Looking into new AR chambering- Something to shoot deer and pigs and other critters with. First hand experience reports would be great - anything different you would or would not do when building or buying? Recoil , is it really that bad, and anything you can do other than a brake to help? Thank you for your time...Joe

I love mine. I use it for deer hunting in Ohio. Noise, yes… recoil, less that 12ga slug gun.

I have an 18” barrel and no suppressor.

Attached File

I like mine.  Built on an old Bushmaster (RIP) 20-inch upper kit.  Fun cartridge to reload.  Try the Barnes 275 gr TSX.

Thanks for the info , keep it coming. Does anybody use a different buffer or spring or just the standard carbine work?

I built mine a couple of years ago.All AERO except the barrel,it's a Shaw 16" 1/24.Standard carbine H buffer,standard spring.

It feeds outa Lancer 20rnd mags with no change in follower,I have a few BM 450 mags that are GTG also.

It has a Tromix comp on it. Vortex LPVO 1-8x24.

Thing shoots an inch to 1 1/4 at 100yrd using Hornady Black.To me recoil is about like a heavy 20 Ga field load.Nothing like any of my 45-70's.

8pnt took a hit from it at a lasered 128yrds......BANG FLOP!!!.

I do like it a lot and for where I live it'll be good 80% of the time.Get/build one ya won't regret it a bit.

I built a Dissy a couple years ago.  Cut down and threaded the 20" Bushmaster barrel to 16".  Recoil isn't bad at all.  I did add some weight to the storage compartment of the A2 stock tho.



Setscrew FSB in the rifle position but is has carbine gas.  

16" OG Bushmaster (rip).  Started with h2, had issue, back to carbine or h1 (forgot), runs like a top suppressed or not (Rex 458 can).  Shoot mostly Hornady 250gr American gunner load.  Just bought some subs to play with, should be interesting

Thanks for all the input . Standing by for more...Joe

https://www.ar15.com/forums/AR-15/450-bushmaster-upper-build-UPDATE-Built-and-now-a-range-report-/121-782212/

Just built one myself and am loving it. Accurate, reliable (now that I found the protruding stock screw)  and safe with a tubbs flatwire and 5.5oz h3 buffer in carbine recoil length system.

Highly recommend the brownells' (faxon) 16" barrel, brake and bolt combo.
https://www.brownells.com/gun-parts/rifle-parts/rifle-barrels-parts/ar-15-450-bushmaster-barrel-4150-alloy-steel/

Use this thread for brownell's coupon codes
https://www.ar15.com/forums/Industry/Current-Coupon-Codes/333-194866/?page=40

Duramag (cpd) 7rd magazines have been great as well

I'm getting 2150fps with hornady black factory 250gn ftx and recoil is a joke.

A KAW Valley linear comp makes this caliber much more enjoyable, especially for hunting. I don’t mind the recoil but I really don’t like the concussion from all that fast burning powder. It’s certainly bad juju for deer and hogs.

Edited: I believe I read that wrong and therefore owe Buckeye33 an apology.

Oooh...Big Bore Dissy!  Very nice!

Best,
JBR

I’ve had several 450’s and currently own 4.

The recoil is nothing bad at all, and anyone who tells you differently has likely never shot anything besides an AR in 5.56.
It feels about like a .410 shotgun out of an AR, and will kill deer/pigs where they stand.

Do not use the Hornady Black (ballistic tip) loads on deer unless you like to track them.
Anything soft point will be ok, or reload your own using something else.

We’ve been reloading 250gr XTP’s (non magnum) for years and they act like little grenades inside the boiler room of a deer.
They don’t take a step and the organs are usually unrecognizable upon field dressing.


Get one, or 4, you won’t regret it.

Thanks for everyone's input , guess I'll have to put one together and give it a try...Joe

I just picked up a RRA 16” stainless. When you say recoil is nothing bad at all, are you referring to rifles with muzzle brakes?  I bought a thread protector and am considering removing the large, ugly muzzle brake. I could do without the noise and blast but wondering about the recoil implications.

450 bushmaster is the go to in our deer hunting circle here in Iowa. I've built two and am helping my father on a third. Devastating on whitetail. Next year I'll have a new 35 whelen so not sure how much hunting I'll do with mine.

450 Bushmaster works great for MN deer hunting. Recoil isn't bad like a 20ga.

I have many 450s in my collection from a Ruger American to AR platforms from 10.5" to 20" all suppressed.  I run standard carbine springs and H3 buffers in most with the exception to one of the SBRs that was tuned specifically to run with 395gr Subs.  All are suppressed using the SilencerCo Hybrid46.  

I live and hunt in Iowa and its devastating on WhiteTail and I have taken many deer with mine since straightwall went legal.  

DuraMags - 7rounders as another poster noted are the best mags in my opinion and I use them exclusively but only loaded to 5rds in the mag.  

I have found for me and my builds that the Hornady Black 250g is the most consistent for accuracy...that includes Gold Box Hornady Custom - its the same.  

I have had mixed results with the Hornady WhiteTail 245gr as i have had some deformation on the soft point during cycling, but that could be a rifle issue.

I have one built on an old 16in bushmaster upper and a fixed axe skele stock.  I love it.  Mine has been very accurate and reliable.  I use old steel straight 20round mags with single shot drop in sleds.

Hornady ammo is the best factory setup.

I have 14.5" with SiCo hybrid suppressor. The muzzle brakes make it loud like not hearing safe loud. Suppressor fixes that also reduces recoil. Recoil is like 20ga maybe 28ga shotgun.

What sleds do you use?

My first 450 had an A2 birdcage and the rest since have all wore flash hiders or bare muzzles.
Ditch the loud brake, you won’t need it.

The Tromix followers work well for me in Lancer mags. I use the 10-round mags, which will net you 4 450’s I believe

Thanks for the advice.  I've got a stainless thread protector for it, I'll report back here in this thread when I swap them out with a comparison

A couple years ago I really wanted a 45-70 levergun to hunt with but they either weren’t available or got too expensive. I wanted something with a lot of knockdown power because I’ve been losing a lot of deer that made it off the property after being shot. Then I realized I could get a complete 450 upper for 300 bucks. So yes… I bought the Bear Creek 18” upper.
Say what you will about Bear Creek but I was desperate to get outfitted for deer season quickly. This is my experience…
It looked and felt fine. I mated it with the lower half of an old school Armalite 20” A2 just because it had a stronger buffer spring than my other options. The fit was perfect. I bought Lancer metal-lipped mags and put special 450 followers in the mags. YouTube says this is best for reliability. Also, I went with the 18” after seeing videos comparing velocity in the 16” vs the 18”.
Two years later my son and I have dropped 4 deer where they stood. Something I’ve rarely done. Two of them ran a short distance but all of them hit the ground hard first. The Bear Creek upper is reliable when I shoot it but sometimes stovepipes for him. He’s only 12 and maybe doesn’t shoulder it tightly. It’s hard to say in the heat of the moment. He never had any jams on the bench.
All in all I’m very happy with the Bear Creek upper and with my new caliber of choice for deer. Accuracy is great. My farthest deer was 150 yards through the brush. I would go 18” to take full advantage of the cartridge. And look up the Lancer mag/follower reliability combo. (I can’t remember where the followers came from) The ONLY complaint I’d make is the screws used to hold the handguard on did start some surface rust after being out in the weather. But only those screws. Everything else was fine.
Oh I forgot to mention I’m using the Hornaday Black 250gr FTX. Only because at the time it was all that was available. It worked well and was already sighted in so I stuck with it.

 " />

I to have built 3 of them so far. I’m working on a 4th 450 Bushmaster now and it’s almost finished other than scope and scope mount.  Yes I agree they recoil about like a 20 gauge slug gun. Not bad at all.
Congratulations on the nice deer the 450 Bushmaster took this past year. Nice job everyone.

I heart my 450 also. built it myself with mostly Satern bits for the upper and it's an excellent shooter. Also a hoot to reload for. Hornady 225 FTX is a lot cheaper than the 200 and 250 for some reason, pushing Them with 'Lil Gun works great.

I'm fighting the urge to build a pistol version now as Satern has a 10.5" on sale and I have a new stripped upper with ejection port hogged out doing nothing.

I think it's a great cartridge as is the 458 socom , but I opted for 375 socom .

It's a bit flatter shooting and has an excellent balance of weight and SD .

I have an 18" I've used to hunt with. It's definitely a thumper on a lightweight rifle, but not crazy. Hits like a truck if you put the bullet where it needs to be. I use a silencerco hybrid on mine. Haven't tried subs yet.

The .450 BM is a great platform. I went with .458 socom and really like it. But the .450 BM is half the price for ammo and is only slightly lesser in performance. If I did it again I’d go .450 BM all day long.

I just took my 18in tromix barrel and cut it down to 10in. Redrilled a carbine length gas tube, crowned and rethreaded the barrel. It shoots great and isn't too bad with the hybrid 46 on it. Velocity using 300gr speer deep curls went from 1960fps to 1730fps and accuracy stayed around 1.5 moa. Should be a fun new hog gun with the thermal.

standard parts on mine, works fine

This is on my "to do " list now, hope to get it finished by this fall, thanks for all the input...Joe