458 SOCOM Good, bad, or ugly?

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Squeeze

New member

I think I need AR #5, and am thinking it should be a big ball
launcher. Anyone own a 458 SOCOM? I think I know the good,
but am interested in issues owners have had with them. I
realize brass is not cheap, any other issues?

If one considered using it for medium sized game, what would be
considered effective range before it starts rainbowing?

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Brass is not cheap, I really don't like the bullet selection, and loaded ammo has been hard to come by, (it all has I know) loaded ammo is expensive, $60 bucks for 20rds minimum. I recently had to pay $175 for fifty rounds, but didn't think that was to out of line, but ammo is the only issue I have had. Killed one deer with mine, it "fell" for forty yards down a steep mountain.
 
I love mine. I have it and a 50 beowulf. I like the 458 better. I have a ton of brassfor mine so I dont have an issue with ammo. I have killed several deer with mine and its a hammer.
 



I wanted a big bore AR. After reading all the reviews, I bought a 450 Bushmaster upper added a Rock River National Match A2 lower and "bang" I have what I wanted. With a straight wall case it is easy to reload. I found plenty of ammo to buy. I did install a Enidine Hydraulic A2 Recoil Buffer. It worked wonders with recoil. You can buy 250gr and 275gr ammo. I went with the 250gr.
 
Went with the 450 Bushmaster here. As Willie posted, it is easy to reload, it is very accurate and just plain fun to shoot. Killed four pigs with mine so far.
 
sometimes I wish Id went with the bushy too. Especially when I walked in academy and found like 30 boxes of ammo for it, I also liked the selection of lighter bullets. The lightest I have found for the socom was a 250gr barnes. I will say though, that bullet has my hopes up, it has a mean looking hollow point. All in all, I still love my socom.
 
I wanted a socom bad, but couldn't find one in stock and wasn't going to pay inflated prices. I did find a 50 upper in stock and have been happy with my choice. I have found ammo and brass and bought some dies from a fellow member. Going to try it out on some hogs this fall.
 
Take a look here:

http://450bushmaster.net/

They are working on some other rounds to include a 500 S&W version. The original designer of the 450 Bushmaster is a member of the forum.

I have the 450 Bushmaster and it is good to 200 yards and can be stretched to 250. At $27 for a box of 20 rounds it isn't too bad to get some brass while shooting.

The 450 BM is the fat one with the red tip/ Left to right: .223, 45 LC, 44 Mag, 450 BM, 45-70 Gov, 338 WinMag



Mounted on a Remington R-15 Lower. I have since bought it a dedicated lower with an A2 stock.

 

Thanks all for the input. I did take a hard look at the
450 BM, and there is still a chance I might go that way,
but I see I can get a RRA 458 SOCOM upper for $775, and
Starline brass for around $80/100. So at this point, I
am still leaning towards the 458 SOCOM. I think I read that
there are no lighter bullets for the .458, but I see at
another site, some one posted there are .458 bullets down to
100 gr.! This could be a varmint gun, too!
lol.gif

Seriously, the 250 gr. Barnes is probably the bullet of
choice for me. I an a huge Barnes fan. I will just have to
buy a lifetime supply, in case Barnes decides to drop this
one, as they have done in the past.
rolleyes.gif


Now I have to figure out how to get another AR-15 in the
safe, and to do it unnoticed...Wife thinks I have WAY TOO
MANY guns, and my oldest son, who will inherit half of them,
tattles like a jay bird squawking at a whitetail.

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Originally Posted By: realtree hunterJust tell that son of yours his half will come to me it he squawks!

Where did you find the 100grainers?

I didn't find them, some "expert" over at the Highroad posted
there were 100 grain .458 bullets...Mighty short bullet!

It looks like a Barnes 300 gr. is the lightest viable
bullet I can find in a search. I heard Barnes was making a
250 gr., but I can't find it on their website. 300 gr. would
be good.

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With my 458 socom I reload the Hornady 325 gr FTX bullets in it. I load the 300 gr FTX bullets in my 50 Beowulf. Both are extremely accurate and I can find the bullets every where usually so I have a stock pile of them. I have shot some of the barnes 250 gr bullets as well out of my socom and they did well. But they are harder to find around here.
 
Squeeze,
Just a shot of my .458
IMG_0621_zps07ff44eb.jpg


This is also #5 for me. I do like the rifle and round. Recoil is not bad however I also installed a hydraulic buffer.
The upper is a RRA, lower is a Delton with a PSA kit.
I want to change the handguard. But other than that I really enjoy the build.
 
.450 B all the way. Easier to get ammo or reload, super accurate. Have thumped several hogs and deer with mine and it gets the job done. If you don't reload, try out the new "Hog Hammer" ammo for it. It'll hammer a lot more than hogs.
 
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