450 Bushmaster vs 458 socom

[sbrville]

Helping my brother put together a deer rifle on an AR platform. Just wondering if we should go with a 450 or a 458. What are the tradeoffs on ballistics, upper price, ammo price,..ect. Thanks SB

 

[kludge]

Both duplicate modern .45-70 loads. For deer hunting it hardly matters

Do you reload?

The .458 has more heavy bullet choices for game other than deer (right up to the largest animals in North America).

The .450 can use cheaper pistol bullets made for the .454 Casull and .460 S&W Mag. (the .240gr and 300gr Hornady XTP-MAG are excellent inexpensive choices) but Hornady makes a pointy 250gr bullet specifically for the Bushy.

On an AR-15 platform you can also do a .358 WSSM

 

[Principal Skinr]

Slightly OT--I hope the DNR understands that lots of folks are going to have ARs chambered in these calibers during deer season this year. I hope they don't freak out on some people, or even detain them, not realizing these things are legal.

I'd like to think they are educating their officers in advance. I'd probably contact the local DNR office nearest to where I'd hunt, just to be sure.

 

[sbrville]

Yeah I do reload. I didn't realize you could do the 358. Also.

 

[kludge]

Check out dtech for WSSM uppers.

Dtech Superstore - Home

Or you can to a .358 WSM 1.8" in an AR-10. Or a .358 Hoosier with even less trouble (uses the .308 bolt). Would probably need some magazine mods in either case, but anyway when you said AR platform I assumed your were talking about the AR-15.

 

[sullivmt2015]

I was in the same predicament and decided on the 450 bushmaster. The main reason came down to ammo price. Ammo is easy to get and it only runs ~25/box for the Hornady. I currently don't reload so this was a huge factor. They advertise the .450 as an effective 200 yard round, but I think this can be stretched out a little bit farther according to some research I have done. I will definitely post some feedback when I get optics mounted and some range time.

 

[dave29]

Taken from WIKI, FWIW.

Socom:

250 gr (16 g) 609.6 m/s (2,000 ft/s) 2,938 J (2,167 ft·lbf)

Bushmaster:

250 gr (16 g) SST 2,214 ft/s (675 m/s) 2,722 ft·lbf (3,691 J)


I have been thinking about buying a bushmaster upper over a Socom upper just because they seem easier(faster) to get.

 

[jy951]

I would definitely get the 450. Much cheaper ammo and reloading supplies.

 

[shooter521]

They advertise the .450 as an effective 200 yard round, but I think this can be stretched out a little bit farther according to some research I have done.

Hornady's 250gr flex-tip load drops 3.4" at 200yd and 24.5" at 300yd, per their website.

 

[Tnichols00]

Lets see if I can bring this back to life and not create a whole new thread

I too am looking into the same thing, 458 socom vs 450 bushmaster.

I dont reload and wont be shooting the gun a whole lot other than hunting so price of ammo wont matter too much to me.

Since this was created a year ago has there been any more information come forward?

Is there an advantage to one round over the other (Excluding Price)

Is there an advantage to one platform over the other, reliability, accuracy?

Who has one of either or both and what are your impressions?

 

[DocIndy]

I have a 458 SOCOM and love it. I have taken a few deer with it and man is it effective. I run either 300 gr. JHPs or 325 gr. FTX reloads. I like the round so much, I had a savage short action rebarreled to a 458. It's just fun to shoot. Recoil is about like a 20 ga. Slug gun. I haven shot a Bushmaster, but went to the SOCOM since my AR mags wouldn't have to be modified to feed the rounds.

 

[Dirty Steve]

Same boat here. My impression FWIW: Assuming you can actually find a 450 upper and don't reload, ammo is more readily available (Cabelas, Midway, etc...). Good luck finding a reliable source of 458. If you do reload, you can actually find a 458 upper relatively easy. That seems to be the major difference to me between the two. Ammo availability for a non-reloader. Both will kill a deer DRT.

Dirty Steve

 

[Tnichols00]

Sounds good, I dont seem to have any problem finding the 458 online, not sure what I could find local though.

I think I will go with the 458 just for ease of use it sounds like the round is very similar and the 458 will more than get the job done.