Federal Fusion 450 Bushmaster 260gr is a bonded soft point ammo designed specifically for hunting. Medium-bore lever rifles are made by Marlin and Winchester. the 450 marlin, the 444, 38-55, 375 win, 375 super mag, 445 super, & the 357 maximum will all ruin a deer's day at 200 yds. Different states hunting laws are slightly different and are subject to change so we included case lengths for each for you to use as a guide if they are legal for your hunt or not. All Marlins. Introduced in 1964, the .444 Marlin was kind of a stretched out .44 Magnum. That said, I have both in rifles. Copyright 2023Sportsman's Warehouse. The .444 Marlin is essentially a deer rifle that can be used on black bear. 1, the .45-70 can be loaded to impressive performance. The .450 Marlin has quite a bit longer case, at 2.10" compared to 1.70" on the .450 Bushmaster. It had a very long first stage, which wasnt a problem. The checkering was fully functional, well done, and attractive. If you havent heard yet, be advised that millions of gun owners may soon be classified as felons if a new Bureau of Alcohol, Big-Bore Lever-Action Hunting Guns: Pass On Marlins New .450, SIG Sauer P365XL Spectre P365V001 9mm Luger, Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro HCP9379BOSP 9mm Luger, SHOT 2023: Savage Arms Introduces 1911 Government Model Pistols, 5 Best 9mm Pistols for Concealed Carry in 2023, New Shooters Guide: The Best Gun For Home Defense Isnt a. The cartridge has a cavernous case capacity designed to work with black powder of the era, and it used large-diameter bullets to compensate for the low velocity produced by that propellant. Dont knock the .450 marlin. With the hammer block there is the possibility of forgetting to press the little button before the shot, and thus losing the shot at the game animal. Marlin claims 2,100 fps out of a 350-grain bullet. A heavier bullet will generally travel more slowly than a lighter bullet. I live in the dense hard woods of new England where even walking up a tall hill will put you into the pines and out of any hardwoods. Right now, hunters can find the .350 Legend chambered in semi-auto AR-type rifles and bolt guns. If the ring had been nearer the eye, the front sight would have been forced into the center of the ring, and we would have gotten better accuracy. This cartridge was held back for years by the lack of good factory loaded ammo. Bushmaster asked Hornady to produce the .45 Professional, but Hornady wanted to shorten the cartridge case to accommodate their .452-inch, 250-grain pointed SST Flex-Tip bullet. We could live with it, though wed have much preferred a softer pad. The 444 Marlin (which I love) is headed in the other direction. Newly Accepted Cartridge and Chamber Designs. Mag..243 Winchester vs. 6mm Remington7x57mm Mauser vs. 7mm-08 Remington.25-06 Remington vs. .257 Weatherby Magnum.338 Winchester vs. .375 H&H Magnum.30-30 Winchester vs. .35 Remington.257 Roberts vs. .250-3000 Savage.270 Winchester vs. .280 Remington.35 Whelen vs. 9.3x62mm Mauser.416 Rigby vs. .416 Remington Magnum.308 Winchester vs. .30-06 Springfield.22 Nosler vs. .224 Valkyrie.300 Win. Well analyze the performance of these calibers across a variety of factors to help you decide which is best for your hunting needs. Elwood Shelton is an online content developer for Gun Digest. New Shooters Guide: What Is a Pistol Caliber Carbine? We've got you covered.7x57mm Mauser vs. .280 Remington.300 Win. The original loading used a 250-grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 2200 fps from a. Ever perceptive, the market has responded by expanding this somewhat forgotten corner of the firearms world. These are two very similar calibers, and indeed both the .450 Marlin and the .450 Bushmaster are seeking to imitate the classic .45-70 Government for different purposes. At 100 yards, the .450 Marlin is moving 52 ft/s faster. The case length for both rifle cartridges is virtually identical, with the 45-70 measuring 2.10" compared to 2.105" for the 450 Marlin. Save. If you also shoot a Trapdoor Springfield or any other kind of weak-actioned rifle that takes the .45-70, it makes sense that you should not mix up your ammunition. Archive - Looking at the variety of ammunition available for the two, the .45-70 Government has the undeniable advantage in the number of choices, with nearly every manufacturer including the cartridge in their lineup, in some form or another. A good aperture sight would be lighter, just as fast, and nearly as effective in most conditions as a scope, assuming the shooter has reasonably good eyesight. GunnersDen.com ~ The .444 Marlin (10.957mmR) is a rifle cartridge designed in 1964 by Marlin Firearms and Remington Arms. When it comes to .450 Bushmaster vs .350 Legend, is there a clear winner? This website contains many older reviews. Why wouldnt they be in similar rifles? Follow along to see exactly how. Ballistically, the .450 Bushmaster is close to the .45/70 in terms of velocity . This advantage expands a bit as we cross more distance. We reserve the right to correct pricing errors. Brass case webs on rimmed cases, like the .45-70 or .444 Marlin, are more than strong enough for whatever pressure the stout Marlin action can take. Rifle Type Rifle type is the major difference between the .450 Marlin and the .450 Bushmaster. In our tests, the gun was not as smooth as the .444, had less power than you can get out of a good .45-70 load, offered not a lot more power than you can get out of good .444 Marlin loads, and in short didnt offer us anything at all that we wanted. This means theres precious little need for the .444 in our book. The ported barrels of these rifles worked wonders to keep the muzzle down, but the rearward kick was still significant. The walnut was very decent wood, nicer than that on the .450. By comparison, a 250-grain .450 Bushmaster factory load generates 22.99 foot-pounds of recoil, and a full-power 12-gauge slug generates 45 foot-pounds. All provide an increase in accuracythough there are some wonderfully accurate slug guns out therebut the trajectory of those . We are constantly adding new inventory and occasionally offer Free Shipping. Back in January we tested this superb rifle along with the similar Marlin Guide Gun, both in .45-70. Mag. For a while, nobody was making rifles in .45-70 and the cartridge seemed doomed. Mag. The .450 Marlin and the .450 Bushmaster use very similar sized bullets, as their names might suggest. The 444 Marlin (which I love) is headed in the other direction. Here are four places to start, By Though we believe the .45-70 version is a much better bet, many riflemen who also own .44-caliber handguns will want to own the .444 Marlin, and its a pretty good rifle. But if you find a sample that doesnt exhibit the problem and you have zillions of .44 pistol bullets you want to shoot in it, then wed give it a Conditional Buy. At the muzzle they are basically the same, .308 Win has around 2700 ft.lbf and 450 Bushmaster has just a few pounds under that. Big Bore Cartridges Compared - 460 S&W vs 444 Marlin vs 450 BM vs 45-70 Govt | Match Grade Machine Big Bore Cartridges Compared - 460 S&W vs 444 Marlin vs 450 BM vs 45-70 Govt Match Grade Machine did extensive testing with different barrel lengths in some of our most popular cartridges. Our velocity charts are labeled with bullet weights and barrel lengths with velocities gathered. It might be a little too much for whitetails - it would be perfect on elk and moose. Marlins introduction of the Guide Gun didnt acknowledge Wild West Guns, so perhaps the reason for Marlins new cartridge stems from a desire to avoid copying Wild West yet again. These are lightweight rifles that are easy to handle and very fast to get a shot off, which can make them ideal for treks across the backcountry. The ammunition is madeso faronly by Hornady. Although we strive to provide the most accurate information as we can the information contained in this page is provided on an "as is" basis with no guarantees of completeness, accuracy, usefulness or timeliness. I disagree. We cant see the sense of a scope on a short, relatively light rifle, unless its done Scout-style like the Co-Pilot. of muzzle energy, and that combo will handle any North American game animal. Item # 454 Casull 044588 460 S&W Mag 044722 480 Ruger/475 Linebaugh 044174 500 S&W Mag 044702 Sure-Loc Lock Rings . The 450 bushmaster in the Ruger is a fine rifle for the money . The stock finish was very durable and hard, even though the pores were not fully filled. This means that it is still a niche cartridge offered by just a few manufacturers, and you might struggle to find it on the shelves of your local ammunition store. As it concerns .350 Legend vs .450 Bushmaster, the smaller-caliber cartridge has a decided advantage. In fact, with hot Buffalo Bore loads, the performance of the .444 Marlin would be ballistically better than ordinary loads in the .45-70 Guide Gun. The Marlins were much fatter than the 94AE. That BC may not inspire glee with long range rifle shooters, but in the world of straight-walled rifle cartridges, its pretty impressive. All the calibers you mention are good hunting calibers. The checkering was fully functional. You have to understand though I live within walking distance of the northern end of the white mountain national forest and the hills around here often get above 4000 feet in elevation. I have two .444's and a .450. It served until the .30-40 Krag replaced it in 1892. Unless one lives in a state that requires a straight wall for hunting, then there is not much use for either unless it is to say you got one. Those unaccustomed to hard-kicking rifles will find either the .444 or the .450 a bit much on the shoulder until they get used to it. Save my name and email to use for future comments. We hesitate to recommend this gun because of our rifles probably temporary, but very real, feeding problem that needed to be fixed. In Stock Only Rossi Wizard 223 Rem Single-Shot Rifle . But in my opinion, the sheer flexibility of the .45-70 Government in both rifles and ammunition gives it a definitive advantage. I wouldn't fret over performance or availability in either case. In the end thats what counts. Then Hornady brought out two loads for the cartridge and things changed. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use. The quality of bluing on the Winchester was excellent, in spite of the slight metal-polishing problems. IC B2. Ours didnt. All rights reserved. You have two cartridges that are headed in opposite directions. Both shed velocity like mad, the Legend losing 29-percent of its muzzle velocity at the 200-yard mark and the Bushmaster 31 percent1,648 fps and 1,515 fps respectively. This cartridge has the potential to be the best deer hunting ammo of the lot. The only thing holding it back right now is the delivery system. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Gun Tests has been independently reviewing firearms since 1989. Both are suitable for nearly any big-game animal, save the African dangerous heavyweights, and both have fervent, passionate followers. In the .450 Bushmaster's corner is Hornady 's 250-grain FTX load, which has a listed muzzle velocity of 2,200 fps, is topped with a flex-tip bullet and has a ballistic coefficient (BC) of .210. At 100 yards bullet velocity slows to 1,835 and retains 1,868 pounds of energy. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. For instance, Ruger chambers its American Ranch rifle for both cartridges, with few differences between the two. Wild West was also the originator of the short, handy, powerful lever-rifle concept. The .450 Bushmaster was designed specifically for the AR-15. Dont Buy. Buy it. As it was, we liked the ring for its simplicity, but it was extremely vulnerable, sticking up in the breeze. Today, there is no shortage of them, though the old-timers have mostly died out. The fluid motion of the action and those huge, rimmed, brass cases make for some formidable medicine for the largest bears, bison and cervids. The 450 Bushmaster was developed for use in AR-15 rifles. Rifle type is the major difference between the .450 Marlin and the .450 Bushmaster. And when it comes to straight-wall Midwestern deer options that would be the .450 Bushmaster. I have tested them and the results are not good. View Details at Brownells. Much of this is attributable to the Legend and Bushmaster competing for the same hunters. More power to them. Powered by UBB.threads PHP Forum Software 7.7.5. However, it does make a small improvement over the .45-70 Government that may be appealing to some shooters. His Thumper concept was a semi-auto rifle larger than .44-caliber, capable of taking big game out to 250 yards. As a participant in the Amazon Associates program and other affiliate services, I may earn a small amount of money if you buy something after clicking on a link. We measured the .450 Marlins velocity at 2,045 fps with the 350-grain Hornady Flat-Point Interlock bullet. The .450 Bushmaster is capable of using any .452-inch bullet, which opens a lot more doors for handloaders with the wide range of bullets on the marketincluding some outstanding choices from Barnes. Terms of Service - With a 150-yard zero, the Hornady load is 2.26 inches high at 100 yards, 5.73 inches low at 200 yards, and 15.71 inches low at 250 yards. A hard rubber buttpad doesnt help the shooter, it hinders him from getting the most out of the rifle.