Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 458 ‘plinking loads’ ?

Eye doctor says vitreous gel pulling away from retina, but ok for now.
Got a Ruger No.1 458WM that I was going to let go, but it’s so heavy that it should be fun with cast loads and the 9 pounds of mass helping tame recoil of what might be excessive recoil in a lighter rifle.
Anyone find some “mouse loads” that are fun to shoot?
Hate to get rid of this beast!
Also I have a No.1 in 45/70, a much lighter 45 caliber rifle but might try lead ball loads in it, too.
Big bores are fun!

I would think that 300 and 350gr bullets with RL7 snd 4198 would be your new friends. I know that Ken Waters worked on some of these loads in his Handloader Pet Loads.

I have that book…. Will look it up.
I’ve taken a couple deer years ago with the Hornady 300 JHP but it was loaded pretty warm. Might load up a few to remember how the recoil was. Thanks!

Acurate 5744 powder loads are what you seek.
Also H4895 start loads can load way down for soft points.Like 60% of highest published load data.check it out at Hodgdons powder company.
Whatever you do take care of your peepers,hope this chart helps ,best of luck and happy shooting!

I've used Trailboss behind cast 405gn projectiles in my 458WM for subsonic loads - kills rabbits just fine.




Another load that works well is 38gn AR2207 (IMR4198 equivalent) behind a 500gn cast projectile - it gets 1,500 fps and kills pigs. I use a cotton wool filler and it looks like I just shot a sparrow every time I fire a round - little bits of fluff come floating down.

Alaninga,

I have had a vitreous detachment in each eye, happening about one year apart, about 12 and 13 years ago.
The right eye went first, then the left, a year later. Probably because the right eye is a little more myopic than the left.
Myopes (near-sighted) are more prone to it with aging.
Maybe due to a longer central/horizontal axis of the eyeball.
I had a little flash of light in the eye each time it happened.
I could always get a 20/10 correction for "hunting specs" prior to that,
now I just accept a 20/20 correction on my spectacles for far vision,
and enjoy still being able to read in bed with a book close to my face and no spectacles.
Near-sightedness becomes a talent in old age.
The only sequela of my vitreous detachments has been a vitreous floater in each eye,
easily ignored and not affecting central vision.
If I get bored I can gaze at the clouds in the sky and make the right one chase the left one.

I have not altered my shooting a bit, except for losing interest in dinosaur guns like the .577 Tyrannosaur.
That is natural aging wisdom anyway.
I fear not the .458 WinMag, even loaded to beat a SAAMI .458 Lott: The .458 WM+

Great info from all above.
I especially like the AA-5744 and H4895 reduced load formulas.
The pdf from keekeerun is AA-powder-accurate,
e.g., 36.5 grains of AA-5744 with a 400-gr to 405-gr bullet shows 1550 to 1650 fps in a 24"-barreled .458 WM.
My similar result, tested, was: 36.0 grains of AA-5744 with 409-gr hardcast gave 1578 fps.
My bullet was sized to .459" from Berry's bullets, fired in a .459"-grooved barrel.
But it was not accurate.
26.0 grains of AA-5744 gave 1178 fps and was nicely accurate.

Here is the rub, with a .458 WinMag of .458" to .459" groove diameter:
Cast bullets of .459" diameter have to be kept less than 1400 fps for accuracy, whether soft or hard cast, however lubed.
If you want to go faster, they need to be of .461" diameter, hard alloy, and gas-checked and/or PC-painted.
This may have something to do with the long-leade-only throat, zero parallel-sided-free-bore, but long throated,
and relatively fast twist rate of 1:14".
That's how I see it, vitreous detachments and all, heh-heh-heh.

.45-70 Govt. rifles may be found with groove diameters of 0.456" (SAAMI minimum) to 0.459",
and common twists are 1:18" to 1:20",
and almost no throat at all.
Much easier to get cast bullets to shoot accurately.

My Ruger No. 1 .458 WinMag has 1:14" twist and .459" groove.
My Ruger No. 1 .45-70 Govt. has 1:20" twist and .459" groove also.
My M1885 is 1:18" twist and .457"-grooved, etc.

Remember that a 300-gr Sierra Pro-Hunter vaporizes at the muzzle if MV is over 2800 fps.
That bullet at 1900 fps (40.0 grains AA-5744) might be OK terminally, and recoil is negligible.
Jacketed and monometal bullets of .458" diameter are much less fussy in the .458 WinMag than cast lead,
even if diameters are .457" to .459". Max SAAMI spec for those is .459".
AA-5744 with 250-gr monometal maxes out at about 3000 fps,
H4198 can make the 250-grainer go faster.

I've been meaning to try Trail Boss with those .459"/409-gr BHN 20, plain base, grease-lubed Berry's Bullets.
I am thinking that about 19.0 grains would be barely over 1000 fps.
I wish mauserand9mm would tell us what charge of Trail Boss he used for that fine rabbit load.

I also have some powdercoat-painted .457" Hornady lead balls that have fattened up to .458".
Those might do for rabbits too.

Case full for the seating of that projectile (Westcastings "Hard Cast" 405gn 0.459") - 20 grains of Trailboss. Not chrono'ed but sub-sonic by the book and definitely a quiet-ish load.

My experiments with a Westcastings "Hard Cast" 500gn 0.459" and Trailboss didn't work out so well, 15gns of Trailboss was the case full I think. Most of the bullets were sideways at 50 yards but all still grouped within 3 inches at that distance, so probably would still be pig slaying competent. The AR2207 loads for that projectile straightened them up, and at greater speed, probably no coincidence.


If you follow the rules you can't overload with Trailboss, so I always start from maximum (all case space behind the seated bullet filled with powder) and work backwards if I need to.


By the way, the next load in the mag, after the one I shot the bunny with, was an emergency backup, full-house, steel jacketed 500gn projectile round, just in case.

The Lyman 3rd edition cast bullet handbook calls for between 16 and 20 grains of Unique behind most any weight cast bullet up to over 500 grains. I use 12 grains of Unique in my 45-70's with a 365 and 405 grains bullet. Recoil is very mild. If you would like for me to send you pictures of the Lyman data send me your phone number by PM and I'll get pictures of the data along to you.
Take care!
Rick

These loads are from the 3rd Edition Lyman cast handbook. I would use an alloy much softer than #2. I would size the bullets to .460" to start, and be sure to use either a Lyman "M" die or the RCBS equivalent to prepare the necks for the cast bullets.

free photo upload