Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Overlooked .458 Winchester Magnum Loads

300gn Barnes 45/70 Cave Points over 78gn of H 322 for 2534fps.
300gn Barnes TSX over 75gn of H 4198 for 2640fps
350gn Barnes TSX over 78gn of H 4198 for 2582fps or 76gn of H 322 for 2434fps or 78gn of AA2230 for 2424fps

.375 recoil, nothing walks away.

John

anything with rl7?

In my 458 Lotts I used RL7 with the 350gr Hornady and Speer bullets 1 1/2 moa with irons at 100 paces and drove them 2400-2500 fps which is 458 win mag velocities. I even fired off two boxes during a range session firing from various field positions. As mentioned recoil is in the 375 H&H realm so quite reasonable to shoot. I don't have my load data handy but shouldn't be hard to find.

I could never fire more than 10 rounds of 500 gr loads in a range session.

In my BPCR primitive weapon, .45-70, with Marlin level 250 gr. "cave point" TSX load at 2,550 fps over max Vv N-120 is a killer.

Not 300, but 250 gr.. I've seen what that load does to WT's and hogs. One doe shot at 20 yds. thru the heart ran 15-20 yds, a "fire hose" blast of blood as she ran. Heart was blasted pretty bad. One of those" Ray Charles" class blood trails...

A pig shot at 100 yds, hit in the chest, blew lung tissue out the other side. Entrance was a nice size hole, the exit hole had radiating cracks in the rib cage, extending several inches from the exit hole in all directions, not too unlike a broken glass window. So, I guess that bullet pushed out on the opposite rib cage enough to cause multiple radial rib fractures.

The 300 gr. version at that speed should do about the same. Agree with your statement, "nothing walks".

DF.

Not too primitive, primitive weapon.

Sure.......
300gn with 71gn of Rel 7 for 2386fps in 22" Barrel
400gn Woodleigh and 77gn Rel 7 for 2283fps
405gn Remington and 73gn Rel 7 for 2328fps

John

How could anyone overlook anything relating to the great 458 Winchester Magnum?

I just got in from loading some Leopard loads for my 458 WM, Woodleigh makes a nice squishy 350 gr BPE bullet with a max velocity performance rating of 2100 fps, I'm pushing it to a bughole accurate at 50 yards, 2455 fps, don't think I'll fire at a Leopard on bait any further than 50 yards, and will bet the time and cost of the hunt it will slap him loose from the tree only to fall dead on the ground.

That load being dead on at 50 yards with the 500 gr Partition at 2157 fps landing about 2"s high at 100, the 450 gr BBW #13 solid load clocks 2275 fps and land precisely 1" under the 500 gr Partitions at 100 yards, I think I can get Leopard and Buffalo along with any other exceptional animals that may show in the salt out to 200 yards with this one gun setup.

Since this is a load thread, I best post some numbers:

77 grains of H-335, 500 gr Partition, 2157 fps.
77 grains of H-335, 450 gr BBW #13 Solid, 2275 fps.
73 grains RL-7, 350 gr Woodleigh BPE soft, 2455 fps.

All loads put up in new W-W brass with Fed-215 primers.

I've also used the 350 Barnes TSX with good results in the .458. Got a few dozen water buffalo and I don't know how many pigs with those. I seated them to the second groove. The goal was partly to try for a bit of .375 level recoil relief if necessary, partly to see how well the big TSX would work on buffalo with non traditional weight and partly to see how far the 458 could be crowded into .375 country. Pretty much a success on all points, while hitting harder than a .375

Something that I feel obligated to point out is that my H4198 load (A2207) was 69 grains and that was already in the 2600s with a 24" barrel. I'd taken that up to 71 grains without issue but backed it off mostly because it printed with the heavier bullets at that charge. 78 seems high to the point of being a typo. So you know the drill; proceed with caution.

Good Call M70G,
I have owned a lot of .458's and original loads were developed in Oz using AR 2207 which is why the powder weights changed.
The lots of H 4198 I have loaded here in the US are slower that the original powder which is not surprising as the Aussie powders were tweaked to align with the Hodgdon contracts in order to meet the previous versions for performance. Whenever the powder is worked slower, it does no hurt the previous users apart from slowing the velocity a little which most won't notice.

Because these are "Innernet" loads, everyone should start lower and work up. The thing many will realize with the .458 case is that the majority of maximum loads in any of the manuals will barely burp, in a modern rifle chambered for this cartridge. The reason is that there is a huge free bore incorporated in the .458 reamer to the point that you can install a full size magnum magazine and follower and load to a .458 Lott OAL and still chamber in the standard chamber. Not many .458 users know that although some of teh CZ 550 users have because of that over sized magnum action.
John

There were some .458 bullets made with 2 crimping grooves for that very purpose. Tailor made for the African market where you can't swing a dead cat (or jackal) without knocking over someone's Brno or CZ.

How about a Thumper..........550gn Woodleigh Weldcore
65gn H 4198 for 1998fps
70gn H 322 for 2048fps
74gn AR 2206 for 2027fps.
My .458 plants them dead on at 50 yards with open sights

What about some 600gn Barnes Traditional?
72gn of AR 2206 for 1978fps.

John

My all time pet load "was" using the 400gn Barnes X bullet and 74gn of AR 2207/H 4198 for 2434fps. Still have a few rounds I am saving for the right opportunity.
This I recall Phil liking this bullet once upon a time as well?????
Also tried 76gn of H 322 for 2380fps.
John