Decided to post this here instead of reloading...spank me if you must, but give me your favorite 458wm loads! Specifically, I would like good powders for hardcast 405g., hornady 350g. interlock (not sure if these are any good, but the price was right...) and if anyone has loaded for the barnes 450g. TSX ...how do you get enough powder (and which one) in there...aren't they long? I'm dealing with a standard comercial length mauser magazine...Also, any cast bullet light loads would be appreciated.
I built a 24" drop tube. It'snot pretty, but it'll do for now. I do have the lee factory crimp die on the way also.
Tell me what I DON'T know about loading the 458wm (assuming I know nothing would be generous).
Thanks,
John
My Ruger Number 1 shoots 350 Hornadys and 60 gr IMR4198 into cloverleafs at 100 yards. Damn elelphant rifle thinks its a match rifle. I am also looking for some 45-70 plus loads for 405 grain hard cast lead bullets in the 458.
Ive found a 215 fed primer 69 grns of RL7 under the 350 hornady and 67 grns under the 405 remingtons to function perfectly and shoot very tight groups in my 458 win mag
30 grains of IMR 4198 under a 420 grain hard cast makes a nice practice and small game load for coyotees small deer etc.
50 grains under the same 420 grain hard cast has proven to be exceptionally acurate and effective for deer and hogs
want a PLINKING LOAD, a 340 grain hard cast over 16 grains of BLUE DOT works exceptionally well for beer cans at 50 yards, but under the correct lighting you bcan see the bullets fly as Im sure the velocitys under 900 fps
I have been using 70 grains of Re7, a WIN WLR, W-W brass, and the .350 grain Speer Flatpoint in my M70 African for 12 years. It is my "plinking" round, accurate and relatively inexpensive to shoot - also mild by .458 Win Mag standards. Odessa
PS Speer states this bullet was designed with the .458 Win Mag in mind. I chronographed this load at 72 degrees F, AVG velocity was 2235 FPS.
When I owned a 458WinMag I used but two loads. A 350gr Hornady RN pushed along by a healthy dose (but under max) of H4198 for 2470fps and a 480gr Woodleigh pushed along by another healthy but below max dose of H4895 for 2070fps. I miss my 458WinMag as it was super-versatile with those two loads ... I've been down the hot loaded 45/70, plus 10.75x68, 375H&H, 416Rigby (briefly), 458WinMag, 458Lott, 470Capstick path and feel the most versatile was easily the 458WinMag. But then I have a 458AR almost completed and a 500AR to build in the never ending quest to find the bestest bigbore!
Cheers...
Con
Con, those wouldn't be of the .458 SOCOM and 500 Phantom variety would they? Likely on the AR-15 platform. Just for fun, you should check out the 470 Rhino on an AR-10 (also by Tempo Jutsu). I agree on the versitality of the .458 Win Mag. That is why I'm trying to build a BLR chambered for it. So far, I can't find anyone that will, so I might have to do it myself.
-Extremist
I have used 66 grains of RL7, behind a 480 grain Woodleigh with a Federal F215M primer with good success. Velocity is between 2150 and 2200 fps in my rifle.
Con, those wouldn't be of the .458 SOCOM and 500 Phantom variety would they?
-Extremist
No ... the 458AR is a shortened, improved RUM case to match the 458Lott, whilst the 500AR uses shortened 416Rigby brass to match the 500Jeffery. Both in standard length magnum actions ... in my case Rugers. The 458AR was a straight rebarrel from a 300WinMag with no mods for feeding ... just waiting on the stock man to finish the inletting so we can bed and get the rifle firing. The 500AR will also be in a Ruger but will need a bit more work to get it up and running due to the 416Rigby case head and magazine mods.
Before the semi's were banned here there were a few BAR's in 458WinMag and there's now a few 338WinMag BLR's done. A 458WinMag or 416Taylor is a natural for them!
Cheers...
Con
With 400 gr Barnes semi-spitzers and 70 grs of Reloder 7 I was able to get 2326 fps out of a 22" barrel. \
If I remember correctly I tried 55 grs of RE 7 and 300 gr Sierra FP and got a hangfire which was a little rude.
For those that like to reload the 458, the 1994 Handloaders Digest has an article by Ray Ordorica called The 458 Revisited. It contains a wealth of loading info for the 458. I found my copy at One Stop Gunshop in Rapid City a few years ago.
J.,
I'm not sure this load will equate to your mag/action length, but it has turned out to be my best, and I will pass it along to you. I load the Barnes TSX 450 grn. in my .458 Win. in a CZ Safari, and am able to seat the bullet out, to crimp in the second groove. By being able to seat shallow, I get 72 grns. of H4895 under that bullet with very little compression. Out of that rifle, it consistently shoots into 1 1/2", and my eyesight is not that good. From that rifle it gives me 2225 fps. Recoil is tolerable.
If you are able to seat your bullets shallow, and still get a good crimp, there are powders out there that will give you what you need. I've never been too enthused about powder compression!
Best of luck with your dicoveries of the .458. With modern powder, and bullets, I'm confident it is capable of anything required!
Con, Very interesting. I've been looking for such a thing. The BLR cannot be modified to load anything longer then 3.34" Magnum length, which works for the .458 Win Mag, but doesn't allow for anything to be seated out farther, or for more powerful cartrides to be used. That and the obvious disadvantages of belted cartridges in a magazine fed rifle have prompted me to look into the RUM's. The BLR will hold 3 in the mag, whether it's a belted mag or WSM/RUM size, but it feeds so much smoother with the latter. If you seat deeper, shortening the OAL from 3.6" to 3.34" they will work, but it's not very efficent and doesn't give a good crimp. I looked at just cutting the brass down but the neck gets too short for proper allignment and bullet tension. The design you have might work perfect. Who makes/designed it and where can I look into getting a reamer? What's the brass length?
-Extremist
Speaking of 458win mag and 45 cal in general, has anyone ever played around with loading saboted rounds with them ? I am having a "non traditional" 458 win mag built on a 98 mauser action, 28" heavy bbl with a brake, Laminent thumbhole stock graco recoil reducer, 2lb bold trigger and plan to top it with a Nikon Monarch 2.5-10x50. its being built for my father, primarly for whitetail (yea i know what your thinking
and thats one of the reasons we built it) but I was coining around the idea of using some MMP 45cal sabot's designed to shoot 38cal hand gun bullets, and see if it would work with a 225gr .358 nosler (for the 35 whelen and others) I crunched the numbers on a couple of calculator, LFD an Quickload and it seems like it would work, but I'd like to know what ya'll think
Two comments pertaining to the 450 Barnes TSX:
1. Use AA2230 instead of H4895. You can get the same velocity with less or no compression. A drop tube is not needed. Start low and work up. My load, which I do not believe is maximum, gets 2250 fps.
2. Don't believe the Hornady loading manual. With 500 grain bullets and 1 grain less than the maximum listed, I got way over maximum pressure.