Monday, February 17, 2025

An Oversight: .458 SOCOM

Back on the oddball AR thread we briefly touched on some a the other interesting chamberings. I might be tempted to dabble with the 6.5 Grendel… but some a the others brought up the .458 SOCOM. I personally wouldn’t even consider it - for me it poses the exact same problems as the new 338 ARC: it calls for big heavy jacketed bullets, and that means big $$$$. Compounding my personal problems with it: I have a 45-70 rolling block, a 45-75 Winchester bottleneck, and I think someone ran off with my 45-70 Marlin Guide Gun. I  *think* Flapz got it and then his son stole it from him in turn….😂👍). I already have a bevy of big thumpers… and the idea of pipsqueak variant out of my AR squirt gun didn’t really appeal to me. But… not so fast, Filthie!




Ahhhhhhhh.  Perfect!!!
 
A compact variable is the proper way to top
off the AR! 
😊👍

That beast’d be right at home in JL’s
RCMP patrol car…





But then BCE sent me this on the email.

“Had me (past tense) the same .458 SOCOM.  I wanted to (at the time) have the BIGGEST round available for the AR Platform.  I used to load my own, but bought for the home defense factor the Black Butterfly Maximun Fracturus rounds, a 260gn Hollowpoint which acts more like a hand grenade when it hits... vidya here…”



.458 SOCOM.
BFYTW!!!


Tiny continues:

Sold it b/c as said $5-7 a round was a bit spendy

Check out the vid.
The .458 SOCOM was fucking retarded and developed by and for Special Forces who wanted a HUUUUGE round for one-hit kills during night time raids on the Haj in close quarters combat when 5.56mm had too much over-penetration for the mud-and-brick houses in both the Stan and Iraq.  9mm and .45 is good, but they wanted "Moose-Killing" level sized boolit so when they shot someone with it, it'd blow them the fuck up while still being subsonic and suppressed.


Just some 'squaddie' FYI on that 'un for you.”

Holy shit!!! There’s gonna be a metric TONNE of hurt n’ hate on one a those! That’s only a 260 grain bullet so the trajectory might just be half decent out to 200 yards? But - alas…AR’s dont do well with cast lead and their filthy lubes, so I’m told. Even if they did - you’d need gas checks, I think? 

Obviously this is not a round for the gun club duffer. But it’d be hell on wheels if you’re after rag heads, Russians or dog robbers! The recoil wouldnt be that bad either…it might be an excellent round for the cops to consider, maybe…? 

SO - okay. There are actually TWO interesting odd ball calibres for the AR.  I stand corrected!

Final note: I guess Tiny can’t poast here because all he gets is an error message when he tries. As far as I know - my blog isn’t set to flag or mute anyone. If anyone else is experiencing problems - please shoot me an email and let me know! I don’t censor the comments generally speaking except for the spammers. Sometimes I get thumb fingered when I try to publish the comments and I’ve had a few - including my own - accidentally go into the spam bucket. 

Your comments, as always, are sincerely appreciated .

Filthie



10 comments:

  1. Joogle seems to puke at comments for me at times. Couple of workarounds, 1. I write the comment then fill in user (not logged in to Joogle) just name and then have to come back and click on the comment text anywhere so the blue line under the comment box comes back. 2 If that doesn't do it change the VPN location to a different US State.

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  2. Sometimes I wished my comments did go into your spam cum bucket... I shoot a Remington 7mm and that is as big of a caliber as I want to shoot beside my 45acp.

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  3. I read a post by Chuck Hawks once that the 243win would be the smart upgrade from the 556 for military purposes. Never served so not my problem & my opinion counts for zip, but everything I ve ever shot with my 243 has hated the experience and it’s pretty cheap & simple to hand load for. Ballistics is fantastic eh !

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  4. Jesus. That round would be hell on deer, elk, moose, even a large bear. One solid hit it the heart/lung area and I would think it would be DRT

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  5. My brother Big Mike has a Marlin Guide Gun in .45-70. It's a real shooter, and he loads his own. Me, I have a D-Max revolver in .45-70, which is a handful. Still, if I were hiking the old Appalachian trail, I'd want it with me. It will drop anything in the U.S. of A., including Bigfoot.

    Should I ever hit the lottery I'll put together a Bigfoot hunt. You and yours are invited.

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    1. Not a good idea, they're not animals and they have "capabilities".

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  6. My hopelessly corny, simpleton 1st gen DPMS 16" LR-308 (AR-10) is exotic enough of an AR for me. It's good to 600 yards. 168 grainers shoot best for me. It's with in 75-150 fps of a 30.06 with a 22" barrel, depending on what brand yer chootin.

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  7. At $7 a round, that only makes sense if Uncle Sam was buying the ammo. Otherwise it'd be cheaper to mag dump a 30 rounder of 5.56 into their ass instead. I get that special forces may have some special needs, like chocolate flavored crayons, but us normal people can do just fine with .357 mag and 30-30 winchester, thank you very much.

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  8. My boar, bear and pugugly bang stick is a 50 Beowulf, AR platform. Load is 325 to 350 grain Solid jackets or HP. Good out to around 400 yards - which in these hills is plenty. Rounds are generally less than $2 a round. Not a SOCOM, but a bunch more easy on the wallet. My 308 is for the longer shots, on a hiline power right of way cuts, or such.

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