.416 Hushpuppy: the next big-bore subsonic for the AR-15 latform

By Bob Owens | 5:39 PM | January 20, 2014

I’ll see your 220-grain 300BLK, and raise you more than double in mass.

I missed seeing the introduction of the Ambush Tactical .416 Hushpuppy at SHOT Show 2014, but the Firearm Blog didn’t, and they’ve done a write up on this interesting new niche cartridge.

According to the Ambush Tactical web site, ” We wanted a cartridge that hits like a shotgun but has the ranging abilities of a rifle out of an AR15 platform.”

The cartridge is an interesting-looking little beast.

It will throw a long 450-grain bullet at low velocities, with the intention of the bullet yawing on impact to create a massive wound cavity and dumping its energy within the target. It looks like it will be an interesting way to take down thin-skinned big game at short range, particularly hogs and deer in thick brush, though I’m not sure how well it would penetrate on larger game, such as bear.

The ballistics gelatin tests on this cartridge should be very interesting.

Bob Owens is the Editor of BearingArms.com. Bob is a graduate of roughly 400 hours of professional firearms training classes, including square range and force-on force work with handguns and carbines. He is a past volunteer instructor with Project Appleseed. He most recently received his Vehicle Close Quarters Combat Instructor certification from Centrifuge Training, and is the author of the short e-book, So You Want to Own a Gun. He can be found on Twitter at bob_owens.