I think we owe a lot to Remington, Barnes and even Swift in that 1988-89 period for the escalation of both big bore interest and the sum of more ballistically superior bullet profiles because up until then, the average consumer thought of the .458 as a 50-100 yard thumper with 500 grain round nose bullets and we now seldom consider them for overall use as they limit the potential of the cartridge.
Sure, the round nose heavy weight, my preferences being the 550gn Woodleigh, is a great thumper at the ranges it was intended for and on the game associated with close range hunting, but that is not the scope of use nor the potential value of the .458 case.
Because of that, sparked interested in pointed .458 bullets more more than 30 years ago, I learned pretty quickly that the 300gn X bullet could be loaded to a point blank of around 250 yards opening up its range capability to lots of field trials on Australia's feral game. Would liked to have taken more larger game but who wouldn't?
After using, 300, 325, 350, 400, 405, 450, 500, 550 and 600 grain bullets, the 400 grain weight became the best compromise if an all rounder was desired and then one only needed a very heavy game load based on opinion as the 400gn X at least for me, never failed to perform on animals up to near a ton and I would use it on anything I ever killed or may ever take.
I had a 200 yard range where I lived in the Colorado Rockies with a backdrop hillside of pine trees behind and to the side of the targets I used. These trees were around 18-24 inches in diameter and those Barnes 400gn X bullets I'd loaded up for my .458 and had no problem completely penetrating them at that 200 yard distance. Even at .460 Weatherby velocities on large game, 5 foot penetration on muscle and bone was had. The value of this thread is the collective input from various people who have done different things with the same bullets and cartridges as that collective is what generates the theme of confidence you can get before delving into perhaps previously unknown in bullets and cartridges.
Russ is hunting Sambar at the moment and is certainly not the first Aussie hunter to take a .458 for those elusive and tough deer. The objective being to drop them as fast as possible as they take off like whitetail and will even hide in water or thick brush including 1/4 acre blackberry thickets much taller than a man where they weave their way in and just sit down out of sight. When the sambar is found and earned, its up to the cartridge and bullet so here's to Russ and his .458.
