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

LOL, hell yeah Big B, JWP already has 416 Remington, i mean hell, it's so easy ; ]

HA! It is.... You fella's cost too much money to hang around!

Yes, we want our friends to die broke and completely exhausted too! headlock and squeeze every bit of life from the time were allotted ; ]

Already thinking about doing that. That would put new meaning to the word HAMMER

Man, you fellas must be mad at them animals

That's a solid plan of attack. I like it, except for when I am the victim!

"Wyatt, there is no perfect life, just life so live it."
Doc Halliday

Gunner, now That would be a sho-enough thumper. Near and far, big or small.

That 450 Rigby, that should fling a 404 Hammer.

LOL, Hell yeah LDM, being that the 450 RM is a bottleneck, and in this case firing a 400gr bullet instead of 500, and being that the 458 WM+ thrives on 2460, lets move on down the burn rate chart to the slower powders, we could stop in and visit CFE-223/Power Pro 2000, if no love is found drop on down to Hybrid 100V and 6.5 Staball, both are slower than all the 4350's as well as RL-17, if that don't work we can bring the pain with a heavy coat, drop tube and RL-22/26, 7828, H-1000, Retumbo, etc, etc.................oh, and don't forget the gallon of ice cold liquid Advil!

I don't think a bottle neck cartridge would need a 65% meplat for feeding. Probably go 70 to 80 percent and really bring on the slap down with mono solids. Hell yeah!

You’re nuts big feller!

I’ll just be over here shooting my pipsqueak loads

That's what they all said to Columbus

Buy a donkey all Sirs of the Square Table. A drove of donkeys to all !
Sir Woods has done the 500-yard game shooting with a 460 Weatherby and the Barnes monometal copper 400-grainers.
Digging up some of his load data is a on the table for the hairy-chested.
I have a greater love for the more gentlemanly 400-grainer at 2500 fps and 300 yards
though the 404g Shock Hammer approaching 3000 fps in a sporting rifle does have some charm.
Why not a crew-served .458 Steyr for approaching 4000 fps ?
Kirby Allen's .458 Maximus or some such on the .505 Gibbs case should get past Mach 3 easy-peasy and single-man portable.

We are going to have to start over with the Greek alphabet when the 400-gr Flathead Solid is available for alphabetical listing:

True enough JWP!

I am fighting the urge to take up the 460 Weatherby again, just for stunt shooting fun
with the 404g ShockHammer at 3000 fps.
But I am just having too much fun with the .458 Winchester Magnum.

A .458 WM on a Ruger No. 1 with 1:10" twist would be most practical for the VLD loads at 1000 yard targets.
Also works for stubbier bullets of all weights for subsonic with suppressor can.
24" barrel on a Ruger No. 1 is about like a 20" barrel on a bolt action for overall length.

Pros:
In the Ruger No.1 the 404g Shock Hammer at 3.580" COL would not be too delicate for nimble-fingered load at 2600 fps,
and lower pressure than in the SAAMI .458 Lott.
Ditto the 528-gr Lehigh brass match bullet at about 4.250" COL and 2200 fps, with screw-on muzzle brake.
Delicate: The 300-gr Sierra ProHunter at 1000 fps, with 46 Bushwacker suppressor for head shots on small game.
Near 100% meplat FN solid is not a feeding problem in a Ruger No. 1, and it will leave a mark on the game for sure.

Con:
Twist of 1:10" would not be good for cast lead, but might work with 600-grain cast bullets at 800 fps, heh, heh.
But we all have the 1:14" for cast bullet work, and 1:18" or 1:20" have been used with the .458 WM throat too.

Plenty to do yet with the .458 WM.
The mind boggles when considering all the possibilities of .458-caliber bullet weights and makes from 250-grainer to 600-grainer and beyond.

Just to make it mentally manageable, that sample of 400-grain bullets will be broken down to classes of bullets below,
listing each make with its Bullet Overall Length.
Each sample of one bullet was coon-fingered and calipered by yours truly.

A. Remington FNSN BOL 0.998"
B. Speer FNSN BOL 0.968"
C. Barnes Original FNSN BOL 1.045"
D. Barnes Original SSSP BOL 1.168"
E. Swift A-Frame BOL 1.160"
F. Woodleigh PPSN BOL 1.153"
G. North Fork SSP BOL 1.294"

Second cannelures were added to E and F above.
Seated shallowly with 3.425" COL, the Woodleigh 400-gr PPSN gave +2600 fps MV.
2500 fps is recommended maximum impact velocity for the Woodleigh (E).
The North Fork (G) has no such limit, and needs no extra cannelures added, has plenty to pick from in its micro grooves.

H. Barnes X-Bullet Gen-1 BOL 1.354"
I. Barnes X-FB Gen-2 BOL 1.355"
J. Barnes X-FB Cannelured Gen-3 BOL 1.343"
K. Barnes TSX-FB BOL 1.388"
L. GSC HV BOL 1.440"
M. Hammer Shock Hammer BOL 1.441"

The pinnacle of monometal copper soft point bullet development is the Hammer (M).

You just kinda got me thinking RC. I used to use that 400 grain Speer in the 45-70 around 1800. They were terrific bullets on deer. Kinda like a wad of bubble gum. I'd bet they'd stone a buck with some terrific energy of that fast expanding bullet at 458 sorta speeds.

What would be your pick for a deer bullet? Might try something with my Ruger #1 45-90.. That's kinda the next up on the loading block.

Sir Scotty,
Any of them will do for deer.
But that Speer is softer than the Remington.
The Speer ought not be loaded any faster than 1800 fps MV.
I have used 400-gr monometal copper on deer at +2500 fps MV (HV) and ~2350 fps MV (TSX), both with about 150-yard hits.
Zips right through and causes a bang-flop at whatever angle of the shot.
Of the two classes, leaded and non-leaded, my favorites would be
North Fork 400-gr
and Hammer 404-gr.

Continuing with some 400-ish-grain cast lead bullets below, also totally adequate for deer in a SAAMI .458 WinMag ...



N. Lee Hollow Base (459-405-HB) BOL 1.085" (405-gr in WW alloy, 373-gr in Linotype)
O. Accurate Molds 46-410-M SOCOM BOL 1.097" (418-gr in WW alloy with PC paint and GC)
P. Accurate Molds 46-410-M SOCOM BOL 1.105" (407-gr in BHN 25 alloy with PC paint and GC)
Q. Accurate Molds 46-425-PG BOL BOL 1.240" (433-gr in WW alloy with PC paint and GC)
P. Accurate Molds 46-425-PG BOL BOL 1.245" (411-gr in Linotype with PC paint and GC)

The 407-gr SOCOM (P) above is my favorite but all could have uses.