I bought a BFR in 450 Marlin. Advice?

[ShinyPartsUp]

OK, it was a bit of an impulse buy, and the revolver comes in a few days. It is a cannon, but I was intrigued by the BFR in 450 Marlin, which seems a little less numerous than 45/70. If I want to spend a few bucks I can get the revolver fitted with a 45/70 Govt cylinder as well.

So aside from a big boom, does anybody reload for this gun? Favorite bullets, powder, loads, etc.? Brass seems to be a bit scarce, but I'm going to try some leverrevolution ammo to see how it shoots.

Anybody use a scope, and if so what can withstand the recoil?

All experienced observations and advice welcome. I did a couple searches but found mostly BFR threads in other calibers. Thanks in advance.

[subsonic]

That cartridge is basically identical to a .45-70, except add a belt. Doublecheck case capacity, but length and diameter are the same.

What works in a .45-70 should be real close to what works in the .450

Ultra-Dot for a red-dot. Leupold for a more traditional scope.

[dmize]

Go browse www.singleactions.com.
Lee Martin who runs the forum owns one,has nothing but high praise for it and has posted pics of some pretty impressive goups.
FWIW if this is your first BFR,get some 400 emery cloth to round the sharp edges off of the inside edge of the trigger guard

[wiersy111]

I have the BFR 45-70 With the 10" barrel and my son has the BFR 450 Marlin 10". For supposedly being the same round the 450 had much more recoil. I am loading 350gr boolits because of the lack of load data for other weigh boolits. They shoot nice groups so I haven't tried any other loads. There is a group buy right now for a 350 boolit. We have Swift scopes with three rings on them. I am on my second scope and my son (the 450) is on his third. Thank god for lifetime warranty. If I was to do it again I would buy a Leupold. Both are great revolvers and a whole lot of fun to shoot.

[ShinyPartsUp]

thanks guys. Emery cloth is on my list and I'll check out Lee Martin. Thanks for the scope thoughts. If I go traditional, is there a "standard" like 3x9x40 for hunting long guns?

[subsonic]

The .450 is loaded to a higher pressure from the factory, but in a strong gun with handloads they can be twins.

[subsonic]

Fixed 2 or 4 is "traditional". The long eye releif (low light transmission from it), small field of view and "wobbles" make the higher power scopes hard to use for anything but the bench. 2x is plenty.

If you have not tried an Ultra-dot 30, they are $170 well spent.

Go to www.ultradotwest.com an check them out. You don't have to have any of the fancy options to shoot tiny groups with these.

[ShinyPartsUp]

Fixed 2 or 4 is "traditional". The long eye releif (low light transmission from it), small field of view and "wobbles" make the higher power scopes hard to use for anything but the bench. 2x is plenty.

If you have not tried an Ultra-dot 30, they are $170 well spent.

Go to www.ultradotwest.com an check them out. You don't have to have any of the fancy options to shoot tiny groups with these.

Never used a dot scope, but I'll take a look.

Already read Lee Martin's BFR article on his site without knowing it. Knowledgeable guy. I sent him an email.

I appreciate the links and suggestions.

[Whiterabbit]

the ultradot is awesome. I like it WAY more than the 2-8x Leupold scope. easier to see the target and surroundings at the same time.

truth be told though, I've never mounted one on a bfr. just shot S&W's in the same caliber using the leupold. At the range. at paper only.

Maybe I am biased and inexperiencd.

[44man]

Ultra Dot for sure.
I have an old leupold and a Tasco that have been on many big bores without a problem but I don't like a scope for hunting.
Swift was a bundle of broken glass before getting sighted.
Burris has a soft tube.
Big, heavy variable scopes will not hold rings.
Cheap red dots will pull glass.
A friends Weaver is giving us a big problem holding zero.
Handguns like to eat stuff! :veryconfu

[longhorn]

Personally, I'd be looking into the "shooting gloves" thread above.......

[ShinyPartsUp]

Already looked. I think I'll put a pair of my motorcycle gloves in my range bag.

[Frank]

wiersy111:

I have the BFR 45-70 With the 10" barrel and my son has the BFR 450 Marlin 10". For supposedly being the same round the 450 had much more recoil. I am loading 350gr boolits because of the lack of load data for other weigh boolits. They shoot nice groups so I haven't tried any other loads.

For the revolver with the 45/70 rifle cartridge, you should use a GC and water drop your bullets for a BH of 27 or higher. Good load notes to follow are RCBS loads notes. They have loads with SR4759 for 300 to 425 grain bullets and use large pistol primers. A good jacketed load is 405 grn Rem bullet, 27.0 grain SR4759 & Dacron with Large pistol primer. This will shoot 1/2" groups at 50 yrds. I prefer LBT molds and lube in the BFR's.