Who has a .458 SOCOM AR 15 platform? What do you use it for? Is it your hunting rig, home defense? Fun range toy?

What do you think about this caliber as a deer or hog gun?

Is it your guilty pleasure range toy? What ammo do you use? Over the counter? Reload only?

Why did you get your .458 SOCOM?


For some reason, that I can't shake. I have been waiting one for awhile, but lately it has really been calling me. I don't know why, because I have no practical use for one. I don't really hurt anymore, and I have a few rifles that are more than adequate for hunting deer, hog, bear, hell any North American critter.

I don't need it for home defense, I have that covered in spades.

So, that leaves me with range toy. Which would be cool, but if you don't reload for it, makes it a very expressive range toy!

I guess it's that though I love my AR 15's, I'm a little bored with 5.56X45mm and .300 AAC Blackout. I want something with more thump.

So, tell me why I need a .458 SOCOM, or tell me why I'm crazy in wanting one.


ARman

I was in the same boat... didn’t need, but lots of want.

When I started looking all the components were stupid expensive. So I put it on the back burner.

Tromix came out with a very reasonably priced barrel/bolt combo, I had the upper, lower and all the other bits... so why not.

I admittedly haven’t shot it much, I don’t reload, so it gets pricey. But it sure is a hoot to shoot. Mine has been 100% for the 200 or so rounds through it.

I may eventually try it out other than a range toy. But for now that’s all it really is.

Also... they break regular m4 stocks. So you’ll need to budget for a UBR or something like it if you want a collapsible

ETA: look at the tromix barrel offerings. They use the actual chamber dimensions instead of reverse engineering. I’ve heard some have issues with the other offerings

I had one from R R till last year,gave to son.
It is a beast,used to kill one deer,lost the front half of the meat on the deer,turned to the worst blood bruise I ever seen.
Reloading is a must unless you are rich.saving your brass is a must ,starline is pricey.
There are loadings for it now in books,but fifteen years back,it was trial and error,least for me.I wound up with remington 325 JHP for the most comfort shooting.
Stay away from collapsible stocks,there was some folk hurt from recoil causing adjustment pins shearing off.
I wound up weighting my stock and putting the limb saver on the stock,still knew when you shot the bitch.
At the range folks kinda wander away from you is a plus.

I don't own a .458 but have shot one a few times. Perceived recoil is relative to the shooter, and it's a bit tough to quantify. But I perceived the recoil to be greater than my 308 bolt action -- probably because an AR-15 weighs a whole lot less than my 308 competition rifle.

The 458's flight trajectory is...um....lacklaster. The bullet drops like a brick.

I could not see my own bullet impacts with the 458, due to recoil. That alone is a reason for me to not own a 458 SOCOM. I think it's more energy shoehorned into the AR-15 platform than the platform was designed to handle.

quote:

Originally posted by ARman:
I have no practical use for one.
I don't really hurt anymore
I don't need it for home defense

I'm a little bored with 5.56X45mm and .300 AAC Blackout.

I've seen and heard the boredom thing before. Buying another firearm will stave off boredom for a while. Then when that firearm becomes boring, the buying cycle continues. And keeps going.

I suspect it's your shooting practices that have become boring. Change that and your ARs will no longer be boring.
Or you could just buy another rifle.

I wanted a big bore AR-15. I went with an Alexander Arms AR-15 in .50 Beowulf with a muzzle brake. The recoil is less than a .308 rifle. It is a fun range toy for me. Go big or stay home!

It is fun to shoot but I could see no practical use for it.
It does put a dent on steel as evidenced by the plate behind my daughter.

Photo by Oleg

I’m a fan.... talking about a thumper, this is an amazing round. It’s a reloaders dream. You can toss up to 700 grain pills!! I had the pleasure of sharing a number of conversations with a gentleman named Marty Ter Weeme, the guy that pretty much put the platform into production., and he shared soo much.

You can pop off your AR upper, slap on the .458 and use the same mags as a .556! I have shot accurately to 200 yards with amazing accuracy and not a lot of recoil. A real HOG HAMMER it is. For those that do not reload, stay away, not cheap, but it’s a HELL of a great caliber!

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
Then when that firearm becomes boring, the buying cycle continues. And keeps going.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

quote:

Originally posted by cas:

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
I've seen and heard the boredom thing before. Buying another firearm will stave off boredom for a while. Then when that firearm becomes boring, the buying cycle continues. And keeps going.

I suspect it's your shooting practices that have become boring.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

It all depends on which craft a person wishes to excel at:
- owning more firearms
- shooting firearms better

quote:

Originally posted by xl_target:
It is fun to shoot but I could see no practical use for it.
It does put a dent on steel as evidenced by the plate behind my daughter.

Photo by Oleg

Didn't realize you're Oleg Volk.

quote:

Originally posted by fritz:
It all depends on which craft a person wishes to excel at:
- owning more firearms
- shooting firearms better

They're not mutually exclusive.

quote:

Originally posted by 12131:

quote:

Originally posted by xl_target:
It is fun to shoot but I could see no practical use for it.
It does put a dent on steel as evidenced by the plate behind my daughter.

Photo by Oleg

Didn't realize you're Oleg Volk.

I'm not.
He took the Photo.

OP, did you build one? My nephew’s 13th birthday is coming up and I want to build him a rifle with a PSA Maga lower. I know he mentioned .458 the last time I visited him. He would only shoot it sometimes when his dad takes him out to the farm.

I know he wants something bigger than 5.56 (his dad has built him .22s, 5.56s and they built a .22 G36 clone for his 12th birthday). His dad has .300blk and 6.5G in the stable so I figured I would build him a .458.

Right now I see Bear Creek has an ambi 16” .458 upper on sale.

.458 SOCOM kicks like a mule. My bud has one and I don't shoot it. I gave him a Limbsaver recoil pad so it could mitigate some of the unpleasantness.

I really have never experienced “ kicking like a mule” from my .458. I’m good for 100 rounds a session at the range. I am not recoil sensitive though.

Sorry, I’m a little late to the conversation here, but here is my 2 cents anyways...

I currently have 2 .458 SOCOM ARs. One is built with a RRA upper, the other with an upper I built with Wilson Combat parts. Both are equally accurate.

I personally love the .458 SOCOM. They are definitely thumpers for sure, which is one of reasons I like them. I love the idea of a big bore AR.

I do not reload (yet), so shooting the .458 can be expensive (as previously mentioned). But I love that you can get factory loads in bullet weights from 140gr up to 600gr (haven’t seen the 700gr someone mentioned above). Ballistically, I like to compare them to the .45-70. I’m sure Fritz will correct me if I’m wrong there, but seems like the ballistics are very similar to that caliber at least in the 200-350gr bullet weights. It’s nice there are so many options for rounds with this caliber, compared to other big bore ARs like the .50 Beowulf and the .450 Bushmaster.

They are pretty much a 200yd gun. After that, as mentioned by Fritz, the rounds drop very rapidly. But if you are hunting heavily wooded areas for deer and hog, it is a great round.

They work with a lot of standard 5.56 mags, although they don’t tend to do well with MagPul mags.

You have to be careful of who you are buying your barrel and bolt or complete upper from. Because the round doesn’t have SAAMI certification, there are many manufacturers that have reverse engineered their parts. There are only a handful of manufacturers that actually have certified reamers for the caliber. RRA, SBR, Tromix all use approved reamers. Wilson Combat does not use approved reamers (something I did not know when I built my WC version). If I were building one tomorrow, I would definitely go with Tromix.

Is it the most practical round out there? No, not so much. Is it the best choice for a big bore AR? I think so, based on the huge amount of bullet weights and combos available.

If you are looking for a bigger bore AR that can reach out a little further, then I recommend you look at the .375 SOCOM. It’s a .458 SOCOM casing necked down to accept a .375 bullet.

Anyway... that’s my take on it.