Texas Sheepdawg wrote:Hoot wrote:Every time I see a short presentation 450b, my mind immediately goes to this:
...snip...
Hoot
Short?
I didn't say it was a 20" barrel?
Mine is a 20" barrel, but he makes 18,16 and others too....
The operative word is
presentation, which while it includes barrel length, it is also influenced by the length of the action. In autoloaders, pumps, levers and bolt actions, they present longer if for no other reason than the longer action required to cycle the rounds adds to the overall length. When I shot Skeet every week, for many years, the benefit of the shorter action provided by an over-under shotgun was IMHO, a plus for fast acquisition of the birds. That black stocked, single shot 450b portrayed in the third image of this thread, I can't say this enough
IMHO, looks too short to balance properly. Not having shot it, that observation is based solely on its
presentation.
All you recent converts from states formerly restricted to shotgun or handgun deer hunting, but which recently began allowing rifles that shoot "handgun" cartridges, answer something for me and save me searching your individual DNR web sites. Do those states restrict the use of autoloading rifles which shoot handgun calibers? I ask because many of you are showing up with bolt action deer rifles in the 450b caliber. I'm a big proponent of making that first shot count and negating the need for a quick follow-up shot. I myself have never hunted deer with a bolt action because if I needed a follow-up shot, the last thing I wanted to do was remove my trigger hand from the grip in order to cycle the next round. I've been fortunate over the years to have only needed a followup shot once because the sharp angle from the tree stand I was in and the proximity of the deer, made me miss him clean. In that case he was more concerned with the doe in front of him, than in me and I made my second shot count. Not to misrepresent hunters in my state, many of whom shoot bolt action rifles under the same circumstances which compel me to use an autoloader. The point of the question is not which platform is best for deer hunting, but given so many reasonably priced 450b uppers available right now, why pay a handsome price to have a bolt action modified or custom made to accommodate this caliber if you already own a
black rifle? Is that a restriction in your state? Lastly, again as it relates to deer hunting as I experience it here in the north woods, my last choice for a deer rifle action would be a single shot. If I lived where most of the deer hunting scenarios were over great distances with long range calibers, the deer quite often does not realize he/she has been shot at if missed, or where it came from and in that scenario I could see the single shot as not being a handicap as quite often, time is on the shooters side. Not looking for a "Less Filling / Tastes Great" debate, just some perspective.
Again, not to inflame, but at ranges of 100 yds or less, I consider my 450b to be a howitzer, but out beyond that I feel it falls more in the arena of a mortar. Both being lethal and predictable, but different. Large rocks, when hurled from a catapult, may take a rainbow trajectory to you, but they still squash you flat and by virtue of their projectile weight defy crosswinds that would push a lighter projectile off course. I am only saying this as my opinion, not an inarguable fact.
Hoot