Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only .458 Win. Bullet Recommendation for Northern Bear

Hello: I recently inherited a fine Custom rifle built on a Pre '64 action chambered in .458 Win. Mag. I want to take the rifle on a hunt for a myriad of reasons. Maybe Africa one day but first on my bucket list is back North for a Coastal Brown Bear. I have limited experience with big bores and am not particularly recoil sensitive but in this case lesser is better. From you folks in the know what bullets (Brand, Type, Etc.) should I consider being light for caliber to mitigate recoil and yet have good performance on said Brownies? Thanks in advance for your help and guidance. Regards, Steve up here in "Yooperland Michigan"

I would PM that question to 458Win on here and take pretty much nobody else's advice.

I'd take a hard look at the 400 grain Shock Hammer bullets

or pull up the 458 thread on here

True,,,,,,,,,,,, I do too,,

I'm thinking that 400 Hammer is a definite contender.

Finn Aagaard and Phil Shoemaker both raved about the Barnes X-Bullet in 400-gr/.458-cal persuasion
for use in the .458 WinMag.
No more than 2300 fps MV was needed to make it kill as well or better than any 500-gr soft including Bear Claw, etc.
They were a great inspiration for my eventual begging to get Hammer bullets to make the 404-gr Shock Hammer.
It is available !

Buffalo Bore has sole rights to the Barnes 400-gr TSX in .458-caliber.
You can buy loaded ammo there, from Tim Sundles who loads it to about 2250 fps which he claims in both an 18" custom barrel and a 22" factory barreled .458WM.
I got about 2350 fps with his ammo in my 25" Shilen barrel.
That is good ammo.
The Hammer bullet handload is better in a .458 WM.

There are those who rave about the 258-gr SOCOM and 300-gr Raptor CEB brass hollow points with or without plastic "Talon Tips."

There's only two bullets to use in the 458 WM until you go after elephants or cape buffalo Cutting Edge Bullets 258 gr SOCOM or the very versatile 300 gr. Raptor .....whats great you can turn the 300 gr. around and use it as a solid its great for those second shots on the south end of a animal going north.....

Whats great for the frugal you can buy Hornady 250 gr. Mono-Flex bullet that will shoot to the same point as the CEB 258 gr. SOCOM's that you use for hunting....

https://cuttingedgebullets.com/452-258gr-flat-base-raptor

https://cuttingedgebullets.com/458-300gr-esp-safari-raptor

Now that's good advice...

^^^^this^^^^

Agree. You did dang-good on the Hammer 404.!!!!!
I am interested in how the 402 Hammer compares to the 400 for closer ranges. The Hammer 404, with its BC and penetration is pretty damn awesome. Plus, it is available.

My personal preference is to have the best projectile I can get for the worst possible shot I may be faced with. I like using North Fork softs and also Swift A Frames. With any dangerous game bullet failure is not an option.

Swift A frames have a very strong following for dangerous game.

You will be hard pressed to choose a "bad" Bullet for your intended use in the 458.
I have tried the majority of them and at the 2000-2100 vps velocity levels plain old Hornady bullets work as well as any. The new DGX are superb.
If you want a bit less recoil 400 gr Swifts or 350 gr Barnes will work just fine on even the largest bruins

Thanks Phil, great when you bring your experience to the forum!

Guy

I bow to Phil, but as a witness to the 350gr TSX compared to a 500gr Speer AGS in test media, I'd choose the 350 TSX over the 500 Speer. My blog on Saturday (Oct 1st) gives details.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Plenty of amazing bullets nowadays.
I gotta try the 250-gr CEB SOCOM bullet too as mentioned above,
in both .458 WM (with Talon Tip added) and .458 SOCOM.

Regarding the AR-15/AR-10 platforms,
I came across an article by Phil Shoemaker where he was toting a .50 Beowulf
with a vintage Armalite-style buttstock.
Shades of Vietnam !

Plenty of amazing bullets nowadays.
I gotta try that 258-gr CEB SOCOM bullet too, as mentioned above,
in both .458 WM (with Talon Tip added) at 3000 fps and .458 SOCOM at about 2000 fps.

Regarding the AR-15/AR-10 platforms,
I came across an article by Phil Shoemaker where he was toting a .50 Beowulf
with a vintage Armalite-style buttstock.
Shades of Vietnam !

I still have 400gn Barnes bullets loaded in .458 Winchester which would be my immediate choice, though a change to the 350gn or 450gn TSX would still satisfy the need as would the 404gn Hammer. All good and only the bear fails at a counter argument.