Good Day Fellow Knights of the Squared Table.....

I finally got some range time with my newly acquired Ruger M77 458. It's a beautiful rifle - looks practically brand new although the serial number shows it was built in 1978! I added a Leupold 1.5x5 scope I've had for several years.

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Anyway, I loaded some very light loads to start out with - 45-70 level stuff. I didn't get to do much accuracy testing, only had time to get it on paper at 25 yards. I was very surprised when I only had to make a few clicks right to get things lined up.

I had 2 loads, both using the Hornady 325gr FTX:

30.0gr AA5744 w/CCI 250 primer COL 3.319 - averaged a leisurely 992fps. Recoil was nonexistent. I probably need to add some powder, but it's fun to have a subsonic 458!

48.0gr H4198 w/CCI250 primer COL 3.319 - averaged 1846fps. Should knock the snot out of our Southern Whitetails.

I may up the charge to get an even 2000fps, similar to a factory Hornady Leverevolution 45-70 loads.

Here's the FTX at 3.319, seated to the groove, and a 45-70 load for reference. Looks like some ICBMs to me!
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Last edited by GunLoony88; 09/29/23.