.450 bushmasters 16” vs. 22” ruger?

M

mdmountainman

Private
Minuteman
Mar 9, 2022
18
6
Maryland
#1
I have a buddy looking at getting a .450 bushmaster bolt gun specifically for hunting. Max distance would be 250-300 though that would be rare. The Ruger American comes in a 16” and a 22” barrel. I’ve seen where the 16-18” jump gets around an extra ~100fps with 250gr hornady ftx.

What I can’t find is data on the 22”. What is the continued gain from 18-22”? Is there any?

He is planning to suppress it at some point as well. How much difference would that make?
 
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#2
I would do 16in and handload with Hogdon lil gun. You're burning 100% of that powder at 12in anyways.
Commercial ammo is a low pressure to be safe with AR bolts so you can work you way up a little bit if you know what you're doing.
To me, what makes the 450BM attractive is as a short barrel bush gun and 22in kind of negates that, especially on that caliber.
 
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#3
I cannot expound on the 22", but I have 4 friends who hunt with the Ruger American 16" here in FL, GA and OH. They initially picked them up for a trip to OH due to straight walled cartridge limitations. They all bought them and smoked huge whitetailes and when they got home started using them here.....absolutley sledge hammerin.
 
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#5
I started using the 450 BM aka the "THUMPER" years ago. Im a strong believer in the old Taylor KO factor over KE charts. The 450 BM lays them down! I think i killed 8 or 9 whitetails w the 450 BM. Years ago i bought a Ruger American w 16" barrel, gun shot great....probably the best bang for the buck. After a few trips to Iowa ,i upgraded to a CA Mesa 450 BM w 20". I like the way a 20 inch gun handles over the 16". My custom 450 BM w 20" finally arrived last week and sold my CA Mesa 450 to a buddy.
 
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#7
I was running 2333 for an average on a 22" custom barrel with Hornady factory custom ammo 250 ftx (brown box) I have a 16 Ruger as well and IIRC I was right around the mid 2100's with that rifle and the same ammo.
 
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#10
My custom SAC build has a Bartlein 1-16 450 BM barrel finished at 20". I hope i have a fast barrel lol. Actually going to load some Barnes 250 TTSX hoping for 2400 Fps plus.
 
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#12
Mark at Short Action Customs put a order in years ago. His shop is in Ohio and builds a lot of custom 450 BM bolt guns for the midwest.
 
#13
Here you go, just realized the original blank was 31”.. shit there’s enough leftover for a handgun barrel.. I may call tomorrow.
1A78E457-AF50-48F3-A4AE-8BB8C0438077.jpeg
 
#14
BCX said:
Here you go, just realized the original blank was 31”.. shit there’s enough leftover for a handgun barrel.. I may call tomorrow. View attachment 8030620
Click to expand...
Yeah I did a 32in McGowen 1.250 straight blank so me and my smith can split it into a 16in for a DTA Covert and a 12.5in for a ARC Nuke . Reamer should be coming next month. The new-ish Barnes TTSX looks absolutely insane on game but I want to try these 395gr SubX first.
 
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#16
I don’t reload but Bear Creek Ballistics makes an absolute smoking round for 450BM…. I get an average mv of 2539fps with their 240gr HV stuff out of a CarbonSix 17” barrel… out of my SAC 16” Bartlein barrel I get 2515fps average mv with the same stuff.

Hammered many a deer with the 450bm
 
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#17
Thanks everyone! Sounds like Ruger really should have done a 16” and a 19 or 20” instead of 22. He actually just told me he got a deal on a 22” today and has it at the range now and it’s shooting great. 😅

He can always cut it down to 19 if he wants I suppose. Though I’m not sure how that works with a cerakoted barrel?
 
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#19
mdmountainman said:
Thanks everyone! Sounds like Ruger really should have done a 16” and a 19 or 20” instead of 22. He actually just told me he got a deal on a 22” today and has it at the range now and it’s shooting great. 😅

He can always cut it down to 19 if he wants I suppose. Though I’m not sure how that works with a cerakoted barrel?
Click to expand...
He can chop the barrel and have fresh cerakote.
 
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#23
I've been thinking of building a bolt gun myself, but I'm torn between the 458 SOCOM and 450 Bushmaster. I have both sizes of bullets, I shoot heavy loads in my 45 Colt and I have a 45/70 Marlin lever gun.

Mike
 
#26
I run a 16" barrel with a 16 twist in an AR. I shoot 185 gr to 502 gr bullets. So you can resize a .458" bullet to .452" and also use cheap bulk .451" pistol bullets.
Velocity floats around a bit but 250 gr FTX can be fired out of a 16" AR over 2250 fps, I had some going 2303, 2319, 2332, 2349 fps.
502 gr stablize in the 16 twist to make this more versatile. One of my favorite AR calibers.
 
#27
Finally got around to doing some load development w the BCB 240 HV w H110. This is the pressure test run .5 gr increments on the new rifle. The load that hit 2513 fps showed the start of primer cratering.
IMG_6452.jpeg
 
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#30
Absolutely love the little 16 inch Ruger American one of the early ones made for Randy’s in Northern MI. The 450AR build has been collecting dust since the bolt action came home . 7-8 deer just hammered so far. IMG_2232.jpeg
100 yard zero verification . A load of 240 XTP mag HP and a heavy does of ill’Gun. Never had one stumble more than 10-20 yards so far .
The AR build sports an 18 inch tube and I’ve never felt it provided anything over the 16 RAR.
 
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#32
It definitely packs a punch. I really enjoy using it. I’m glad MI, along with other states, adopted using it in nonrifle necked cartridge zones instead of always being stuck with just shotgun.

The Ruger American is definitely an accurate one. I never had any issues with mine when I used it. 450bm is an amazing round to suppress. The sound of that bullet hitting a deer is music to the ears
 
#33
I started using it years ago for non resident Iowa whitetail hunting. Love the “Thumper”…I usually grab the 450 BM or 45/70 for hunting the northeast. What can I say, I’m a believer in the KO factor. 🤣.
 
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#34
Lol me too brother!!! The thumpers really are awesome. I’d like to dabble more into some consistent expanding subsonic rounds but I don’t reload…. maybe I’ll start someday like I always say.
 
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#35
Just a follow up on the BCB 240 HV. Terminal performance is awesome. Shot a doe at 152 yards DRT. Killed a small black bear at 170ish DRT, well it did roll down one shelf on the mountain haha! The entrance wounds are unbelievable.
 
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#36
Big corn fed doe and little mutant 6 point 72236170217__0148A719-0416-47FB-98CC-AB2FAF5E0B66.jpeg
Taken day before thanksgiving, on the edge of a bedding area thicket /autumn olive hedge rows just up wind from large agricultural fields.
And how 16 inch Ruger American .450.
Doe came out of thicket at about 60 yards - freezer meat - she was DTR never even twitched - the buck stood up on the edge of thicket - he’d been bedding between tall switch grass and autumn olive bushes , the nasty fuckers with the 6-8 inch thorns .
Any how I guessed him to be about 150 yards away; he ended up being about 160. High shoulder shot and he was DTR.
Time between shots - less than a minute. Total distance tracked- 0!
Last day to hunt before holiday travel and surgery so I wasn’t going to be picky.

One thing to add - second time I’ve seen this phenomenon. The little Ruger has a tanker style muzzle break. Fucking obnoxiously load , but two times now I’ve shot at deer and other deer standing right with them had no idea where the noise came from - spooked snorts , tails up , looking around some looking in the completely the wrong direction. The other doe with this one didn’t run until after the second shot and the buck stood up looked around and started moving south at kinda a high stepping trot , kinda right towards me .
 
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