Ron, many thanks for the CFE223 load info. I had hoped that it would yield more velocity with 500 grain bullets, but, as you have noted, it is a very slow powder for this application. Also as you said, it might do very well with 550-600 grain bullets. That brings up a question that I have not seen answered definitively: Are there any applications of the .458 Win Mag+ in which a 550 or 600 grain bullet pushed to 2100-2150 fps would be noticeably superior to a modern 450-500 grain bullet at full velocity?
Hi mate,
I currently load the 550gn Woodleigh in my .458
I load my OAL to 3.40 and I'm using 73gn of Benchmark 2 and I get a chronographed 2080fps out of the 24" barrel of my Zastava.
There's a guy up north of Australia who is quite well known for building big-bore rifles, who has used them on Water Buffalo out of his .458 and says they are VERY emphatic killers. He's using AR2208 (VARGET) powder and getting 2070fps out of his push-feed Winny and he speaks highly of the 550gn Woodleighs. He's also quite fond of the .458 and has even started a page dedicated to the .458 on Facebook.
I really like the 550 Woodleighs. They load easily, are accurate and from what I've been told (by someone who's used them on Buffalo) hit really hard. That's what I'll be using when I hunt Water Buffalo up Northern Territory next year. They're everything I think of when I think of the .458WM.
