Newbie here that has decided I need a AR15 chambered in 450. I never built a rifle before, much less an AR and I'm completely overwhelmed with the amount of manufactures and options. I want to built a middle of the road AR that I won't regret not purchasing the right component. Just for the record I'm 58 years old and have hunted whitetail for 40+ years and have about 800-1200 to spend. Any help would be appreciated!!

My advise would to be to buy a ruger american bolt gun for $400.  I bought the black 22 inch barrel version without a muzzld break from Randy's hunting Center in Bad Axe, he'll ship to your local dealer. With Hornady black ammo it shoots MOA out to 200 yards.  I shot a huge doe at 100 yards broadside and the impact dropped her to her knees.  The 450 bushmaster rocks.

I have a 16in 450B AR.  The upper is a Bushmaster from years ago.  The lower I put together from parts and use an ACE fixed stock.

With your budget you have a lot of options.

My range was limited to around 200yrds so there was no benefit in going to a 20in barrel.  I have taken a lot of hogs with mine.  Hornady ammo shoots excellent in mine, but I cant get decent accuracy out of the Remington factory loads.

If you go AR, mags can be an issue.  I have had 100% feeding success with 2 different setups:

1) Factory Bushmaster mags for the 450.  They have a different follower and are the thicker steel body mags.  They are pricey but you can catch them on sale from time to time.

2) The blue single shot followers (which pop over a regular 556 follower). Used in steel mags.  Some of the cheaper mags flex too much and dont hold the rounds in well and lead to feeding problems.  Old school steel C-products mag bodies have worked well for me.  They are the ones from before they went to complete shit.

I started with a bushmaster factory 450 upper changed the rail to something more useful lower you could build to suit your needs but I like an A2 stock for mags I modded factory bushmaster to hold 7 and run elander steel with calilegal followers

My 3rd year hunting with it and it kills deer

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Cdnn had bushmaster barrels for $99 and lancer 450 magazines too

Get a Tromix barrel and bolt.

I built mine with the barrel, muzzle brake, and bolt combo that brownells offers. Faxon manufactures it for them. Couldn't be happier. For mags I use modified lancer mags with the tromix followers.

What he said

Any pics you can share?  Assume you bought a big bore upper receiver?  Did you have to do anything with the lower to make it run properly?  I am debating going that route vs. a Windham complete upper if I can find one.

thanks!

I’d recommend going to Tromix and buying a complete 450 BM upper from them configured the way you want:

https://tromix.com/product/450-bushmaster-completely-assembled-upper-right-handed/

Having built uppers from parts myself, I can certainly attest there is a sense of satisfaction and some money saved from assembling it yourself from parts.  There can also be a huge feeling of frustration if there are problems that require pulling it apart to diagnose which part is f&#*%! up.  450 BM might not be the best choice for build #1 is all I’m really saying.

At a minimum I would buy the barrel, bolt and upper from Tromix.  Tromix knows what works on the big bore ARs.

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This is the only picture I have handy. My sister in law used it to kill her buck this last season. I used an Anderson big bore upper reciever. I use the 450 upper on a lower with an h3 buffer in it that usually resides on an over gassed 556 carbine upper.

Thanks, that is helpful.  Adding up all the parts I would need using the Brownells kit puts me almost exactly at buying a factory upper from Windham, Tromix, etc.  First world problems

Buy a factory Bushmaster upper like I did for $429 and it comes with a mag. Build or buy a lower of your choice, put a nice scope on it and you’re good.  That would be well under your budget. Bushmaster invented the round in conjunction with Hornady and the two together work phenomenal so far in my limited experience.

https://www.walshgunandtackle.com/450-bushmaster-ar15-uppers-/450-bushmaster-2070/bushmaster-20-450-bushmaster-complete-upper-20703040

I built a spikes lower receiver with Magpul furniture and a Velocity 3lb trigger, Nikon mount and a Leupold Freedom 3-9x40 scope. Put a 20” Bushmaster upper on it and it shoots lights out, cloverleaf groups at 100 yds with Hornady FTX 250 gr ammo. It’s probably the most accurate gun I own, even better than the bolts and other AR’s I’ve got. I haven’t shot any deer with it but I have dropped some hogs and that 450 is awesome!

For real top notch mags I got a couple of Bartz mags from Brenton USA and they are outstanding. Not that I’ve ever had any problems with the factory Bushmaster mag that came with the upper.

Recently there are many more options out there., it depends what you want to do.

If you want to build one from the ground up, you can, and I went Tromix 18” light barrel on a Saturn Big Bore Upper.

Want to slap a couple pieces together like legos? Buy a decent lower and find a 450 Upper. Windham, Bushmaster, Black Bear etc, tons more options than a few years ago.

Rather buy a complete rifle, that’s the easiest. Many great options already mentions.

Mags, I bought two for Windham Weaponry with zero issues.  I also bought some GI 30 round mags and followers.

Most importantly.... wear hearing protection and have fun with your new cannon.

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