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

Sir Jerry sent some photos. 15 images, numbered below for his comments if he wishes.
His safari ammo and rifle performed very well together, and he helped with proper triggernometry.
He sent "Live" movie and HEIC files and I "converted" them to JPEG best I could,
some have detail views numbered same as the original.
I struggle with 'puters and cellphones always changing and updating to get too smart for my good.

A 450-gr TSX stuck in the steel at 400 yards.
That would leave a mark on a red hartebeest.

That 500-gr TBSS lying on the ground was one fired at either 25-yard or 50-yard paper target.

It was found by Sir Jerry lying near the 400-yard steel gong.

It skipped like a stone on a pond and came to rest way out there.

That bullet just won't quit. It was trying to keep up with the 450-gr TSX.

Well done Sir, Jerry! Beautiful rifle

Sir Hannay,

Keep at it !

Thanks Sir John, it was a blast.

Many Thanks again for posting the pics Sir Ron.

1-Express sight verification a 50 yards after getting centered on 25 yard tape.


2-Getting front sight adjusted for center on 25 yard tape, fired shot one, then shot two to make sure i didn't let the rifle torque on the first shot, i sometimes forget to heavy grip these rifles that torque, after shot was verified, moved front blade left, fired shot three, perfect!

3-Final shot number three on 25 yard tape.

4-Box back on table, express sight work completed, 5 rounds fired so far.

5-Showing clean Red Hartebeest target at 300 yards.

6-Fresh painted 400 yard gong.

7-Red Hartebeest just met 450gr TSX from 458 WM+ at 300 yards LOL, i held 12 inches above where the bullet landed and a guesstimated 3-4 inches into the light East wind, firing dew North, that's a dead anything in Africa and here too.

8-Bullet strike on 400 yard gong, i could have held a bit higher, straight guess, i hadn't looked at drop figures to 400 yards ; ]......who shoots a 458 WM that dang far anyway? East wind moved that one a bit further, 450gr TSX was still packing the freight when it landed, it swung that gong, it's made from 1/2 inch pig iron, probably weighs more than a hundred pounds.

9-TSX left some sugar on that steel!

10-Mama Red Loctite getting ready to go to work at the conclusion of the days shooting.

11-Zeroing scope, 1st shot fired, moved scope up and left 10 clicks each.............WHOOPS, a damn Leupold that tracked clean LOL!

12-At 400 yard gong looking for the TSX on the ground, looked beside ATV to see a 500gr TBSS lying there, freaked me out, i had only fired those solids at 25 and 50 yards, guess it's hard to stop a hellfire missile fired from a 458 WM+ at 2358 fps! seriously gives one plenty to think about.

13-Ready to fire scope at 100 yards.

14-Shooting completed, express sights busting centers, scope zeroed and ready for anything to a long 300 yards, front sight hood alcohol cleaned and red loctited on, i fired a total of 10 rounds, four 500gr TBSS' solids and six 450gr TSX's, a hell of a morning loosing that kind of power, the old rifle is going to be a hell of a shooter.

15-That ammunition lay on the bench cooking in the sun for over two hours, it was 92 degrees at the conclusion of todays shooting, those primers look fine to me, chambering, extraction and ejection was flawless, that rig is ready for Africa.

"For The Crusade of Truth," your friend in Arms,
Sir Jerry.

Wonderful.
Those desiring less torque control requirements will appreciate the upcoming .458-400gr shootoff.

That is proof conclusive that pressure is well in the safe zone. Excellent work Sir Jerry

Great work guys!

Really enjoying this!

You all are definitely a cut above!

Sir Tony,

Buy a donkey for the Crusade !

The Hammer Bullets (in stock) arrived 6 days after the initial internet order.
They are precision bullets.
Here is the free bumper sticker in the package:









The hollow point opening is 0.250" diameter at meplat of about 0.300" diameter,
and the hole tapers to a point in an ogival way, about 0.400" deep at most.
Should be a "Shock Hammer" when it lands and slick traveling inside a barrel.
There are 6 grooves, streamlined in both directions, 0.458" major diameter, 0.450" minor diameter.
Crimped in 4th groove: 3.340" COL, 0.490" seating depth
Crimped in 5th groove: 3.450" COL, 0.380" seating depth
Boat tail is about 0.250" long, reducing from .458" max to 0.400" minimum diameter.
That is about 87% of caliber at the base.
Probably would be too blunt to feed from a magazine box if tried in reverse for a solid.
Still wishing for an aluminum or plastic ballistic tip to press-fit into the hollowpoint.
Maybe just a 0.25"-diameter plastic sphere to act as a feed cap on the HP end ?

Sir Ron;

Thanks!

Do they give a B.C. rating ? And expansion down to what fps?

Or did I miss those somewhere?

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Sir Bob,

From here: https://hammerbullets.com/product/458-cal-402g-shock-hammer/

"Recommended minimum twist rate is 1-25″

Recommended minimum twist rate for dangerous game hunting is 1-22″

Bullet length is 1.33″

Bullet weight is 402g

Recommended use: Big game Hunting and Dangerous Game Hunting

Qty-25

G1-BC=.248 estimated"

The GREAT .458 WM+ could easily handle improving the BC with a ballistic tip.

I am still working on the impact velocity range for expansion, but I guesstimate it will be as broad a range as any big game bullet,
probably 1200 fps to unlimited.

Thanks Men, took the 458 WM+ out to the shop for a nice Wipeout bore foam cleanup, a few foulers and another scope check and she'll stand ready for the Limpopo sometime this fall provided the damn country doesn't blow all to hell first.

Sir Ron, yes, those 400's should fly like lightning, there's where the AA-2230 may shine bright!

Sir Ron, PM sent.

bcelliott,

Acknowledge loyalty to the .458 WM and you too can become a Knight of the Square Table.
That is truly a square deal now.
The light and handy .458 Winchester Magnum do-all really needs no defenders anymore.
But the Lottites need a little whack-a-mole now and then and we are always ready !
In old age I may be mellowing enough to accept a 400-gr soft and solid at 2400-2500 fps for do-all.
I really will not need to go all the way to 2600 fps with 400-grainers when shooting from my wheelchair.

Sir Jerry,
Agree. And may the red gods smile upon you for the Limpopo River region safari coming up.
Will try my new 400-grainers with 80.0 grains AA-2230 and whatever COL seems to agree with that.
It was +2500 fps with the GSC HV 400-grainer at 3.395" COL, in both 23" McGowen barrel and 25" Shilen barrel.
Outstanding accuracy AND a 5-shot standard deviation of 1 fps on one of those outings.
Dropped a running doe at 150 yards on another outing with that GSC HV.
The 24" Ruger No. 1 barrel has become my standard tester, Daisy needs a chance at the new 400-grainers.

Man, those Hammers look great RC. I may order me up some if they work out well for you on paper. That big HP should help move some tissue.

Sir Scotty,

Hammer Bullets got a patent on their bullets, might be due to those streamlined-both-ways driving bands,

The design of Hammer Bullets is the basis for US Patent # 29/529,124….The shape and proportions of the bullet ...

Hammer Bullets are custom turned on a CNC lathe, using only the highest-quality solid copper appropriate for the desired result. Each bullet is weighed and micrometer measured as it is produced. The result is an incredibly consistent product with unparalleled quality control.

Hammer Bullets are available for both target shooting and hunting applications. We can quickly produce virtually any custom caliber and grain your rifle can support.

The hollow point design, intended for big-game hunting application, initiates expansion upon impact, shedding petals immediately, with the remainder of the bullet staying intact with a blunt front for optimal wound channel.

PDR – Parabolic Drag Reduction
The bearing surface of the bullet incorporates the patented PDR design (parabolic drag reduction). A continuous up and down curve, from the shoulder to the boat tail, reduces friction in the bore which equates to decreased pressure and the ability to achieve higher velocities. The PDR design on the bearing surface has proven to be very consistent and forgiving for the hand loader. Seating depth adjustment for accuracy has been unnecessary, making for much less time spent creating an effective load. Load development is as easy as shooting for velocity and then confirming point of impact.

They will make custom designs for folks wanting to use Hammer Bullets in special twists, etc.

Their comments continue here:

Types of Hammer Bullets

The different bullet lines that we have currently are the Shock Hammer, Hammer Hunter, Target Hammer, and the DeadBlow Hammer. We have a couple others that we are working on that will be coming in the future.

The Shock Hammers are our line of bullets that we designed for normal range hunting, where bc is inconsequential. So for most cartridges 400y or less. The Shock Hammer line is approximately an 80% weight retention bullet that has a larger hollow point for super quick opening on game with high retention for long straight penetration.

The Hammer Hunter line is our long range or high bc line of bullets. This was the original line of bullets. These bullets all have 1.5mm hollow point and are typically 60%-70% weight retention. There is no drop off in terminal performance from the Shock Hammers. The only difference that we see on game is the Shock Hammer will open up slightly quicker. We designed the Hammer Hunter with the 1.5mm hp as it was the smallest that we could get reliable expansion. We tried 1mm hp but it would not always do what we wanted on game. Failure is not an option. As far as we know there is no report of a failure of the Hammer Hunter to expand on game. There is always that chance and the larger hollow point on the Shock Hammers reduces that risk.

I will be changing the name of the Heavy Hammers to Hammer Hunters. They are for all intents and purpose the same. They are bullets that we came up with for customers that had slow for caliber twist rifles. The goal here was to make as heavy a bullet as we could that still has the 1.5mm hollow point and still get as much bc as we could and maintain proper stability for good terminal performance. They typically have shortened boat tails and more baring surface to increase the weight to length ratio.

DeadBlow Hammers are Hammer Hunters that are designed to retain 40%-50% on impact. They simply have a very deep hollow point that causes them to shed much larger nose petals. We have a full line of these ready to go. I just have not had the time to get them up on the website. We hunted with these bullets last fall in MT and had very good results. I’ll be honest, it is not exactly what we think a bullet should be, but we are looking to satisfy those who like a frangible bullet. Because they are pure copper they do not disintegrate like lead core bullets, so meat damage is still very light. The shed weight comes of in a few large pieces that do their own work. Think of 4 little 25g bullets along with the retained shank all penetrating deep in the animal. On game performance was actually very good. These bullets will be a bit more expensive due to the fact that is takes so long to drill the deep hole. If anyone is interested in DeadBlows shoot me a note. We can fill orders I just need to know what you are after.

Target Hammers are pretty self explanatory. Non expanding bullet designed for shooting targets not game.

Read more: http://hammerbullets.boards.net/thread/288/bullet-type#ixzz5IDMCZ3T4

Above was copied from : https://hammerbullets.com/

The GSC HV .458-400gr in hand here is 1.44" long
The Barnes TSX .458-400gr from Buffalo Bore is 1.39" long
The Ex-Barnes XTSX .458-400gr from Bubba Bore is 1.40" long
The Shock Hammer .458-402gr from Hammer Bullets is 1.33" long.

I think Hammer Bullets could make a longer, pointier .458-400gr Shock Hammer with higher BC and smaller diameter hollow point hole.
Shaped like the GSC HV with PDR bearing surface (Parabolic Drag Reduction not Physicians' Desk Reference),
I predict a G1 BC of about 0.400 at 2500 to 2600 fps in the .458 WM+.



That would be an interesting .458 Shock Hammer, well adapted for the .458 WM and .458 WM+.
You can easily distinguish it from the 402-grain Shock Hammer by the 0.011" longer BOL and 2-grain lighter weight,
and pointier nose with smaller hole on the 400-grainer.