The .450 Bushmaster ammo was first released in 2007. This ammo was designed by Tim LeGendre of LeMag Firearms, a well-known brand name in the firearms industry. Manufactured by Hornady, this carefully developed cartridge was made to suit the AR and M- style rifles for targeting and shooting big games.
Inspired by Jeff Cooper’s ‘thumper’ idea, which envisioned high-powered cartridges designed to fit larger bores, Tim came up with the .450 Bushmaster ammo for modern-day rifles.
Unlike regular bottle-neck-shaped cartridges with narrow bullets, the .450 ammo has the same diameter from the base to the neck, making it suitable to knock down large animals without distorting its shape and exceeding the targeted mark.
Safety may be the primary reason why the straight-backed .450 Bushmaster ammo is legal for use in most states unlike bottle-necked cartridges. Bottle-necked cartridges are slimmer with greater propellant force, giving them great speed and the force power that can pierce through objects even beyond the targeted mark.
With the .450 Bushmaster ammo, you have more control of direction and can estimate the distance and velocity you need to hit your target.
Due to its shape and heavy bullet (as is typically used with straight-walled cartridges), the .450 Bushmaster ammo doesn’t cover far distances because there isn’t a lot of force behind its bullet. However, this makes it a distinct brand, for hunting big game and a suitable cartridge for target competitions.
.450 Bushmaster ammo has a bullet of 11.5mm diameter, a 12.19mm neck, and a 12.70mm base. This gives a cartridge a total length of 57.4mm—already established that this ammo isn’t designed for long-distance. 450 Bushmaster ammo can hit an average-sized game from an estimated 250 to 300 yards distance.
When it comes to popularity, especially amongst hunters of the mid-west, the beloved .450 Bushmaster ammo is potent.
The .450 Bushmaster was designed by Tom LeGendre with the intention of developing a new “Thumper” type caliber to achieve one-shot kills of big game at 250 yards. With the help and input from Hornady, the original design was shortened allowing it to fit inside of an AR15 pattern rifle instead of the originally intended AR10. It was introduced in 2007 and its current manufacturers are Hornady and Federal.
.450 Bushmaster History
.450 Bushmaster Usage
.450 Bushmaster Usage
The .450 Bushmaster took some time to gain mainstream use due to the disconnect between big game hunters and AR15 owners and is currently about as popular of a caliber as .350 Legend or .458 SOCOM. Due to its ballistics, it is capable of taking down any game in North America and has become a very popular caliber for bear hunting.
.450 Bushmaster Trivia
With 30+ cartridges able to fit in an AR15, the .450 Bushmaster was one of but a few that were designed for that specific purpose instead of being an existing caliber that was added in after the fact. During development, Hornady asked LeGendre to shorten the case allowing it to have an overall length of 2.25 inches to fit in a modified AR15 magazine.
.450 Bushmaster Trivia
.450 Bushmaster Design
.450 Bushmaster Design
The 450 Bushmaster is a straight wall, rebated rim cartridge with an overall length of 2.26” and a case capacity of 59.5 grains (H2O). It fires a .452” diameter bullet using small rifle primers and a maximum pressure of 38,500 PSI.
