I am a bit of a newbie when it comes to my AR, just bought it a week ago and I have to admit I am already in love with the gun. I no more than finished buying it before I was looking at another one or buying a new upper to be to swap out the 223 with. I bought a Bushmaster, probably not the best, but give me a break Im learning 
Any word or ideas on whether it would be worth it to get the fully upper assembly for either a 300BLK or .450 Bushmaster(not to much mention of that round on these forums) or just go out an buy another AR? Like i said sorry if these are kind of newbie questions but hey, everyone starts somewhere and i figured why not ask the experts on here (shameless plug there)
Well as the saying goes two is one and one is none. I would suggest you make your BM your spare and buy another AR in 5.56 mm. Colt, LMT, BCM and DD woukd be my suggestions. My guns are set up the same. I have an LMT and BCM.
Once you get a spare then you could start playing with other uppers/calibers. I would stay away from Everything Bushmaster. The .300 AAC would be a better choice.
http://www.gandrtactical.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?search=action&category=COLT
http://www.gandrtactical.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=6720
http://www.gandrtactical.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=HGSTD16
http://www.gandrtactical.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=LWR-C
Cool, I was looking at an M&P 15 my cop buddy was telling me its not to shabby. Like I said, kinda new to the AR game but I need to do some research and wanted to check out what the guys who have been using it for awhile have thought. I know the 300 has taken off since it was introduced and most people seem to love it. So maybe Ill buy the M&P make it my main toy and just keep the Bushmaster for a spare for when a friend goes shooting with me lol.
I have a .450 and it’s an excellent rifle, very accurate and good to 200 yards. If Illinois allowed rifle deer hunting it would be my first choice.
You have to be able to get over the $28 per box ammo cost. It’s not one of my guns that I shoot a lot.
People seem to love their 450 bushmasters. The 300 blk is over rated and is still just a 223 case with a 30 cal. bullet. You get more knockdown power as a result of the heavier bullet, etc. I see the 300 blk performing best at subsonic velocities and suppressed. I think that is where it shines. If you are looking for a hog slayer or a “cool” cartridge out to a couple hundred yards both would fill that niche but the 450 bm would make a bigger hole, leave a bigger blood trail (if needed) and all of your friends would wish they had that rifle!
300blk, just more cost effective.
Not very comparable cartridges. One is massively powerful and greatly limits your ammo capacity. The other is about half as powerful but leaves you with normal magazine capacity, moderate recoil, moderate ammo cost etc.
What is your intended use of this new upper? That should drive the decision. If you don’t have an intended use, I’d get another (or replacement) high quality 5.56 setup.
“Mission drives the gear train”.
This dictates we need more info to give you an answer.
Will you be doing any high volume training? If so then a 5.45 may be a better upper for you to own.
Will you be hunting with your AR, and if so, what are you going to hunt?
The .223/5.56 round can be used for things like coyote almost anywhere legally, and in many places for deer. But, in many states you need a larger caliber to legally hunt deer and/or other big game.
The .300 would be a legal choice where I live, and is my next planned purchase.
The .450 brings more Gee-Wizz!!! factor than the .300BLK but at a cost, both literally and figuratively.
Even then you also have the choices of the .50 Beowulf and the .450 SOCOM if you want a large caliber upper.
Your Bushampster can be made to run pretty good if you have issues with yours, and many people do.
Getting the chamber reamed to for-real 5.56 specs helps a great deal, so does dropping a Colt or BMC bolt carrier group into the gun.
At minimum get the key properly staked (I have yet to see a key staked right on a Bushy).
Mostly for hunting purposes(not yote, but whitetail Boar etc) The 223 will more than do me right for the yote and just target shooting. I guess its more along the lines of what is a second caliber people have had good success with thats not to expensive to shoot yet wields the knockdown power and yet will still be some fun to shoot. Clip size dosnt really affect me as the way i was always taught raised and learned is once shot is all you need. (Not saying Im a sniper by any means, but know where to shoot to drop an animal when I need to) But from the sounds of it the 300 seems to be a pretty good choice both from a finacial standpoint and a hunting/shooting standpoint. Any particular brand of upper you guys have had more luck with against any others? And good info on the key, I will look into that.
This helps. The 300BLK appears to be a solid option for whitetail out to 200+ yards (with premium bullets like the Barnes load) and an OK but possibly marginal choice for feral hog at fairly short distances. The 6.8 SPC gives you those abilities with more range, at somewhat more hassle.
The big-bores like the 450 Bushmaster give you the ability to take much larger game, like elk and the largest feral hogs, at moderate ranges. They are extremely expensive if you don’t reload and still very expensive if you do reload. Among the big bores the 450 Bushmaster has the most energy if I remember correctly, but not by a lot, and the others have their own benefits. I would look closely at a 458 SOCOM cartridge if I was going the big-bore route.
I have a DSA 300BLK upper (with an LMT BCG dropped in) which so far is working perfectly, but I don’t have enough rounds through it to say anything authoritative. My goals were whitetail deer and self defense, and for the latter magazine capacity is significant.
I guess last piece of info I need is other than the new upper Assembly is there anything else I need to buy (ammo excluded) to get rocking with the 300blk? I am thinking about ordering one tonight if I can, but want to be prepared and be range ready to site his sucker sucker. Its free season on hogs here in Iowa and I would love to go to town on them when I get this puppy in!
I saw your post on the DSA 300BLKs and found these
http://www.dsarms.com/DSA-ZM4-Forged-7075T6-A3-AR15-Upper-Receiver-300AAC––-DSZM4CBU300SS/productinfo/DSZM4CBU300SS/
http://www.dsarms.com/DSA-ZM4-Forged-7075T6-A3-AR15-Upper-Receiver-300AAC––-DSZM4CBU300SS/productinfo/DSZM4CBU300/
However do I want to use the colt bolt or just buy a cheapy one for now till I buy a better 300 and better bolt for later on? Sorry for the questions but you guys are an awesome resource and I TRULY do appreciate it!
DSA uppers are essentially bare - no bolt carrier group or charging handle. (It sounds like you saw that.) I would get a quality BCG - you don’t save much by cheaping out and the quality difference can be huge. Colt, BCM, Daniel Defense, LMT, all four of those are excellent, and the latter three are all within about $10 of each other. I have had firsthand experience with defective BCGs from two unrelated companies in the last couple months and I will not deviate from those four manufacturers in the future.
I think the DSA upper is a very good value. I haven’t done accuracy testing on mine yet but others are reporting great results at 300blktalk. If you want something more high-end I’d look at the Noveske and AAC uppers on the market, or the Daniel Defense uppers that are apparently just starting to trickle out to market. Any of those should be terrific.
If you do want a DSA I would call in your order as I read elsewhere that these were back-ordered, and you might want to find out the estimated shipping time before you order.
If you get a barreled upper and install a BCG, or get a complete upper that comes with a BCG (like the Noveske and AAC options), you simply attach it to your existing lower and use your existing 5.56 mags, so ammo is the only other thing you would need.
You are left with some pretty valuable brass after shooting, you might be able to get good money from Gun Broker or such. I used to reload and will again when my renovation project is complete. I plan to experiment with 230 grain round nose 45 ACP bullets from a 450 Bushmaster. If they are accurate it will be cheap to shoot. Even with cheap ammo it’s not something most people are going to want to shoot a lot. The round has significant recoil. It’s up to you whether you want to shoot a 45 or a 30, I think the 45 is more exotic, unconventional for what that’s worth.
I love my 450 and reloading is mandatory for it. This gun is very accurate, nice little clover leaf at 100 yds.
U ever try any 230 grain 45 ACP pistol bullets Mr. Hornet?
i think I have pretty much set my sights on the 300BLK just due to the price of shooting it being much cheaper. I would like the 450 but maybe for later one and on my second AR. I know its much more powerful and has some power behind it but for now, 350 for a 300BLK Upper as opposed to around 600-1k for the 450 upper.(not to mention I think you need a different BCG for the 450 dont you, havent checked but this is just an assumption)
Not yet, Only the hornady FTX that’s made for it. I have some 460 barnes 200 grns to try soon as it warms up. I.m not sure the acp bullets will handle the speed of the 450. Have you tried any yet?
Another round is the 7.62x40 WT you may want to look at.
Negative. My reloading setup is packed up awaiting a very un-motivated me to finish renovating my reloading space. I suspect you are correct that some, partucularly the plated ACP bullets will not handle the speed in fact I would not even try a plated bullet. I expect others of conventional construction will be fine for this application. It would be easy to melt the bullet’s core out and weight the jacket to get an idea which brand is the most strongly constructed. I planned to make a load somewhat lighter than factory. If it works you should be able to shoot 450 BM for15 to 18 cents a pop not including brass costs. Maybe 20 to 30 cents each including brass cost. Pretty danged good.
I have not yet taken the plunge, but these guys sound like they have done a lot of the ground work for us when it comes to loading 230 grain FMJ (and some other stuff) in the .450.
http://www.calguns.net/calgunforum/showthread.php?t=91731
and
http://450bushmaster.net/
The quality level in general on these sites is not up to this one, but there is much useful information to be gleaned, nonetheless.