As you know, I'm a 458wm fan. If you've got one, you've got more than enough, especailly with a good reload. Mine shoots 500's at 2145fps and isn't loaded anywhere near max, and that load works very well with ellephants.

But if your building a rifle, it might as well be a Lott.

Rifle weight is proportional. a 9 1/2 - 10lb 458wm is about rifle in my book. But if your going to use Lott loads in your Lott, it ought to go 10lbs.

A 450/400 9lbs, a 416 9- 9 1/2... A 375H&H over 9lbs wights more than it ought to....

First, I will caution EVERYONE to work up to my load in YOUR rifle. It showed no pressure signs in my post-64 Model 70 but might in some other rifle.

I used new cases, Federal 215 primers, and 72.0 grains (I weigh every charge) of AA2230 with either the 450 grain TSX or the 450 grain North Fork flat-nosed solid. Velocity chronographed 2250 with both.

Another caution: North Fork warned that flat-nosed solids can cause feeding problems in some rifles. They didn't in mine.

2250fps with the North Fork flat nose solids would be exellent elephant medicine, or for anything else deserving a solids.

JPK

Indy,

Thanks for the pics and the report on your Zim safari. Enjoyed it very much.

In less than 2 wks I head north for 16 hrs for my moose hunt. 4 to 4 1/2 hrs to Sudbury to meet my partner. My van will stay there and my gear will be transferred to his 1-ton. We pull a camper, ATV, etc, for another 12 to 14hrs, to a spot we've been to a few times before, about 1hr north of Thunder Bay. We set up camp there and will spend the next week hunting a bull. I have the tag but we each can hunt over my tag as long as we stay in the same general area and in radio contact. We can also take a calf if the opportunity presents itself. But that will be an afterthought.

My primary rifle will be the CZ550 in 458 Win loaded with the 350TSX at around 2700 fps. I was at the range today and sighted it at about +2" at 100 yds and it's only - 8.3" at 300 yds. That's flat shooting, and very pleasant to shoot, I might add. As a backup, I'll probably take my 300 Win Mag with a synthetic stock for any really nasty weather. It's loaded with 190 Hornady's at 3065 fps. We also have bear tags and there are some good ones in that area. He will take a couple of his many 35s(You can check him out at 35cal.com).

Will report when we get back from our Northern Ontario "safari".

I often read that AA 2230 is the powder of choice for the .458 Winchester, but I also read the disclaimers and primer popping stories. Can anyone share their AA 2230 powder recipies for 500 grain bullets for the .458 Winchester? It would be appreciated.

Thanks Indy.

Of course, load development starting low and working up is very important. The problem I have found is that there is very little information available on TSX bullets. The Barnes manual only lists data for 1 or 2 powders per bullet.

For load data for 500gr bullets refer to the Hornaday manual. The 500gr Hornaday steel jacketed solids (new flat nose version) are beginning to earn an excellent reputation in Africa. I've heard that the soft point is still too soft though, so some other alternative might be better for a soft. I use Woodleigh softs and they have performed well when I have used them.

For solids I use the 450 North Fork flat nose and the 500gr Woodleigh solids. Both work well and will do the job, but the North Forks provide the greater penetration. My 500gr solids run 2145fps and the 450 NF's run ~2200fps.

My 500gr solids load is a medium load of AA 2230 in the Hornaday manual, to which I was referred by Woodleigh. It has proven more than adequate for elephants or buff.

AA 2230 has proven temperature insensative and there have been no issues with the powder in high heat, well above 100*.

My load was pressure tested and proved well below max.

I stopped giving actual loads publicly over the internet after some fellows swapped bullets without starting lower and working up. If you PM me I'll give details, but really, the Hornaday book is a great source for 458wm data.

JPK

ODay450,

I don't think you intended to say what you did: "The Barnes manual only lists data for 1 or 2 powders per bullet." Actually, they list 6 powders for each of the 4 bullets designed for the 458 magnums.

I use the 350 TSX, but they only list that for the Ruger No.1 in 45-70. There's no reason not to use it in a 458 magnum, however.
But I have loaded the 450 X, the predecessor to the 450 TSX.

As mentioned by JPK, Hornady's manual is tops.

albertan,

Read the very first post of this series. I have fired some 500 grain Barnes monolithic solids at a chronographed velocity of 2200 fps with the same load I use to get 2250 with the 450 grain bullets. No noticeable pressure signs, though obviously the psi would be higher than with 450s.

Watch out for "maximum loads" in loading manuals with this caliber. As detailed in that post, I fired a shot loaded one grain under the maximum and got a ridiculously high velocity with a sticky bolt lift and marks on the case head.

There is no reason to try for higher than 2200 with a 500 grain bullet. 2150 will work just fine.

Also note JPK's warning about substituting one bullet for another and using the same loading data.

I used 450s on my recent dangerous game safari in Zimbabwe because (a) there is a lot of evidence that the flat point shape allows a 450 solid to penetrate deeper than a 500 with the traditional round nosed shape, (b) it recoils noticeably less, (c) Barnes TSX bullets don't come in 500, and I wanted both solids and softs to shoot to the same place, and (d) if one is worried about powder compression, which I am not, the 450s are a little less compressed than the 500s.

My loads are slightly compressed, but much less compressed than some shooters use for long range competition at Camp Perry.

I don't know what disclaimers you are referring to and have never experienced or heard of primer popping with AA2230. Maybe someone was trying to eke out the last bit of "high velocity," a practice not recommended with this cartridge.

There is a 500gn TSX. But for most 458 magnums it's way too long and eats up too much powder space. Terry Wieland complained of that even for his 458 Lott.

But, there are at least a couple of exceptions to that. 1)The 460 Weatherby, and 2)my 458 Win which can be loaded to a COL of 3.75", crimped into the bottom cannelure of that bullet, giving more powder room than the 458 Lott loaded to a COL of 3.6". For anyone interested in a CZ550 in 458 Win, it can be loaded to a max COL of 3.8", without any modifications.

When I purchased that rifle 16 months ago, that was a selling feature for me. Although, at the time, I didn't know for sure how long I could seat the bullets. Now I know. It's ideally suited for the Barnes Banded Solids and TSX's. The more I use it, the more I love it. As noted above, it'll go moose hunting to Northern Ontario in a few days. All of that said to promote the 458 Win, regardless of COL, and the CZ as an exceptionally fine rifle for Africa AND North America.