Why doesn't anyone make a big bore semi auto?

[biggameballs]

I would really love to have a big bore semi auto for brush hunting and the only one out there seems to be the Ruger 44mag which they have recently pulled from production. I am wondering why no one makes a big bore semi auto. Is a semi automatic action unable to handle a 454 cartrige or a 444 marlin or anything else along these lines??

 

[rcmodel]

There is nothing technically to stop some manufacture from doing it.

About the only thing along those lines right now is the AR platform .450 Bushmaster.
http://www.bushmaster.com/catalog_xm15_BCWVMS20-45.asp

And a few other proprietary AR rounds similar to it.


rcmode

 

[biggameballs]

Yea I was thinking something more along the lines of a traditional hunting style rifle in a more common round but that is kind of a cool gun.

 

[.45Guy]

There's always this one: http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=182758

 

[MCgunner]

There's the Browning BAR in .338, not big enough for ya?

 

[Grumulkin]

They do.

http://www.vigilancerifles.com/HOME__PAGE.html

There is also a company that will take your M1 Garand and rebuild it to shoot a belted magnum up to 458 Win. Mag.

 

[S&Wfan]

Hi,

I have one of the newer generation Ruger .44 Deerfield carbines, and it does a wonderful job with a Millett red dot sight.

I've let a friend of mine, who is also a feature writer for Georgia Outdoor News magazine, use it a couple of times on his annual, wild and wooly bear hunts in the Okeefenokee Swamp. He considers it the ultimate gun for that purpose . . . although this year he bagged a nice one with his 30.06 bolt action. I suspect that running with that heavy, scoped bolt action in the swamp would be exhausting!

As far as big bore semi-autos, I guess my 30.06 Remington 742 MIGHT qualify . . . unless you want something over .40 cal.

Then again . . . a Winchester .12 gauge semi-auto slug gun would be quite the "big bore" at over .70 caliber!

MY FAVORITES . . .

Give me a nice .270 . . . like my tack-drivin' 1973 Remington 700LH (a left handed, early "BDL-type") BOLT ACTION. It is well known that bolt actions are the most accurate type of rifle . . . and mine groups well under an inch at 100 yards.

Heck, it got me TWO deer today. One in the morning with a heart shot . . . and the other one this evening when a walking buck with a perfect neck shot. Quite a nice day! Now that the "pressure" is off, I'll go back to handgun hunting (with the Ruger carbine for any distance shots). In our Georgia woods, rarely do we get a 100 yard shot.

My 742 always "makes the trip" to the club . . . but always sits in reserve. Why shoot a gun that "only" groups 1 1/2"-2" at 100 yards when you've got a bolt action that once made a tight, perfect three-shot "clover" from the bench at 150 yards!

Alas, I usually do most of my hunting with my .44 S&W Model 29-5 though. It is more of a challenge.


.450 CARBINE . . .

One of the members of our club shoots the Marlin lever action carbine in .450. It is quite a thumper he says. You might enjoy that, even though it doesn't shuck the shells automatically.

In any event, hope you get to get out there and hunt soon!

T.

 

[campbell]

Why shoot a gun that "only" groups 1 1/2"-2" at 100 yards when you've got a bolt action that once made a tight, perfect three-shot "clover" from the bench at 150 yards!

If 2'' groups aren't good enough, then you ain't in the brush.

Big bore brush guns have already been perfected in the lever action.

 

[Gustav]

A Browning BAR in .338 is one that comes to mind also IIRC Remington sells the new 750 in .35 Whelen.

I would like to see a Browning BAR in .458 Winchester magnum using a detachable magazine and African style 100 200 and 300 yard express sights with a tritium bead front and tritium upright posts on each leaf of the rear sights.

Your right though not allot of big bore semi auto choices unless one wants to go with one of the four figure price tag tacticool "sniper" rifles.

 

[nitestocker]

you could rechamber 7400 Remington to 35 whelen i have a 3006 i was thinking of doing that myself i have 10 round mags for it to its just a 3006 rechambered to a larger caliber everything else will work

 

[frogomatic]

I'm working on a custom design specifically for the 450 bushmaster. Finding a chamber reamer is currently where I'm stuck. the details...rotating bolt, gas piston, wood furniture, military apertures, picitinny rail, and detachable double stack mags. My most adventerous undertaking to date, hope to have it running within 2 years.

 

[jmorris]

It’s simple, manufactures make guns that sell, and stop production when they don’t. The Ruger was not the only one Marlin made the camp 45. You can still get a Mech Tech conversion that will turn a 1911 into a 16” 45 carbine (10mm in a Glock also exists). If you wanted more juice than the 45acp have a gunsmith ream the chamber to accept the 460 Rowland. Don’t be afraid to look at the used market, if it’s destined for the brush that would be the way to go. If you just have to have new, in the current market, your looking at AR, saga, and the like, they go up to .50 cal. Then there is always the good old stand by 12ga semi auto with slugs (some shoot quite well).

 

[mbt2001]

Remington makes their semi-auto chambered for the .35 whelen. That is big enough for anything in North America... And most of the stuff in Africa. I know that isn't "big bore" per se, but I have always really like the .35 whelen, and in a semi-auto with good bullets I would surmise can be used on virtually any game, short of elephants, hell maybe even then.

 

[Bitmap]

How about the .50 Beowolfe and .458 Soccom for the AR?

 

[biggameballs]

Not looking for a combat style rifel. I guess Ideall I would like to see something like a BAR but with an 18-20" barrel in like a 450 marlin or 454. My biggest problem with the rifle cartriges is I dont think they would shoot well in an 18" barrel.

 

[Bitmap]

Have you ever tried an AR? You might find the ergonomics are better than the BAR.

 

[R.W.Dale]

My biggest problem with the rifle cartriges is I dont think they would shoot well in an 18" barrel.

But that's a false assumption that the T/C crowd had disproved many years ago. Take .308 for example even when launched from a 14" handgun ballistics are still rather impressive despite the short barrel a handgun in this chambering is still far far more powerful than a 30-30 rifle.

Accuracy from a shorter barrel can actually be better vs a longer tube due to the fact a shorter barrel is stiffer. So go buy yourself a 18.5" Remington 7400 carbine in 30-06 and rejoice. There ain't a deer on the planet that'll be able to tell the difference from a 240grn bullet from a 444 or a 180grn Remington RN 30-06 bullet.