There are all kinds of ammo for all kinds of purposes, but for weapon handlers who like shooting big rounds from their AR-15 platform, the 450 Bushmaster is one of the biggest rounds available. When you want the best in the category, it’s got to be the Duramag .450 Bushmaster Stainless Steel Rifle Magazine.
Although the Duramag .450 bushmaster stainless steel rifle magazine is susceptible to bending with time and usage, it is corrosion-resistant and comes with unique aesthetical advantages that place them in a top class of its own. But don’t be dismayed; this device is relatively affordable.
Since I am very hands-on in the industry and have used other types of .450 Bushmaster magazines myself, I can tell you that there isn’t one without its upsides and downsides, like most things in life. So whether you’re making your final decisions based upon the reliability, durability, and affordability of the rounds, it’s important that you weigh out which one will work best for you when shooting .450 Bushmaster rounds.
If the Duramag .450 Bushmaster Stainless Steel Rifle Magazine isn’t quite up to par with what you are looking for, take a look at the other top-winning magazines I have tried in this category.
5 Best 450 Bushmaster Magazines Comparison Table
450 Bushmaster is one of the biggest rounds that you can fire from the AR-15 platform.
If you’ve spent any time digging around for the best 450 Bushmaster magazines, you might be wondering why it’s so hard to find them.
Duramag .450 Bushmaster Stainless Steel Rifle Magazine
Key Specs:
- Cartridge:
.450 Bushmaster
- Fabric/Material:
Stainless Steel
- Magazine Capacity:
7 Round
Pros:
Proprietary coatings resist corrosion and produce very smooth feeding.
Body is contoured toenhance reliability.
Thick steel construction with solid welds resists warping.
Snap On follower is rigid and slidesvery smoothly.
Feeding 450 Bushmaster rounds ain’t easy
Well, there’s a reason for that: a 450 Bushmaster magazine is essentially an AR-15 magazine with a single stack follower. Many shooters modify a few AR-15 magazines for their 450 Bushmaster rifle.
However, not everybody wants to disassemble AR-15 magazines.
Adding big bore followers to standard magazines can come with its own issues…
Therefore, most of us prefer to just purchase complete magazines.
Of course, if you’re buying a 450 Bushmaster magazine, you want to get a good one. Once you finish this article, you’ll know which magazines are the good ones.
SPOILER—if you want to buy magazines rather than assemble them, get the Duramag .450 Bushmaster Stainless Steel Rifle Magazine. It’s a solid steel magazine that comes in the most common 450 Bushmaster capacities (5 and 7 rounds). And these magazines are actually pretty affordable for 450 Bushmaster magazines.
If you’d like to see all the other completely assembled magazine options that are available, keep reading. We found all those other options. And they’re here for your perusal.
Table of Contents
What magazine do you use for a 450 Bushmaster?
Technically, you use a standard 5.56mm AR-15 magazine for a 450 Bushmaster. 450 Bushmaster rounds will fit in a single stack in a double stack 5.56mm magazine. However, it can improve reliability to use magazines or magazine followers that are designed specifically for 450 Bushmaster.
If you have some good 5.56mm magazines, they may work just fine in your 450 Bushmaster rifle.On the other hand, if you’re having feeding issues, it may be worth adding single stack followers to a few magazines. Then, the easiest option is to get some of these 450 Bushmaster magazines.
The Best 450 Bushmaster Magazine Reviews: Where to put those big bullets
These 450 Bushmaster magazines may not be perfect. They’re the most trustworthy 450 Bushmaster magazines I’ve found, though.
When people bring their rifle into the gunsmithing shop because it won’t feed or lock the bolt back, these magazines are almost never the problem.
1. Duramag .450 Bushmaster Stainless Steel Rifle Magazine
“The Duramag .450 Bushmaster Stainless Steel Rifle Magazine is the most reliable and pleasant to use of all the 450 Bushmaster magazines on the market.“
Key Specs:
- Cartridge:
.450 Bushmaster
- Fabric/Material:
Stainless Steel
- Finish:
Black T360 Coating
- Magazine Capacity:
7 Round
Pros:
- Proprietary coatings resist corrosion and produce very smooth feeding.
- Body is contoured to enhance reliability.
- Snap On follower is rigid and slides very smoothly.
- Thick steel construction with solid welds resists warping.
Cons:
- Steel construction can warp over time.
The thing I like about these magazines is that the magazine body is contoured to fit big bore magazine followers. That’s why these magazines are so reliable.
Follower tilt can be a real problem with big bore AR-pattern rifles. Duramag seems to have figured out how to solve that problem.
Also, these big bore magazines feel just like a straight AR-15 magazine. There’s no weirdness in your rifle manipulations if you’re accustomed to running standard magazines and AR-15 controls.
That’s about all I have to say about these magazines. There are some other details—Snap On followers, proprietary coatings, and relatively thick steel for the magazine body.
The long and the short of it is that these magazines feed reliably, and they seem less prone to warping than classic USGI magazines.
If you need 450 Bushmaster magazines, I recommend using these ones. They work, and they’ll last a long time.
2. C-Products 450 Bushmaster AR-15 Magazine
“The magazine capacity might be a bit low, but these are affordable and well-made 450 Bushmaster magazines.“
Key Specs:
- Cartridge:
.450 Bushmaster
- Fabric/Material:
Stainless Steel
- Finish:
Black T360 Coating
- Magazine Capacity:
7 Round
Pros:
- Feeder pawls are specifically designed to feed 450 Bushmaster rounds and resist warping.
- Improved internal bracing prevents unwanted double stacking and makes feeding more reliable.
- Follower reduces stress on feeder pawls and extends magazine life.
- Exceptionally smooth and thick corrosion resistant coating.
Cons:
- 7-round model is often out of stock.
As far as I can tell, the C-Products 450 Bushmaster AR-15 Magazine is the best magazine that C-Products makes.
I’ve had rather poor experiences with their other big bore magazines, but they seem to have gotten their 450 Bushmaster magazines right.
Evidently, C-Products worked with Duramag to develop this magazine. That explains why it’s better than their other magazines.
However, the end result is a magazine that has an impressively rigid follower and feeder pawls that are specifically designed to feed 450 Bushmaster rounds.
The magazine body also has deep stabilizing grooves to keep rounds from staggering inside the magazine.
The design makes these magazines quite reliable. The most important box is checked. Additionally, the proprietary feeder pawls resist warping incredibly well.
In my experience, these magazines last a really long time, and they almost never cause malfunctions.
These are pretty much equivalent to the Duramag 450 Bushmaster magazines.
They cost a dollar or two less. It’s not going to make you rich. Though, saving a few dollars is saving a few dollars.
3. Ammunition Storage Components AR-15 Stainless Steel Magazine
“These magazines are built like tanks, and they work. Enough said.“
Key Specs:
- Cartridge:
5.56x45mm NATO, .223 Remington
- Fabric/Material:
410 Series Stainless Steel
- Finish:
Stainless Steel
Pros:
- Stainless steel construction is nice and durable.
- Black oxide and black marlube coatings improve corrosion resistance and dry lubricity.
- Chrome silicon spring is just as corrosion resistant as the coated stainless steel.
- Enhanced anti-tilt follower ensures reliable feeding.
- Dimpled feeder pawls resist warping and extend magazine life.
Cons:
- Thick exterior coating can require a bit more force to get the magazine completely seated.
I’ve used a lot of Ammunition Storage Components (ASP) magazines. I’ve always found them to be much higher quality and more reliable than people give them credit for.
These aren’t exactly budget magazines. The Ammunition Storage Components AR-15 Stainless Steel Magazine are quality 450 Bushmaster magazines.
The name might suggest that the big deal with these magazines is that the body is made of stainless steel. That’s good. However, it’s not super unique.
The thing that I really like about these magazines is the chrome silicon springs.
I use chrome silicon springs in my AR-15 rifles because they have insanely long service lives. It takes literally hundreds of thousands of compressions to wear out a chrome silicon spring.
These magazines will retain their spring tension and reliability for a ridiculously long time.
Everything else about these magazines is pretty standard for a steel 450 Bushmaster magazine.
I have one word of caution: ASP uses thick finish coatings. These magazines may be tight in the magazine well until the finish wears off a little bit.
Some people sand the finish a little to get ASP magazines to loosen up faster. However, you can just run the magazine in and out of the magwell a bunch of times to wear the finish down.
A thick finish is a good thing, though. It just comes with tradeoffs. I’m still a big fan of ASP magazines, especially for more exotic calibers like 450 Bushmaster.
4. Brenton USA LL-3 Long Load 450 Bushmaster Rifle Magazines
“ These are solid, no-frills magazines that are specifically designed for hunting with 450 Bushmaster. “
Key Specs:
- Magazine Capacity:
5 – 7 Round
- Fabric/Material:
410 Stainless Steel
- Finish:
Black Nitride
Pros:
- No nonsense steel design looks and feels just like a straight AR-15 magazine.
- 450 Bushmaster modified feed lips resist warping and improve reliability.
- LimitBlock insert can be removed to expand capacity to 7 rounds.
Cons:
- A few dollars more expensive than some other 450 Bushmaster magazines.
Brenton USA makes high-end AR-15 hunting rifles. They include one of their Brenton USA LL-3 Long Load 450 Bushmaster Rifle Magazines with their 450 Bushmaster rifles.
Brenton calls these “no nonsense magazines.” Which I find to be accurate.
These are pretty standard steel magazines. Black followers. 450 Bushmaster feed lips. Straight body design.
The only real news to report on these magazines is the LimitBlock insert, which can be removed to expand the magazine capacity to 7 rounds.
The LimitBlock limits the capacity to 5 rounds to make these magazines legal for hunting in most states, which is a nice feature.
In other news, these magazines run reliably.
I find the price to be rather reasonable because these can be either 5 or 7 round magazines. Versatility is valuable.
5. Bushmaster AR-15 450 BM Magazine
“ Technically, these are the only true 450 Bushmaster magazines. If you want the real deal, get these magazines. “
Key Specs:
- Cartridge:
.450 Bushmaster
- Fabric/Material:
Aluminum
- Finish:
Black
Pros:
- Perfect geometry for smooth feeding.
- Aluminum body makes these magazines pretty lightweight.
- Proven Bushmaster reliability.
Cons:
- Expensive.
One of the surefire ways to get solid 450 Bushmaster magazines is to go to the source.
Bushmaster made the 450 Bushmaster round. It makes sense that the Bushmaster AR-15 450 BM Magazine would be one of the best AR-15 magazines, if not THE best AR-15 magazine.
The thing that makes these magazines special is that Bushmaster nailed the feed lips, the follower, and the notch on the front of the magazine.
Bushmaster knows the exact dimensions of the 450 Bushmaster round. Therefore, these magazines are less fickle than many other magazines.
Of course, Bushmaster followed the usual best practices and constructed these magazines from aluminum to keep the weight down and used a straight magazine shape to keep rounds from binding up inside the magazine body.
Bushmaster magazines are a bit pricey. However, they’re one of the few magazines you can count on to reliably feed your 450 Bushmaster rifle.
The Final Shot
Duramag .450 Bushmaster Stainless Steel Rifle Magazine
Key Specs:
- Cartridge:
.450 Bushmaster
- Fabric/Material:
Stainless Steel
- Finish:
Black T360 Coating
- Magazine Capacity:
7 Round
Pros:
- Proprietary coatings resist corrosion and produce very smooth feeding.
- Body is contoured to enhance reliability.
- Snap On follower is rigid and slides very smoothly.
- Thick steel construction with solid welds resists warping.
Cons:
- Steel construction can warp over time.
450 Bushmaster is a cool big bore round designed for semi-automatic rifles.
Unfortunately, the 450 Bushmaster magazine selection can be a bit limited. That doesn’t mean you can’t get good magazines, though.
That just means that you don’t have to shop around as much to get the most durable and reliable 450 Bushmaster magazines.
In fact, you can just get the Duramag .450 Bushmaster Stainless Steel Rifle Magazine or the Bushmaster AR-15 450 BM Magazine, and you’ll be good to go.
You can also check:
Manual magazine checks
