I've gotten the urge for another "niche" gun and since I like short-actions I got to thinking about the .450 Marlin (brutal recoil in a little lever-actin carbine) and what it might be like in a well designed bolt-action rifle....CRF action and a nice laminated wood stock. It could be loaded to a higher pressure than the lever-actions and I'm thinking it might make a nice "mini-thumper" for shooting little buffalo...what do you think?

Bill,
I've seen the ad for that type of rifle in "Rifle" magazine, I believe.
The .450 Marlin trails behind the .458 Win Mag by about 400fps with the same bullets putting it in the .45-70 league.
We've all seen the debate on the .45-70's applicability on buff.
I like the idea of a "short" .458Win Mag though. It ought to be just the thing for large plains game in thick bush, maybe a buff under ideal conditions, and elk, moose, and bears here.

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

[This message has been edited by GeorgeS (edited 05-07-2002).]

What if you run into a big buffalo?

DB Bill,

a .450 marlin in a 22" barrel gives 2100 fps for a 350 gr bullet. I have seen lots of post comparing the 45/70 to the .450 marlin. Most of replies were : forget the .450 Marlin and go with the 45/70.

Regarding .458 Win a 350 gr bullet at 2500 fps in a 22" barrel.

For plainsgame animal both calibers (.450 and 45/70) will work but for buff???

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BER007
Keep the faith in any circumstances
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BBER007@HOTMAIL.COM

I have been intrigued with the idea too. I have an XP 100 that was a candidate for a 350 Rem Mag conversion. I have thought that Blaser should have used this roun as opposed to their .45 Blaser. For Bushveldt hunting the round is good but not for dangerous game

Simply as a mental exercise, would a .458x2" with a 400gr. RN bullet fit in a short-action? Does anyone know if it would have more powder capacity than a .450 Marlin using the same bullet?

George

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Shoot straight, shoot often, but by all means, use enough gun!

The .458x2" will fit into a short-action and the .450 Marlin has just a bit more volume but not much.

DB Bill,

Have you looked at Jim Busha's two short action .45s (.450 and .460)? He bases his cartridges on the .348 Win, rim and taper removed. I have one of his .450s on loan for testing, and I am waiting for some of Gerards FNs to arrive (did you read that Gerard? )

http://www.heavyexpress.com

Jim reports the .450 will do 2,100 fps MV with a 500 grain bullet, and the .460 will give 2,210 fps. He builds his rifles on Ruger M77 or Winchester M70 short actions.

His short action magnums are the design that Winchester adopted for their WSM cartridges.

jim dodd

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"if you are to busy to
hunt, you are too busy."

I have one of Heavy Express' in .416. I get 2280 f.p.s. out of a 22" barrel with Hornady 400 grain "solids" and got 10 reloads before the necks began to crack occasionally. The gun is as accurate as any in my safe, shooting ragged holes about 3/4" in diameter. I bought the rifle that Jim used in developing the cartridge. It has a good recoil pad and I've never seen a need for the screw-on muzzlebrake that it came with. If Jim says that the .450 gets good velocity in a 2.8" OAL cartridge, he ain't woofing. The conversion to the HESAM is very easy and if Busha is not doing it any more, go to www.montanarifleman.com and they could do it for you. The cartridge is pretty much a Remington Short Ultra Mag being necked up to .416 or .458. I would expect that reamers and dies are already out there.

[This message has been edited by judgeg (edited 05-07-2002).]

HunterJim......they look like they would do the job but with my arthritic neck and shoulders once recoil starts to get past the .375 H&H levels I've got to back off a bit. I was looking for something with a bit more mass than the .375 without going over the top on recoil.

DB Bill,

Have you checked Jim Brockman's latest: a bolt gun in .50 Beowulf? Maybe it is mild enough to avoid "the crick".

It will fire a 400 grainer at 1,800 fps.

http://www.brockmansrifles.com/50_beowulf.htm

jim dodd

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"if you are to busy to
hunt, you are too busy."

[This message has been edited by HunterJim (edited 05-08-2002).]

Winchester's custom shop are also offering a short action model 70 with this caliber.
Good shooting.

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Mehul Kamdar

Why not .45 blaser 350gr 620m/s, standard boltface.

www.blaser.de/english/produkte/accessories/45blaser.htm

DB,
Get hold of Jim Brockman, he came up with a big fat rebated case in a 50 caliber that works through a L461 Sako action or that little bitty Mark 10 action and it shoots into one hole. Balistics are right up there too..It is a rather amazing little gun.

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Ray Atkinson

ray@atkinsonhunting.com
atkinsonhunting.com