[Ruzai]

I'm not particularly an AR-15 guy but like most guys I like power, the more overwhelming and devastating the better...of course its all for fun and maybe some woods defense. So I was wondering if any of you had any experience you'd be willing to share about the larger caliber ARs like the 458 Socom, 50 Beowulf, and 450 Bushmaster. From what I understand the 450 and 458 both use typical large 45 caliber bullets and are fairly easy to handload for. I just now started looking at them but dont plan on buying anytime soon, I'm merely curious about them and anything shared will be appreciated, so how about 'em?

[dog2000tj]

Originally Posted by Ruzai

the larger caliber ARs like the 458 Socom

You won't be disappointed

I love mine and when I light a round off at the range it definitely gets folks attention. I haven't hunted with it yet but researched a lot of info and videos from the 458SOCOM Forum - it will drop anything right where it stands.

http://www.firearmstalk.com/forums/members/dog2000tj/albums/rra-458socom/

Teppo Jutsu - "Art of the Rifle" - Advanced Firearms Applications

Rock River Arms: RRA LAR-458 CAR A4

Some others on here have other large caliber AR versions so I imagine they will chime in.

[JonM]

if your going with anything other than 5.56 on a AR15 you better reload or have deep pockets. none of them are cheap off the shelf.

my opinion the 458 socom is the best choice of all the current 45cal+ choices. reason being is simply the enormous selection of .458 bullets out there. the 450 bushmaster uses .451/.452 caliber bullets which are generally pistol bullets for the .45acp. neither one will work well with plated bullets so you cant save money there the fps is just too high.

my choice is the .458 socom simply because of bullet selection and it replicates the perormance of the .45-70 cartridge in a functional semi-auto format and does not require modified magizines to run.

for pig busting and deer hunting its a perfect brush cartridge.

[birdie]

I have bushy 450 have shot 3 hogs wit one round dropped first 2 and wounded the third. Although I would get 458 socom if I'd researched deeper many Moore options or choices of bullets. And rounds are 29 - 32$ per 20 not as bad as some other big game rounds out their. Has kick and sound of 20 ga shotgun.

[Ruzai]

Looked up a few ballistic charts for the 450 Bushmaster and supposedly if you sight the thing in at 80 yards you have a +2 inch rise before 80 and -2 inches at 200 yards. Sounds pretty nice in theory, but I'm wondering how well the 458 Socom fairs ballistically too.

Edit/add-on: Where would be the best spot to zero with minimal pre-zero rise and post-zero fall (at say 200 yards)

I like the fact that Teppo Jutsu claims you can use the 90 round 223 mag for approximately 30-35 rounds of total whoop-@%$. Then put a piston kit on it, if that's possible, just to keep the internals from getting too hot and you've got one hell of a gun.

[dog2000tj]

Looks as if the forum is back up and running. If you are interested in the 458 than this is the place to check out,

www.458socomforums.com - Index

[JonM]

Originally Posted by Ruzai

Looked up a few ballistic charts for the 450 Bushmaster and supposedly if you sight the thing in at 80 yards you have a +2 inch rise before 80 and -2 inches at 200 yards. Sounds pretty nice in theory, but I'm wondering how well the 458 Socom fairs ballistically too.

Edit/add-on: Where would be the best spot to zero with minimal pre-zero rise and post-zero fall (at say 200 yards)

I like the fact that Teppo Jutsu claims you can use the 90 round 223 mag for approximately 30-35 rounds of total whoop-@%$. Then put a piston kit on it, if that's possible, just to keep the internals from getting too hot and you've got one hell of a gun.

from what i understand the 450 bushmaster you have to use modified ar15 mags for it to work. to me thats a big no-no.

[Shihan]

Yeah, I am thinking going with one of these. Wonder which to go with?

[JonM]

Originally Posted by Shihan

Yeah, I am thinking going with one of these. Wonder which to go with?

Whichever one you better reload. All of em are pricey ammo off the shelf.

450 bushmaster gotta use premium jacketed bullets fps too fast for plated and need special mags. Limited to pistol bullets

458 socom can take a while to find brass uses standard ar mags massive selection of very effective bullets that work well at the designed fps. Can be difficult to load due to weird bottleneck case.

500 beowulf limited selection of .500 bullets. Doesn't need special mags not a big jump in power over 458 or 450. Mostly limited by poor selection of bullets.

[Ruzai]

If I ever end up building an AR-15, it'll be probably the 458 Socom with a 20" barrel and the AR will likely never see a 223 bullet in its life.
The only thing about the 458 Socom is the accuracy compared to the 450 Bushie, but if you reload it correctly I'm sure you could get close if not similar accuracy out of the 458 Socom.