450 Bushmaster Ballistics: Every Load, Every Barrel

9 published 450 Bushmaster factory loads from Federal, Hornady and Winchester, each with the test barrel, zero and sight height its figures actually belong to. Hornady publishes this cartridge on a 20-inch barrel and the cartridges people compare it against on barrels from 16 to 24 inches — so some straight-wall comparisons are like-for-like and some are not, and this page says which.

Which straight-wall comparisons are actually like-for-like

The comparisons people search for — 450 Bushmaster against 45-70, 350 Legend, 400 Legend and 308 — are not all on equal footing, and it is worth knowing which is which before you read any comparison table. Inside one maker’s own catalog the straight-wall cartridges are published on 3 different test barrel lengths: 16 in, 20 in, 24 in.

350 Legend can be compared barrel-for-barrel with 450 Bushmaster — but only load for load, not cartridge for cartridge: Hornady publishes 1 of the 3 350 Legend products we retrieved on 20 in, the same barrel as its 450 Bushmaster loads. Its other loads in 350 Legend are on different barrels and are not comparable with these figures.

400 Legend and 45-70 Government (1895 Marlin) cannot, on the product pages we retrieved: they are published only on 400 Legend on 16 in; 45-70 Government (1895 Marlin) on 24 in, and none of that overlaps the 20 in barrel the 450 Bushmaster figures come from. A velocity from a 24-inch barrel is not comparable with one from a 16-inch barrel, and a table that puts them in one column without saying so is comparing barrels as much as cartridges. That is what our retrieval returned for those cartridges, from 5 product pages — it is not a statement about the maker’s whole catalog.

308 Winchester is in that search list too, and is not in the table below because it is not a straight-wall cartridge and no 450 Bushmaster comparison table on this page includes it.

450 Bushmaster ballistics: every factory load we retrieved

9 factory 450 Bushmaster loads were retrieved from Federal, Hornady and Winchester.

This table has 16 columns — swipe it sideways to see them all →

Every 450 Bushmaster factory load retrieved, with its barrel, zero and sight height

Load	Weight	Published G1 BC	Test barrel	Zero	Sight height	Muzzle (fps)	Muzzle (ft-lb)	200 yd (fps)	200 yd (ft-lb)	100 yd path	300 yd path	Maker’s stated minimum expansion velocity	Full published velocity row (fps)	Power-Shok Soft Point	Federal	450BMB	300 gr	0.225	—not stated in the source we retrieved	200 yd	1.5 in	1,900	2,405	1,331	1,179	+6.2 in	-26.0 in	1,000 fps	0–500 yd in 100-yd steps: 1,900 / 1,592 / 1,331 / 1,136 / 1,014 / 932	American Eagle Full Metal Jacket Round Nose	Federal	AE450BM	260 gr	0.186	—not stated in the source we retrieved	200 yd	1.5 in	2,040	2,402	1,329	1,020	+5.7 in	-25.7 in	—not stated in the source we retrieved	0–500 yd in 100-yd steps: 2,040 / 1,651 / 1,329 / 1,104 / 976 / 891	Fusion Soft Point	Federal	F450BMFS1	260 gr	0.180	—not stated in the source we retrieved	200 yd	1.5 in	2,200	2,794	1,419	1,162	+4.9 in	-22.5 in	1,400 fps	0–500 yd in 100-yd steps: 2,200 / 1,777 / 1,419 / 1,155 / 1,002 / 907	395 gr Sub‑X Subsonic	Hornady	82247	395 gr	0.300	20 in	100 yd	1.5 in	1,050	967	921	744	+0.0 in	-110.8 in	—not stated in the source we retrieved	0–300 yd in 100-yd steps: 1,050 / 977 / 921 / 874	250 gr FTX American Whitetail TIPPED	Hornady	82244	250 gr	0.210	20 in	200 yd	2.4 in	2,200	2,687	1,515	1,274	+4.1 in	-19.3 in	—not stated in the source we retrieved	0–300 yd in 100-yd steps: 2,200 / 1,835 / 1,515 / 1,255	250 gr FTX BLACK	Hornady	82246	250 gr	0.210	20 in	200 yd	2.4 in	2,200	2,687	1,515	1,274	+4.1 in	-19.3 in	—not stated in the source we retrieved	0–300 yd in 100-yd steps: 2,200 / 1,835 / 1,515 / 1,255	245 gr InterLock American Whitetail	Hornady	82242	245 gr	0.165	20 in	200 yd	1.5 in	2,200	2,633	1,364	1,012	+5.1 in	-24.0 in	—not stated in the source we retrieved	0–300 yd in 100-yd steps: 2,200 / 1,742 / 1,364 / 1,103	Power-Point	Winchester	X4501	260 gr	0.191	—not stated in the source we retrieved	200 yd	1.5 in	2,110	2,570	1,403	1,136	+5.2 in	-23.0 in	—not stated in the source we retrieved	0–300 yd in 100-yd steps: 2,110 / 1,727 / 1,403 / 1,163	Deer Season XP Extreme Point	Winchester	X450DS	250 gr	0.210	—not stated in the source we retrieved	100 yd	—not stated in the source we retrieved	2,200	2,686	1,514	1,272	+0.0 in	-33.3 in	—not stated in the source we retrieved	0–300 yd in 100-yd steps: 2,200 / 1,834 / 1,514 / 1,254	Maker	Symbol

There is no single 300-yard drop figure to give here. The 5 loads that share a 200-yard zero and a 1.5-inch sight height were measured on 20 in plus 4 whose barrel the source does not state — not one common barrel — and a band across barrels measures the barrels as much as the loads. Each of them, on its own basis: Federal Fusion Soft Point, 22.5 in from a barrel the source does not state; Winchester Power-Point, 23.0 in from a barrel the source does not state; Hornady 450 Bushmaster 245 gr InterLock…, 24.0 in from a 20 in barrel; Federal American Eagle Full Metal Jacket…, 25.7 in from a barrel the source does not state; Federal Power-Shok Soft Point, 26.0 in from a barrel the source does not state.

How far the published tables and the published coefficients agree

Of the 8 450 Bushmaster loads here that publish both a coefficient and a velocity table, all 8 were checked by recovering the coefficient the table implies and comparing it with the one printed on the box. All 8 reproduce the maker’s own velocity row to within 2.8 fps at every printed distance.

For 7 of those 8 the recovered coefficient lands 1.6% to 2.1% above the printed one, across Federal, Hornady and Winchester. An offset that holds across different makers, bullet weights and velocities is the signature of a modeling difference rather than a property of any one load.

X4501 follows neither pattern: its table reproduces at 0.1984 against a printed 0.191, a difference of 3.87%. We show both figures, use the printed coefficient wherever we quote the maker, and take no view on which is intended — a table and a coefficient can correspond to different conditions for reasons a maker has no obligation to publish.

Published wind drift

Federal publishes a wind-drift series for 450 Bushmaster. No other maker here publishes one in the source we retrieved, so this table is not a comparison between makers — it is the only wind data on the page, and the loads missing from it are missing because the figure was not published, not because they drift less.

The maker publishes one wind speed. In the point-mass model drift is proportional to the crosswind, so doubling the wind doubles these figures — that scaling is our arithmetic, not a published figure. It also assumes a full-value crosswind at 90 degrees to the shot, which is the worst case.

Method and what these numbers are worth

Figures here are the makers’ own. Where this page computes, it integrates a point-mass trajectory on the standard G1 drag function in the ICAO standard atmosphere with no fitted correction. Method, constants and uncertainty budget. Run your own barrel, zero and conditions.

Every coefficient on this page is printed to 3 decimals, so the coarsest carries a rounding of plus or minus 0.0005 before any calculation happens. Propagated through the model across the 9 loads here, that gives an expanded uncertainty of about 3 fps (k = 2) — so treat two velocities within roughly 3 fps of each other as the same number, ours included. Coefficient rounding, not the solver, sets that figure.

Related pages

• 350 Legend ballistics — one Hornady 350 Legend load is published on the same 20-inch barrel as these, so that one pair is comparable barrel-for-barrel; its other two are on 16 in and 24 in
• Ballistic calculator
• 6.5 PRC ballistics
• 22 ARC ballistics
• All Guns and Gadgets Daily tools

Common questions

How much does a 450 Bushmaster drop at 300 yards?

This page does not give one figure. The 5 supersonic loads here published on a 200-yard zero and a 1.5-inch sight height are not published on a common test barrel, so each one is printed separately in the table above rather than collapsed into a band — a band across barrels would be comparing barrels as much as loads. The subsonic 395 gr load is a separate case entirely at 110.8 inches — check which one you are shooting before you use either figure. These are the makers’ figures for their own test barrels in a standard atmosphere; yours will differ, so confirm your own drop on a range before you rely on any of it.

What is the effective range of a 450 Bushmaster?

The published tables answer the part of that question that is a fact rather than a judgment: each load’s own 300-yard path is printed against its own test barrel in the table above, because these loads are not published on a common barrel. Some makers state a minimum velocity for reliable expansion; where a maker in this set states one, it is in the table above beside that load, and where the source we retrieved does not state one the cell says so. How far you should shoot at game is a decision about your rifle, your zero and your ability, not a number we can publish for you.

Is 450 Bushmaster the same as 45-70?

They are different cartridges, and their published data is not directly comparable here: Hornady publishes 450 Bushmaster on a 20-inch test barrel and 45-70 on a 24-inch one, so comparing those two columns compares the barrel difference as well as the cartridges. The barrel table above lists what each cartridge is published on.

Why do two Hornady 450 Bushmaster loads show identical numbers?

Because Hornady publishes one dataset for them. The 250 gr FTX appears in both the Hornady BLACK and the American Whitetail TIPPED lines at the same coefficient, the same test barrel and the same table. We list both product symbols but count the dataset once.

Sources

Data updated September 2026.

Every figure on this page was read from the page or interface listed below, and a copy of each source was archived at the moment it was read, with its retrieval time and a checksum, so the page can be audited against what the source actually said on that date.

1. Federal, American Eagle Full Metal Jacket Round Nose — https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/american-eagle/american-eagle-rifle/11-AE450BM.html
2. Federal, Fusion Soft Point — https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/fusion/11-F450BMFS1.html
3. Federal, Power-Shok Soft Point — https://www.federalpremium.com/rifle/power-shok/11-450BMB.html
4. Hornady, 450 Bushmaster 245 gr InterLock American Whitetail — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/450-bushmaster-245-gr-interlock-american-whitetail
5. Hornady, 450 Bushmaster 250 gr FTX Hornady BLACK — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/450-bushmaster-250-gr-ftx-black
6. Hornady, 450 Bushmaster 250 gr FTX American Whitetail TIPPED — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/450-bushmaster-250-gr-ftx-tipped
7. Hornady, 450 Bushmaster 395 gr Sub‑X Subsonic — https://www.hornady.com/ammunition/rifle/450-bushmaster-tbd-gr-sub-x
8. Winchester, Deer Season XP Extreme Point — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Deer-Season-XP/X450DS
9. Winchester, Power-Point — https://winchester.com/Products/Ammunition/Rifle/Power-Point/X4501
10. Winchester Ammunition — the figures above were read from Winchester’s own ballistics interfaces rather than scraped from the product pages: muzzle velocity and coefficient from wdm2.azurewebsites.net/api/bc/v3/Ammo/…, and the published velocity, energy and trajectory tables from wdm2.azurewebsites.net/api/v1/symbol/{id}.
11. JBM Ballistics, standard G1 drag function, 79 points of Mach against drag coefficient — jbmballistics.com/downloads/mcg1.txt

Data updated: 23 August 2026