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

Sir Ron,
Once again you have Stepped up your Game and Inspired Us!!!

Additionally, great artistic work by Jon McNaughton!

Mercy bo coop, Sir Tony.
Some more trivia:



Buffalo Bore Ammo is good stuff.
That 400-gr TSX load has a COL of 3.310" and satisfies SAAMI.
The 450-gr TSX loads do too.
However, that 450-gr TSX has a nose projection which is perfect for the SAAMI .458 WinMag,
but when loaded in brass trimmed as usual for the .458 Lott, it won't fit SAAMI.
Tim Sundles violated his usual standards of making ammo compliant to SAAMI, if a SAAMI standard exists.
It happens.
His .458 Lott load with the 450-gr TSX has a COL of 3.617".
Just another example of special treatment to make the .458 Lott look good,
via higher pressure and longer COL,
when we all know the .458 WinMag is better.
It will do all that is needed at shorter COL and lower pressure and it whips the .458 Lott
if both are loaded to same COL and pressure.
I do love Buffalo Bore Ammo, many great loads there,
just a little sample:

One day of muzzleloader deer season and I am hanging it up.
Farming patterns and deer patterns changed on me.
The tripod produces not in the mornings.





A sit on the ground at a half hour before sunset produced only a +400-yard shot wobbled from my sitting position.
Clean miss landed near the doe's feet.





I am inspired to put a long bipod on a .458 WM+ and continue with the 404-gr Shock Hammer at +2500 fps
for my deer hunting.
Sir Jerry will surely prove it on African plains game afar and cape buffalo up close.
Shortened barrel comparison for .458 B&M+ will also be done for informational purposes.
The short range shots I was hoping for on deer are not in the offing for me,
sure as the sun sets in the west,
on the other side of the pecan tree where I was sitting.

Spectacular artwork from Africa, thanks to Sir Jerry:



Sir Jerry is back after a slam dunk Shock Hammer Safari.
Or should we say he hit 9-straight hole-in-one shots and it was no putt-putt course ?

Game shots from his 404-grain/.458-caliber Shock Hammer Safari follow, in the order of this list,
noting one redacted item taken with 12-gauge buckshot.



All exits and dead right there or within 10-, 16-, and 33-yard run by three of the nine:
Wildebeest, Zebra and Sable, respectively.
Other six were DRT, including Cape Buffalo.
All shots were pass-throughs, no Shock Hammer was recovered on nine animals,
from warthog to cape buffalo.

Ranges were from 33 yards to 189 yards.
Cape buffalo dropped to the single shot at 33 yards range and went nowhere.
Cape buffalo was a pass-through on shoulder shot,
any further details might come from gunner500.

All this was accomplished with the 404-gr Shock Hammer from gunner500's .458 WM+ Winchester M70,
a speedy and accurate rifle and rifle operator.
It takes three to tango:
Bullet
Rifle
Shootist

Blesbok exit wound, taken from 176 yards, off sticks, it was DRT:

Warthog cull, Sir Jerry may have shot this warthog in his pajamas.
How this warthog got into his pajamas, I do not know.
It was shot from 111 yards, between the north-looking eyes, bullet exited its southern end:

Blue Wildebeest or Brindled Gnu, a tough bugger, took the Shock Hammer from 70 yards and ran 10 yards before piling up:

Zebra, went 16 yards with this hit, range was 115 yards:

This massive-bossed Cape Buffalo had an attitude and was taken at 33 yards,
shot in shoulder, Shock hammer exited off side through the ribs.
DRT:





Exit wound seen from inside the offside:





The excellent skinners found an old .416-caliber bullet inside the buffalo,
maybe a reason for his attitude:

Sable taken at 88 yards, he ran 33 yards.
Shot in left ribs, right shoulder exit visible here:

Trophy Warthog shot at 174 yards off a tree rest,
looks like bullet entered behind left ear on neck/shoulder and exited ribs, DRT:

Hartebeest shot at 189 yards, prone from anthill, went in the ribs and exited neck, DRT:



Looks like a Lichtenstein's Hartebeest to me.

Impala shot at 163 yards off sticks, Shock Hammer went into center of chest and exited ham:



Sir Jerry may correct any of my comments above if I got anything wrong.
All around it was a smashing success, IMHO.

WOW!
Pretty Impressive by All Accounts. Sir Jerry, Congrats all around. Very Successful by all means.
Great Pics. Some Nice Shooting there. What a great collection of Game. We can't wait to hear some stories.
Sir Ron,
Thanks for posting Pics. and keeping us abreast.

Great trophies 🏆

Excellent report, pictures, bullet performance, and shooting!!

Some good shooting which is very nice to see, congrats!

Hello Sir Ron and all you other Men as well, many Thanks for posting the pics Sir, and Thanks for the compliments everyone, i appreciate it greatly, this trip was a blast, the 404gr Hammer bullet at 2518 fps took no prisoners, unbelievable performance and accuracy.

Funny stories about the warthogs, the cull was at PH's instruction for camp meat and because it had crooked teeth, he wanted it out of the gene pool, i hit the pig and the PH hollered, now that snaggle bostard had Fok-ol, i think i knew what that meant!

The other Warthog was hit just outside my hut before breakfast, i was at the sink with toothpaste and brush about to lay down a bead of paste, Wife hollered, come here!!! i thought she saw a scorpion or spider, was going to give it a Courteney stomp, she had been drinking coffee looking out the window and saw the Warthog, i grabbed my rifle and slipped around the front door, circled back to find a nice tree to rest, no range finder, no time to notify the PH's or anyone else in camp, i held for 200 yards and loosed a 404 Hammer, the pig melted, my description above is incorrect, hit him mid rib on his right side, exited neck/shoulder juncture on left side, one camp jack was putting on his pants when the 458 BOOMED, he dropped his glasses and fell in the floor, the 19 year old kid said later, that was a hell of a wakeup call Uncle Jerry, LOL!

I found the PH's and confessed my sins knowing i most likely broke camp rules, they both said.........IF IT WOULD HAVE BEEN ANYONE ELSE SIR!!!!!..........i'll take that.

All in all it was a great and grand trip, Sir Ron's predictions with this bullet design were/are spot on, he and the Hammer guys have a real winner here, the PH's kept repeating, who in hells hectacre shoots a G.D. four five eight 200 yards and kills all with one shot? i took that as a compliment.

Sir Jerry,
Merci Boku, Like Sir Ron said. LOL!

With a Tribute to M. C. !

"HAMMER TIME"

That's the rifle that the Lyman 457121PH bullet is made for!

It's also the perfect hunting bullet for any .45-70 BPCR. Saint Bagwell turned me onto that bullet cast in 20:1.

Ed