450 bushmaster or 458 socom

[Mossy]

Trying to decide which caliber for an AR build. I don’t know the legality for hunting in Washington or Idaho; I just want something different. Pros and cons?

[grundy53]

You can hunt with them in Washington. I built a .450 Bushmaster. I really like it but if I had to do it all over again I probably would have gone with the .458 socom. But both are good.

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[N7XW]

 One of each, of course

[WSU]

You can hunt with them in Washington. I built a .450 Bushmaster. I really like it but if I had to do it all over again I probably would have gone with the .458 socom. But both are good.

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Why?  I'm pondering the same thing.

[grundy53]

You can hunt with them in Washington. I built a .450 Bushmaster. I really like it but if I had to do it all over again I probably would have gone with the .458 socom. But both are good.

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Why?  I'm pondering the same thing.

Mainly reloading options. The .450 is a .452 bullet so most bullets out there are meant for pistols. The .458 is a .458 so there are more rifle bullet options. I would say one plus for the bushmaster would be that it would be cheaper to load plinking ammo.

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[Rob]

Lots of plated bullets available in 458 so good cheap options there.

One thing I found out on the 458 Socom is that there are two reamers that are used and they are slightly different.  This can cause issues on some factory ammo as I recall.  I used a Wilson Combat barrel before I knew there was a difference.

Some details here: https://www.shootersforum.com/black-rifles/184017-458-socom.html

Relevant part of the thread:  "Go with TROMIX. Tony Rumore is one of the originators of the round, along with the cartridge designer Marty ter Weeme of Teppo Jutsu. They use the original spec reamer (as does Rock River, SBR, and SSK, along with the Saturn barrel sold by Brownell's) while Wilson Combat and ALL others uses the knockoff PTG reamer which was reverse engineered to get out of licensing fees to Teppo Jutsu"

I found useful info here:
http://www.458socomforums.com/

[yorketransport]

I'd for for the 458 SOCOM because of the bullet selection like others have said. I'd also give a big +1 to getting parts through Tromix.

If you wanted to be different you could go with a 375 SOCOM. 

[Mossy]

Great, thanks guys. I reload so it sounds like the socom is the way to go.

[konradcountry]

Those big bullets really have some drop.

I would look at 6.8/6.5 first.