I did some horse trading and I now have a Wilson 458 SOCOM. I also got a Wilson 223 upper, in the deal as well.
The 223 upper shoots great, but I have not shot the SOCOm yet, I am waiting on ammo and reloading supplies.

I picked the SOCOM over the 450 Bushmaster, and the 50 B for the following reasons, not in any particular of importance.

There are a lot of .458 bullets avialable, and I even have a few left over from my 45/70 and 458 Mag days as well as the ones I use in my 450 No2.

It can be loaded with H 110 powder, which I have for the 44 Mag.

It uses unmodified AR magazines.
It is a bottle neck cartridge, which feeds better than a straight walled case in the AR, and it headspaces on the case shoulder.

I also really liked the way the Wilson AR handled. I like the Wilson fore end better than any other AR foreend I have seen.

I have shot a lot of deer and a few pigs with a 44 Mag Rifle, and several deer with a 45/70 and seen several pigs shot with a 45/70.

The 458 SOCOM is a step up over a 44 Mag Rifle, and with 300gr bullets just under normal loads for 300gr bullets in a 45/70.

It has a BIG advantage over a 44 Mag rifle in that it is more accurate at 100 yards+.

It is lighter and faster firing than a 45/70, which makes it better for me when walking up pigs, or deer for that matter.

As soon as I get to shoot it I will report back.

I had some interest in this round for a while and ended up looking into some uppers for my current AR (plain-jane Bushmaster XM15), but then it kind of fell to the wayside on my wish list. Seems like quite the pig-busting combination. I'd love to see some pictures.

I use the Nosler 300 Partition for my 45-70, an excellent performer.300 Barnes would be similar.That would probably be the best for the 458 SOCOM

Admit it Tony, you just wanted another rifle that shoots .458 bullets!

I've been using the Barnes 300gr SOCOM bullet in my Browning BLR in .450 Marlin on pigs. Works great.
Max

ive had a RRA 458 socom for about 4 yrs... i bought factory corbon ammunition after i got the rifle... and have found that some of the older 405 gr loads have the wrong ogive on the bullet to make it feed properly... corbon has since changed the design of the 405 bullet, to make it feed better... i'd like to shoot some 600 gr stuff and see what it does... ive seen a remington bolt rifle with electronic ignition, but haven't shot it.. its a good caliber and you'll like it's performance...

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
Admit it Tony, you just wanted another rifle that shoots .458 bullets!

Rusty, there is probably some truth to your statement. Over the years I have had a couple of 45/70's a couple of 458 Win Mags, and a 458 Win Mag did save my life one day...

And of course, my NE450No2 Double Rifle, that has proven to be a most excellent gun.

The .458 bore has been very very good to me...

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
Admit it Tony, you just wanted another rifle that shoots .458 bullets!

Is there anything wrong with that?

Nice score! Can't wait to see how it shoots!

Tony h110 and lil gun will only work with pistol length gas tubes. Rl7 and 4198. Will work with midlength tubes.
go to the 458 socom form for reloading data.

JD

I've heard good things about that round. Good luck with it.

quote:

Originally posted by J D:
Tony h110 and lil gun will only work with pistol length gas tubes. Rl7 and 4198. Will work with midlength tubes.
go to the 458 socom form for reloading data.

JD

Yes, you do need to be careful which powder for which tube length. I fought that for a long time until I figured it out. Lately I've been loading the Hornady 325 gr FTX that they use in their 45-70 Leverlution ammo. It has a nice profile for feeding and costs a good bit less than Barnes. Sometimes you can get them in bulk from Midway. The Remington 300 gr hollow point in bulk is another good SOCOM bullet as is the 350 gr Hornady round nose. I've shot lots of 500 gr bullets, subsonic to 1300 fps and find no advantage for the heavies except to suprise folks who think AR15s don't kick.

Hi, Jim! Finally got the EtronX to the suppressor guys but won't get the stamp 'til sometime next year:

Gentlemen,

Thanks for the info. My SOCOM has the Carbine length gas system.

So far I have done a little load development with H-110, to mtest pressure, and I loaded up some loads to accuracy test with the Hornady 300gr bullets.

I will try and do that one day next week.

JD, thanks I have already been to the 458 SOCOM forum and I am waiting for Marty to get me registered.

So far I really like this 458 SOCOM rifle.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
I've shot lots of 500 gr bullets, subsonic to 1300 fps and find no advantage for the heavies except to suprise folks who think AR15s don't kick.

...and some that DO know they can kick!

This will be my next AR purchase. I have put off buying it for way to long. I will have to wait awhile though as I just bought an AR-10

I had a chance to test some loads at the range in the 458 SOCOM.

I have not mounted a scope yet, all testing was done with one of the early circa 1999 EoTech red dot sights, with the standard one moa dot and the 65 moa reticle.

This Wilson 458 SOCOM is a very light weight, great handling rifle. But it must be put together just right.

Loads with the 300gr Remington HP and the Hornady 300gr HP, with H 110, and the 350 Hornady RN, and the Speer 400gr FN, both with IMR 4198, and the Factory SBR [Southern Ballistic Research] 350gr Soft points all hit in a group the size of the palm of my hand at 100 yards.

I really like, and appreciate a rifle that shoots multiple loads in to the same group.

I have not had a single malfunction using unmodified, 20 round standard GI mags, 20 round Armalite curved magazines, 30 round US GI mags and Canadan "plastic" 30 round magazines.

Funny thing is, the 223 Wilson upper shoots Winchester 55gr Ballistic Silvertips, USGI Green Tip, and Federal 55 gr ball into the same group at 100 yards, again with an EO Tech sight.

I must say, Wilson builds a pretty good AR rifle.

The only "complaint" I have on this Wilson is the Trigger... It is Scary.
It is the finest trigger I have ever felt on ANY AR including several Match Rifle AR's.

It is almost too light...

It is one of, if not the best trigger, I have ever shot on ANY rifle.

The 458 SOCOM case is very easy to reload.
It looks a lot like a minature 450 No2 case.
It is fat, with a good, proper length neck.

I cannot wait to bust some pigs and a few deer with it.