Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats .450 Marlin in a Bolt Action

Steyr makes a bolt 450 Marlin called the bigbore. It is in their current lineup. Has me thinkin!

my guess is youll never shoot a larger group than .458".

Gunsmith Charles Gatlin built one for a customer earlier this year that was one of the neatest packages I have seen. It had a 18" barrel and ghost ring sights. He may have a pic on his web sight. reflex264

With all the model 7 saum actions and the 673 6.5 and 350 mags floating around for cheap, would these be a good platform for a 450 conversion?

I'm thinking of doing an 18-20" barreled stalking rifle (we have a hog problem). 673 donor action, laminated stock should be servicable. Maybe a barrel band and peep sight/hooded front for fun. Or maybe a leupy 1-4 and qd's

I did it back in the '70's with a Siamese Mauser action and the .45-70. Chose a 24" Douglas Air Gauge 1:18" barrel for 500 grain cast or jacketed bullets should I want to shoot them. Made a nice classic style stock with a fairly straight comb and a Pachmayr recoil pad, then stuffed a Canjar set trigger on it, and topped it off with a Leupold 3-9x. Thing would shoot under an MOA at 100 yards with the Hornady 350 grain bullet over 53 grains of 3031. Same with the 500 grain bullet and a bit less powder.

I stuck a target on an old dead oak tree to check for group and was amazed when that 500 grain bullet penetrated about 30" of solid oak, kicking up dust about 50 yards behind.

One thing, your combination will kick the living snot out of you - bring paper towels. I'd recommend a compensator, maybe a Vais clone. A real nice "mild" load is the 350 grain Oregon Trail .459" cast bullet over 48.0 grains of Varget in either cartridge.

The head diameter should fit any standard magnum bolt face, but the belt is longer than a case based on the H&H series, this prevents the shorter case from being accidentally chambered in a belted magnum or .45-70 chamber. SAMMI pressure maximum is 43,500 psi. It should also be noted that the .450 Marlin is not capable of the same velocities as the .45-70 in a modern rifle of the same barrel length begin 500 fps slower. Shorten the barrel beyond 22" and that difference increases. A good choice may be a Savage 110 type action of the proper magazine configuration and the ability to interchange bolt heads. One of the newer actions only sold separately with a magnum magazine may work depending on feeding. That way if you hate it later, a simple barrel and/or bolt head swap can convert it into any other caliber. You could check with www.sharpshootersupply.com for a thumbs up or down. Given that the Savage will work, it can be assembled from parts right in your own garage.

There was a fella a few years back who had a .450 Marlin Bolt gun for sale somewhere- Maybe AR. Don't remember what the gun was built on but I am pretty sure it took him forever to sell it if even then. Sounds like a hell of a good idea- just a little too specialized for most folks, I guess.

Pin the recoil lug if you use a Rem. Then you're just a barrel change from a more marketable round if you have trouble selling if you so choose.