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Posted: 4/23/2016 9:45:57 AM EDT
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Recently had a chance to help put together an AR in .450 Bushmaster, to replace my friend's extremely disappointing experience purchasing an upper from Alexander Arms. Anyway, this thing is a beast. It's Bushmaster's own 16" version on a Spike's lower, with the minimalist factory free-floated handguard. Tons of knockdown power, easily manageable recoil, good accuracy and all you need in addition to a standard lower is the upper plus mags. Without further ado:
The round really speaks for itself. A comparison to .223: 
On the right, wearing a 1-4x Leupold that suits it very nicely: 
And, with a round midair, vaporizing a gallon of water from 35 yards: 
I like this AR. A lot. We've taken 2 whitetail deer with it so far, neither of which went more than a few yards. It's accurate and easy to shoot- as mentioned, recoil is nothing to worry about with proper shooting technique. The comparison to a 20 gauge is about right. For any North American game, it's really hard to beat inside 200 yards, in my opinion; it may well come with me on my next moose hunt. Really, the only downside is cost of ammo, which is of no concern to me since its primary purpose is hunting. Also of note is that these things sell out quickly; Midwayusa sold out of them twice while my friend considered purchasing one, so if you want one and you see it in stock, pull the trigger quickly (pun fully intended.) In my opinion, well worth the $600 bucks. |
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I have one of these on a rifle length lower with an A1 stock, and a 1-5 Weaver Super Slam.
Due to the case capacity minor variations in powder charge have very lititle effect on accuracy, and the gun produces very nice groups. Mine prefers the 260gr Remington to the 250gr. Hornady but both are plenty accurate for the purpose. They will function with GI or Magpul mags with a 5.56 follower (although last round storages do occur), I buy the blue single feed followers on ebay for $9.95 which just cam into place on top of a GI follower (will not work with polymer mags).With the single feed followers the gun is absolutely reliable. The factory provided brake works reasonably, I do wish they offered a full front sight base, or railed gas block instead of the cut down fsb, but that is really my only complaint. I debated big bore uppers for quite some time before settling on the .450, largely due to factory loaded ammunition availability and cost. At $1.30 a round it is not inexpensive to shoot, but consistent with many other specialty hunting rounds. I love my thumper and it is probably the least expensive path to a big bore AR. |
| I have yet to experience a feeding issue so far, but only have about 100 rounds through her. As mentioned above, the report is noticeably different than a "fast caliber" AR; again, it seems more analogous to that of a shotgun. I'll see if I can find some forensic evidence of a whitetail doe that was double-lunged with this thing to illustrate my point about stopping power. I think one of my favorite things about it is that, if the shooter does their part, it's an extremely humane way to harvest an animal. Question for the other guys who have firsthand experience- anyone tried a significantly different load than the standard 250 grain guy with good results? Probably wouldn't replace the factory ammo as my go to, but for a big game hunting trip, a more potent recipe could be useful. |
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Quoted:
I have one of these on a rifle length lower with an A1 stock, and a 1-5 Weaver Super Slam. Due to the case capacity minor variations in powder charge have very lititle effect on accuracy, and the gun produces very nice groups. Mine prefers the 260gr Remington to the 250gr. Hornady but both are plenty accurate for the purpose. They will function with GI or Magpul mags with a 5.56 follower (although last round storages do occur), I buy the blue single feed followers on ebay for $9.95 which just cam into place on top of a GI follower (will not work with polymer mags).With the single feed followers the gun is absolutely reliable. The factory provided brake works reasonably, I do wish they offered a full front sight base, or railed gas block instead of the cut down fsb, but that is really my only complaint. I debated big bore uppers for quite some time before settling on the .450, largely due to factory loaded ammunition availability and cost. At $1.30 a round it is not inexpensive to shoot, but consistent with many other specialty hunting rounds. I love my thumper and it is probably the least expensive path to a big bore AR. My upper is a factory 16in Bushmaster, it has a railed gas block. The one that has top and both sides railed. I mount my primary arms ultimate weapon light on one side for hunting at night. |
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I've had my 450B upper for about 4 years now. It's taken several Arkansas Ozarks whitetails and every one has either dropped where they stood or ran a very short distance.
Mine is a 16 Bushy upper wearing an old Simmons Pro Diamond 1.5x5 shotgun scope. I shoot the 250 grain Hornady factory ammo. I was at our local Academy a couple of years ago after hunting season and they had ammo on sale. The Hornady 450 ammo was marked down from 29.99 to 15.99 per box. I snatched up 10 boxes which will probably last me the rest of my hunting life. I generally shoot a few rounds before season to make sure it's on and then the only shots fired are at deer. I really enjoy hunting with mine. |
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