.45 Bushmaster available yet?

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Is the .45 Bushmaster available yet. If not what is the expected time for release. Has any of the ballistic data made its rounds on the web? Cant seem to find much on the web or here.
 
I'm interested in this too. I saw the advertisements in Gun's & Ammo but haven't seen anything outside of that.
 
It's a 250 grain bullet at "over 2000" fps which probably means 2050.

Unlike the .50 Beowulf, Hornady is loading it with a spire point bullet for reasonable long range performance. The BC is not published, but their 200 grain SST in the 460 S&W is around 0.29 (G1) so this one is probably around 0.32. For comparison, the 325gr HP in the Beowulf has a BC around 0.14.
 
I decided to give Bushmaster a call yesterday and I was told that the rifles are ready to go. They are waiting on Hornady to start shipping ammo. Late July early August is what I was told.
 
Does anybody know if the .45 Bushmaster uses brass from another cartridge that could be used to reload it until it's readily available? A buddy that reloads was thinking about this and he asked me about it the other day and I didn't know what to tell him. I figured that you could use just at least one of the various .45 caliber bullets that are out there just so long as they measured the same, but I didn't know about the brass and what specific .45 bullet can be used. Can anybody answer this?
 
From looking at their website, it looks like it will only have a 9 round magazine, which is a standard 30 rounder which has been modified.

I know the 450 Bushmaster case is bigger than a 223 case, but I would think they could have gotten more than 9 rounds in it... I was thinking it would be more like 20 rounds.

Also, is this round going to beat the hell out of the an AR? isn't the receiver aluminum?
 
The AR design has the bolt locked to the barrel extension, steel to steel, during the moment of firing. The reciever is technicaly a non-stressed part, other than keeping the stock, grip, sights, magazine, and FCG together, and guiding the bolt during it's travel.

It's not like a (some) bolt action(s) or a SKS/FAL where the reciever actively participates in locking the breech during the moment of firing.
 
I'm not too smart about this so can somebody explain it for me? What advantage does this have over the ar-10 chambered in .308? Does the larger bullet make it better for larger game like brown bear or something? 20 rounds of 308 in 1 mag vs 9 rounds of 45 is a pretty big drop. Thanks.
 
A 250 grain .455" is pretty light for anything bigger than a deer.

I'd like to see 325+ gr.
 
Hi, I'm new.

I've seen very effective use of a 300 gr. 45/70 load traveling at about 1650 fps. I would like the heavier bullet as well, but I think the 250 grain at over 2000 fps will do just fine on bear.
 
I'm not too smart about this so can somebody explain it for me? What advantage does this have over the ar-10 chambered in .308?
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The same advantage as every new gun product, which is that you don't have one already so maybe you'll go out and buy theirs.
 
I'm not too smart about this so can somebody explain it for me? What advantage does this have over the ar-10 chambered in .308?
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It can be used with a standard lower receiver. So you do not have to buy a whole new gun if all you have is an AR-15, all you need is a new upper and magazine.
 
the advantage is that they can sell it to people.... I don't see this as any big improvement over the .50 beowolf.
 
its really about, keeping as many as the same parts as possible, mags, buffers, carriers, etc., while using diff size bullets. with this, you can use a lot of the same current parts, change the upper, and away you go.
 
Kilgore: A 250 grain .455" is pretty light for anything bigger than a deer.

I'd like to see 325+ gr.
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.50 Beowulf or .458 SOCOM and you have your 325+ gr. in an AR15.
 
If I had large, dangerous game CLOSE I would rather have a .50 Beowulf than a 308. Theres a differnce between long range precision shots and I need to kill this thing now under stress. I think that the .50 Beo and maybe the .45 Bushmaster would be better for the close calls. But since we only have a little bit of info on only one .45 bush load the jury is still out. I think the difference between the .50 Beowulf and .45 Bushmaster will be similar to the ..460 S&W and .500 S&W.
 
IMO, in the AR platform, the AR-10 is better suited for hunting most big game than any of these .45 or .50 caliber AR-15 uppers.

If I'm looking for big bore hunting rifle for bear or moose, I'll take a stainless Marlin Guide Gun in .45/70. The entire rifle is probably cheaper than a .45 or .50 caliber upper, .45/70 ammo can be found almost anywhere, and there are tons of different loads and bullets available for the handloader making it one heck of a versatile cartridge.

At some point you're just buying something that's "tacticool" when there are clearly better choices for a given purpose.

--Grizz
 
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