Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only The great 458 Winchester. Everyone should own one at least once

Mike,

Agree !
In 1984, got my first .458 WM, a Ruger No.1H, in Blairstown , MO where elephant are pretty scarce, but I was ready, just in case.
Then followed the pushfeed M70 XTR and M700 "Safari" of same 1984 vintage with which I hunted cow moose and varmint only.
I learned of the 460 WBY, better for chest thumping purposes in more ways than one.
The first three .458 WM rifles got traded off.
I had a couple of Whitworth MK X .458 WM rifles after that, but unfortunately turned them into a .458 Lott and a .458/.416 Ruger.
A 34-year career of wildcatting coincided with my neglect of the .458 WM.
The .458 WM would have served just as well or better than the oddballs up to .510-caliber that I played with on bison, water buffalo and cape buffalo.

I am reformed, and I have acquired 6 more .458 Winchester Magnum rifles, including a Ruger No.1 of 1980 production.
She must have been a safe queen ready for elephant.
Their chambers will never be molested.

I figured out how to correct a .458 Lott Ruger No. 1, by running a .450 NE 3.25" reamer into it.
Another alternative is to run a SAAMI .458 Winchester Magnum into the SAAMI .458 Lott.
Thus, one can make the SAAMI .458 Lott the equal of the .458 WM-Unlimited by correcting its throat.
That sort of .458 Lott Like Jack Built might even be better with birdshot and light bullets of 250-gr to 350-gr.
Only with rethroating can it equal the power of the .458 WM-Unlimited with 400-gr to 600-gr bullets.

If you let the .458 WM have a MAP as high as the .458 Lott MAP (SAAMI 62,500 psi),
and you use the .458 WM at the same COL as the .458 Lott
(you don't have to go longer, though you can)
the .458 WM wins every time.
Just requires a bullet long enough to make the COL desired.
Reduced loads and cast loads ?
The .458 WM wins there too.
Accuracy ?
Elmer Keith was the first scribe that told me the .458 WM had no flies on it in that regard.
Elmer was not wrong.

Here is a test image through the gallery here:



Pick the KE level you want and you can find a bullet that will do it with the .458 Winchester Magnum with SAAMI chamber.
Powders and bullets are excellent now.
For an "Express Rifle and Big Bore" there has been no improvement since 1956.