anyone have a 450 marlin in a bolt action,what kind of perfomance can be had with 350gr and 400gr bullets?Would it be enough for coastal bears and bison

I think DB Bill has one of these.

George

I don't know what kind of performance you are looking for, and I am still working on mine, but 2200 fps with a 350gr Barnes-X is possible using RL7. That's 3760 ftlbs of muzzle energy. Should be plenty. I haven't had a chance to load any 400gr bullets yet but my buddy Mic McPherson tells me 4000 ftlbs should be doable...he got it in his Guide Gun and I can load to a longer OAL than he can plus I can use a "pointy" bullet.

At any rate, I would not have any qualms doing a brown bear hunt with mine as I shot two a long time ago with a Rem 600 in .350 Magnum using factory loads and they were wimpy compared to my .450 Marlin.

By the way, the recoil on the referenced load can best be described as "right smart"...mine weighs less than 7 1/2lbs ready to go.

Another interesting bullet you may want to check out for lighter game is the Barnes 250gr Flat Nose Hollow-Point....I can reach 2500 fps with this one but the penetration probably isn't much compared to other bullets.

[ 10-04-2002, 10:32: Message edited by: DB Bill ]