Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Ruger .450 Bushmaster Bolt Gun

Ruger is getting ready to launch an American Ranch in .450 Bushmaster. I am no fan of the American but one of these may find its way into my collection because I've been contemplating having a short .450 bolt gun built for awhile. Would have to at least get a laminated stock for it though. We'll see...

I believe they made a special run of these for a Michigan Gun shop that sold them like hotcakes. Looks to be a nice little rig. Hopefully someone from Michigan chimes in.

I don't know how well that will do.
In Wyoming the 458 SOCOM sell very well, but I know of no one that has or wants a 450 Bushmaster. We have a lot of elk and big bears. So a super fast pistol bullet (2000 to 2200)is not as appealing as a 1400 to 1700 FPS rifle bullet. The bushmaster has a .451" bore so most of the bullets available are made for handguns. The SOCOM has a 458" bore so it's made to fire rifle bullets like those made for the 45-70, 450 Marlin and even some for the 458 Win Mag.

Maybe the demand will be good in other places, but I think they would do far better if they offered the SOCOM, even if they didn't do it in the American. It was made for the AR, so what would be wrong with selling them in the ARs?

Either one would be appealing to me for creek bottom hogs and deer at close range.

I wonder if it would work in the Mini-14 platform?

...a thought for you.

The Bushmaster will be able to run bullets from 185-350 grains. Many of the heavier bullets like the Hornady XTP Mag line are made to preform at .454 velocities. These bullets have already taken game the size of elephant...

The SOCOM is limited to rifle bullets that are made to preform at velocities greater than the maximum velocity one can get from a SOCOM....so most any bullet isn't going to expand to any great extent...

A friend in Texas bought a 450 BM upper several years ago and has dropped a lot of pigs with it...he says it is a hammer...

Bob

The dealer here orders them direct from Ruger by the pallet. They sell as quick as he can get them in.

I'd rather have a hawkeye of one flavor or another in .450 Marlin.

There are a few .458" bullets that perform very good at SOCOM velocities. I have tried the Hornady 300 grain HP and it does just great. I'm going mid-1700s with it, and having used it in the .45-70, chose it because I noticed that it had a tendency to expand too rapidly if pushed beyond 1900 fps. The Speer Unicor doesn't expand as much but retains damn near all of its' weight.

The Sierra and Nosler versions ought to do well at SOCOM speeds

Most of the bullets designed for the .45-70 are intended to expand at lower velocity. Most factory loadings are under 1800 fps, and with the heavier bullets, 1300-1400ish

It is able to push 350 grain LBT cast at what many would consider ideal velocity. With this bullet design, expansion is not needed.

The dealer here in Mi that's reffered to took delivery of 1000 rifles last week. As of this morning he has less than 100 left. He is pairing them with a VX2 3 X 9 with a pre calibrated CDS turret. This makes over 2000 sold....so someone is buying them....lol. I've seen targets shot at 300 yards with 3" groups by someone that can shoot a little using the Hornady 250 gr ammo.

The big attraction here is it's Michigan Zone3 legal. That requires a straight walled, 1.8" long case.

'Twould be legal anywhere in in Hoosier land as well...

And what dealer might that be ? It's my understanding that Ruger only sells thru distribution - Bill Hicks, RSR, Sports South, etc.

Randy's Shooting Center in Bad Axe. And yes, ordered directly. If you order more than a distributor would, they sure will sell direct

Here is the YouTube video, with the range time at the end.



Here is the pic of their latest shipment:



Now, if they would only make a lefty version, I'd probably bite. Preferably in stainless. I don't think I'd mind the short barrel with this cartridge.

I love it!!

Mike

Phone call to Randy's this morning!
Hope the family doesn't miss their Christmas gifts!

I was very tempted to find one until I found my CZ 527. That scratched my carbine itch for a bit. I will be watching how these preform.

After viewing the video, looks like Randy worked directly with Ruger to come up with the 450 Bushmaster in the RAR as a dealer exclusive. Once his commitment was met, Ruger probably decided to introduce it to the general public.

BTW, looks like close to 700 Rugers in that picture.

If you go to their facebook page, pretty much every post since early fall has been updates on the Ruger 450 Bushmasters, and when shipments are scheduled to arrive, and also what their current stock is on them.

There was reportedly 100 left hand ordered (not sure what version), and also the stainless ones are scheduled to run in 2017. Ruger was waiting for election results before committing, because a Hillary win would have shut down rifle production on everything except AR type guns, high capacity pistols, etc. But, since that scare is over, they can balance out production as demand indicates. I suspect the AR craze is on the downward slope, so sporting guns might actually get some attention again.