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My .450 Howell on a CZ 550 action. The little case is a 7x57. The load is 74.0 grains Benchmark,450 grain Barnes TSX and a CCI 250 Mag primer.


A picture of the rifle,going to put a Leopold 1.5x5 on it in the future.


The above load shot at 50 yards with iron sights. The problem is that the group is 5-6" to the left of where I am aiming.


And finally,the Barnes 450 grain bullet next to a .222 Remington case.

You're gonna love that round! I've had the pleasure of shooting Ken Howell's custom Mauser 450 Howell.

Power level seems to be halfway between a .458WM and a .458 Lott.

You ought to see what it does when you hit a 100lb whitetail doe just behind the shoulder @ 75 yards! She moved after the shot...straight up in the air, turned over, and hit the ground on her back. I thought Miles was going to have a stroke he was laughing so hard...

Might give your .460Wby a run for it's money as a jackrabbit gun.

Ed

Not as nice as your new 7x57!

Well thats nice, Ken!!! Good on you!

Definitely a big bore!

Wonder what ever happened to the 416 Howell reamer I got from Ken and traded off?

Yeah,went and put some more money down on it Thursday,and it sure is a sweetheart!

Cool rifle!!!

That'll work Elk, is that case made from the 404 Jeffery?

Most of the Howell calibers were made on 30-06 cases....not sure on this one.

The 416 and 450 Howell were based on the 404 shortened. As I recall the 416 was shortened to 2.50" and the 450 to 2.55". There might have also been a 375, but it's been a long time since I read Ken's original article. I think there is a scanned version of the article floating around the internet.

Yes, the .450 Howell is based on a necked down and shortened .404 Jeffrey case, as were the original .375 Howell and the .416 Howell.

Ken also developed a .375 Number 2 Howell based on the 8x68mm S Magnum brass.

Ed

Yes Gunner,it is made from .404 Jeffery brass.

Ed,you mean necked up (to .458) and shortened .404 Jeffery case,not necked down. A .458" is bigger than the .423" that what the .404 Jeffery bore diameter is.

Listen to what I mean, not what I said, dammit!

Yes...necked up to 0.458" and shortened. I was thinking about the .375 and .416 versions when I typed that... Fingers went faster than my brain, which isn't too hard some days.

Did it on another thread a couple of weeks ago. My keyboard allowed me to seat CCI LR primers in .223 brass... One keystroke and it was done!

Ed

10-4, Thanks Biebs, Ed and Elk.

With sufficient force, all things are possible

Yup,and with Ed it is quite possible a sledge hammer was used.

I traded Ken's reamer to John Ricks in ~2001. https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/54263/A_Tribute_to_Ken_the_416_Howel

John disappeared off the net in ~2004 and I haven't head from him.

I didn't see any in the link to AR that indicates that is Ken's reamer that I traded to John.

4 shots yesterday morning with iron sights at 50 yards.

Seriously? How much meat were you able to put in the freezer? 50-60 pounds?

Here, watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RazGeSe0VOc

Seriously.

RIO7 was using his .450 Howell that Ken Howell bequeathed him. Milespatton and I were along as observers. We were on a little two-track out in the south Texas brush when we saw a whitetail doe standing broadside at about 75 yards.

RIO7 hit the doe behind the right shoulder, a high lung shot. At the shot, the doe went straight up into the air, turned upside down and landed on her back, right where her feet had been. Never even twitched. It was something straight out of a cartoon. I thought milespattton was going to rupture himself, he was laughing so hard.

Walked up to the doe and there was a .45 caliber hole going in, and a handball size exit wound. Blood and lung tissue spread for thirty feet beyond the deer. The lungs were jellied, but there was maybe 1 lb of rib meat ruined. That's it. Figure 60% waste from on-the-hoof to packaged, so ~40lb of trimmed meat.

That guy, Ricko, in that video did everything right. Great calling and patience. Two really well placed shots and a freezer full of meat. Well done hunt! I liked that he kept the rifle on his shoulder and ran the bolt instead of dropping the rifle down to admire his handiwork.

Ed

Ed, I seem to remember that when we were loading for the .450 Howell that we used 2 different types of brass. One was a straight wall that we cut off and then necked down and the other we had to open up. My memory is not real good, but that is what I remember. That was funny the way that doe was slammed. miles

Miles,

Your memory is just fine. One batch of brass that Ken gave to RIO7 was already formed from .404 Jefferey down to .416 Howell. That's the stuff that all we had to do was neck up.

The new .404 Jefferey brass had to be sized down in the form/trim die and trimmed, then it , too, was necked up.

Ed

Good to know that I have not completely lost it. miles