450 Bushmaster Reviews

[19_A_CPT]

Anybody have reviews/experience on shooting and/or hunting with the 450 Bushmaster? Debating on building one (for whatever reason) and wanted to get some of ya'lls ideas on the cartridge beforehand. Its not one of those "do i need its"... its more of the coolness factor probably. 

[leroy]

Got one myself Brother.  I like em because they are essentially a 454 Casull that ya can handle as a rifle.  Im sure that, killin power wise, they are deadly as a drugstore.  There is a pretty good selection of both ammo n reloading components available for em.

I've got some prepped brass ready ta load myself. Gonna load em with some 300 grainers n Lil Gun..

Now for the bad news (...Which is minor...)... Ya need the ejection port milled out a bit on your upper if ya use a regular AR upper, or ya can just buy a pre milled one from AERO, if ya can find one.  Ya also need a 450 Bushmaster bolt as well.  The bushmaster cartridge head is different from a 556.  I bought mine with the barrel i used... A Ballistic Advantage 16" as i remember.

The second problem is (... Or wuz...) magazines.   It may be a bit different now, but ya had to modify mags for em.  I used the Lancer 30 rounders with a Sinclair single shot follower... That turns a $ 20 AR mag into a $45 one.  Mag capacity goes down considerably.  A 30 rounder will reliably feed 8 or 9 rounds as i remember.  

Finally, there is a 450 Bushmaster forum out there somewhere that helped me tremendously... 

Good luck... The Bushmaster is a great idea, especially now...

leroy...

 

Edited September 24, 2020 by leroy

[19_A_CPT]

Ive tracked down some magazines (7 and 10 rounders) that have the big bore followers on them. I will see how they work before i buy some more or put new followers in some. 

Found a guy that will sell ammo for $1 per round so im going to take the 300 he has if i can get to him before he sells them. 

Decided on a 16" forged barrel with a 15" MLOK. Will be a tan furniture build on black assemblies i think. My mind changes day to day. 

What about optics? Is the recoil heavy enough to demo basic scope options? Im thinking maybe up to a 6 power but worried about the recoil destroying it about the time i get the scope set. 

 

[leroy]

RE: " Optics" ... Can't give a good answer here... My 450 is iron sighted...That bein said; I would pick the one i liked... I like the low power long eye relief scopes ya use on big pistols and dangerous game rifles... They will stand the recoil just fine.  I would stick with Nikon, Burris, Bushnell.  

leroy

[19_A_CPT]

Still waiting on my tan stock set to come in but shes turned out the way i hoped. Sopmod stock is the most comfortable AR stock I have handled. 

[RC3]

On 9/27/2020 at 7:56 PM, leroy said:

RE: " Optics" ... Can't give a good answer here... My 450 is iron sighted...That bein said; I would pick the one i liked... I like the low power long eye relief scopes ya use on big pistols and dangerous game rifles... They will stand the recoil just fine.  I would stick with Nikon, Burris, Bushnell.  

leroy

How would you compare the 450 to a 458? Been wanting to build a 458 for years and the 450, 458 and .50bw all sound extremely similar.

[leroy]

RE:... 458, 50 Beowulf, 450 Bushmaster...

I think they are all basically the same thing.  I chose the 450 Bushmaster because i like the .452 bore thing and i like that Hornaday gave em a push ( as well as Remington ).  By the way, my barrel is from Ballistic Advantage; i like these guys alot...

When i bought my 450 barrel and bolt,  the 458 and the 50 Beowulf were " proprietary "  cartridges n designs; controlled by their inventors, which made em too expensive for my taste... Tippu Jutsu (458) and Alexander (50 Beowulf ) were botique insiders with a cult following, and i dont like that on its face; but that's just me.

The 450 appealed to me on another level as well... When ya get ta looking at the loadings and the energies developed by the 450, they look alot like a long barreled 454 Casull, which is where i think all this came from.  I also like the straight walled case of the 450... Havin said all that, there is 50 Beowulf brass and dies down stairs in the reloading room...HEHEHE; and ive got a hogged out ejection port upper layin around as well...

As to components, bullets in particular; the 450 is best by far.  The 50 bullets n 458 bullets are more limited in selection and are expensive ta boot... Hornaday did the big bore AR and 450 hunting fraternity a great service with their great bullet selection fir the 450...

Hope this helps explain a bit...

leroy...

[JHP45]

I've got an Aero/BCA build in 450 Bushmaster that was made for the exact purpose of I don't need it but it's a fun range piece. BCA ran a special on the uppers last year and it was more of an impulse buy. I got the 18" and run an A2 stock with a rifle buffer.

I ended up loving it and all my range buddies like shooting it when I take it out. It vaporizes 2 liter bottles.

Had good luck with 225 gr FTX over H110. Got data from the Hodgdon website.

Mine has been 100% with unmodified Lancer magazines both the 10 round (223) and 30 round mag (300 BLK) bodies. Your mileage may vary but I've had good experiences with those.

Recoil feels about like shooting slugs out of a pump action to me. Blast however is much greater. The thing has some bass to it.

[leroy]

6 hours ago, JHP45 said:

Mine has been 100% with unmodified Lancer magazines both the 10 round (223) and 30 round mag (300 BLK) bodies. Your mileage may vary but I've had good experiences with those.

JHP... How many rounds didya get in the 10 and 30 round Lancers..?  Any failures to feed..?  

Thanks a bunch...

leroy...

[JHP45]

On 11/10/2020 at 8:17 PM, leroy said:

JHP... How many rounds didya get in the 10 and 30 round Lancers..?  Any failures to feed..?  

Thanks a bunch...

leroy...

I get 12 in the 30 and 4 in the 10. So far so good feeding wise with both but, truth be told, I usually run the 10 round mag body due to cost per round. I haven't had a problem with the 30 round body but also haven't done high volume testing with it either. The 10 round body is GTG in my 450 and has functioned 100% so far.

[leroy]

JHP45...

 Thanks Brother... I'm impressed with the Lancer mags nyself...

leroy...