450 Bm converted to 458 SOCOM questions.

[Pauerpilot]

Good day all!

So I am trying to get a match to my AR 458 SOCOM. I have matching bolt rifles to all my AR's and other rifles. I was looking to make a Remington 700 Remage to 458 SOCOM. After closer investigation, it appears that the Ruger American in 450 Bushmaster would make an easier conversion. The Ruger 450 BM has the same bolt face dimensions needed for the 458 SOCOM. Furthermore, the Ruger uses a castle nut to mount and head space the barrel. So far this appears the best option.

Has anyone ever done a conversion like this before?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Al

 

[Mobuck]

From the mechanical standpoint of barrel swapping, I don't see any big problems. Magazine compatibility may be the choke point. SOCOM is fatter turning an AR magazine into a single stack. Will the Ruger mag retain and/or feed the fat brass? With the increased bullet diameter, you may find it more difficult to maintain proper indexing of the 'REMAGE' lock nut barrel retention(spinning that big, fat bullet is going to put far more rotational force on the barrel). This would depend on whether the force was tightening or loosening the barrel/barrel nut.
I'm not into this big bore /tiny case stuff so just throwing mud at the wall to see if anything sticks.

 

[Hvymax]

I honestly can't imagine why. 450 Bushmaster is legal to hunt with where bottleneck aren't. The extra punch of the 458 wouldn't be noticed by anything smaller than a Grizzly Bear if that.