Adding 43 fps for the extra 2" of barrel with H4198 and the Monoflex, beretzs is knocking on the door of 3000 fps with 79.0 grains in a 24" barrel.
Getting myself motivated too. It would really be nice to hunt deer with that little rubbery-tipped monometal .458 bullet. It will work in a tubular magazine too, for a .45-70 Gov't. lever action, loaded short on that first factory cannelure. In bear country keep some heavier-duty rounds in the magazine too for close-range use. Bob's latest blog, "BEAR Defense Weapons -- P1" has got me thinking on that. My comment there to him:
Bob has mentioned the 480-gr DGX "dual use" slugs before. They were designed to work in the no-throat .450 Nitro Express, only .450" diameter forward of their cannelure, .458" diameter below the cannelure. That makes them ideal in a .45-70 Gov't. standard chamber too. I hope he mentions them again in "BEAR Defense Weapons -- P2."
The hunter in bear country could do a lot worse than a .458-caliber, 480-grain Hornady DGX. Whether in a no-throat .45-70Gov't. , crimped on the factory cannelure and run through a Winchester 1886 short rifle, lever action, or loaded a little longer than SAAMI in a .458 Winchester Magnum. 1300 fps rapid fire in the former, or 2300 fps in the latter. The former would work like solids for deep penetration with a bloody big hole. The latter would make bloodier big holes almost as deep. That "FN soft" bullet might actually expand if going 1000 fps faster.
The next time I hunt Kodiak Island I will be packing a .458 WM bolt action on the hillsides, and sleeping with it AND a shorter .45-70 Gov't. which will be handier in the tent, especially on moonless nights when a big bear comes to press his nose against my tent. Last time that happened to me I had to start shooting inside the tent with a 26"-barreled .340 Wby Fibermark. It was a bit awkward.
Ron aka "Rip" for Riflecrank Internationale Permanente NRA Life Benefactor and Beneficiary .458 Winchester Magnum, Magnanimous in Victory THE WALKING DEAD does so remind me of Democrap voters. Donkeypox.
