TESTED: Franchi’s New Momentum .450 Bushmaster

Italian arms manufacturer Franchi expands its Momentum bolt-action rifle lineup with a new .450 Bushmaster chambering. Expect eye-popping accuracy at a price that’s just right.

by Rob Reaser

As I’ve mentioned here on more than one occasion, I find myself in something of a slow-burning yet ever-growing fascination with straight-wall cartridge rifles. I can’t really explain it, but it may have a slight tie-in to my lifelong love of traditional muzzleloader and archery hunting.

What’s the connection, you ask?

I would guess it is an appreciation for short-range, close-distance encounters.

With patch-and-ball muzzleloaders and traditional (recurve and longbow) archery, ambush hunting is the name of the game. You’re not tipping over deer at way-out-there distances. Instead, you try to get close enough to smell them. With that approach, the tools of the trade necessarily change. You don’t need gear for 400-yard shots; you want gear that offers devastating terminal performance at 40 yards.

That’s why I don’t tote around my too-heavy .308 bolt rifle in the whitetail woods. When a typical shot is 50 yards or less, such gear is overkill. Last year, I hunted exclusively with a .44 Magnum Henry lever-action and a red dot, dropping two deer with handloads. That was fun. And I have found straightwall rifle calibers like the .350 Legend, .360 Buckhammer, and the hefty .450 Bushmaster to be equally fun when pursuing game animals. Sure, these projectiles will handily manage game within 150 yards or slightly farther, but it is at close distances where their charm is revealed. Punch a hog or deer or bear with a supersonic .450 within rock-throwing distance and it’s lights out.

Naturally, I was excited when Franchi introduced their Momentum bolt-action rifle chambered for the .450 Bushmaster earlier this year. I had used the Momentum in .350 Legend on a whitetail hunt a year earlier, but didn’t have the opportunity to send lead into a deer’s vitals. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the rifle and the performance the .350 Legend showed on targets.

As for the .450 Bushmaster, I’ve turned wild hogs into sausage via AR-platform rifles chambered for this cartridge but have never engaged this cartridge with a bolt-action rifle. With Franchi now offering the Momentum in this chambering, I had to give it a go. The Momentum is a soundly engineered rifle purposely designed with the hunter in mind. Franchi knows shotguns, of course, and what it takes for hunters to be successful when using them. Thus, the company applied that same understanding when developing the Momentum series rifles.

If my short experience with the Momentum in .350 Legend were to be any indication, I figured the .450 Bushmaster Momentum was going to prove to be a real treat.

I was not disappointed.

Hard Parts Highlights

The Momentum’s bolt is a true piece of engineering art. It is spiral fluted, as you can see, and appears to be hard chrome finished complimented by an anodized black bolt handle and cocking piece. This is a big, robust bolt that exhibits a precision fit and smooth operation inside the receiver. The bolt throw is of the reduced 60-degree flavor to prevent interference with scopes boasting large eyepieces and to make quicker work of cycling.

What’s more, the Dependa bolt is of a one-piece design. It is strong and efficient in construction. Three locking lugs are used for added strength and a no-fail, secure lockup.

The barrel length is 22 inches, the same as it is for the .350 Legend and .30-06 Spr. Momentum rifles, and it features an 11/16×24 threaded muzzle should you wish to add a brake. If not, the included thread protector keeps you covered. Twist rate for this barrel is 1:24 — standard fare for .450 Bushmaster production rifles.

Refined Ergonomics

The primary interface of any rifle is the stock. If it doesn’t fit you just right or have the kind of features and profiling that works with your build or shooting style, you will never be truly satisfied, and you’ll probably never shoot it as well as the rifle is capable of being shot.

The current crop of molded polymer factory stocks I have tested in recent years are pretty darn good as far as fit and refinement go, and the Momentum’s stock fits squarely in that category. At first glance, the clean lines and monolithic Hunter Gray color give the air of a piece built for no-nonsense hunting duty. Closer examination, though, reveals details that absolutely enhance field use and are not “art for art’s sake.”

A big win is the extended finger ledge along the forend. Unlike flat- or smooth-sided forends, the Momentum gives you something positive with which to lock your support hand into position. The ledge isn’t obscenely obtrusive or uncomfortable, as finger grooving on some stocks tends to be. It provides just enough grip to allow for a slenderer forend that lets you grab instead of simply “cup and support” the rifle. Mild texturing extends from the sides of the forend and across the bottom, so there is plenty of tractable acreage for a positive hand hold even when wearing gloves.

The grip boasts a similar personality with its slender wrist and expansive texturing. The palm and fingers wrap smartly around the grip for a secure hold and optimal positioning of the trigger finger. The Franchi “F” in the grip cap is an elegant touch.

A cool, yet functional feature you don’t generally see on a factory rifle is this stabilizing grip point. If you are shooting prone supported or are on a bench, this textured recess gives your support hand thumb and index fingers a place to grasp and help stabilize the stock.

The Momentum comes with Franchi’s TSA (Twin Shock Absorbing) recoil pad. The pad’s internal compression design claims to reduce felt recoil up to 50% compared to typical rubber recoil pads. As you’ll read in the range test section to follow, it does quite a remarkable job of soaking up the slam.

Another advantage of the TSA pad design is its round edging. This is intended to minimize tripping and snagging on clothing as you mount the rifle. Not that the pad is slippery in the least, but to further ensure a positive lock into the shoulder, a mild texturing is also included.

A sling is a must-have for any field rifle, and the Momentum accommodates with integral sling swivel mounting bosses. This is a neat approach to sling swivel mounting because it eliminates stud protrusion on the forend and at the back of the stock — preventing yet another snag potential.

Loading and Capacity

While all Franchi Momentum rifles (excluding the Elite series) utilize a hinged floor plate and internal box magazine, the new .450 Bushmaster, as well as the .350 Legend chambering, come with a detachable box magazine. Overall capacity is three rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber — more than sufficient if you know how to aim and pull a trigger.

The magazine release button is located inside the front of the trigger guard. I consider this to be a welcome feature because there is no external release lever to snag on a belt, pack, or clothing, resulting in a lost magazine. The release lever’s spring tension is robust, so you won’t accidentally push it and drop the mag unawares.

I also like the contouring of the magazine. The round, smooth edges help it visually blend with the stock profiling while grooves along the sides of the magazine provide gripping texture for easy removal.

Relia Trigger…Right on the Money

As factory triggers go, Franchi’s Relia is a standout. Even compared with those gems from the precision aftermarket trigger world, this one is an eye-raiser.

I didn’t dry-fire the trigger prior to taking my first zeroing shot (as I usually do with a new rifle), so the trigger performance caught me totally off-guard. It was way lighter than I expected it to be, with no discernible creep and a sear break as crisp as you could ask for.

The ergonomics are top shelf, with a smoothly rounded face and generously curved trigger shoe that begs no quarrel from the most demanding trigger snobs among us. The pull weight can also be adjusted from 2- to 4-lbs.

When I got home from the range, I measured the pull with a Lyman digital scale. As it came from the factory, the trigger pull weight (based on a 10-pull average) revealed 1 lb. 15.6 oz. That may be a bit light for a field gun by some folks’ reckoning, and I tend to agree. I’ll likely bump this one up a half pound or so before shooting it with gloves.

On the Range

This was my first rodeo shooting the .450 Bushmaster in a bolt-action rifle. I’ve shot and hunted with this cartridge in AR platform rifles in the past, but I wasn’t sure what to expect in terms of felt recoil and muzzle rise without an action spring and buffer to suck up the thump.

Tested: Franchi’s New Momentum .450 Bushmaster — For testing, I topped the Momentum with Steiner’s new H6Xi riflescope, which we have tested previously. While it may be more scope than a straightwall cartridge rifle demands, its low-end magnification range (3-18X) and superior glass make it wholly suitable and even desirable for a closer-range rifle setup like this.

At the first shot, I was both pleasantly surprised and somewhat perplexed. The felt recoil didn’t amount to anything notable. In fact, despite the hefty weight of the bullet in the three supersonic Hornady loads tested (245- and 250-gr.), this rifle shot noticeably softer, in my opinion, than a .308 Win. or .30-06 Spr. loading from similar weight rifles. At the same time, the forend bucked clean off my front sandbag support with every shot, making it a prime candidate for a quality muzzle brake.

I concluded that Franchi’s well-engineered TSA recoil pad, with its 50-percent recoil reduction claim, was to credit for mitigating the anticipated shoulder punishment. I invested three hours shooting the Momentum .450 Bushmaster on the bench and experienced zero shoulder discomfort and none of the usual “day after” bruising.

The Hornady Subsonic load was also interesting to shoot. Propelling the massive 395-gr. SUB-X bullet down the barrel felt a lot like shooting a .45-caliber patch-and-ball muzzleloader. I could feel what seemed like a progressive push against my shoulder (not an immediate slam), with the overall felt recoil being downright “cushy.” The feeling was almost comical.

As for accuracy, I tried four different loadings from Hornady. These included 250-gr. FTX loads in Hornady Custom and Hornady Black (both with a 2200 fps muzzle rating), a 245-gr. soft point load from the Hornady American Whitetail line (also 2200 fps at the muzzle), and the aforementioned 395-gr. SUB-X load from the Hornady Subsonic series (1050 fps at the muzzle).

Before I present the results of the 100-yard accuracy tests, I must provide a disclaimer. My dominant eye is currently suffering from not-so-slight double vision and blurriness brought on by an accelerated cataract formation. Although the excellent Steiner H6Xi glass provided everything required to make precision shot placement, I still struggled to zero in on one of the two blurry bullseyes I was seeing downrange. (Yeah, it’s that bad. Cataract surgery will be forthcoming, but only after hunting season!) With that said, the Franchi Momentum and Hornady ammo proved exceptionally consistent in terms of accuracy. The 100-yard, three-shot groups were:

Hornady Custom 250-gr. FTX: 1.047 in.
Hornady Black 250-gr. FTX: 1.151 in.
Hornady Whitetail 245-gr. SP: 1.238 in.
Hornady Subsonic 395 gr. SUB-X: 2.167 in.

Those numbers are as good and, in most cases, significantly better than other accuracy tests I’ve seen with the .450 Bushmaster. Had I not been struggling with my eye, there is no doubt that all three of the supersonic loads would have limboed under the one-inch mark and possibly into the .75-inch range. This stands as testimony to the precision manufacturing of the Franchi Momentum barrel and the consistency of Hornady’s loading expertise. Add to that the exceptional Relia trigger, which goes a long way toward mitigating shot disturbance due of its light pull and short, decisive sear break, and you have a combination that delivers maximum confidence and performance in the field.

If you routinely engage game in short-range environments and favor a pill that will roll them at the break of the trigger, the Franchi Momentum in .450 Bushmaster is a combination that won’t disappoint. This is a fine-handling gun with features intended to provide a comfortable experience and accurate shot placement. And with an MSRP of $799, you’ll be challenged to find a better bang for your buck.

Franchi Momentum .450 Bushmaster (model #41573) Specifications