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

Sir Bob's .458 WinMag target from his blog installment that happened while I was in Paris:

"... using 65 grains of AA5744, without any scope adjustments, (Nikon 2 – 7 x 32mm) set at 4.75X, and voila!"



"The pic says it all! 3 into 0.45″ (measured center to center). At a corrected to MV of 2610 fps/ 3781 ft-lbs.
This will be my hunting load with the 250gr MonoFlex for the rest of the fall season! In fact to the end of 2021.
I’ll load up another 10 or so for bear, deer or wolf.

Here’s the data on that load:

BC = .175

SD = .170

MV = 2610 fps/ 3781 ft-lbs. Recoil = 23 ft-lbs from my .458 Win Mag rifle.

Environment: +1200 ft; 42*F/ +5*C; RH @ 58%

Zero @ 150 yards

50 = 2363 fps/ 3099 ft-lbs/ +0.68″

100= 2130 fps/ 2519 ft-lbs/ +1.28″

150= 1911 fps/ 2027 ft-lbs/ +0.01″

200= 1707 fps/ 1618 ft-lbs/ -3.65″

250= 1521 fps/ 1284 ft-lbs/ -10.3″ (adequate for up to an approximate 800 lb soft-skinned animal with a hit to the vitals)

Hornady claims this 250gr will expand down to 1400 fps, so we’re good to 275 yds for critters that might bite! So, it looks like my .458 could qualify as a varmint rifle after all!

It could be pushed out the muzzle of the 24″ barrel at 3000 fps/5000 ft-lbs, but I’ll use ’em for the critters mentioned so no need for anything like 3000 fps…. but just maybe… I might give that a try anyway as “a scientific research” project!

MV @ 3000 fps/4995 ft-lbs/ Recoil = 36 ft-lbs from my rifle at 10.5 lbs ready with Mag-na-ports.

*All matters considered, the 250gr at 2610 fps is the better load for my purpose in a light bullet load for smaller game to 250 yards or so. The same MV ballistics could be attained from a typical .35 Whelen, but a 250gr in .358″ is longer and thinner, therefore with a much higher BC that translates to longer effective ranges – with significantly greater recoil! There’s no pretence here in trying to make a .458 WM 250gr load into a .35 Whelen but, rather, to show its utility for most game that I hunt at practical ranges than thought “normal” for a Big Bore .458 WM.

In a discussion of this on the 24hr campfire forum, one poster said he uses the 250gr MonoFlex at 2000 fps from his 22″ M70 in .458 WM for deer in the Northeast! “Devastating” of deer was how he described that experience."

That would be Sir Bulkie.

In terms of Hornady’s manual for that bullet, recoil would be about 29 ft-lbs from an 1895 Marlin load at 2500 fps (and as mentioned, the .458 Win Mag load at 2610 fps is 23 ft-lbs recoil in my #1 Ruger) and 31 ft-lbs for the 250gr Barnes’ load at 2609 fps for the 250gr TSX FN from an 1895 Marlin in .45-70.

The real point of this is, again, to show the .458 Win Mag’s adaptability. It can quite easily be handloaded to match ballistics of a BP front loader, a Marlin in .45-70, or even do most of the work of a 6.5 Creedmoor or 7-08 Rem. But the 250gr MonoFlex load in the Ruger would be relatively slow in recoil – like a push of 13 fps, about identical to the 6.5 and 7mm.

At this point I’d also like to acknowledge a longtime friend: Dan Schindler of Paragon School of Shooting. We’ve corresponded over the years since I’ve been a blog writer. Some of that correspondence has been intimate, some casual, and some instructional both ways. Over a decade ago, Dan asked my opinion on a .458 Win Mag load he intended to use on a black bear hunt in Alaska. I told him I didn’t think a 265gr Cutting Edge bullet was the best choice when heavier bullets were available and, in my opinion, would do a better job. With that 265gr CE bullet leaving the muzzle of his .458 at little more than my load of the 250gr MonoFlex, he killed a good size black bear with one shot at 90 yards! I did the math, and congratulated him! He was right in his choice to minimise recoil and at the same time achieve his goal with plenty to spare from the “great” .458 Winchester Magnum.

I’m still learning – though being the father of a son who is a grandfather himself!"

Sir Bob, as much as you hate to admit it, that makes you a Great Grand Father.
In other words, an old dog still learning new tricks, eh?

"Of course, I understand that not everyone likes, or even wishes, to carry a rifle of two extra pounds. Yet, it’s quite extraordinary what those insignificant couple of pounds can do. With field experience of only one season of hunting in challenging conditions they can transform our habitual attitudes, physical balance and strength to that of well conditioned outdoors men! I’m not kidding!

In just three day trips to my hunting grounds on Crown Land in the Haliburton Highlands – in consideration of minimal activity due to the Covid crisis and four months of a debilitating arthritic attack over last winter – and in addition to recently spending time away with our family in New Brunswick, where I got a good workout with my son in tramping through prime deer country, I progressed from a somewhat weak and stumbling 85 year old to a strong, well balanced hunter like I was at 65! And I consciously chose to use my 10.5 lb Ruger No.1 in .458 Win for that transformation! My 9.3 x 62 is a mere 7.7 lbs and ready with handloads, but I took the heavier rifle. The terrain was a newly logged out area with debris, mud, rocks, branches, tree tops and steep climbs everywhere! That first trip was with some trepidation as to where to place my feet without stumbling… The last trip was given to toting the 10.5 lb rifle (ready to shoot) in my right hand, gripped just forward of the action for perfect balance with one in the chamber and two in a stock holder. I could swing that rifle with one hand wherever and whenever needed to miss entanglement with branches, ledges, etc. Not boasting, just facts! And I intend, by God’s grace, to keep at it til the end of hunting seasons."

Further details and illustrations here:
http://www.bigbores.ca/