Home Forums Hunting & Shooting AR and Tactical Rifles 450 Bushmaster or 458 SOCOM?

Which would you get and why? 450 Bushmaster uses 45 Long Colt pistol bullets, while the 458 SOCOM can use 45-70 bullets. I reload. Both use the same bolt. I've read the 458 SOCOM can use standard AR-15 mags single stacked. Can they 450 do the same? or does it require a different magazine? Just thinking about getting another upper.

I'd take the rifle bullet option every time over the pistol bullet option.
There are some very good hunting bullets in .451" so this advise is not iron-clad and without debate. But overall the SOCOM is a better option in my opinion.

Everything you can do with a pistol bullet from the 450 Bushmaster you can do as well or better with a 300 GR H.P. from the SOCOM, and there are things the 350, 400, 450 and 500 grain .458"s can do the Bushmaster can't.

Yes the SOCOM uses standard 223 mags.
I am unsure about the 450 Bushmaster

I did choose...and it was the 450 Bushmaster. While cartridge can be loaded with pistol bullets, there are rifle bullets in .451 caliber made for it. Hornady and Barnes come to mind.

The factory ammo is cheaper and the selection of factory rounds are expanding as well as the rifle selection.

The 450 Bushmaster is also inherently accurate. I made my own 3 round mag with a standard 10 round 556 mag. A snap in place match follower and a little Dremel work does the trick. The 5 round factory 450 magazine is a 20 round 556 body.

Dan

For a rifle or carbine, I'm leaning towards the Socom due to it having 45-70 low end capabilities.

Why can't the Bushmaster use standard magazines like the Socom. The Socom is wider but necked down. Does the Bushmaster jamb if it using a standard mag? I think the Socom using a 30 round mag is a 10 rounder.

Brass for the 450 is about 1/3 cheaper than brass for the Socom. Ok, What is the limit of big game you can kill with each. I know both will kill deer within 100-150 yards. What about something larger?

i have a socom and wouldn't hesitate to use it on anything in the country. and even most in the world. i load the 350 combined tech bullets to the same levels in the socom and in the 45-70. awesome round. have taken several Elk with that load.

I went through the same decision making a few years back.

At the end of it I bought a Marlin 1895GBL 45-70.

My decision was more about not chasing expensive brass, and no issues with port pressure to deal with.

I use a lead weight epoxied in my BCG. I also use a Wolff Extra Power Spring.

The brass drops at my feet.

Dan

The cost of an upper is about half what a 45-70 Marlin would cost. One can buy a few hundred rounds of brass, and reload for years. Just a thought.

In response to the question about the upper limits of game you could kill with the 458 SOCOM:

.458" bullet. 300 to 500 grains. Common with 400 grain bullets.
400 grain bullets are common to a 458 SOCOM and leave the muzzle at about 1450 FPS.
The 405 grain 45-70 round used to kill millions of buffalo shot the same bullet about 150 FPS slower. The SOCOM shoots this bullet more like a 445-90 Sharps

500 grain bullets from the SOCOM generally leave at about 1200 FPS. From the old 45-70-500 load of the 1880s they left the muzzles at about 1250 So in this case the SOCOM is 50 FPS slower.

So it's obvious that SOCOM is going to do about the same things the 45-70 did so well for many decades, and all game on earth has been killed with the 45-70. With the bullets that are common in the SOCOM I would not recommend it for Elephant Hippo or Rhino as my 1st choice, but for about anything else on earth it's going to be just fine. Even on Elephant Hippo or Rhino it will do is the man shooting it has discipline and knows his game well.

In North America I can't think of ANY game that's too big.

I run 300s close to 1800 fps in the SOCOM, in the ballpark with the .45-70 "express" load.

I went with the 458 Socom for the reasons already listed. I wanted a 45-70 in an AR platform. I have a RRA upper on a lower I put together.

I chose the Bushmaster because it's legal for deer in my back yard & the SOCOM isnt. Also the cost and availability of Hornady factory loads is a big plus to me. As far as larger animals, one of the forum members here used factory loads on a Yukon moose with pretty good results. He made a nice video of the results:

I took my SOCOM to Razor Ranch in Florida. I "Harvested" a 2,200 lb. Asian Water Buffalo using a 400 gr. Kodiak bullet and a case full of L'il Gun. He went down with the first shot, but I gave him another one while he was lying on his side. The scariest part was that his buddies wanted to protect him and we had to wait it out until they left. I hit a 100lb. hog right between the eyes at about 70 yds. and made his eyes bulge out to where they almost popped off. I am VERY impressed with that little gun.

My 450 Bushmaster was a heartbreaker this afternoon...




Dan

bam! too bad it ruined the best eating part, but thats getting er done!

I choose the 458 socom for reasons already stated - power, versatility, bullet selection. I also prefer a round to head space on the shoulder than the edge of the case. I do relaod but; I am more comfortable loading a bottle neck case than the 45acp type head spacing. I am sorry I dont know the ammo speak words for 450 type case (shoulder less, rim less?) I know what I like and dont like.

In some situations better does not matter, the 6mm rem maybe better than the 243, I own a 243. It looks like Ruger is all in with the 450BM. You wont go to Cabelas and find 458 socom and if you did it would be $50 a box. You will find Hornady 450BM and no more expensive than any other comparable hunting "good quality" ammo.

Any one serous about larger game should be looking at a serious rifle and not making out either of these out to be more than they really are. Moose are pretty big but not very tough to kill. If one will work then so should the other. Saying the socom equals a 45/70 is pretty bogus. I load both and no comparison. Lets be honest.

These are just great fun to shoot. That is the real appeal to me. It is just a kick to blast away with the socom and a 450 should be no different. I think a re-loader would like the socom. A non re-loader can now choose the 450BM and never look back.

There is a proprietary black cloud of hidden specs and non ASME crap pile regarding the socom. A pox on the creator.

The 450BM seems to be a legit standard, free for all to use. Hand writing is on the wall.

The Hornady 450 BM ammo on sale at Cabelas. With 250 FTX bullet, $24.

http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/prod...temGUID=05de3303ac10a06120f96c40d16f2c63