For anyone who happens to own a rifle chambered in 450 Bushmaster, Federal Premium has made a Press Release stating exactly what grain weight is likely to perform best for that cartridge. This was a message they recently sent out to dealers and distributors of Federal Premium ammunition who might be stocking the .450 Bushmaster cartridge for consumers:

When we launched the 450 Bushmaster the Fusion bullet was going to be 300 grains. With further testing we found better performance in the 260 grain in multiple firearms platforms. If you can please pass this information along to your buyers and associated, we would really appreciate it. Thanks for your continued support with Federal Ammunition.

With that open acknowledgment to 260 Grain bullets being the best for the .450 Bushmaster cartridge we might see a flurry of new offerings from Federal Premium and potentially other ammunition manufacturers. At the moment, Federal Premium has just one offering in a 260 Grain projectile and two others in a 300 Grain bullet. Those offerings could be re-worked to all be 260 Grain ammunition, but that is not something that Federal Premium has admitted to. One glaring hole in their offerings for .450 Bushmaster is the absence of a load in their economy American Eagle line. Maybe that will be coming soon, but for now, they have the 3 options below:

• Federal Premium Fusion | 260 Grain Soft Point | MSRP $37.95
• Federal Premium Non-Typical | 300 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point | MSRP $36.95
• Federal Premium Power-Shok | 300 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point | MSRP $36.95

Considering the amount of research and ballistics data Federal Premium likely compiled to make that resounding statement, if I were an owner of a .450 Bushmaster I would question what I am currently feeding my rifle if it is not a 260 Grain pill. Conversely, all guns can be picky and I would not take Federal Premium’s statement as an absolute gospel, but it is valuable information to have, nonetheless. For our readers out there with this caliber, what are you shooting? What have you had luck with? Let us know all of your thoughts in the Comments below! We always appreciate your feedback.

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