450B ammo results

Talk about your 450b reloading experience, ask questions, etc...

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450B ammo results

Postby PyroRobby » Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:21 am

Just an FYI and posting some feedback from personal experience so far trying a couple types of 450B ammo.

Best accuracy so far is from the standard Hornady Black 250gr, "target ammo" I think this ammo has a tendency to detonate on impact and loose weight though it did completely penetrate a 198 pound boar.
Reasonable accuracy and consistency from Underwood 245gr, "hunting ammo", expected to be less accurate than the Hornady.
The 200gr and 2 different samples of 275gr, were suspected of being poorly loaded from the manufacture and results were not worthy of posting. Basically one of the 275 grain samples had about 12MOA accuracy, if you can use the word accuracy with that. My thoughts are the bullets would be fine; but requires precision reloading, after finding the best load configuration your rifle likes.

My Bushmaster rifle is a BCA 18', mid-length GS upper .75" OD at gas block, on an AERO precision M4E lower
450 Bushmaster AR15 build - https://ibb.co/LZ8mdDg

I am making comparative shots between the bushmaster and my .308, same day, same conditions, same model scope.
Savage Arms MSR10 Hunter in .308 Winchester - https://ibb.co/NjQ9MgB

.308 was 100 yards, 5 shots in about 5 seconds, scope on 20X
450BM is at 50 yards, 5 shots in about 5 seconds, scope on 20X

50 yards works for me because hogs I will engage are going to average that distance at furthest, more likely 45 yards actually.

I made performance comparisons between my 450B and my .308. https://ibb.co/nghPGZr

The shot placement here compares 5 shots at 50 yards, using 20X magnification, bench rested. The large target is the 5 shot group, the lower 2 shot were typical spread and placement of the Underwood 245 gr. You see only 2 shot on the lower left target: but I shot another target with 3 more shots, just didn't collect the target. It also was about 3" lower hit points than the 250gr Hornady Black and about a 3" spread at 50 yards. For hunting ammo, the Underwood provided the best results to date out of my rifle; but nothing has been as accurate as the Hornady Black 250gr.

This target is the 450B and 308 at 100 yards, 18X scope setting https://ibb.co/jywnzyh
Shows zeroing shots of the 308 compared to already zeroed shots of my 450B, on a windy day, wind blowing to the left in strong gust. The 450B is obviously the bottom left target.
At a note, the circling of the 308 shot isn't what it looks like at first glance. I was walking the elevation up and down, to check the indexing of the scope, you might be able to see the shot order numbering on the holes. The only shots that are grouped are the upper right and lower right, and they were a switch from 150gr to 168 grain, plus it started raining and the wind started changing directions.

Looks to me, for best results with something other than the Hornaday 250gr, hand loading will be required. The 450B has become more of a project rifle, lot of tuning required initially. Harder to get magazines and the ammo has been hard to come by and temperamental. I paid $60.00 for a box of 20 Underwood Extreme Penetrator 245gr, compared to $40.00 for 2 boxes of 20 Barnes 168gr hunting ammo.

Love my 450B, can see a lot of reasons to have it; but truthfully, the .308 seems to make more sense for me as a general purpose utility rifle. The 450 will be a good bush gun and on the AR platform is makes a great hunting rig; but not without some tuning to bring it all together. From my experience, if you just want a 450, you might come out at a lower cost and less tuning work, just going to an off the shelf bolt action.

Here are the results after zeroing my 450B at 100 yards, then going back 2 weeks later and testing the zero.
Center target is me, bench rested, scope set to 18X, shooting 7 shots in about 10 seconds, no wind.
Bottom two targets is me, shooting 5 shots, bench resting on bi-pod and only loosely using fist support under stock, shooting at about 5 shots in 5 seconds.
upper two small targets is my son, bi-pod only, didn't change the focus to his eyesight, shooting at about 5 shot in 5 seconds.

https://ibb.co/4WwzZxV
Gun control is using both hands, good gun control is hitting your target precisely.
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Re: 450B ammo results

Postby Hoot » Mon Sep 16, 2019 10:36 am

Hand loaded Xtreme Penetrators shot more accurate than any other load I've ever produced. If you haven't seen the thread, here's the Link to it. Using either Lil Gun or W296, once they hit 2400 fps (AR platform 1:20, 20 inch barrel) the BR shot groups tightened up like a laser!

Hoot
In Theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. In Practice, there is.
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Re: 450B ammo results

Postby PyroRobby » Mon Sep 16, 2019 11:50 am

Hoot wrote:Hand loaded Xtreme Penetrators shot more accurate than any other load I've ever produced. If you haven't seen the thread, here's the Link to it. Using either Lil Gun or W296, once they hit 2400 fps (AR platform 1:20, 20 inch barrel) the BR shot groups tightened up like a laser!

Hoot



Thanks Hoot, yeah. I can see where it will all come together hand loading and plan to get my loading equipment with tax return money, first of 2020.

Plan to go to Boar Creek Ranch this coming weekend and get 2 hogs, Maybe ~100 pounders. Will shoot one with my .308 and the other with the 450B. The 450B I plan to use the Underwood ammo, at ~45 yards, what I have is accurate enough to get a good shot I think. The .308 is just a way of measuring terminal ballistics, see if both with drop the hogs on the spot this time ... of course I will try a heart shot and not do another liver shot like last time. New to hogs ... anatomy matters. I will try and get pictures of the wound channels too.
Gun control is using both hands, good gun control is hitting your target precisely.
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