Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Barrel length for a "handy" 458 Win Mag

I've got a tang- safety Ruger 458 with a 24" barrel that is just a bit unwieldly, about what would be the right length to chop it back to?

i would say 20". i held a hawkeye alaskan a couple weeks ago with a 20" tube and felt about right. my dad has a guide gun (18.5" barrel) and it seems to short. i just orderd a 1895 marlin 45-70 with a 22" tube and will have it cut down to 20" eventually. to me it just feels right. just my .02

jake

IMO you need all the velocity you can muster out of a .458 as it is short on powder capacity. I would stick with the longer barrel. However that would depend on what you intend to use it on. I would be using mine on elephant, buffalo etc. and I need all I can get...An option would be to open it out to a .458 Lott and then cut the barrel off, then you could get whatever velocity you needed, but you will get more recoil also.

Atkinson: I appreciate the velocity concern, but for my uses the balance and handling of the rifle are more important; I shoot 400gr Barnes X bullets almost exclusively, so powder capacity is less of an issue that it could be.

As atkinson said, my answer to the problem was to go Lott and then abbreviate the pipe to 22". I'm sure arguments can be made for the 24" and as far as I know that's been the traditional factory length but when you think about it, why? Handiness reigns.

Gdv

My 458 was clipped to 21 inches and was just right. It took me 3 to get it right had one at 23 and one at 20 and 21 was just right!

Ed

My 500 Nitro Express double has 24-inch barrels, but all my other big bores have 26-inch barrels.

Never had any troubles with them.

After hunting for two weeks on foot with a 65+ year old PH who was recovering from Achilles tendon surgery from six weeks before and him carrying a 476 double the whole time, I dare not complain about carrying any rifle due to weight or convenience.


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Hammer1 well put!! I think we complain too much NC

Oregon-no doubt I'd go 21", good luck to you. If you do it you sure won't regret it.

Dober

Double gun barrel lengths and bolt gun barrels are not exactly the same thing, and you can fit a relatively long barrel on a double without paying the longer overall length penalty.

My .458 Lott on a M99 action worked out for balance with the barrel at 21.75".

jim

Giving barrel length advice is like buying a pair of drawers for someone you've never met...I wouldn't have a clue and it would be a bit on the wrong side anyway.

My advice is to rechamber it to 458 Lott to get a bit more pizzazz and start cutting off the barrel 1" at a time, trying it until you arrive at the point that feels best without getting too short if you must. You might also try adding or subtracting weigh or pull length off the butt end and leave the barrel length alone.

I think a whole lot of this short barrel vs long barrel BS is nothing but armchair forum/bar talk. Most of my heavy hitter rifles have 26" barrels and I've never had any problems hauling them around the bushes or putting them into action. Being sure the rifle fits is most important.

Enjoy

While I have no trouble hauling- yes, I guess hauling is almost appropriate- the 26" barrelled rifles around, I know for a fact that the shorter barrels are much handier, especially if they are well balanced.

Obviously my use of a 458, if I had one, would likely be different than others' uses. I could see where a nicely balanced, short barreled (20-21"), bolt action 458 could come in handy for crawling through willows and alders. For now either of a couple 45-70s suffice. If I wanted a 45-70 Mag though, a similar rifle which could push a soft 450, 480, or 500 grain bullet to 2000 fps or better, then I could see where a customized 458 could be the ticket.

Balance is more important than length; length is more important than weight.

Klikitarik: My use would be the same as yours; basically what I want is a bolt action equivalent of the Marlin Guide Gun, a short barreled thumper that is quick to deploy.

I would not spend time and money rechambering for the Lott. I can get 2240 fps with my .458 with no trouble at all using North Fork's 450 grain flat point solids, which penetrate further than the traditional 500 grain round nosed solids at 2150. I can actually shoot 1" 3-shot groups with this monster, though I shoot off the bench very seldom with it. At 100 yards 450 grain TSXs shoot only about 3/4 inch higher. My barrel is 24 inches.

You should have no trouble at all with a 20" or 21" barrel using 400 grain bullets. I would use AA2230 powder. It is denser than H4895 etc. and can be loaded, at least with 450s, without much or any compression. This solves the "undersized case problem." Don't believe the Hornady loading manual, though. One grain under their maximum got me 2376 with a 500-grain, ridiculously high, and the bolt was very sticky. I did not fire a second shot. Other manuals have lower maximums for AA2230.

Personally, I am not bothered by long barrels if the rifle balances reasonably. Most of my hunting is with a 300 Wby that has a long thin 26" barrel. I never get it hung up and, when ducking under low tree branches, my day pack hangs up before the slung rifle does.

21.75" is to be the most accurate barrel length

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