Best Ranch Guns - The Ruger American Ranch Rifle with the .450 Bushmaster and the Ruger Muzzle-Brake pistol are a great combination for big game.
The Bushmaster .450 is derived from the popular "Thumper" concept by Jeff Cooper. Cooper was not a fan of the 5.56x45mm NATO round and recognized the need for a large-bore cartridge in a semi-auto rifle that would provide one-shot kills on big game at 250 yards.
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Hornady loads the .450 Bushmaster (.450 BM) with a 250-grain FTX bullet that exits the muzzle at 2,200 feet-per-second (fps) with nearly 2,700 foot-pounds of energy. This is superior to the ballistics of the .45-70 Government round loaded with the Hornady 250-grain MONOFLEX™ bullet.
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I received the first production Bushmaster XM-15 rifle chambered for the then new cartridge. A few weeks after I found it, I sold a large needle while hunting in Texas.
As the hog crossed in front of me at a full run, I put the reticle circle on the Leupold CQ/T on the muzzle and pulled the trigger, hitting just above the shoulder. A boar is not easy to kill, especially one that is fully adrenalized, but a hog goes down with one blow. I immediately became a fan of the cartridge.
In recent years there have been reports of large moose and even bison taken with .450 BM. The cartridge can play all major games in North America.
Ruger makes a rifle chambered for .450 BM. With Ruger's expertise in such AR rifles, they can easily go with the platform the cartridge is designed for. Instead, they chose to go with a bolt-action rifle from the popular American series, specifically the American Cattle Rifle. I think it was a good choice.
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The American Ranch rifle is a short, handgun, measuring only 36 inches from muzzle to stock. Because of the larger bore size that removes more metal, this rifle is slightly lighter than other Ranch rifles at 5.5 pounds.
The synthetic stock of the Ranch Rifle also contributes to its light weight. The color of the stock is close to Flat Dark Earth and is textured with unique serrations on the front and grip area. The pistol grip cap is black with a red Ruger logo. The black button is a soft, but not spongy, rubber. Sling studs are placed front and back of the log.
The Ruger American Ranch Rifle ships from the factory without a scope, but it has a five-inch Picatinny rail that allows the end user to mount any optics. Production models will have the factory installed muzzle brake shown here. Photo: Sturm, Ruger & Co., Inc.
The barrel and action are matte black, although the handle is blued. The one-piece complaint has three heavy lugs. The bolt radius is 70 degrees, giving a good reach distance, while the double cams allow the work to be done without strain on the shoulder. The bolt handle is smooth, which means fast and efficient handling.
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The thumb safety is well positioned under the bolt and can be used with equal conviction by either a single or left handed shooter. The cocking indicator directly above the safety pulls from the bolt when the rifle is fired.
The rifle features Ruger's Marksman Adjustable™ trigger, which is user adjustable between three and five pounds. The trigger on the test rifle broke cleanly and consistently at 3.5 pounds as measured by the Lyman Electronic Trigger Pull.
The cold hammer forged barrel is 16.1 inches long with a 1:16 twist. The muzzle is threaded (11/16×24) for use with a suppressor or other muzzle devices. The rifle comes with a cap to protect the threads when the muzzle device is not installed.
Sights are not provided on the Ranch rifle, but it does have a factory-installed five-inch Picatinny rail, allowing the user to mount the optics of their choice.
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The magazine is made of solid polymer and a spring-loaded magazine release is built into the front of the magazine. The magazine well has a small chamfer to facilitate inserting the magazine.
Due to the diameter of the cartridge, the magazine capacity is three rounds for a total internal capacity of four rounds. The length of the cartridge is about ½ inch from the front of the magazine, but because of the generous length of the feed lips – 1¾ inches – the cartridge stays in place until it is guided smoothly onto the feed ramp.
Although powerful, the BM .450 is better than the 200-yard cartridge. With this in mind, I wanted a low power rating that would allow me to keep both eyes open to take a close-up picture and provide a wide field of view. The variable power range will allow me to dial up to a higher power for a more accurate shot at distance.
With these criteria I decided on the Vortex Viper PST 1-6X24. This optic features a 30mm tube to allow for more light transmission, a 98-foot field of view at 100 yards at 1X, and a four-inch eye relief. It is very compact, measuring 9.7 inches in length and weighing 14.4 ounces.
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The Viper PST is backlit with ten brightness settings. The light is off between each set and is powered by a CR 2032 battery.
The scale uses the Vortex TMCQ reticle, which is a circle divided into four sections with a small dot in the middle. It has dynamic lines to determine the delay, size calculations, and moving target changes.
The Viper PST is mounted in a Vortex-one assembly. With the scale installed, the Pet Shot is still handling quickly, tipping the scales at about six pounds.
Overall fit and finish was pretty good, but machining marks were visible on the inside of the receiver on sample shots. Although the bolt works smoothly, it works with a creaking noise due to mechanical marks - not quite like a fingernail on a black shoe, but still noticeable.
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The factory specs for the .450 BM are based on a 20-inch barrel, so I used a PACT Professional chronograph—offering a 20-round strap—to determine the velocity from the 16-inch Ranch Rifle barrel. I was a little surprised to find that the short barrel only dropped 15 feet-per-second (fps) from the company's published specs. Ammunition was Hornady 250-grain FTX.
I've mentioned before that the .450 BM is best out to about 200 yards. Putting all the relevant information into my ballistics system with a zero at 100 yards, the table shows a drop of 8.42 inches at 200 yards and 31.26 inches at 300 yards.
At 100 yards, the bullet is still traveling at 1,856 fps and packs 1,913 foot-pounds of energy. This drops to 1,560 fps and 1,352 foot-pounds at 200 yards, and 1,296 fps and 932 foot-pounds at 300. At 400 yards, the bullet has gone transonic and dropped over six feet.
I shot the Ranch rifle for the group to be prone with a Harris bipod. I fired five, three-round groups and came up with an average group size of 1.36 inches. The smallest band is 0.79 inches in diameter center to center. With the large .45 caliber bores, it was almost a single as a group. Not bad at all.
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In contrast, my Bushmaster AR shoots 2.5-inch groups on a good day. Still "hog-of-the-moment", but almost twice the size of the group that Rifle Ranch received.
If you think you're firing a 250-grain bullet traveling at 2,200 fps from a shotgun, the recoil is well controlled. I would put it roughly in the same class as the .30-06 firing a 180 grain bullet.
I went hunting at the Dunton Ranch in northern Arizona and filled my tag with a nice Corsican frame. Like a pig in Texas, he went down and stood with a gun.
The Ruger Ranch rifle is a lightweight, fast-acting rifle. It is chambered in .450 BM and is not a precision rifle by any means, but it is accurate enough for the tasks at hand and will handle all games in North America. I send most weapons I test back to the manufacturer, but this one is a keeper.
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[Editor's Note: The above review is based on an early version. Production Ranch Rifles in .450 Bushmaster will have a factory installed muzzle brake.]
As with all the centerfire cartridges I own, I load it for the .450 BM. In this case, not to save some money and custom goods for my gun, but because of supply and demand, not many gun stores carry it. No one does in my area.
The BM .450 is a long walled bag with a rim attached to the mouth. It is important not to use a heavy machine with hollow balls, as this can create dangerous surface problems.
I used a Hornady four-bit kit with Hornady's 250 grain FTX bullet, which does not have a flute, and a tapered crimp.
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My favorite powder for the .450 BM is the 35.4 grain Hodgdon Lil' Gun for about 2,100 fps. I have normally used CCI #400 small rifle primers, but I have also had good luck with WSR (Winchester Small Rifle) primers.
Finding ammo in almost any caliber is hard now - doubly so
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