Anyone have any experence with a 450 Bushmaster or 30 RemAR?

[Coy Franks]

I want a new hog gun that will reload faster than a bolt action. I definately don't want 223! It normally takes more than one hit with 223 to bring them down on the run.

 

[J E Custom]

I want a new hog gun that will reload faster than a bolt action. I definately don't want 223! It normally takes more than one hit with 223 to bring them down on the run.

I have a 450 bushmaster upper on my AR and it is awesome.

I bought it for hogs an to go with my Tac 15 crossbow.

A 250 grain bullet at 2200 ft/sec with 2686 ft.lbs of energy is no slouch.

It will role them. The downside is recoil. I replaced the factory break with
a large ported break to tame the beast and take it easy on the AR 15 lower.

I also have a green aluminator on it so shooting a night is not a problem.

Accuracy is below 1 MOA and 250 to 300 yards is reasonable.

J E CUSTOM

 

[Coy Franks]

JE, does it buck enough to loose sight picture between rounds? What do you compare the recoil to now with the improved brake?

 

[J E Custom]

JE, does it buck enough to loose sight picture between rounds? What do you compare the recoil to now with the improved brake?

I would loose the sight picture because of the muzzle rise would be 10 to 15 degrees.

I put a Ross Schuler ported brake with 3 vents on the top and muzzle climb is almost zero
and recoil is about that of a 30/06. (Brakes don't work as well on big bores because they are
about 30 % effective compared to high velocity cartriges that can be reduced by almost 50%.

One reason the rifle bucks up is the shape and location of the butt stock in relation to the
bore. (The AR was not intended to fire anything but the 223 so the design does not take
recoil in to account.

In order to get an AR that doesn't buck you are going to have to go way down on power
and pigs need lots of it. I tried the 223 and It would not bring them down instantly unless
you made a head shot (And after the first shot there all running.

I had considered a 708 or 308 but that requires an AR 10 and I wanted to use my AR 15 lower.

As I said though, it is a blast to shoot and sure death to pigs and also does a great job on deer.

And another + if you can't find brass for any reason the 284 Winchester brass is spot on if you
trim to length.

J E CUSTOM

 

[roop]

just buy a 308 ar. there are gobs of companies making them now and you can even find good deals on them used.

 

[Coy Franks]

I shoot a M-40 now and the best combination I've found for hogs is a 125 Nosler BT running 2900 fps. I've tried everyones bullets at every speed and in my rifle this is the most destructive combination I've found. I've shot this round in an AR-25 without a brake and the muzzle rise is just too great for a quick repeat shot although it is less than using heavier wt bullets.. I can almost shoot my M-40 as fast as the AR-25 because of getting back on target faster. 99% of my hog kills are from the pickup window at moving targets and sometimes with the pickup moving also and muzzle rise/recoil is paramount to getting a second shot. All my friends say not to use a brake because of the noise but it dawned on me the other day that my bloodest rifle for hogs is a SKS with a brake and I love it but now I notice that I have a choice of either having the end sight or the target in focus but not both.

I guess it boils down to I want to shoot my 308 load in a SKS and still retain the same recoil and sight recovery as with the 7.62 x 39. Yeah and I want it to rain 2 in. every other week too!!!

JE, am I wanting something that can not be attained?? What are your or anyone else's thoughts?

 

[J E Custom]

I shoot a M-40 now and the best combination I've found for hogs is a 125 Nosler BT running 2900 fps. I've tried everyones bullets at every speed and in my rifle this is the most destructive combination I've found. I've shot this round in an AR-25 without a brake and the muzzle rise is just too great for a quick repeat shot although it is less than using heavier wt bullets.. I can almost shoot my M-40 as fast as the AR-25 because of getting back on target faster. 99% of my hog kills are from the pickup window at moving targets and sometimes with the pickup moving also and muzzle rise/recoil is paramount to getting a second shot. All my friends say not to use a brake because of the noise but it dawned on me the other day that my bloodest rifle for hogs is a SKS with a brake and I love it but now I notice that I have a choice of either having the end sight or the target in focus but not both.

I guess it boils down to I want to shoot my 308 load in a SKS and still retain the same recoil and sight recovery as with the 7.62 x 39. Yeah and I want it to rain 2 in. every other week too!!!

JE, am I wanting something that can not be attained?? What are your or anyone else's thoughts?

There are several things that you will deal with In an AR platform that are undesirable for
the more powerful cartriges, weight and design work against you and just adding a heavy barrel
will not cure muzzle climb Only reduce it a little. Your M40 has a better design for the reduction
of recoil and muzzle climb but it cant be as fast as a semi auto for follow up shots.

For your type of hunting if you wan't less recoil and muzzle climb in a semi auto then a heavy
barrel and something like a 260 rem with 100 to 120 gr bullets will still get the job done with
less recoil and muzzle climb.

I chose the 450 Bushmaster for its knock down power because where I hunt is very thick brush
and follow up shots are not the norm but if they present themselves it will do its job to 200 yards,
and tracking is a big issue that should be avoided if possible. And once you have been involved
in a wounded hog attack a heavy bullet is a great comfort and will save the day.

My favorite rifle for running shots is a heavy 22"barreled 7/08 on a Mod. 7 Rem. but with a scope
it does have its limitations after dark. so I installed a green laser on my 450 and it illuminates
well enough to use the 2.5x7 scope if he is stationary and can be used as a targeting device if
the hog is running at night.

So its ether a muzzle break or a smaller caliber "Or" a pair of the Walkers Game Ears for the
muzzle break

J E CUSTOM

 

[Coy Franks]

JE,

Thanks for your input. I need to find some one with a R-25 with a brake and try it with my load. One of my deer hunters has a R-25 in 308 but with no brake. He's not real crazy about it so maybe I can work a deal with him. Most of my country is pretty open with a lot of cotton and wheat fields so running shots are the norm more so that standing shots.

 

[roop]

take a look at jp enterprises recoil reduction system. what they have done is lightened the bolt carrier group and used an adjustable gas block to control bolt speed on their rifles. i discovered this information after i had already installed an adjustable gas block on my bushmaster 308 orc. my wife shot this rifle yesterday and was very surprised at the lack of recoil. if you were anywhere near western idaho i would let you fire this rifle. it took me a long time to get the rifle where it is at but now i'm starting to fall in love with it.

 

[swiftdriver]

I have a 16 inch 450 with carbine stock. The recoil with factory 250 grain loads seems comparable to my M1a scout with 150 grain loads. The 450 really hammers the hogs. Hope this helps.

 

[Trental]

Coy,

I just moved from Colorado to Georgia and I bought a Remington R-15 in .30 Rem AR specifically for hog hunting down here so that I would be able to deliver quick follow up shots if necessary. It is incredibly easy to reload for and mine is quite accurate with a 3x9 Nikon scope on it. I can easily shoot sub MOA at 100yds with my reloads and even with the Remington full metal jacket factory ammo.

I am 100% happy with this rifle and cartridge. I was able to use it for my deer hunt before leaving Colorado and shot a good body size 2x3 muley using 130gr Speer HOt-Cor. It absolutely dropped in its tracks and was dead when it hit the ground. High double-lung shot and game over.

I've loaded and shot a bunch of the 150gr Nosler BTs and I think that will be my go to hunting bullet. It pretty much stacks them on top of one another. It really is a fun cartridge. The downside right now is that Remington hasn't brought to market reloadable brass yet so I have been buying the inexpensive FMJs and shooting those for fun and then reloading that brass. The word on the street is that we should start seeing 30RAR brass hit the market by March.