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.

From your keyboard to God's ears!

ARs are sporting guns.

Sport is somethign people do.

Guns don't know and don't care.
They are objects not beings. They are tools and can be used for sporting purposes as much as any firearm ever made

ARs are no less "sporting" than Mausers, Krags, Mannlichers, Springfields and most muzzleloaders. Same with 9mm and 45 cal auto pistols, revolvers and cap and ball revolvers.

The lack of wood stocks is just an evolution of arms design. I note that MOST bolt actions sold today have plastic stocks on them. So an AR is just as much a sporting arm as this is.

Or this.

Or this


Cultivating a mindset that somehow ARs and "black guns" are not "sporting arms" is to give leverage to the whole anti-gun crowd. Military arms of yesterday are used for sporting purposes today. The weapon is not the rifle, it's the brain and will of the person carrying it. Firearms are just tools. Look here:
http://www.news.com.au/world/europe...s-story/c58ff8230506c3ab532c0621d279d983

Like trucks they can be used for evil, but unlike trucks they can be used actively against evil too.

Yep I saw one at the range in September. Reached out to Darrick (aka shortactionshooter, of Whitaker's Guns in Ky) here who is gonna have them right after the first of the year.

I looked at putting together an AR upper but that is a lot more expensive than an American, though I'd love to get that AR out more for hunting; they make EXCELLENT sporting rifles!

We have goofy rules/regs around centerfire cartridges south of a certain line in Michigan, and this cartridge meets the requirements to be allowed for deer hunting south of that line.

WHEW HA!

Makes sense.

The 450 Bushmaster Americans where all gone when I called.
It took me almost an hour to get through on the phone, calling every 10 minutes.
This only got me to their message describing the situation and some info on the models available.
Stainless, 16" Ranch Rifle for me when I can get one.
Might not see any till spring depending on Ruger's production schedule.
Maybe with a Trump Administration the run on guns will slow down, and manufacturers can find production time to make more sporting/hunting models, i.e. bolt guns and other non self-defense oriented.

Good article:

http://www.realguns.com/articles/883.htm

8 Left... Jump

http://www.gunbroker.com/item/607870027


Jerry

I want one and I don't know why.

What are they good for? In other words, what is the motivation for producing them?

The reason I'm after one has to do with the particular rules of Michigan and out "shotgun only" line south of which we used to have to use shotguns but can now us certain straight sided cartridges .358 or larger.

The gentleman whose establishment got this going is here in Michigan so I assume that's the market force behind their expanding production.

Generally, but once word spread, they have been getting sold in large numbers to other states as well. Michigan followed Indiana in writing up the law for straight wall cartridges. Only defines a straight cartridge with a minimum caliber of 35, minimum length of 1.16", and maximum length of 1.8".

Ohio has a much more sensible approach, actually listing cartridges that can be used, including the 45-70, 444, 45-110, etc.

What some people have done is shorten the brass on 444 or 45-70 cartridges and use that. That brings complications with loading, crimping, bullet jump, etc.

Please stop posting about this rifle!

I have zero need for one, don't live anywhere close to a restricted area, but am drawn like a moth to a flame....


David

Why? because ya aint got one....isnt that reason enough?

i just decided i needed one because i found a spare .45cal muzzle brake in my drawer full of random crap that someday might have a purpose....i think the bushmaster would be a good place to store that muzzle brake, dontcha think?

For a long time, my idea was to get one of the Ruger 77 Frontier Scout rifles and have it rebarreled to .450 Bushmaster but never got around to it. This will be a much cheaper avenue, although the American series is "cheaper" in several ways....

God bless those goofy Yankees. They unknowingly help so much with gun sales.

Barnes does make a 300gr TTSX especially for the .458 Socom. It also works well in .45-70 single shots.

A rifle in .460 S&W would be a neat companion to a .460 Revolver. Not sure what weighs more though, the RAR or the S&W

450 Bushmaster is .452 bullet
458 Socom is .458 bullet

Barnes makes a specific bullet for the 450 Bushmaster in the tsx. 275 grain. They also make the xpb bullets for the 460 s&w, 454, etc. Which would also work. One is a 275 grain as well, pretty much identical to the 450 Bushmaster one.

Why did I have to open this thread, don't have a need for one but gotta have one

To me the appeal is as a cast bullet platform, and since I shoot 45 colt the molds will work for both the Bushmaster and the colt. I figure 330-350 gr @ 1700-1800 fps would do the trick.

I think it would be the cat's meow in OHIO and similar populated states, since they just ok'ed straight walled rifle cartridges for hunting!

HEADS UP

"To me the appeal is as a cast bullet platform, and since I shoot 45 colt the molds will work for both the Bushmaster and the colt. I figure 330-350 gr @ 1700-1800 fps would do the trick."

458Lott,

Using 45 Cal. pistol bullets was the appeal to me also, if nothing else for in-expensive plinking.

BUT... Take a look at these Real Guns Articles. He apparently could not get it to shoot worth a hoot using pistol bullets and then got good accuracy using the aforementioned barnes and hornady bullets designed for muzzle-loader sabots.

He blames the twist rate for this.

Jerry

http://www.realguns.com/articles/882.htm


http://www.realguns.com/articles/884.htm

Yeah, I dont think lead loads will do crap in that gun. Interesting he used sabot bullets in it, when those are not even designed to touch rifling. Id probably try the Barnes bullets with grooves to reduce fouling and pressure.

You have not read Ohio Regs. The state in their "wisdom" listed acceptable cartridges and the 450bm is not on the list. If it was I would have a Savage bolt rifle built accordingly.

Heck, Ohio is easy. 444 or 45-70 are a hell of a lot better than the Michigan legal BS like 44 and 45 Colt.

Sorry I thought all straight cartridges were ok.

I would think any of the Swift A-Frame bullets in .452 would work great

The Barnes copper bullets from 160 to 275 grains do very well in the 450Bushmaster bolt guns. (The Barnes Buster 325-gr .451 lead-core bullet was developed specifically for the 450 Bushmaster.)

With my Springfield M1903 in 450B, I used a Barnes 200-grain pointed XPB at about 2800 fps to take a piggy on the 2014 Campfire Hog Hunt in TN. (Pic's been posted previously.)
.

.
Lead bullets don't do well in AR-type rifles chambered in 450B. Apparently the gas port in the barrel takes a divot out of gas checks as they go past, which wrecks accuracy.

However, lead bullets in 450B bolt guns should do fine. Just for fun in July I tried some lead bullets with black powder in my 450B bench gun built on a 1972 Model 70 action.

Components for the BP session:
.

.
Firing the shots:
.

.
Target from 25 yards:
.

.
The results were sufficiently encouraging at very short range for me to plan some trials with smokeless next summer after the U.P. winter goes away.

(More details on the BP shots are in a thread on the 450 Bushmaster forum: [b][color:#0000FF]Black powder and cast bullets in the 450 Bushmaster[/color][/b].)

--Bob

The gun is now in the Ruger site. Badass looking brake. Probably an ear buster

A lefty RA .450?? Oh great, I just got done building a .450BM AR!

Easy on "those goofy yankees".

This goofy Yankee is currently building in AR15 in 450 Bushmaster.

I haven't sighted it in yet but I did test fire 5 rounds for function. Awesome is one word that describes that caliber.

Dan

TTT - I want one of these , anybody else bought one ? , how do you like it ?

Well, I got one the weekend before Thanksgiving, and I wasn't even looking for one at the time! My best friend called me a few weeks earlier and wanted to know if he could go deer hunting with me. Of course he could, but he'd never been hunting before, and had no deer gun. We both live in Ohio, so not just any gun is legal. I still had my 12 gauge 870, a CVA muzzle loader, and a Marlin 1894 SS .44 mag that I'd been using these last several years since it became legal.

Unfortunately, the Marlin seemed to throw fliers a lot, despite trying 6 different bullets and several different powders, so I decided to sell it and get something else. After some research I'd decided to go with a stainless CVA Scout in .44 mag, since I've got almost 1000 cases and a ton of bullets for the .44 magnum. Went to a local gun shop, and after handling the CVA, the owner handed me a Ruger American in .450 Bushmaster. Deep down inside, I immediately knew I was going to have to own one. I tried talking myself out of it, after all, I couldn't let all those .44 mag components go to waste, the only other .44 I had was a 4" 629.

I didn't want to saddle my buddy with a muzzle loader, or a hard kicking slug gun for his first hunt, but man, that Ruger felt so good! After thinking about it for a few days, I sold the Marlin, and bought both the CVA and a Ruger ($330 & $440 and I already had scopes for them). The Ruger American only weighs 5 1/2 lbs, handles like a dream, and just plain feels great! The CVA, claims a weight of 5.8 lbs, and handles really good, but when I put it on my postal scale, I was shocked to see it actually weighs 7 1/2 lbs.. unscoped! Anyway, you asked about the Ruger, not the CVA, so I'll throw out some random things I've learned.

In the few days between buying the Ruger and leaving for my annual southern Ohio pilgrimage to deer hunt, I did some tweaking on it. First I measured the trigger pull out of the box. It was 4 1/4 lbs, and backing the adjustment screw off all the way only brought it down to 3 3/4 lbs. After some buffing of parts did nothing more either, I did some internet research. Then I cut a coil. It did nothing. Then I cut another, either 3/4 or 1 more (can't remember which) and it came down to 2 1/2 lbs, with the screw backed off. Close enough.

I didn't care for the sound the bolt made when working it, so I after some research, I worked the bolt somewhere around 1500 times. It didn't do much, it maybe was a little slicker, but still made the annoying sound; so I did some polishing with some fine grit sandpaper and buffing compound. I like it much better now.

I didn't have time to develop loads for both guns, so I bought a couple boxes of factory loads, go it on paper, shot a decent group, and worked on the CVA and .44 loads. I was in a rush with working up a load, setting up two stands, and celebrating Thanksgiving with my sister paying a surprise visit, so I didn't put the calipers to it, but it was pretty decent.

Also, the recoil was more than I expected. Not brutal, by any means, just really snappy. I also found it very easy to sweep my off hand as I fought for balance on southern Ohio sidehills while deer hunting with that short barrel. It did fit inside my blind really well, but it also rang my ears a bit with the brake, which I should have removed when actually hunting. I noticed the blast kind of knocked off some black specks on the inside of my blind after the shot. I was successful, nothing noteworthy on effectiveness, but it is a really cool rifle, and I love being able to use a bolt action in Ohio.

I found that I needed a lot of cheek riser to line up with the scope, so I bought a soft black drawer liner from Walmart, and folded it up until I got the right height- it took about 5/8's" to do it- and black electric-taped it to the stock for the hunt. I've been researching what I'm going to do on a more permanent basis, and am thinking I'm going to attempt to build something up on the stock and paint it myself- which will be a first for me.

I also think the 13 3/4" length of pull is too long for me to work the bolt right, and the bolt takes a pretty fair amount of force to operate, I guess because of the 70 degree lift. So, I just installed a 1.75" bolt handle from Glades Armory yesterday, and I like it much better. I've never been a fan of those big ugly shifter knob things, but this one isn't too bad. While I'm working on the stock, I'm going to attempt to shorten the length of pull by about 1/2" too.

One of the things I've done in the last 10 or 15 years, is move to all stainless guns whenever possible. This one wasn't available that way, so I'm going to ship the barreled action off to Mahovsky's Metalife next. While watching a video on here the other day, I saw a table full of guns in .450 Bushmaster with Randy Brown, the guy who got the ball rolling with Ruger. Start at about 16:40 here.. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ThHiZ5PxI&feature=youtu.be. At any rate, I learned that there are special versions available from him. Had I known that, I'd have gotten it in stainless with a slightly longer barrel to start with.

Good info.bhemry , who'da thought a break would be more quiet than a regular barrel .
The stainless would be my choice in the 16'' , they should have went with 20'' instead of 22'' -IMO .

I use pipe insulation to get my cheek weld the way I want it - lowes depot has it cheap .

Thanks for the info. -hope you and you best bud have a good hunt .
I'm from sw ohio warren county , planned on a big bow hunt camp out with brother and friends but took a fall at work back in june - broke right arm in five places , ribs , collerbone ++ next year I hope .

If you liked the CVA Scout in 44, they also make it in 450 Bushmaster. 25" barrel with removable KDF brake. That's about the best option in stainless 450, other than the exclusive one at the Michigan dealer, but the price on those jumps up quite a bit. I am a lefty and wanted stainless, so that was the only option. Randy told me Ruger would never make a stainless lefty 450 (only because he never asked them to)

The trigger out of the box is better than the Ruger after an hour of trigger work.


I'm shooting 200 grain Barnes XPB bullets at 2900 FPS out of mine. 2 deer didn't like it at all this year.

Ken ,

I have a 444marlin H&R - has about a 12lb. trigger - going to remedy that when my arm/hand gets better . I like the cva's but i've got one similar .

With all the 44mag shooters in the world I bet ruger could sell a tractor trailer load of the the little carbines chambered in 44mag .. Just saying .

It's all this guys fault , our own North 61 and sonny his sonny .

I'm subscribed to North61's channel and his boy put that 450 Bushmaster to work on a big bull moose.

Subscribed myself and yes the son unit filled the freezer with the little ruger .

I really like Greg's singing - he'll just bust out an old mountain man song while running a boat up the river - hiking a trail or driving the family around in the wilderness .

Incorrect as of this year:
" All straight-walled cartridge calibers from a minimum of .357 to a maximum of .50. Shotguns and straight-walled cartridge rifles can be loaded with no more than three shells in the chamber and magazine combined."

George

If I was in Ohio the 450 would not be in the top 3 of picks for legal cartridges

Ol Mike, you must have pretty good endurance if you made it past the singing! Thanks for the sub, and Gerry too!

I would mind haveing one of the RUGER Gunsite Scout in 450 Bushmaster. LGS has one and its a handy little rig. Would make a great brush gun for big hogs, IMO. Since I've already bought three new rifles in the last 6 months, I'm trying to resist

You're welcome ...


chlinstructor ,

Get another rifle -it's good for the economy ..

This .450 Ruger American has me thinking. A guy a know got one and he loves it.

I was surprised how fast the moose fell after receiving one round of Hornady factory through the chest. I think this would be a great deer rig but I'd drop down to 225 FTX at 2400. Really great little rifles.

You always seems to be trying out interesting new products for camping which I like. Same goes for the guns, cartridges and bullets, not the run of the mill stuff but interesting things. Much appreciated..........

I'm really thinking I need one of these rifles.........

shortactionsmoker @whitakers has some coming in -in about a week he said .

Does the muzzle brake come off?

Yes.

Thanks

You're welcome. Also, it comes with a factory thread protector (for when you remove the brake).

Cool. Thanks.

Thanks..but it's just the ADHD. Retiring soon then I'll be exploring, gold-panning and you-tubing like a mad man!

Right on North61 - stay active and outdoors -looking forward to it .

Heading out camping hunting for a few days right now myself .