Beowolf versus 458 Socom??

[Deezil]

damn thats a big pig!!! I shot a pig in cali a few years ago, but was 1/3 that size!

[Variable]

Holy crap! I'd love to bust a pig like that!!!

[patdaly]

Why would anyone want a puny .458 when a .50 was available?

Because we have many more, and cheaper booolits.

How many 600 Grain solid brass choices are there for the .50?

[bwaites]

Because we have many more, and cheaper booolits.

How many 600 Grain solid brass choices are there for the .50?

At least one, how many do you need? As far as more choices, once you've found a load that works, why do you need more choices?

[Smoke]

Several years ago I got a call from a contractor wanting 10 boxes of Corbon 458 ammo . When he came to pick it up I asked if he would tell me why so much 458 ammo.. His job was working a checkpoint on the Iraq/Iran Border.. If someone tryed to run the checkpoint his job was to shoot the motor/stop the threat..

he actually brought his gun out for us to shoot.. it was a pleasure and very eye opening...After doing much research on the subject of big bore AR's I chose the 458 Socom as well..

Being a handloader the bullet choices were/are much larger for the 458 , brass is easliy available, (Corbon and SBR have 458 factory loadings ).
Also I prefer the headspace on the shoulder with that large of a case capacity ( totally my choice ). Their are several suppliers of uppers.. RRA prefered by me ..
My gun is a tack driver, a pleasure to shoot and has sold countless others to go down the same road.. I am not nocking the other two choices.. Just telling you what I have found..
Thanks
Smoke

[bwaites]

There is no doubt that the .458 is a proven round. The difference is simply in the preference. I like bigger holes! LOL!

The Beowulf is in use by multiple groups to do the same kind of interdiction as the .458 when it comes to stopping moving vehicles.

The Beo, (and undoubtedly the .458 too) is a show stopper at any range. People see you pull out an AR, and shrug. Then the first shot causes everyone on the range to do a double take! They wait for the second shot to see if the first was a malfunction or "kaboom" of a regular AR! If you shoot off 5 or 6 quick shots, they are headed over to see what it is.

The headspace on case mouth or shoulder is a non-issue, as literally billions of pistol rounds have proven. Either works just fine when done correctly.

Brass for both rounds comes from the same source, Starline, who keeps both in stock fairly consistently. Beowulf brass is a little cheaper, though.

So far as bullets, any that work for the .500 S&W work fine. My favorite general purpose handload is the Hornady FTX 300 grain which I run at around 2000-2100 FPS. And which is VERY accurate for me. This is a 7 shot group, with the 2 lower shots being the first two at 100 while switching to a 100 yard zero from a 200 yard zero.

http://www.hornady.com/store/50-Cal-.500-300-gr-FTX/





There may be a larger selection of bullets for the .458, but how many do you need for this kind of a cartridge? There are soft tips, hollowpoints, Gold Dots, brass hollow points and solids, and FMJ's, ranging from 250-500+ grains, and even a Flex Tip. All of them do tremendous damage, and all of them are "dead right there" kind of bullets when shot placement is anywhere CLOSE to where it should be!



Left to right: Gold Dot, Hornady XTP, Speer Hollow Point, Rainier FMJ.

The ..458 and the Beowulf are both great cartridges, but, to my view, the price of Beo factory ammo is better, and they range of bullets in factory ammo is better, but that probably comes and goes, depending on who is loading the .458!

[midnight]

I too thought that bullet variety would favor the Socom but the popularity of the 500 S&W has made many good bullets available. Get into cast bullets and you can get almost anything you want. I have molds for 440gr, 450gr,500gr,550gr, & 600gr. Molds for lighter weight bullets are even more common. You can even get them all hollowpointed. Go over to the castboolits forum and check out the group buys going on there. It will really open your eyes about bullet availability. Jacketed bullet variety is ther too. I use everything from 334gr Raniers to some 600grainers(can't remember the maker right now but could look it up).

Now when someone asks "why did you buy a 50 Beowulf", I answer "cuz they don't make a 60".

Bob

[fanofflyn]

Great answer! I got my .458 upper because it was on sale. I think they all are so close in performance that it doesn't matter which one you got shot with. I am happy with what I have though, and will keep it. A little night vision monocular mount and a night vision compatible EOTech, and the pigs have a hard time dealing with it. That works for my lightweight Grendel too.

[StoneTower]

I too thought that bullet variety would favor the Socom but the popularity of the 500 S&W has made many good bullets available. Get into cast bullets and you can get almost anything you want. I have molds for 440gr, 450gr,500gr,550gr, & 600gr. Molds for lighter weight bullets are even more common. You can even get them all hollowpointed. Go over to the castboolits forum and check out the group buys going on there. It will really open your eyes about bullet availability. Jacketed bullet variety is ther too. I use everything from 334gr Raniers to some 600grainers(can't remember the maker right now but could look it up).

Now when someone asks "why did you buy a 50 Beowulf", I answer "cuz they don't make a 60".

Bob

How does the gas system do with cast bullets? It could make a big bore AR really fun to shoot if you could shooot cast bullets.

[txgunner00]

Just for fun.

[video=youtube;9wMVGRt-6yE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wMVGRt-6yE&feature=player_embedded#![/video]

[michaelmew]

Factory ammo seems to be more available/cheap for the Beo, but lets say that someone wants to reload so that doesnt matter. And, let's assume bullet selection offers neither an advantage or disadvantage. So many other things are close enough to identical. But, what are some of the things that do set them apart?

Standard mags and followers work for all of them as far as I know

Can anyone speak about some of the other common parts on an AR and how they must be different than say a typical 5.56 AR? Bolt, extractor, buffer, etc, etc. Is there an advantage to be gained by either for not requiring "special" parts? I would think that the more parts that can be used on a regular builld or even our 6.5's would give one an edge. I read somewhere that the ejection port has to be larger than typical to accomodate the Beo. Can someone confirm?


michaelmew

[fanofflyn]

I know that the other parts in the lower receiver are the same as in my Rock River .223. I know that because, before I built the new lower, I used the one off the .223. There is a heavier mainspring and/or buffer that can be used, but I found either one caused short cycling, and that the standard parts work much better. I built separate lowers for all my uppers now because I like to make sure that they work well with that particular load, and because I like having the .458 ready where I can use it for a home defense weapon if that eventuality ever occurred.

[bwaites]

Factory ammo seems to be more available/cheap for the Beo, but lets say that someone wants to reload so that doesnt matter. And, let's assume bullet selection offers neither an advantage or disadvantage. So many other things are close enough to identical. But, what are some of the things that do set them apart?



Can anyone speak about some of the other common parts on an AR and how they must be different than say a typical 5.56 AR? Bolt, extractor, buffer, etc, etc. Is there an advantage to be gained by either for not requiring "special" parts? I would think that the more parts that can be used on a regular builld or even our 6.5's would give one an edge. I read somewhere that the ejection port has to be larger than typical to accomodate the Beo. Can someone confirm?


michaelmew

The Beowulf uses the same BCG/bolt as the Grendel, so I see that as an advantage. The others have caliber specific bolts.

Other than that, the only parts that are caliber specific are the upper, which much have an enlarged port, and the barrel.

As noted before, all three can run standard AR mags, and all three can, as a rule, use PMags. Use of PMags depends on the PMag, as some of them have a ridge in the front which impedes SOME of the available bullets. They are a trial and error thing, based on the specific load.

[elkbow]

I have the 458 and 450, and throwing the 50 in to the mix, out of the 3, i would chose the 450. You can get a upper for just over $500 complete, factory ammo is the cheapest by far and it is comparable ballistics wise, each has their own pro's and con's, however I would select the 450 for operating costs and its a blast to shoot....

[Drifter]

Hadn't noticed the alien ammo for the 450 until recently...



(Please pardon my feeble attempt at humor.)


Edit- Here's the link to the ammo shown above:

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/987341/...-box-of-20

[bwaites]

hadn't noticed the alien ammo for the 450 until recently...



(please pardon my feeble attempt at humor.)

sweet!