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

Here is a better picture of Wally Johnson, whom Col. Askins hunted with in Botswana in 1970.
Yes, Wally used a .375 H&H Winchester M70 of 1938 vintage for his early years in Mozambique,
but by 1970 he had converted to the .458 Winchester Magnum,
after barely getting out of the bush war alive to carry on in Botswana.



Askins' first use of the .458 WinMag was in early to mid 1956 in Vietnam.
His family friend, John Olin, probably gave him that rifle for field testing.
It was the first-year production model with three-leaf express sight, 3/32" silver bead, and only one cross bolt.
Askins opined that a peep and patridge would be needed to adapt the African to Montagnard conditions,
as well as a southpaw version for lefties, of course !

Askins brought 13 firearms and 2600 rounds of ammo for his offduty recreational pursuits in Vietnam.
That also included one of the first production of .44 RemMag S&W M29 revolvers.
Dirty Harry's handgun and counter-sniper rifle (.458 WinMag) were both field tested early on by Col. Askins, in 1956.
What a great year it was, except for the Vietnam part !
Askins might be correct on his claim of being first to kill a man with the .44 RM.
It was a Viet Minh sniper using a MAS 49 (7.5x54mm) left by the French, taking pot shots at traffic on a road below a bluff.
Askins sneaked up on him, up a trail to the bluffs where he perched, "3-4 steps from the little bastard. I saw the wild look in his eyes
and he glanced around fearfully, meanwhile swinging the French 7.5mm off his shoulder."
Another successful handgun hunt.

Askins' first trip to Africa was in 1958, to Kenya, where he met up with his Vietnam acquaintance and hunting instigator from the CIA,
Allen Pope, grandson of Harry Pope. Allen brought his wife Yvonne along and she had appendicitis before the end of the safari.

They were booked for 35 days with the safari firm White Hunters "the leading outfitters in Kenya" in 1958.
Tony Dyer was 28 years old, schoolmate of Harry Selby. Dyer and another PH, Australian Bill Jenvey guided the soiree.
Askins said Dyer and Jenvey were both "bangup good" hunters.

By this time, Askins had his African M70 from Vietnam converted to port-sided bolt handle.
Askins killed 2 cape buffalo, an 80-pounder elephant bull, and a rhino with a "fairly decent horn" with the .458 WinMag.
No dramas. That was the only rhino Askins ever shot.
His first cape buffalo was the biggest-horned of a claimed 76 buffalo Askins eventually bagged, the next biggest of those being 47 inches.
Askins took 35 head in 35 days, the remainder included a leopard and eland but no lion.
Lesser game fell to a .243 WCF Model 88 lever action, and the rest was bagged well
with a prototype .338 WinMag M70 with bolt converted to left hand also, by Bob West, gunsmith.

Askins mistakenly wrote that he had taken the first cape bufflao in Africa bagged with a .458 WinMag.
It was a whopper, over 50 inches spread of horns.
But the first cape buffalo had fallen to Richard C. Heck two years earlier, in 1956, in Kenya also.
The first game to fall in Africa to the .458 WinMag was a Rhino in Kenya, 1956.
Dr. Stacy was Richard C. Heck's partner, and borrowed the .458 WinMag to shoot the Rhino.
See 11th Edition GUN DIGEST of 1957.