can help you with however, contact us anytime.
We do build our guns arou.d the concept of heavy bullets, but i think you will be surprised to see the accuracy attainable with the lighter stuff too...
Im not here to push product, so if i can help in any way let me know, even if its just advice.

PS welcome!

[tridentarmory]

Give us a call at the shop anytime btw... youll likely speak with me directly...

[Texas Sheepdawg]

Sorry so late welcoming you to our electronic campfire, I had to tend to some spammers. But I see you've already been given a warm welcome. So pull up a stump and sit a spell. Wildcatter is cooking tonight so expect burnt hotdogs with a bite taken out of them.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

Somewhere it was discussed that we are getting approx. 126fps more velocity from the 20". I love my 20". And I am having notable success with the 230 grain FMJs by MagTech. But we don't recommend "plated"FMJs like Rainier. They won't stand up to the velocity and RPMs. I am currently working on loads using LilGun and the 230 grain bullets and have them hovering around 2500FPS +-.
Here are my results so far.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8633

[Hoot]

Somewhere it was discussed that we are getting approx. 126fps more velocity from the 20". I love my 20". And I am having notable success with the 230 grain FMJs by MagTech. But we don't recommend "plated"FMJs like Rainier. They won't stand up to the velocity and RPMs. I am currently working on loads using LilGun and the 230 grain bullets and have them hovering around 2500FPS +-.
Here are my results so far.
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=8633

FWIW, we may need to re-evaluate the different brands of plated bullets for our caliber.

A couple of weeks ago, I was dished up a plate of humble pie for dissin' Berry bullets by the owner of Berry bullets. Someone was pondering using some of their 50 Cal bullets for their 50 Beowulf and I waded in cautioning about their thin skin. The Berry owner said that they plate their bullets to different degrees of thickness depending upon what caliber they are intended for. He said in essence, "What did you expect using bullets plated to survive .45 ACP velocity? Apparently the 50 cal ones are plated thicker than the .452 ones. Ditto on the .458 bullets.

Hoot

[BillytheKid]

So, then, given the popularity of our round, is Berry going to plate .452's thicker now?

[Hoot]

So, then, given the popularity of our round, is Berry going to plate .452's thicker now?

I'm not Berry, but I highly doubt it. Their target market for that bullet is .45 ACP owners who dwarf the 450B community. I would be pleasantly surprised if they do though. In the mean time, there are plenty of other manufacturers producing cup and core 230gr .452 FMJ, albeit not as inexpensive as Berry bullets. Bottom line is copper costs money and whether it's plated on or swaged in, it's still a matter of the cost of copper and how much is used per bullet.

Hoot