Just bought my 1st big bore. Need advice.

[Dogshooter]

Just purchased a Browning BLR in 450 Marlin and I do reload but "never bit a bullet like this". I live in Wyoming and the area I elk hunt does have griz so I am interested in protecting my hide. I have always carried a 338 but in all of my 35 years of hunting, have never shot an elk further than 200 yards. So I figured I'd try this 450. Anybody have experience with this round and have any advice for a new kid on the block as to what I should look at for a load to start with? Apprecate all the help I can get.

[BBF]

I had one of those shoulder cannons with the ported  18 1/2barrel from Marlin no less.
I presume you know that this round was created to give a full bore, pedal to the metal 45-70 Govt load for folks that didn't want to handload their 45-70 Govt rifles to full potential.

The factory ammo will fill your hunting requirement . Their flex tip is available now for the reloader as well. That would not be my choice for grizzlies however. If you can work out a load combo that puts a 350 gr Hornady RN or FN for close range and the Flex tip for 100+ yards into a useful zero you have a great setup.

If you want less pain you can use the same bullet loaded down. I tried loading the Speer 350 gr bullet and found the cannelure in the wrong place to work. Loading the round was no problem but getting an unfired load thru the ejection port of the Marlin rifle was not possible without seating the bullet much deeper. That presented another problem because the taper of the bullet started and the case mouth would have to be crimped severely. I don't know if that would be an issue with the Browning.

 I believe Barnes still makes several weight Original style as well as TSX bullets in.458 

[jro45]

Congradulations!!!!What Caliber is it? Is it  a 458 cal. I own a 458 Lott.  Sounds like you'll
Be able to take care of those Grizzlys.

[Swampman]

I would use Varget under a 405 Grain Remington SP or a 405 grain hard cast lead bullet.

[BBF]

Rem 405 or Speer 400 are designed to expand at low to moderate velocities. If you want top V's, you need different bullets

[valvesinmyhead]

I am going to use my 450 for mulies in Western Ne. Have a MGM 26" barrel for my Encore. 2" groups at 100yds with the Hornady 350gr.
Here some info that might be useful.

Name: 450 Marlin Hornady 350gr FP
Ballistic Coeff: 0.195
Bullet Weight: 350
Velocity: 2100
Target Distance: 100
Scope Height: 1.500
Temperature: 70
Altitude: 500

Ballistic Data
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Range  Elevation  Velocity   Energy     ETA         Drop      Max Y  10mph Wind Deflect
  0 yds   -1.50 in  2100 fps  3427 fpe  0.000 sec    0.00 in  -1.50 in    0.00 in
 25 yds   -0.26 in  2004 fps  3120 fpe  0.036 sec    0.25 in  -0.54 in    0.11 in
 50 yds    0.46 in  1910 fps  2835 fpe  0.074 sec    1.03 in  -0.33 in    0.52 in
 75 yds    0.57 in  1820 fps  2574 fpe  0.115 sec    2.42 in   0.04 in    1.31 in
100 yds    0.00 in  1733 fps  2334 fpe  0.157 sec    4.48 in   0.60 in    2.53 in
125 yds   -1.30 in  1650 fps  2115 fpe  0.202 sec    7.27 in   1.38 in    4.11 in
150 yds   -3.37 in  1569 fps  1913 fpe  0.249 sec   10.84 in   2.40 in    6.03 in
175 yds   -6.30 in  1492 fps  1729 fpe  0.297 sec   15.27 in   3.70 in    8.32 in
200 yds  -10.21 in  1419 fps  1564 fpe  0.349 sec   20.67 in   5.31 in   11.07 in
225 yds  -15.27 in  1351 fps  1419 fpe  0.403 sec   27.22 in   7.30 in   14.37 in
250 yds  -21.50 in  1288 fps  1290 fpe  0.460 sec   34.95 in   9.68 in   18.11 in
275 yds  -29.01 in  1230 fps  1176 fpe  0.519 sec   43.95 in  12.51 in   22.28 in
300 yds  -38.02 in  1179 fps  1080 fpe  0.582 sec   54.46 in  15.85 in   26.97 in
325 yds  -48.59 in  1133 fps   997 fpe  0.647 sec   66.53 in  19.73 in   32.11 in
350 yds  -60.85 in  1093 fps   928 fpe  0.714 sec   80.28 in  24.18 in   37.68 in
375 yds  -74.96 in  1059 fps   871 fpe  0.784 sec   95.88 in  29.26 in   43.67 in
400 yds  -90.94 in  1029 fps   822 fpe  0.856 sec  113.36 in  34.99 in   50.04 in
425 yds -108.91 in  1002 fps   780 fpe  0.930 sec  132.83 in  41.40 in   56.76 in
450 yds -128.88 in   977 fps   742 fpe  1.005 sec  154.29 in  48.51 in   63.78 in
475 yds -151.10 in   955 fps   709 fpe  1.083 sec  178.01 in  56.40 in   71.18 in
500 yds -175.57 in   935 fps   679 fpe  1.163 sec  203.97 in  65.09 in   78.90 in

Name: 450 Marlin Hornady 325gr FTX
Ballistic Coeff: 0.220
Bullet Weight: 325
Velocity: 2225
Target Distance: 100
Scope Height: 1.500
Temperature: 70
Altitude: 500

Ballistic Data
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
  Range  Elevation  Velocity   Energy     ETA         Drop      Max Y  10mph Wind Deflect
  0 yds   -1.50 in  2225 fps  3572 fpe  0.000 sec    0.00 in  -1.50 in    0.00 in
 25 yds   -0.38 in  2137 fps  3296 fpe  0.035 sec    0.23 in  -0.54 in    0.14 in
 50 yds    0.27 in  2051 fps  3036 fpe  0.070 sec    0.93 in  -0.36 in    0.50 in
 75 yds    0.41 in  1967 fps  2792 fpe  0.107 sec    2.14 in  -0.04 in    1.12 in
100 yds    0.00 in  1885 fps  2563 fpe  0.146 sec    3.89 in   0.44 in    1.96 in
125 yds   -1.04 in  1805 fps  2352 fpe  0.187 sec    6.29 in   1.10 in    3.21 in
150 yds   -2.78 in  1729 fps  2156 fpe  0.230 sec    9.37 in   1.96 in    4.82 in
175 yds   -5.25 in  1655 fps  1976 fpe  0.274 sec   13.19 in   3.06 in    6.76 in
200 yds   -8.49 in  1583 fps  1808 fpe  0.321 sec   17.78 in   4.40 in    8.99 in
225 yds  -12.52 in  1513 fps  1652 fpe  0.369 sec   23.16 in   6.00 in   11.49 in
250 yds  -17.56 in  1447 fps  1511 fpe  0.419 sec   29.54 in   7.94 in   14.45 in
275 yds  -23.67 in  1385 fps  1385 fpe  0.472 sec   37.01 in  10.24 in   17.87 in
300 yds  -30.96 in  1327 fps  1271 fpe  0.528 sec   45.65 in  12.94 in   21.72 in
325 yds  -39.43 in  1273 fps  1169 fpe  0.586 sec   55.47 in  16.06 in   25.93 in
350 yds  -49.25 in  1222 fps  1078 fpe  0.646 sec   66.63 in  19.65 in   30.56 in
375 yds  -60.60 in  1177 fps  1000 fpe  0.708 sec   79.33 in  23.77 in   35.65 in
400 yds  -73.51 in  1137 fps   932 fpe  0.773 sec   93.59 in  28.44 in   41.13 in
425 yds  -88.12 in  1101 fps   874 fpe  0.840 sec  109.55 in  33.70 in   47.00 in
450 yds -104.54 in  1069 fps   825 fpe  0.909 sec  127.31 in  39.58 in   53.24 in
475 yds -122.81 in  1041 fps   782 fpe  0.980 sec  146.94 in  46.11 in   59.82 in
500 yds -143.06 in  1016 fps   745 fpe  1.053 sec  168.53 in  53.32 in   66.73 in

[BBF]

Which of the two are you using?

[valvesinmyhead]

350gr. Found a bunch on sale about a year ago here locally.

[Lloyd Smale]

I like a cast bullet at least 400 grains for the 450 and 4570. Lighter is fine for deer but a 405 works on everytning. If you insist on jacketed i would recomend the same as was posted about. The rem. 405 soft point. Its a good bullet.

[BBF]

 The Hdy FP should work out just fine. I have 350 gr. Hdy RN's for very serious situations.

[kombi1976]

I don't own a 450 Marlin.
I would've bought the Steyr Big Bore but it was REALLY expensive.
But am I the only one here that sees the possibilities for this cartridge in a modern rifle?
The 450 was loaded down to limit it in lever guns.
It still has plenty of potential I'd say.
I'd be betting it would completely hammer a grizzly with that sort of load.

[Swampman]

The Marlin is a modern rifle.

There is also the .458X2" American a ballistic twin.

[kombi1976]

Modern or not, none of the loads Hodgdon list for the 450 breach 43,000 PSI.
Since most modern bolt guns are good for at least 50,000 PSI and more that's a fair bit of potential in my books.

[Coyote Hunter]

Dogshooter –

There are a number of excellent bullets for the 450 Marlin and .45-70.

When I got started with my Marlin .45-70 in 2002 I went with the 350g North Fork bullets Swift now has a 350g A-Frame out that is much shorter and consumes less powder space.  Both give excellent velocity – a max rise of 3” high (approx 1000 yards) will give a MPBR of just over 200 yards.  I’ve taken both deer and elk at 197 and 213 lasered yards respectively with the North Fork and was very impressed.

If you want to go to hardcast a 420g or 460g Cast Performance WFNGC will do the trick.  The 460’s, at 1812fps in my rifle, are on the brutal side with about 48 foot-pounds recoil.

I’d trust my life to any of the four vs. grizzly.

All my Marlins have the following:
Williams Fire Sight front bead
Warne Quick Detach Maxima rings and bases

If you chose to scope it I highly recommend the Leupold VX/VX-II 2-7x.  This scope gives you 4.9” of eye relief at 2x and is still very generous at 4x, which is where I keep mine.

Other good bullets include the Speer 300g Uni-Cor (electro-bonded jacket), Hornady and Speer 350g FP’s.  The Speer was designed for the .458 Win and requires special loading techniques.

[Thebear_78]

I have a 458 2" american, and have really found the 350gr speer JSP to be an excellent bullet for it, I"m sure it would work equally well in your 450 marlin.   THe speer 350gr bullet was designed for higher velosities than 45/70 so will work well and penetrate very well.  I have used it in a 458 Lott at 2760fps and still had decent performance with it.  Another really good bullet for it would be the barnes 300gr HP, it really expands well.   Other good bullets are the 350 and 400gr Kodiak bonded bullets.  I have shot all of these bullets iether out of the 458 american and the 45/70 heavy loads.     THey are more than adequate for any north american game.

[jro45]

The rounds that Dogshooter said would be good to start out with. Maybe one of them would be the Write round  For your rifle.

[Tonk]

I have a couple of those 45/70's and in the one Marlin rifle, I use the 350 Hornady to plink with in lighter loads. The hunting bullet I use is the 350 Swift A Frame, I simply love their bullets, even though the price is a bit high. I also like the Pile-Driver, hard cast bullet by Bearttooth Bullet Co. If you go to their sight, you can get all the info on African game killed by some of those Pile-Driver Bullets with the large metplate.