450Bushmaster.net

My brother in law discovered that I had reloading equipment a couple weeks ago and was asking about the possibility of loading up some lighter recoiling loads for my nephews and niece to shoot out of his 450 in AR platform. I've got a decent selection of bullets and powders to play with....250 grain SST's and 275 Barnes TSX bullets, H110 and Lil Gun powder, and Remington 7 1/2 and some CCI 400 primers. Shots taken would be 100 yards or less. Has anyone done anything like this and had any success? I know there are buffer options that would reduce recoil, but he's looking into trying some reloads as they would be cheaper than the buffer options that are out there.

Best bet for light weight recoil is reasonably light weight bullets. (Newton's 3rd Law)

Try 34gr Lil Gun and 200gr FTX bullet.

If your brother in law's 450b is broken in, they will cycle reliably.

Hoot

Hoot, will gas lengths make a difference on how light loads will cycle?

Al in Mi wrote:Hoot, will gas lengths make a difference on how light loads will cycle?

To a certain degree. With lighter loads, the shorter carbine gas system, such as those found in factory Bushmaster barrels, will offer the best chance. Mid length will work also as long as the barrels aren't too short. Lighter bullets move through the barrel quicker, so faster acting gas systems will have the best chance of cycling. Rest assured, 34gr of Lil Gun pushing a 200gr FTX is still no slouch, but noticeably tamer than say the 250gr factory loads, enough to be appreciated. For recoil sensitive shooters, the 450b would not be my first choice. The 300 blackout's bigger brother, the 7.62x40WT I have, loaded with 123gr SST's and sporting a muzzle brake, can literally be shot from my chin. No doubt, the weaker 300 blackout (7.62x35) would offer even less recoil under the same circumstances.

Hoot