Question for you straight wall cartridge bolt gun guys?

[comfisherman]

Looks like when companies release variations in 45 raptor or 450 bushmaster they usually come with a large box mag. Ruger, Christensen and some of the semi custom builders all opt for this.

Does the lack of case taper cut down on capacity so much this is necessary?

Is it that tough to convert a bdl or adl style rifle to feed these cartridges?

Have been considering a 45 raptor or 45 bushmaster build on a seven or kimber for my wife as a short barreled bear gun. Figured it would be a battle to get to feed, want to make sure it's a winnable one. If not I guess 338 rcm, or easy button a 300 wsm shorty loaded with 200s.

 

[DUCKMAN11]

Buy a Ruger American ranch for $500 and hit the easy button on 450 bushmaster. If you want a shorter barrel you can chop the stock ruger barrel or buy a prefit from preferred. Now if you have to have custom then go for it but a 450 bushmaster has a very rebated rim and kinda wonky feed rail dimensions in a box fed mag. Close + bear + wife= better be as reliable to feed as heavenly possible.

 

[comfisherman]

The bushmaster is a weird one, I get that if I build it will be the raptor for that reason. 08 case face and ease of loading with 460 dies, had figured the kimber action would be able to handle the round. Had considered a remington seven for the reason of cheap mag box's to cut up as kimber parts are a pita if you don't get it right. That and the wife would like bdl as her preference.

Christensen adopted a box mag as well for the 450 bushmaster so guessing that rebated rim combined with no taper and heavy bullet must be the answer on that.

 

[MW204]

I had a 50 Beowulf once, I wished I still had it but a gentleman wanted it way more than I had in it so he got to take it home with him. It had a feeding problem at first but after I took care of that issue I love the cartridge and have thought numerous times about getting another one. The 45 Raptor looks every bit as good and with all the components you can get for it that may be a better choice, but the Beowulf has some serious knockdown power.

 

[comfisherman]

Was the beowulf and autoloader? I think it would be a pain out a bolt gun, my first attempt at a stubby bear whacker was to do a b&m super short of a wssm action but it never materialized and stayed a wssm. Wife handles a 20 inch 1895 big loop with some stiff loads alright but fully loaded it's more than she likes to carry and it got left at home 97% of the time. I know how small an Adirondack is with an rmr atop, or a re tubed seven or montana. Just deciding on how to put bigger power out. The raptor would be nice to load reduced for familiarity.

 

[MW204]

The Beowulf is on an AR-15 lower, I put a fairly soft recoil pad on adjustable stock to take the punch out of it and I enjoyed shooting it. It used regular AR-15 mags, the mod I did to it to make it load was to Dremel out the front of the mag so it was looped in the front just a little because the straight wall was hitting the front of the magazine slowing it down just enough that it normally liked around 1/4-3/8 of an inch closing the bolt, but after that mod it never failed to close.
A guy could put a brake on it and help reduce the recoil even a tad bit more if it was still just a tad much but I guess you could do that with the 45 Raptor also. I really liked the round.

 

[BVold]

We have a 45 Raptor for whitetails here in Iowa. Only had 1 season with it so far, but all 3 that have been shot with it went less than 2 steps. All 3 were 100-180 yards. Significant step up in knockdown power over the 45-70 we had been using. We have it braked and the gun is fairly heavy(≈11-12lbs) so recoil is very manageable, unsure what it would be like in a platform for carrying.

Our's is just a single shot bolt gun though so cannot speak on the feeding.

 

[comfisherman]

Well a friend has 460 dies and some heavies and I've got some brass that can be cut down fir dummie cartridges. Ordered a box that should beat me home, have something to bend/Dremel on and I'll find out for myself.

Straight walled cartridges are a lot easier to load consistently at different pressure tiers, that's part of the draw.

 

[Olephriam 1]

Looks like when companies release variations in 45 raptor or 450 bushmaster they usually come with a large box mag. Ruger, Christensen and some of the semi custom builders all opt for this.

Does the lack of case taper cut down on capacity so much this is necessary?

Is it that tough to convert a bdl or adl style rifle to feed these cartridges?

Have been considering a 45 raptor or 45 bushmaster build on a seven or kimber for my wife as a short barreled bear gun. Figured it would be a battle to get to feed, want to make sure it's a winnable one. If not I guess 338 rcm, or easy button a 300 wsm shorty loaded with 200s.

I guess I'm old school, Rossi 1892 45 colt that has the action cleaned up, using Paco Kelly 300 gr handloads and a red dot sight lots of power in a quick handling rifle

 

[Jon Bischof]

Whatever you decide to set up for her she has enjoy shooting it free handed. That's a shot she needs to be able to take if needed. Handy, reliable and manageable recoil. Lots of choices but she's the one who has to like it...if she's going to keep liking you

 

[Coldfinger]

Buy a Ruger American ranch for $500 and hit the easy button on 450 bushmaster. If you want a shorter barrel you can chop the stock ruger barrel or buy a prefit from preferred. Now if you have to have custom then go for it but a 450 bushmaster has a very rebated rim and kinda wonky feed rail dimensions in a box fed mag. Close + bear + wife= better be as reliable to feed as heavenly possible.

When you squeeze the trigger on a 450 bm ya just can't help but to smile!!!

 

[comfisherman]

She handled the 45-70 recoil even when loaded to top of what the 1895 can handle. Granted those are heavier rifles and have more weight forward. Even after a few hundred rounds she just never warmed to the 1895. I have a 375 ruger that doesn't weigh enough for what rl 17 can do with a partition in that bore. She's shot a couple full kilt loads to make sure she could, but it's way to much. Actually very few people like to shoot that rifle much.

She carried a rifle of mine that's pretty light and bolt action and like it. Kinda gave me roughly a size and weight of rifle and recoil tolerance.

The raptor seems like the easiest of the potential candidates to put in a compact small bolt gun, but nose heavy straight wall can be a pita to get to load. Might be a job for a dual spring like the old dm mags on 90s vintage remingtons, or even switch it up and go crf.