Marlin .450

[Archangel14]

I recently posted about a Wincehster 94 I saw. Also, there's a Marlin .450 for sale. It seems like a more obscure caliber. What's the skinny on the 450? I'm looking for insight into recoil, comparisons (45-70?), killing effectiveness, range. I reload, so cost isn't a great concern. I like the opinions I get here....real world stuff! Wikipedia is only so reliable!

Thanks!

 

[gp911]

Basically like a hot .45-70, in a belted case. I think you have more versatility with .45-70, but if you want a big thumper that is less common it's a stout one. Similar ballistics & trajectory as heavy .45-70 loads.

 

[RPRNY]

That pretty much sums it up. I will say that "stout one" is an understatement. Pretty brutal IMHO. YMMV.

 

[CraigC]

I wouldn't call it obscure at all. It basically duplicates what handloaders have been doing with the .45-70 for years, in a factory cartridge. If you handload, there's no reason to buy a .450.

 

[303tom]

The guys are right, it`s a stout one..........Basically it is a shortened .458 Win. Mag. A buddy of mine has a BFR in .450 Marlin & it`s all you want to do to shoot a cyc. full & that`s just 5 rds. My BFR in .45-70 is a kitten compared to his.................

 

[Zebraranger]

I had a 450 Marlin guide gun, one hell of a rifle. they do have some serious kick, it was very accurate. I ended up trading it away because I dont hunt anymore. Both the 450 and 45-70 are great calibers, like others have stated, its like a beefed up 45-70.

 

[Kyle M.]

I've got a friend who has a marlin 1895M in .450 marlin. With factory hornady ammo it feels like it kicks slightly harder than my 9lb ruger no.1 in .375 H&H. The load I'm shooting in the ruger has about 40 ft lbs of recoil.

 

[Cosmoline]

It's actually a .458x2 American that's had a little safety issue resolved to prevent it from being jammed into an improper chamber. The factory rounds are stout but not as stout as the .457x2 American. I've pretty much ignored all of this and just handloaded it as if it were a .45-70 with everything from roundball and shot to hardcast slugs. It works great and is as versatile as a .45-70.

It's mostly wasted in leverguns which is why it never really took off. As CraigC points out, you can do all of this with a .45-70. I only use it because you can't fit a .45-70 into a Winchester '94 frame.

The great and largely unexplored use for this round is as a BOLT action thumper. A dream project of mine is to make one on a Mauser action with express sights.

 

[bjorn]

wondering if u bought that 450 marlin and if your not interested is it still for sale? thanks Bjorn

 

[ms6852]

Friend of mine gave me a 450 marlin, so that I would be tempted to go hunting with him in Alaska. It was one of the first rifles out of production that year that had the ported barrel. With a 16 1/2 inch barrel this rifle is very light, and to say that it kicks like a mule is an understatement.

There is a boulder that hangs by a very steep hill in our campground where we go hunting and use it as a target as it is about 175 yards up the hill and stands out from the rest. We shoot it all the time for the last 30 years without a problem until the year I got the 450 marlin. We kinda check our zero on that boulder with the 35 remington, 30-06 and my brother's 45-70. We all shot it than I took my 450 and two shots later that boulder came down. My brother was impressed with the 450 as he likes big calibers. He shot my 450 once and said I could keep it he is sticking to the 45-70. Gotta agree with him, it kicks like a mule and can't afford to keep going to the dentist to replace the fillings it loosens every time I shoot it.

 

[DeepSouth]

Friend of mine gave me a 450 marlin, so that I would be tempted to go hunting with him in Alaska. It was one of the first rifles out of production that year that had the ported barrel. With a 16 1/2 inch barrel this rifle is very light, and to say that it kicks like a mule is an understatement.

I have the same gun and I must say recoil is subjective. I don't find it bad at all. I love the gun especially with the short barrel. It makes a great brush gun.

I will agree that it is basically a hot 45-70 if you can hand load.
It's probably good to about 200 yards. I use it in the woods and have only shot 100 yards when sighting it in.


Recoil really isn't that bad, heck, I shoot buffalo bore ammo in it.
Anyway I'd buy it again.




Pardon typos. Posted via iPhone

 

[Coltdriver]

The .450 Marlin cartridge was created so that you could purchase a 45 70 Magnum round at your local Walmart and the ammo maker would have no fear that you could put the round in your Trapdoor (due to the belt on the 450 Marlin brass).

Of course you can get very hotly loaded 45 70 rounds. But they would reliably blow up your Trapdoor, and they could pretty easily strain or destroy some 45 70's.

If you have a Trapdoor and you reload you could put all of your magnum rounds thru your 450 Marlin and never worry about mixing up your loads.

Check out most reloading manuals and there are three levels of 45 70 loadings. They start with Trapdoor and go up to Ruger #1's with so much recoil it is insane.

So aside from keeping your own handloads from blowing up your weaker platforms there is not much of an advantage to the .450. It is ballistically identical to the 45 70 or I should say there is absolutely nothing that you can do with a 450 Marlin that you cannot do with a proper 45 70 platform.

 

[jeepnik]

I wouldn't call it obscure at all. It basically duplicates what handloaders have been doing with the .45-70 for years, in a factory cartridge. If you handload, there's no reason to buy a .450.

With the Buffalo Bore and Garrett offerings, you still don't need it if you don't handload.

 

[CraigC]

True but that stuff costs a lot more than Hornady .450's.

 

[Cosmoline]

I should say there is absolutely nothing that you can do with a 450 Marlin that you cannot do with a proper 45 70 platform.

Well there is one thing. I don't think anyone ever managed to fit a .45-70 through a Winchester '94 frame.

But the real role for the .450 Marlin is in bolt action.

 

[CraigC]

I could definitely dig on the .450 in the light and trim 1894 platform. Still want a .375 or .356.....or both.

 

[Float Pilot]

Cosmoline is correct, ( as usual) the 450 marlin is just a modified 458 Two Inch American. which was developed by Frank Barnes back around 1962. It was a 458 Win Mag brass cut to 2 inches so it would work in a shorter action. I had a Mexican Mauser chambered for it...
But it never caught on, in part because a moron (SEE LAWYER) COULD ACCIDENTLY SHOVE IT INTO SOMETHING LIKE A 7MM MAG AND BLOW THEMSEVLES UP...

So when Marlin ran with the idea, they moved the belt to another place so it wont chamber into anything other than a 450 Marlin chamber.
I had one in a Browning lightweight BLR,,,, The recoil was ASTOUNDING... in that rifle....

I have seen a few M-48 Yugo (intermediate length) Mausers that have been rebarreled to 450 Marlin. That really seems to work out well, since it is really a rimless cartridge which works well in a bolt action.

 

[Coltdriver]

Well when I read Floatpilots post I had to chime in. My first 450 Marlin was an Encore with what Thompson called a Katahdin barrel. With a scope about 7 1/2 pounds.

I put a limbsaver on it before I ever shot it. It was easily the hardest recoiling rifle I ever shot.

Marginally tolerable with the limbsaver.

When I started comparing the 450 to the 45 70 I sold the Marlin 450 barrel and have been shooting 45 70 since. Great cartridge and getting kicked like a mule is optional!

 

[jmr40]

He handloads. He can load it as mild or hot as he desires. If I were buying a new gun I'd prefer the 45-70 because of the wider selection of factory loads. I had a 45-70 for close to 40 years and shot a few of the super loads through it. Not worth the recoil for me. I used milder loads almost exclusively.

 

[Hotshot10]

I recently posted about a Wincehster 94 I saw.

I've really wanted to shoot one of the 94s in .450 Marlin, to see if I could handle the recoil. Did you buy it?