Buffalo Bore 458 SOCOM 350gr JFN – Formidable Woods Load

Description

The Buffalo Bore 458 SOCOM 350gr JFN is the load for shooters who want mass over speed. A 350 grain jacketed flat nose leaves a sixteen inch barrel at 1710 fps, carrying about 2272 ft-lbs, and the blunt nose means every one of those foot pounds is spent cutting a full diameter hole rather than sliding through.

• Buffalo Bore 458 SOCOM 350gr JFN Overview
• 458 SOCOM Hunting Load Ballistics
• Why The 350 Grain Jacketed Flat Nose Bullet Drives Straight
• Specifications
• Rifles That Shoot This Heavy AR Platform Big Bore Ammunition

Buffalo Bore 458 SOCOM 350gr JFN Overview

Buffalo Bore item 47C belongs to their Hunting and Sniping line. The 350 grain jacketed flat nose runs 1710 fps, measured in a Wilson Combat rifle with a sixteen inch barrel. Twenty rounds per box.

The 458 SOCOM was built to put a genuine big bore cartridge into an AR-15 without touching the lower receiver or the buffer system. A barrel, a bolt and a modified magazine follower complete the conversion, and the magazine well and controls stay exactly where your hands expect them.

Fifty grains heavier than the tipped copper load in the same line, this round trades a little velocity and a little trajectory for sectional density and momentum. For close cover work, that is usually the right trade.

Hunters reach for this heavy AR platform big bore ammunition where the shots are short and the cover is thick: hogs in the brush, black bear over bait, whitetail in swamp bottoms. It is also a popular choice for anyone who wants one rifle that can handle anything on the continent inside a hundred yards.

458 SOCOM Hunting Load Ballistics

At 1710 fps a 350 grain bullet produces about 2272 ft-lbs, using grains times velocity squared divided by 450437. That is roughly what a 45-70 Government delivers from a lever gun, out of a semi-automatic rifle that holds seven or more rounds.

Compared to the 300 grain tipped bullet at 1901 fps, momentum favours the heavier load: 350 times 1710 gives 598,500 grain-feet per second against 570,300 for the lighter bullet. Energy favours the lighter one. Which number matters depends on whether you expect to shoot through a shoulder or across a field.

Trajectory is honest rather than flat. A blunt jacketed flat nose sheds velocity quickly, so this is a hundred yard proposition with a little room on either side, not a long range load. Inside that distance it hits hard enough that nothing else about it matters.

Sectional density is the quiet advantage. A 350 grain bullet of 0.458 inch diameter has enough weight behind its frontal area to keep pushing after it meets resistance, which is exactly what the 350 grain jacketed flat nose bullet is designed to do.

Why The 350 Grain Jacketed Flat Nose Bullet Drives Straight

A jacketed flat nose is a lead core inside a copper jacket with a wide flat meplat on the front. It is not built to expand much, and that is the point. The frontal area it starts with is the frontal area it keeps, all the way through.

That flat face is what separates this from a round nose of the same weight. A round nose parts tissue and closes behind itself. A flat nose punches, leaving a wound channel the full width of the bullet from entry to exit. In a 0.458 inch projectile that is a substantial hole.

The jacket keeps the soft core from deforming or leading the bore at these velocities, so this 458 SOCOM hunting load shoots clean and holds shape through bone that would flatten a plain cast bullet.

Buffalo Bore publishes velocities taken from real rifles rather than pressure barrels, which is why their numbers occasionally look modest next to competitors. The figure you read is the figure your rifle will chronograph.

There is no polymer tip and no expansion to rely on, so there is nothing to fail. That simplicity is a large part of why this deep penetrating SOCOM rifle round has such a loyal following among guides and hog hunters.

Specifications

Rifles That Shoot This Heavy AR Platform Big Bore Ammunition

Any AR-15 or AR-style upper correctly barrelled and bolted for 458 SOCOM will run this ammunition, along with the bolt actions and single shots chambered for the round. Wilson Combat, Rock River and a long list of smaller builders all offer uppers.

Twist rate deserves a look. One turn in fourteen inches is the common 458 SOCOM specification and it stabilises a 350 grain bullet without complaint. If your barrel came off a subsonic focused build, ask the maker before assuming.

Feeding is the one area where a heavy blunt bullet can be fussier than a pointed one. Most SOCOM specific magazine followers handle it, but it is worth loading a magazine and cycling it by hand the first time you bring home a deep penetrating SOCOM rifle round in this weight.

Deep Penetrating SOCOM Rifle Round Availability

This Buffalo Bore 458 SOCOM 350gr JFN is in stock and ships from our Collegeville, Pennsylvania shop. MAG5 Firearms is a family owned FFL dealer, and orders normally leave within one business day.

For a lighter, faster lead free bullet in the same chambering, see the Buffalo Bore 458 SOCOM 300gr Barnes TSX. The same flat nose philosophy in lever gun chamberings shows up in the Buffalo Bore Heavy 35 Rem 220gr JFN and the Buffalo Bore Heavy 38-55 Win 255gr JFN. Load data is published by Buffalo Bore Ammunition.