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

Round Table discussion topic for Knights of the Crusade:

Consider a rule of thumb for KE limits on the .458 WM+ in a 24" barrel:
For the hard and slippery, brass and bronze bearing-surfaced bullets, 6500 ft-lbs KE or less.
For the softer and stickier, pure copper bearing-surfaced bullets, 6100 ft-lbs is knocking on the door.
The gilding-metal-surfaced bullets might be at a level intermediate to the above, say 6300 ft-lbs?

This suggests a brass hollowpoint hexploder with aerodynamic shape might be a great sheep bullet for the .458 WM+.
A brass Lehigh Defense 300-gr spitzer solid might be faster than a 300-gr TSX or TTSX.
Maybe a brass hollowpoint with a plastic tip and a boat tail at about 350 grains could approach 2892 fps for 6500 ft-lbs KE ?
Probably so.

My top 350-gr TSX load was with 81.0 grains of H4198, 41 degrees F, COL 3.44", 25" Shilen barrel,
MV = 2806 fps, KE = 6119 ft-lbs.
(Subtract 15 fps for correction to 24" barrel MV.)
I don't recall exactly what Sir Bob has done with that bullet,
but it was very similar, as I did that to follow his lead.
And three of those bullets went into one hole at 50 yards.
That could be used for sheep hunting too.

Here is the Labradar data on the factory loads at 80*F, 24" Ruger No. 1 factory barrel, starting with clean barrel,
3 shots each with two factory loads:

Hornady Superformance 500-gr DGS, factory claimed MV = 2140 fps:
COL = 3.275", BOL = 1.385", seat depth = 0.610"
MV/ 100-yd Vel.
1. 2153 fps (first fouling shot in clean barrel)/ 1865 fps
2. 2134 fps/ 1858 fps
3. 2134 fps/ 1877 fps
average MV = 2140.3 fps
ES = 19 fps
St.dev. = 11.1 fps, might have been a lot better without traces of lubricant in barrel for the first shot.
The ES on the 100-yd velocities was coincidentally also 19 fps, but not consistent with MV, shot-to-shot.
This could be explained by minor irregularities in the individual bullets, or atmospheric variations, or within instrumental error shot-to-shot,
or all of the above.
100-yard velocity average = 1866.7 fps.
100-yard velocity loss = 273.6 fps
Claimed BC = 0.295

Winchester W-W Super 510-gr RNSN, factory claimed MV = 2040 fps, next 3 shots:
COL = 3.330", BOL = 1.325", seat depth = 0.495"
MV/ 100-yd Vel.
1. 2001 fps/ 1787 fps
2. 2040 fps/ 1806 fps
3. 2065 fps/ 1821 fps
average MV = 2035.3 fps
ES = 64 fps (though Labradar output said 65 fps according to my assistant calling it out to me)
St.dev. = 32.6 fps
The ES on the 100-yd velocities was only 34 fps, ditto above explanation.
100-yard velocity average = 1804.7 fps
100-yard velocity loss = 230.6 fps
Claimed BC = 0.284
Slower bullets lose velocity more slowly !

Does anybody want to calculate those BC number to compare to the claims,
or do I have to do that questionable statistical significance myself ?
The 5-shot ones will be less insignificant.