Is the 458 Socom very popular?
- Thread starter Kruger
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1Cor15:19
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No..........
iofthetaiga
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What'll it kill that a .45 Colt won't?
Not sure if your kidding or not. The 458 Socom is equivalent to a 45-70 in an AR platform. 300gr. @ 1900fps. That's a lot more then a Long Colt. You can shoot bullets ranging from 250gr. - 600gr.
iofthetaiga
Well-known member
Yes, sorry; was a rhetorical statement. You might find a couple of AR fans in AK, who think it's cool. You'll have to judge whether or not that constitutes "very popular".
To answer the question no it isn't very popular. I do own one and shoot it often. When loaded with the 300 grain TTSX I can attest to it's affectiveness on black bear over bait. If you decide to get into the SOCOM realize that brass is hard to find and loaded ammo even harder. This caliber is almost a must for reloading and when you find brass buy all you think you will ever need. Then shoot and be happy.
Lowrider
New member
I built a Beowulf instead of a SOCOM and it kills black bears just like a .45 LC. It's easier to find .458 bullets than the .50 but I'm not sure one is better than the other, but the SOCOM is an interesting and capable round.
iofthetaiga
Well-known member
30-06 has a pretty good following up here...
iofthetaiga
Well-known member
Point being, things here with the greatest following are those which are practical, commonly available, proven reliable, easily repairable.... Once you get away from the one big city and off the internet, boutique and novelty items are, by definition, not commonly found nor commonly popular.
I looked into it a while back. I am not enough of an AR guy to make a go of it. I also don't know a lot of folks who are either, but, there are some. Also, this forum does not tend to be a how to dope your AR kind of place, so not as many people will be here with that weapon platform, at least in my opinion. It does not seem practical to me either, but I bet it would if I had been toting around an AR for the last few years in some sandy place way East of here. Second nature to turn to the 458 Socom, or more practically, the 308.
Worth asking around a bit. How's the reliability in DLP situation? Good enough for special ops, might be good bear medicine if you are practiced with that weapons system. Practical hunting distances? Can you afford to feed it?
Worth asking around a bit. How's the reliability in DLP situation? Good enough for special ops, might be good bear medicine if you are practiced with that weapons system. Practical hunting distances? Can you afford to feed it?
No, I am not trying to push the AR15 thing here or at least it's not my intent. I prefer bolt guns. But I do use the 458 Socom for wild pigs and occasionally deer. It drops deer like steel plates. I figured with the way they dispatch large hogs with great efficiency they would get some use up there with the bears as well as anything you hunt I heavy brush Especially being that the cartridge performs well in a 16" barrel. But I do understand too that if you can't get the ammo then the gun is no good.
boliep
New member
Keep trying. Sooner or later you will find someone that helps you support your argument.
1Cor15:19
Well-known member
So do .223s......
I like most kinds of rifles for one reason or another and find that the AR15 is a wonderful rifle for a lot of purposes. However, it has some drawbacks and the .458 SOCOM exacerbates them. Reloading any self loading rifle can be aggravating and collecting spent cases is just one of them. I just can't warm up to digging around in the grass for every last piece of brass that costs about $1 apiece. Bullets for the SOCOM are also costly and that limits the amount one can shoot it, making a self-loading rifle expensive to feed isn't conducive to shooting it often. The SOCOM is a neat idea and its ballistics could serve a useful niche, but anytime I consider an upper that isn't marked 5.56 NATO for an AR I step back and ask myself how much will I really use it. For the same coin, I can shoot a .223 four or five times more (at a minimum) than a SOCOM and that alone is enough reason for me to stay with the .223/5.56.
Lowrider
New member
I have uppers or complete guns in just about all the common variations from the 20 Practical to the 50 Beowulf and I shoot maybe 4x the number of rounds in .5.56. but I love the 6x45 and the Grendel. The AR platform is the most versital that I know of except for maybe the TC Contender or Encore and they will shoot .22 LR if you can find ammo...what's not to like, but they probably aren't the best rifle for AK even though they can do it all with the right bullet and upper on board.
I think your right, it could be a great bear gun, I think the issue is it is a solution to a problem that most folks up here already have solutions to.
I love ARs but I haven't bought a big bore upper because I already own and carry a .375h&h and a .44 mag, hard to convince the wife why I need a new bear gun!
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Nitroman
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You rarely see them for sale. Because the people who have them love them.
Smitty of the North
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An AR is apples and oranges to most hunting rifles.
The Rem. 750, in 30-06 is an Auto Rifle too. It's still apples and oranges, but probably weighs less, ??? and IMO, is a better choice than any attempt to make the AR powerful enough to handle BEEG, beeg game. (Which is the purpose of a lot of the new AR cartridges.)
There is a lot of nostalgia and history associated with the 45-70, which is part of it's popularity.
Now, if you could get a cupla 3 ALASKAN BEAR GUIDES to pack 458 SOCOMS around, Shoot a few Bears and Bisons with them, and lament the fact that Custer didn't have them, they could conceivably become a little more popular.
Right now, it's just BLAHH.
Smitty of the North
Smitty of the North
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I'm wondering why you think the ARs are more versatile than other type action rifles, the BA for example.
BAs are chambered in many more different cartridges, and I can't think of any that couldn't be. Plus, many POWERFUL cartridges, which isn't the case with the ARs, and surely, they are of lighter weight, and simpler, and more reliable.
There are ARs that are designed for hunting, but the primary purpose, and draw is for ("Tactical"???) usage. And, that is for obvious reasons, the cartridges that they can or cannot handle.
Because people love their ARs, and even design cartridges exclusively for them to make them more versatile doesn't mean that they are the MOST versatile. I think they are perhaps the least versatile, design wise, anyway.
Smitty of the North
