Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only The .450 Nitro Express

I am kicking around the purchase of a Ruger #1 in .450 Nitro - which as near as I can tell, is close to the .45-120 case. I have heard some folks suggest the old BP round is difficult to load.

If I buy it, most of the time it will shoot reduced loads, especially since they are fairly light rifles. I am wondering who has run reduced loads in the .450 NE, and any advice they might offer. Thanks!

No reduced loads for mine, but I can tell you it's very easy to load for it and mine's a double.

In my 450 DR's and my Ruger #1 I shoot a practice load with 350 Hornadys and 95grns of IMR 4831. With a DR it still regulates!

edit; in another thread you said you didn't want a 458WM because it's barrel is a truck axle... The 450NE is the same diameter truck axle. Check it out!

I have not personally handled one, but the Boddington #1 in .450 NE supposedly weighs about 7.5 to 8 lbs. They are not as heavy a contour as the old .458's (my brother has one) or the .416 Rigby.

Mine weighs 9.17 lbs. unloaded, scoped with a Leupold 1 X 4, and the recoil pad changed out for a Limbsaver.

I don't have a scale to weigh mine but that sounds right too.
I did add some 38-55 cast bullets to the stock hole for balance and weight.

I thought long and hard about getting one of the Bods in 450 nitro. They have the upgraded circassian wood and a different finish than the standards. They also come with QD rings I think. They are hard to find as of late. Probably will end up with a 458 win and reboring to the nitro.

I was in a gunshop a couple years ago when a guy came in and traded two guns on a .450 Nitro #1. They were a .358 BLR and a Winchester Timber Carbine in .444 Marlin. I bought both the guns he traded from the dealer for $450 each on the spot and felt very happy about them. I figured that the #1 he traded them for must have been pretty special.

Tex, for a FYI, theres a dang nice 450 NE #1 for sale in the classifieds now.

Gunner

It's a 450/400 3"Nitro Express #1 Not a 450 Nitro Express.

Oh crap, sorry, I stand corrected.

Thanks AKMike1

Gunner

With the way the Brits labeled the rounds it's a wonder they managed to get by..
The 450/400 3" NE is the same base/parent cartridge but a thicker rim. The 450/400 3 1/4" NEhas a thin rim like the 450 NE.
Ther are about 19 500/450 cartridges too. 500 necked down to 450.

Yes, i agree, and many of the Brit rounds mirror the performance and appearance of the old Sharps and Winchester rounds

Gunner

At least for the old black powder rounds. When they went to smokeless at the turn of tha last century things changed.

I'm also curious if anyone has successfully made reduced loads in the .450 NE, or does the long case not work well for that purpose?

tex, call Ken Owen in Moscow Tn, he has a 75% formula that should work great in the 450 Nitro.

Gunner

One of the guys on differnt forums calles him self 450 NE #2, he's came up with the "75% RULE" basicly for doubles but it works great for single shooters too. Full powder charge that works good in your double and 75% bullet weight. The 450 NE uses a 480 or 500 grn bullet so 75% of that is about 350. For my Searcy and Sauer DR's as well as others it works out very well.
This also applies to different calibers. I have a 500/450 3 1/4" that it works great in too. The 9.3X74R I haven't felt a need to try it and probably couldn't find a 75% weight bullet w/o a custom mould.

Since the .450 was originally a BP round, you could always use BP equivalent loads, say 270 gn cast bullets and a case full of 777, for around 1800 fps.

Another relatively light load would be a 300 gn jacketed or cast bullet over a case full of Trail Boss; you might get 1300 fps--enough for deer.

Sorry, I can't vouch for either load. I've considered getting a .450, but I haven't done it. I keep remembering Taylor's counsel that nothing over a .450/400 is ever needed. Since I'm not getting any younger, I'll probably avoid the recoil of both.

As for loading the BP round, some modern users report it's easy, but some shooter's of the equivalent Sharp's round have reported it's tricky. I don't know what to make of it.

Take your queries over to AR and they will get well answered,

For reduced loads try Hodgdon's Trail Boss. I used it with good results in my #1 450-400 3" NE.