Ruger #1 in .450 Marlin

B

batmann

New member
First I will say that I love the Ruger #1 single shot and I see where a Ruger just introduced a new one, this time in .450 Marlin.
I am not a big fan of that cartridge and my question is, can I shoot .45/70 out of it or do I need to stick with the 450?
 
"...can I shoot .45/70 out of it..." No. The Marlin is a belted case.
Ammo is really limited too. Midway shows only Hornady(325 grain FTX Leverevolution only) and Buffalo Bore load it. Grafs shows only Hornady brass at $51.99 per 50.
If you buy the thing, buy as much brass as you can at the same time.
 
last year I bought a new in the box old stock .460 S&W with a 22" barrel at a estate sale for 800.00 and bought rcbs carbide dies and 200 new cases. and I just bought two boxes of LBT heat treated solids .452-335gr-gc bullets. I have not shot it yet,but when better weather gets here I will. eastbank.
 
Bill Ruger's No. 1 is certainly a classy rifle. I picked one up in .218 Bee. There aren't very many around in the Bee. If you are interested in the .450 Marlin, No. 1, I'd say get it. If it isn't popular (and it isn't likely to be) you could be the proud owner of a rare No. 1.
 
Thanks for all that replied. I am thinking hard, but I just don’t like the round, it does nothing that a .45/70 can’t do and a lot cheaper.
 
The 450 Marlin is a great cartridge but the problem is only Hornady makes brass for it and you can't even make your own brass because H made the belt thicker than a "standard" belted magnum case ( a 375 H&H for example ) and so that will be a real issue.

Another thing to watch out for, is most Hornady ammo that uses the FTX bullets calls for the brass to be trimmed extra short so that brass used with a different bullet will cost you the extra performance you gained over just going with a 45-70 and could result in high pressures if not taken into account when reloading.

Other than that, it's great! My Dad loves his 1895.
 
Just my not very humble opinion. Get the .450 Marlin as a collector's piece and buy a 45-70 #1 as a shooter. You can hand load the #1 45-70 to be just as hot as the .450 Marlin which, again in my opinion is nothing more than the old .458 Win. 2" wildcat. All marlin did was put a fatter belt on the case so reloaders could not use .458 Win. Mag. brass trimmed back to 2 inches.
My Ruger #1 is in 45-70.
Paul B.
 
Paul B. said:
Just my not very humble opinion. Get the .450 Marlin as a collector's piece and buy a 45-70 #1 as a shooter. You can hand load the #1 45-70 to be just as hot as the .450 Marlin which, again in my opinion is nothing more than the old .458 Win. 2" wildcat. All marlin did was put a fatter belt on the case so reloaders could not use .458 Win. Mag. brass trimmed back to 2 inches.
My Ruger #1 is in 45-70.
Paul B.
Click to expand...

The 450 Marlin is indeed very similar to the 2" 458 wildcat. I suspect that Frank Barnes would have been amused to see that it's become a commercial round. IMO, the only purpose of the 450 is to allow non-handloaders to get warm 45-70 ballistics with factory ammo. I agree that if you handload, 45-70 is the way to go.

The fat belt is to keep 450 Marlin rounds from being chambered in conventional belted magnum guns. The results if a .458 bullet were fired in a smaller barrel would not be pretty. If you're a manufacturer you have to think of things like that.
 
Wow. Very surprised to see Ruger do this. I'll bet it's a very limited run. Find one with good wood and watch its value skyrocket. Over the next 20 or so years anyway. After all of the gun loonies my age die off, I am not sure there will be much demand for our collectibles from the Gen Xers and millennials.
 
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