help me out - .458 SOCOM vs .50 Beowulf vs .450 Bushmaster

[socalbeachbum]

Reliability. Ammo availability. Magazine capacity. Parts availability.

I know all 3 are powerful. But reliability to feed and function is high on my priority list, so is the availability issues not necessarily today, but 5 or 10 years from now.

Tell me what you can please. Because I'm not experienced with any of these I would probably opt to buy a complete factory made upper, and not try to assemble and test myself. Unless I'm convinced it's pretty straightforward to assemble one.

 

[Gordon]

.450 Bushmaster for all the reasons you are concerned with. My son got an upper last year and it seems to work well and be serviceable

 

[socalbeachbum]

I figure since Ruger produces bolt rifles now in .450, and Remington is about to, in their R-15, the round ought to be around a while but you never know

 

[everydefense]

Calling @Flintknapper... he has impressed me with his .458 SOCOM (aka "Hog Hammer") in his feral hog thread:
https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/not-again-feral-hog-control-in-east-texas.449721/

 

[adcoch1]

Fwiw 458 socom is the only one of the three that headspaces off of a shoulder instead of the case mouth. It's supposed to be easier to load for because of this for headspace, but it also has to be loaded like a rifle round instead of a straight wall pistol round.

 

[sabbfan]

One downside to the 458 is if you live in a state with straight wall cartridge requirements like Iowa for deer hunting. 450 and 50 are allowed but not the socom. I know it doesn't apply to everyone but something to consider depending on if you hunt and where.

 

[socalbeachbum]

Iowa requires straight wall? as in .500 Nitro Express? what a strange law

 

[sabbfan]

No, we had shotgun, bow handgun and muzzleloader up until this year, they now allow straight wall pistol cartridge in a rifle in addition to the others. I plan on using my Henry 357 for example. So you could use the Beowulf and Bushmaster but not Socom since it's bottleneck. I believe Ohio and Indiana are similar.

 

[455h013]

I went with .50 beowulf over the .458 solely on price. Everything with .458 seam to be a bit more pricey, not that .50 beowulf is cheap. Its just cheaper to run. Just make sure you get a upper from a reputable manufacture and you wont be disappointed with any of the 3 calibers.

 

[LoonWulf]

Im another .458 fan. I looked at the beo, and the bushy was my initial first choice, mostly because pistol bullets are cheaper than rifle.
In the end tho i went with the socom.
I like the fact that it will comfortably handle a huge range of bullet weights. I also prefer rounds that headspace on the shoulder.

In reality performance between the three, when used with decent ammo in decent builds, is nearly identical. Cost is marginally different if your reloading, but bushy ammo is more available (atleast out here).
Pick the round you like the looks and name of best and go from there lol.
I have a buddy who went with the beo, just cause he always wanted to say things like "lemme grab my 50".... seriously....

Velocity and bullet weights between our rifles with the same barrel lengths are almost the same, his has a bit more frontal area, mine better sectional density.

Both rifles run like tops, mag capacity is the same, and handling is the same.
My upper is from Radical, his is a different but also similar quality upper, cant remember where he got his....tho it might be a Radical also now that i think about it.

 

[jmorris]

If I'm going to get out a 50, it will be my 50 BMG.

The 450 BM uses .452 pistol bullets that are cheaper and more abundant than the .458 rifle bullets the socom uses.

The reasons Loonwulf already mentioned are why I bought the .458 but most of the rounds I have fired have pushed bullets over 400 grains down range. If I were wanting to shoot more <250 gn projectiles the BM would be on my list.

 

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got a beo. Its is VERY accurate and has taken game from the size of a whitetail to a 1600lb Asian water buffalo. Not much experience other then just shooting with the other two but in the gun game ive found very little advantage to smaller and lots of advantage to bigger.

 

[armarsh]

I favored the 450 BM because it is based on the 284 win case. Since I reload I could always make my own if the factory brass became unavailable.

Then a good deal on a 450BM upper came my way and seemed like it was meant to be.

 

[Varminterror]

I have owned all 3, held the 50 the shortest. The bushy was great except I was not happy with the selection of pistol bullets for such high impact velocities. That may be a bit better now than it was, but it's still not great. I favor the SOCOM for the fact I can keep one set of .458" bullets for it and my .45-70's, instead of having a separate volume of .452" bullets for the bushy, giving me multiple outlets.

 

[wbbh]

I went with .50 beowulf over the .458 solely on price. Everything with .458 seam to be a bit more pricey, not that .50 beowulf is cheap. Its just cheaper to run. Just make sure you get a upper from a reputable manufacture and you wont be disappointed with any of the 3 calibers.

Same here and I had picked up a few boxes of .50 Beowulf ammunition in an auction long before I bought an upper from Primary Arms. Thumper is accurate and fun to shoot, though it does kick. I have a recoil pad and stock weight on order. With just a small Bushnell red dot sight and a plain AR fixed stock it's a very light rifle for the caliber.