A BRD Gun Works LLC upper in 450 Bushmaster was sent to me for review. My best friend urged (hounded) me to make it happen. It, finally, did actually happen and I want to tell you upfront this is one of the best products I have received for review in my four and a half years of reviewing. BRD Gun Works’ attention to detail is impressive. The deeper I went into the upper the more satisfied I was.  Read my story and know that I would carry one of their products in any circumstances.

450 Bushmaster Articles @ TFB:

• The New 450 Bushmaster Rifle from Bushmaster Firearms
• TFB Round Table: Lobbin’ Monster Lead with 450 Bushmaster
• Rock River Arms Introduces the LAR-15M .450 Bushmaster
• Straight Wall Face Off – 450 Bushmaster vs 350 Legend

My best friend mentioned to me how tough the hogs in East Texas were. He mentioned big boars taking powerful caliber bullets to the chest cavity and running off never to be found. Some TFB writers were in East Texas recently and they mentioned hunting hogs and watching .308 rounds actually bouncing off their skulls, and then watching the boar runoff. Immediately I told my friend he needed a thumper round and recommended the 450 Bushmaster.

Being a big fan of the “Thumper Round” (All hail Mr. Cooper). I preached to you guys about the ballistics of the .458 SOCOM in an earlier article (here). A quick fact about the “450Bush” – a 250-grain bullet traveling at 2,200 FPS will impact with well over 2,600 ft/lbs. Energy is what causes tissue damage and boy, there is a lot there. On a side note/warning to my beloved reader, there will be pictures of harvested feral hogs to show this energy!

SPECIFICATIONS:

• Aero XL upper receiver
• Coil pin for the forward assist- not a typical split pin
• 5″ 6061-T6 machined rail w/ M-LOK
• BRD Gun Works enhanced BCG
• DLC coated carrier
• Springco extractor and ejector spring
• The ejector has been chamfered and polished
• 16″ 416R stainless steel polished barrel 5R rifling
• MSRP $794.00

UNBOXING

On any AR platform that I inspect of ANY caliber other than the standard 5.56/.223 I immediately look first at the feed ramps. If it is not the standard .224 projectile, not doing work on that aspect of the chamber, leads to issues in my experience. As an example, I have seen countless 300BLK of the wall having issues feeding larger-weight soft-tipped bullets. I pulled the BCG out and loved what I found. Beautiful ramps that should feed those .451 projectiles with ease.

Manicured Feed Ramps

The next attention-getter was the beast of a break that it arrived with. The brake is from Ross Industries. Raine Peltokosky calls it “the most effective muzzle brake” and it is a pleasure to shoot, except maybe for those next to you (I did not care because it was another TFB writer). It is loud, but it is amazing to shoot. Although a small point, an individual product I recommend you check out. The muzzle device is attached with a fitted crush washer, and thread locked in place.

Turning and looking at the DLC-coated BRD Enhanced BCG, you can see the hand-staked gas keys. The beauty is in the bolt, however. The headspaced bolt carries a hand-chamfered and polished extractor that is held in place by a coil pin, not the usual split pin. Both the extractor and the ejector are backed by SpringCo springs. That sexy extractor and the ejector are also both polished prior to assembly.

Included with the BRD Gun Works upper was a steel 450 Bushmaster magazine by Duramag.  I found the guides installed on the inner walls of the magazine to be superior to the steel mags I have converted to 450 Bushmaster. Magazines with these thumper rounds can cause some issues with feeding. This magazine ran without issue.

Installed guides to improve feeding

OBSERVATIONS

Everything about this complete upper receiver is thought out and meticulous in its assembly. Even the bolt has aftermarket springs. The smallest of parts are worked on and improved prior to assembly. I even received a three-page letter explaining what was done and why on every aspect of the upper. I saw the attention to detail revealing a certain pride in workmanship.

Notice the exit wound on the top hog

125 yards

CONCLUSION

The BRD Gun Works 450 Bushmaster is a hand-built upper that is tuned by a man who has done the footwork. He knows what parts work the best and fits them together, correctly. I have built a number of .450 and .458’s on the AR platform. I can testify that it is different. Not all the same rules apply. A “thumper” in the AR platform takes some more tweaking. With BRD you know the upper portion is completed patiently, with attention to the details. I know some are going howl over the MSRP, but I know plenty of higher-end uppers that are more expensive. Furthermore, you will not get the same amount of work in the assembly of it. If you call them, the guy you talk to is the guy who is assembling your rifle (or upper).

You can buy a mass-produced upper in 450 Bushmaster for a lesser price. You can even buy a complete rifle for slightly less, however, you will not come close in quality or care in assembly. In closing, let me iterate what I said in the opening, this is the best quality I have seen in my experience reviewing. Go check out BRD Gun Works.

A happy hunter