I had brought a browning BLR in caliber 450 marlin
to confirm the rifles zero, the load used was a 405 remington bullet over 50 grains of imr 3031 and a 215 fed primer
Ive found this to be one of the most accurate loads in my BLR and it certainly is effective even at 200 yards
I speer makes and sells a very similar projectile
https://www.speer-ammo.com/products/...le-bullet/2479
400 Remington soft point IMR IMR-3031 50.0 1,840
Remarks: 40,000 psi; compressed powder charge (VERY ACCURATE)
Ive found this to be entirely adequate for hunting all big game here in florida or for hunting thick timber for elk out west
the guy on the next bench, was sighting in a 6.5MM creedmore with a 24" barrel, and HE just had to point out the flaws in my old foggy lever action rifle and cartridge selection, I listened for 15 minutes not really wanting to interupt.. just smiling
(he looked like he was about 20-23 years old)with experience, you come to accept that , voicing any opposing views to complete strangers about their choices would be a total waste of time and effort.
I just complimented him on his obviously newly purchased rifle and wished him the best of luck,
but in the back of my mind I was laughing....I knew the experience in the field would eventually catch up,
when I started hunting almost everyone wanted a 7mm mag or 300 mag,
40 years later almost all the guys I hunt with use a 270 win, 257 roberts, , 30/06 308 win, 358 win or 35 whelen
its been 3 plus decades since I had the opportunity to make a shot at ranges over 250 yards, and while Im sure he will be well armed , I know from 5 decades of hunting
that most big game is not especially suicidal and tends to stay in the timber and brush areas and while all the pictures in magazines and articles,
make it seem like if you can,t punch holes in a quarter at 400 yards your not well armed, I can,t remember having and issues dropping game even with a rifle that only holds a 2" 100-yard group.
and most people get a false sense of security shooting tiny groups off a bench rest, once in the field those tiny groups, unexpectedly tend to expand noticeably
I've certainly seen more than a score of gentlemen, over the decades, I went hunting with, who could shoot those tiny bench rest groups fail to hit deer or elk
once they were shooting from quickly acquired field positions, even at ranges that were absurdly short, for a rifle (well under 50 yards on running big game.)
