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

I knew the article on the 475 was being written by Ross. Bowen was building me one and told me about the article and that it would be in the may issue if memory serves.
I got mine in time to work up a long and I shot the first bear and moose ever shot with the 475 Linebaugh.
To say that I was impressed with the performance is an understatement

It left a mark on me that nothing has satisfied like my 500 has till now. Now I can’t wait to get home and let that gun rip.

LOL, that'll work, and not to have Sir Ron beat me with a Buffalo rob for hijack, the 172gr Absolute Hammer can be driven at the same 3200 fps, i know, i cant leave well enough alone.

Been doing a lot of reading on Elmer Keith.
Love him greatly but was disturbed to find him say that
Jack Ashurst invented the .458/.375 H&H Magnum and implied
that Watts did not.
I cannot find anything on a .458 Ashurst, just other pretenders who came after James Watts.
I might have the 400-gr/.458-cal Shock Hammers in hand Monday.

Found this

450 Ashurst
From Unintended Consequences by John Ross.

".450 Ashurst," Kearns said immediately. "Full length .375 H&H case necked up to .458 caliber and blown
out straight. Holds more powder than the .458 Winchester magnum, but only if you've got an action with a
long magazine.
Google produces pretty much nothing -- one thread on Cast Boolits confirming that John Ross didn't just make the name "Ashurst" up like authors sometimes do.

Jack Ashurst lived in Grangeville, Idaho, and took over Lyman McCrea's gunshop and cartridge line about 1941. He dropped the McCrea cartridge designs for his own. He had four .25 calibers, based on the .22 Savage HP, the .30-30, the .30-06 and the .275 H&H Magnum cases, and a .270, .280, 7MM and .300 cartridge series all based on the .300 H&H Magnum case. The cases featured the short necks and abrupt shoulders typical of wildcats of the period, although several of them retained the body taper of the parent cases. The usual blistering velocities were claimed for these creations. This from Wildcat Cartridges by Richard F. Simmons. I think P.O. Ackley described some Ashurst Handbook for Shooters and Reloaders. However, neither list a 6mm Ashurst.

Read more here

http://www.retro.co.za/gundex/cartridges/450%20Ashurst.html

I understand Ross did win the first " World Championship " , but it began as more of a local get together of interested folks, rather than the real hotshots it attracts now. I understand Ross is a good shot with handguns and long guns but is not in the league of today's sponsored shooters. He never won it again . But his writing was good

Phil, to be fair Ross never seriously competed after winning his championship in South Africa in 1981. Look at who he competed against and you will pull in your horns or "taste the crow". It got him to Africa for the championship and that was his prime motivation.

The 1981 IPSC Handgun World Shoot V held in Johannesburg, South Africa, was the fifth IPSC Handgun World Shoot, and was won by Ross Seyfried of United States, using a relatively stock firearm compared to the highly tuned firearms of many other shooters. Well known in the U.S., Ross had previously won the 1978 U.S. National Championship, and was member of the US National Team who placed second in the previous 1979 World Shoot. The 1981 championship showed the Americans return with a vengeance when both Ross Seyfried took the individual World Title and the US National Team took gold in the team classification.

The Science of shooting has progressed rapidly in the heat of competition indeed. Doubt any old timer could just walk in and dominate today's game. However, Win the First one he did and that can't be taken away. Did it without a compensator and shooting a full sized Steel 1911. Winning back to back is a very hard thing and harder still without the advantages of technological leaps.

Alrighty, ordered a Big handful of the .458, 400 grain Shock Hammers.
The goal is to see if this will bring the mighty 458’s up to the high standards of the 416’s. - whoa, that was humor. Not intended as an insurrectionist comment. -

I shall “sheepishly” admit, these will be used not only in 458 Winchester chambers but, also 458 Lott chambers.

Sir John,

Thanks for that, pg. 134 of the excellent John Ross book.
Read it so long ago the ".450 Ashurst" reference went "misunderestimated" by me.
UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES strike again in the form of my ignorance.
But it is a fictional conversation from supposedly August 12, 1961.
I must read the book again.

The rest of it from your link is about all I have been able to glean too.
Research continues.
Elmer did a lot of great stuff, mentored Ross Seyfried,
but he might have been slipping a bit on dates and facts in his later years.
Research continues.

Sir Larry,

Hallelujah ! There are at least three of us ordering them pronto.
I won't hold the .458 Lott thing against you, weak sisters like your .458 Lott gotta have some fun too.

Lol - yep.
I am anxious to receive them. This may very well be the replacement for the 400 grain TSX. I give up on those being in the marketplace.
As mentioned, I am very happy to see a +.400 BC in a bullet that should give plenty of penetration on most anything on the North American continent. At a conservative muzzle velocity of 2400 fps, they should be plenty good to my maximum 225 yard shooting distances. And make an substantial impression at 100 yards and under.
Looks like a big win for those of us that like the 400 grain type bullets. These may give my 416’s with the 350 grain TSX and TTSX some serious competition.

Gentlemen Sirs;

As much as I'd like to have some of those 400gr Hammers or TSX's (I've little resistance to the purchase of new bullets in .458-cal), and I've gone on record in stating that I think the best all-around hunting bullet in .458" would be something like the original 400gr X-Bullet, I'd never be content with a single bullet in .458-cal.

Due to owning several .45-70s, including a few single-shooters like #1 Rugers and NEFs, and now the .458, I've managed to collect something like 600 still on my shelves, including: 250gr Monolithics, 500gr FMJ, 480gr DGX's, and 500gr DGX's from Hornady (including several boxes of 350gr have been fired or sold); 350gr, 400gr and 500gr Speers; 450gr Swift AF's; 300gr TSX, 350gr TSX, 450gr TSX, 300gr Barnes O, 400gr Barnes SP, 330gr Barnes Banded Solids, 400gr Barnes Busters, 400gr Barnes-X, and 600gr Barnes O; 405gr Rems; 405gr WW; 400gr Hawks; and 550gr Woodleighs.

I figure if I shot 150 of those per year over the next four years, I'd be 90 and wouldn't have to sell them!

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Loved the blog, Sir Bob.
The 400-gr Shock Hammers have arrived at my door via USPS.
Time to get to work on them.

Now that's what I call a positive plan.
We should all be that lucky to plan our shots until 90 year of age..........
All the very best to you and, your plan, Bob.
John

No doubt about it, Sir Bob still has all his marbles and is made of stout stuff.
It is Ross Seyfried that we have to wonder about.

Bob, You are The Man !!!

Mine are airborne.
I fear I may have to order more, to be able to hang with Bob.
Will wait until the 1st year’s supply arrives, per Bob’s numbers.

Thanks Gentlemen Sirs,

I count it a privilege to learn from others here and still contribute something of my own experiences. It's been a real pleasure to read, learn and contribute without a lot of arguing and mud-slinging that too frequently happened on the "other forum". And I've also enjoyed the banter. Really, for me it's one-day-at-a-time, and that by the grace of God - to Him all credit belongs!

Bob
www.bigbores.ca