Craig Boddington was the senior contributing editor of our modern gun and ammunition caliber dictionary. Craig was involved in the development and testing of many of these and writes from first hand experience. This dictionary was written exclusively for Wholesale Hunter with unique information found nowhere else.
GUN CALIBER DICTIONARY
Rifle Ammo
450 Marlin
Developed by Hornady and Marlin to increase performance of Marlin's 1895 lever action, the 450 Marlin was introduced in 2000. It is essentially and only a belted version of the 45-70, but this means that it cannot be chambered in 45-70 rifles, thus can be loaded to higher pressures with no fear of it being chambered in weaker actions such as the trapdoor Springfield. Hornady's factory load features a 350-grain bullet at 2100 feet per second, yielding 3427 foot-pounds. Another way to look at the 450 Marlin is that it is essentially a shortened version of the 458 Winchester Magnum, obviously with full capability for the largest North American game at short to very medium range. Regardless of potential it has not become nearly as popular as the 45-70. — Craig Boddington