ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Talk about the AR15 style rifles chambered in 450 Bushmaster.

Moderator: MudBug

Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Windham Weaponry
3
10%
Bushmaster
10
34%
Trident Armory
4
14%
Franklin Armory
2
7%
Great Lakes Firearms
1
3%
BartZ Manufacturing
8
28%
Tromix
0
No votes
Alex Pro Firearms Armory
0
No votes
Next Level Armament
1
3%
Radical Firearms
0
No votes
 
Total votes : 29

ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby MIHUNT » Sun Oct 15, 2017 7:44 pm

Please leave a vote and a comment why you chose the manufacturer you're recommending! Looking for best quality, not taking price into consideration.

Michigan hunter new to the AR-15 game and will be building my first AR!

Brands I've found in my research that make .450BM uppers currently:

Windham Weaponry
Bushmaster
Trident Armory
Franklin Armory
Great Lakes Firearms
BartZ Manufacturing
Tromix
Alex Pro Firearms Armory
Next Level Armament
Radical Firearms
Gryphon Trading LLC
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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby Hoot » Mon Oct 16, 2017 10:55 am

I stickied this for a while.

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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby plant_one » Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:10 am

i voted for bushmaster, but only becuase its where my expierence is.

are there better products out there? most likely
have i had the pleasure of getting behind the trigger? nope :/
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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby Al in Mi » Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:29 pm

I voted for the Bushmaster, like Plant, it's the only one I've had.

Buddy Ryan did his build with a 16" Satern barrel, buddy Mike with a Gryphon. Both shoot extremely well.
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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby MIHUNT » Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:38 pm

Thanks, so far I've heard Bushmaster more than any other brand. Surprised no love yet for Windham, I heard their quality surpassed Bushmaster after the company split.
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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby Hoot » Tue Oct 17, 2017 3:11 am

My new hip is bugging me more than usual and I can't sleep.

My first 450b was the 20" upper from Bushmaster. I mounted it on an RRA A2 NM lower and away I went. It performed admirably, round after round and only saw its first factory ammo after over 1000+ hand loads through it. I had read arguments over whether a chromed bore and chamber were the best solution in non-military rifles, but mine ran fine and was easy to clean. It did however require somewhere around 120 rounds through the bore to effectively break it in. It was still going strong when I sold it to offset getting a 20" Trident, 1:16, Rifle Length gas system, barrel. That barrel gave me fits and eventually I replaced it with the barrel still on my Bushmaster upper. A melonited, 20" 1:24, Rifle Length gas system barrel from Franklin Armory. Though the gas system is not to my liking, it is otherwise a good barrel and a breeze to clean. There was a time when Bushmaster was the only game in town for a 450b. I suspect that is why there are so many in use and reflected in the survey. They are still good platforms. My Bushmaster barrel had a so-so chamber however. It was a little on the loose side. All but the tamest loads through it resulted in excessive CHG, but on the flip side of the coin, I can't ever recall a failure to feed or a stuck case. The chamber also was not cut perfectly coaxial to the bore. Fired cases tended to grow more on one side than the other. The chamber was also on the deep side, gauging at 1.708 IIRC. Still, it was a great shooter! I got it before the big split, so I can't speak to their current product. Barrel aside, the machining in the upper is pretty much indicative of a mass produced AR. It is my backup 450b upper now.

My go-to upper and the one I voted for is a 20" Mid-Length gas system Bartz. The chamber is cut spot on dimensionally with no sharp edges on the barrel extension, so no need to do a "melt off" on it like I had to do with the other barrels. Fit and finish are as one would expect from a hand fit AR. It locks up perfectly on my Minnesota made, SS (yes stainless steel) DPMS A2 lower. They made them for a few years a while back. The overall quality of the Bartz construction including the Nib BCA and custom in-house bolt makes it cycle like butter right out of the box. No need to run everything in. They also strengthened it at critical points. It responds very solidly to hot 450b loads unlike my Bushmaster did. The Bartz magazine is unlike any other I own. It too has run flawlessly since it came out of the box. No lip tweaking and polishing needed. Quality in design and fabrication has a price and the Bartz is no exception. Life is short, so my vote went with the Bartz.

The pain med has kicked in and I'll try going back to bed for now.

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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby MIHUNT » Tue Oct 17, 2017 7:31 pm

Praying you heal up Hoot, and I appreciate the advice! I will take a hard look at Bartz, I was leaning towards a 20" barrel. I will using this gun to deer/elk/bear hunt here in Michigan and plan to get hand-loads made as my ammo of choice, will be having hand-loaded a clone of the discontinued Remington Hog Hammer .450 ammo, made with Barnes bullets. Thanks again for the advice!!
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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby Texas Sheepdawg » Wed Oct 18, 2017 3:54 pm

Get healed up soon, Hoot. I know pretty much what you’re having to go through. Although mine was kidney cancer, the surgery really whacked me and it has taken almost two years for me to really have any energy. But now I’m doing a bit of very light resistive training, trying to get my upper strength back. So far, so good. But still my energy levels have not improved much. I can do a short burst but then I’ll have to fall out for a few hours. And yeah, the docs have looked at all the other reasons why and I’ve gone through a gauntlet of blood tests and biopsies and such. I’m just getting old.
I need for someone to send me one of those John Deere gator cart things. LOL.
Take care Hoot.
My choice was for the Franklin. Now I know that’s weird because quite honestly, I don’t own a Franklin in the 450 Bushmaster. But I have a couple of custom ARs that either have Franklin receivers or a complete Franklin Upper in other calibers and I absolutely love their Libertas series receivers. As for my 450 Bushmaster, it was just like Hoots’, but with a few exceptions. Yes, it was made before the split and it is a 20” 1:24 Bushmaster brand Upper. But my chamber dimensions are much different than Hoots and the hot 450 B rounds tend to shoot extremely well. The lower is a custom build that I built myself using the Stag Arms lower, and the A1 Recoil-Less Stock from GunNut here on the forum. I’ve stoned and honed a mil spec trigger hammer assembly and the springs, buffer Spring are all JPs.
But if I had to build another 450 Bushmaster, I would probably go with Franklin receivers and a Bartz or Satern barrel.
I absolutely refuse to buy anything “Bushmaster” or Remington.
But Windham Weaponry would probably be about as close to the quality of the old Bushmaster name as you can get since they are built on the same factory floor with the same mills and really the same employees and owner of the original Bushmaster brand in Windham Maine.
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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby MIHUNT » Wed Oct 18, 2017 4:44 pm

Thanks for the advice Texas, and yes Franklin is one I was reading up on last night, and I have yet to read a bad review. Have also got a vote for BartZ as well. I was planning to buy a .450 upper and match it with a lower of a different brand that fits, just because there's a lot more manufactures of lowers than .450 uppers. Will take a hard look at Bartz and Satern tonight. Thank you and praying you heal up too!
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Re: ADVICE NEEDED - Best Quality .450 Bushmaster Upper

Postby Antler King » Fri Oct 27, 2017 7:29 am

I Have 2 Bartz uppers and they are AWESOME! I called Bart up and asked him about 1000 questions and he had all the time to talk. I followed his break-in procedure to the T and I can tell you they are both tack drivers! No cycling issues and the 5 round clips function flawlessly!

Good Luck

John
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