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Posted: 4/28/2010 5:35:25 PM EDT
| We have a house in the mountains of New Mexico and on occasion neighbors have had to dispatch bear, coyotes, etc. I'd like an upper that can dispatch both with ease. I'd love a beowulf .50 - but I know the .458 socom folk are thrilled with their gear as well. Is it safe to assume (depending on one's aim) that both are capable of big game at close range? |
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I would be very confident with the .450 Bush master, .458 Socom, or .50 Beowolf against a bear.
I believe you only have black bears in NM, so I think even a 6.8 SPC would work well. My personal choice would probably be a .458 Socom because the .458 bullets are rifle bullets and would perform better on bear, yet would be cheaper to reload then the .50. |
| any of the big bore ar,s will do . I own a 458 socom because I reload and ammo cost wasnt a factor . I think beuwolf factory ammo is a bit cheaper if you can find it and the 450 bushmaster is also cheaper and now remington is loading ammo along with hornady and that might be a big deal if you dont reload . |
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Quoted:
We have a house in the mountains of New Mexico and on occasion neighbors have had to dispatch bear, coyotes, etc. I'd like an upper that can dispatch both with ease. I'd love a beowulf .50 - but I know the .458 socom folk are thrilled with their gear as well. Is it safe to assume (depending on one's aim) that both are capable of big game at close range? Yeah, those cartridges will kill nearly anything point blank (and the right bullet/placement)... |
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Quoted:
We have a house in the mountains of New Mexico and on occasion neighbors have had to dispatch bear, coyotes, etc. I'd like an upper that can dispatch both with ease. I'd love a beowulf .50 - but I know the .458 socom folk are thrilled with their gear as well. Is it safe to assume (depending on one's aim) that both are capable of big game at close range? For those 2 i would probably go with a 6.5 grendel or 6.8 spc, just cause the 450b/458/50 is gonna be rediculous overkill on a coyote and a well placed 6.8/6.5 would probably take down a small bear.. but... go arfcom and get both... or you could get a 50BMG upper 
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKSLBWMKaCI
Bear, deer, 'yotes, moose, Ford Taurus... |
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Quoted:
Any of those big boy loads should be plenty of medicine for a bear. Nothing wrong with using a 450/458 on a coyote  ============================================================== Thats right! Those who consider it "overkill" would do well to remember: There is no such thing as "degrees of dead" 
Besides, if you reload....you have bullet choices ranging from 100 grs. up to 500-600 grs.
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Quoted:
Any of those big boy loads should be plenty of medicine for a bear. Nothing wrong with using a 450/458 on a coyote As long as you know the distance of the yote and the drop in your bullet. The .450 or .458 is going to be less forgiving in that regard then the 6.5 or 6.8. But since the OP was talking about a "home" in the mountains I'm assuming he's also talking about pretty close range shots. |
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Any of them are good.
458 is a rifle bullet but for dispatching an animal up close I dont think it would matter so much. Load any of them with high quality Hawk Barnes or other bullets and I dont think you would have a rpoblem. I had both the 50 beo and a 458 socom. Both were nice, but different but as far DRT it does not matter. One plus for the 458 socom is it headspaces on the shoulder. Easy to find good bulelts but brass can be hard to find and ammo is high. The 50 Beo is just a good ole 1/2". What more can you say. The 450 BMs advantage should be availability of ammo. IF you want to read what a 50 beo does to a 1500# moose look here. So much for the inferior pistol bullet discussion. Unfortunately the photos are gone. Impressive results though. http://www.50beowulf.com/bboard/archive/index.php/t-40.html Photo of the moose to go with the story above. Its a good read. 
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