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

I agree with Sir Ron that the best powder for both the 300 and 350 TSX's is H4198, so also for the 300 Shock Hammer. IMR 4198 is NOT an equivalent powder.

In my 24" Ruger 1H, I was able to safely attain up to 2980 fps from the 300 TSX, and into very tight and consistent 3-shot groups at 100 yds. And, from the same H4198, 2780 fps from the 350 TSX shot into sub-MOA. I'm not authorising psi, but those appeared completely safe in my rifle, and I wouldn't shun from using them in the field. In fact, the 300 TSX became one of my all-time favorites from that rifle. Alas, I shot them all up in load development and practice.

However, agreed that the 400 Shock Hammer is preferred as an "all-rounder".

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Sir Tony,
We are betting on this one then:

Sir James it is then.
Sir Saint James Watts will have to stick to his triple moniker Sir Name.
Good to hear you are infiltrating the Hammer crew by going on safari with them.
There is an idea for more chances to pester for the 400gr Claw Hammer, heh heh.

Sir Bob,
Ditto all the above including a double-ditto for emphasis on the H4198 over IMR-4198.
RL-7 might do it too, only with more lot-to-lot variation and more temperature sensitivity/instability
than with good ol' H4198.

We are working on a unified field theory of hunting ballistics.
It all comes together in the 400- to 405-grain .458-caliber bullet at 2400 to 2500 fps.
Requires three legs on the tripod to determine the plane of the seat of common sense.
No fancy extra-dimensional hocus pocus.
First Leg: 404-gr copper Shock Hammer from Hammer Bullets: It's done
Second Leg: 400-gr brass FN "Safari Solid" from Cutting Edge Bullets: It's out for delivery to MIB.
Third Leg: 400-ish-gr cup point from Hammer or CEB: Still at the begging stage for this one.

Yes Sir, Sir Ron!!! That's the one!!!

Word from MIB is that AA-2230 is available from MidwayUSA
in 1-pounders and 8-pounders.
That is a good sign in this Let's Go Brandon economy.
Get it while it lasts.

with 400-405g bullets, 2230 seems to give slightly lower pressures for the velocity than 2015, with slightly more powder. Does the difference between the two matter in any way?

Loaded some Hornady 480 grain flat point solid with a lightly compressed load of AA2230 will scope the 458 and sight in at 💯 yards and accuracy test at 💯 yards

Sir Roo,
Your call. With AA-2230 you get better temperature insensitivity as well as higher velocity and lower pressure without the compression of AA-2015.
The post 2016 lots of AA-2230 have seemed to be quite uniform in their properties, consistent with the above.
AA-2460 and AA-2230 were supposedly reformulated for 2016 for better ThermoBallistic Independence.

Great, Sir John.
Will look back and see if I ever did that to compare notes.

Very good to know, thank you Sir Ron!

Any preferences between IMR 4198 and AA2230? Higher velocity with 2230, lower pressure and less powder with 4198.

Depends on bullet weight 400 grains and up AA2230, 350 and 300 grains H-419>

Sir Roo,
Sir John gives good advice.
Sure you can use H4198 with 400-grainers, but you will get higher pressure (not lower) with less powder, and might blow a gasket trying to get same velocity as with AA-2230.
If you want about 100 fps slower, with less powder, less recoil, and excellent results otherwise, use the H4198.

Reviewing my 480-gr DGX-Bonded loads with AA-2230 and AA-2460,
I found something I never explained.
78.3 grains of AA-2230 gave about same results as 77.0 grains of AA-2460.
Same rifle, and all other specifics same except negligible temperature difference.
Seems to indicate AA-2460 is not a tad slower than AA-2230.
Stay tuned:

Now for the shameful part, the scope used to shoot the AA-2230 load:







There were better choices:



A lingering question about the CZ ring lock up lead me to replace the OEM main mounting bolts,
and finally to do something entirely different ...

That is the shop mule rifle for load testing.

I like to see .458" holes like that! And I've seen a few from my .45-70s and .458s! And the 480 DGX is one of the best! I couldn't find more in these parts, so came home with a box of the 500 DGX's. Have yet to fire one of those. I think the DGX is a great bullet for mega fauna, but slow them down and they'll work too. Penetration was awesome in tough media.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

How many of you guys use your 458 for basically everything? How many use it just for specialized hunts?

I want to use it for more than just DG, and will use it for deer this year, but I also use a 6# 308 for most of my hunts which are on foot and involve packing out the animal.

My 458 is used for whitetail every year and I’m a still hunter in the Great Plains prairie. I use a jet sled for solo retrieval nowadays. I have put a few in the backpack in doe season by boning them out.