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

Reported here on 10/17/2022, Sir Jerry's Safari.
He was the first man on earth to kill a cape buffalo with the 404-gr Shock Hammer,
page 137 of this thread:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/15694480/137

And he left some .458 WinMag 404-gr Shock Hammers with his PH.
PH might have single-loaded the 3.480" COL, circa 2500 fps MV ammo, if his .458 WinMag is standard 3.4" boxed.
It worked out, shot into onside shoulder of a ~3300-pound bull giraffe:

"I shot him right on the shoulder and the bullet traveled right through the animal.
On the other side of the skin it got stuck, and that's what I got back" ...





... "I only found one of the petals but it worked really well.
It's like I said, it traveled right through the animal ... both the lungs were gone.
So yeah, they really work. Thank you very much. Just wanted to share that with you."

Sir Jerry's load development was about page 101:

That damned Gunner is a helluva good man.

I'll drink to that. My hero. Cheers !

HERE! HERE!
3 Cheers to Sir Jerry!

HS 58

Sir John,
The King would be honored.
You must merely accept appointment to the position of
"Gentleman to the Bedchamber of the King."
Don't worry, nothing gay about it, just sort of ambassador-at-large/advisor position.
Dress for all attendee Knights will be armor and sword
or baseball cap and Bowie knife.

Sir Tony,
A triple for me too, to Sir Jerry's health.

Here is the rest of the poop on Geraldine aka Geri:
The Leupold QR mounts were loose, and the rearmost screw was stripped.
This will be fixed by J-B WELD of some steel Weaver bases onto Geraldine.
The rear bridge base holes as present will not allow enlargement of the 6x48 to 8x40.
Since Sir Jerry was getting by with only 3 of his 4 base screws working,
I think the J-B WELD and 4 new 6x48 screws will do.
Geri will be solidly sighted.

The set of Leupold QR bases and low rings weighed 5.013 ounces total for front and rear.
Removing these and replacing with a set of steel Weaver bases only (1.711 ounces for the pair) gives a rifle weight of 8# 2- or 3-ounces.
Removing the naval bronze from the bore, now spotless-clean,
made the weight of rifle with scope bases only = 8 pounds and 2 ounces.
That is what my scales say now, and I am sticking to it, heh-heh-heh.

Squeaky-clean bore was lubed with an oily patch (BreakFree CLP) and slugged with a .50-cal. soft lead ball.
Bore was uniformly tight throughout to my feel.
Six grooves
0.458" groove diameter
0.450" bore diameter
1:14" twist.

A SPECIAL THROAT WAS FOUND !
It is non-SAAMI, making it a ".458 WinMag Special."
It is more than twice as long as a SAAMI .458 Lott throat.









Overall Geri is quite SPECIAL.
She is superbly balanced and rugged as it gets.
I expect her to be speedy and accurate.
I like the old Winchester XTR-type rear sight.
Good with peep.

Geraldine had her rear worked over more than once, somewhere in the past.
Numbering her rear 4 holes, from #1 to #4, from stripper clip cut forward to rear of bridge,
#1 and #3 were 6x48 and usable for FN rear base screws.
#2 was a boogered 8x40 hole that needed some burrs filed flush.
#4 was a a 6x48 hole nicely filed with a plug screw.
I could not find holes to fit at rear bridge for a Near Mfg. Picatinny.
Not enough steel left in the bridge for more or larger holes.
No worries, she has a tight rear base now, and a solid front base too, glued and screwed:

Sir Jerry had a load for Geraldine with Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer Solid 500-grainer, single-fed,
may have been a bit longer than 3.340" COL, but still fit nicely in Geraldine's shorter-than-SAAMI throat.
2325 fps and no signs of pressure with his .458 WM+ load in this rifle.

The shorter-than-SAAMI throat and minimum groove diameter (0.458") of this ".458 WM Special"
might explain Geraldine's speediness and accuracy,
though one might guess pressure might be over 60,000 psi,
might even be as high as the MAP of the SAAMI .458 Lott, heh-heh-heh.

So any comparison of 1:14"-twist Geri to 1:10"-Freki will have to bear in mind the throat difference too.
More than one variable !
Better to compare both Geri and Freki to the Cabela's Super Grade .458 WinMag of all SAAMI standards.

Getting ready for some more Hornady .458 WinMag factory load chronographing.









For comparison of Geri's shorter throat to SAAMI throated results in other 1:14"-twist rifles.

For comparison of Freki's 1:10"-twist, SAAMI-throated results to those of 1:14"-twist rifles,
using same 500-gr Hornady factory loads:









Both rifles will also be trialed for Creedmost Match shooting.
They both are under 10 pounds, just need triggers adjusted to 3 pounds, no less.
That Leupold Muzzleloader scope is a stand-in for the Nikon SlugHunter, InLine, and P3 Shotgun scopes.
Nikon got PC and went out of the rifle scope business ?

Interesting tests for "TBI" (ThermoBallisticIndependence) of some powders in the .223 RM
with heavy bullets for caliber (64gr and 75gr)
by "Mr. T " (T_the_Tinkerer, of Hammer Time Forums):

https://hammerbullets.com/hammertime/threads/temperature-test-2.798/

Any propellant good in the .223 RM is good in the .458 WM.
Many excellent new ball powders have been developed recently.
The .458 WM just keeps getting better and better.

AA-2230 and AA-2460 post-2016 have mediocre TBI compared to some,
but they are still quite good compared to how ball powders used to be in the past,
and a lot better than the old IMR stick powders.
Still top performers in the .458 WM, just be aware of the "not bad TBI" and make allowance for heat.







Get a load of the "paradoxical" AR-Comp, with velocity increasing in extreme cold,
leveling off in the midrange temps and increasing very little in extreme heat.

Ditto Benchmark, the "Extreme" stick powder by Hodgdon, but even better TBI,
almost a flat and level line for velocity from -8*F to +162*F.

X-Terminator used to be identical to AA-2230, some say, still pretty close, and has better TBI.

IMR-3031 was the old standard for .458 WM and 500-gr bullets, easy to do 2150 fps in a 24" barrel, even back in the dark ages.
Hodgdon's Benchmark Extreme may be substituted grain for grain in the .458 WM to replace the IMR-3031.
This should be done by no later than yesterday.

I hear the rampaging transexual shooter at the church school in Nashville
was stopped by a cop with a Vortex 1-6x24mm Strike Eagle on his AR.
True 1X with illuminated AR BDC 3-MOA reticle,
like a red dot and a BDC capability for near and far.

I wonder if illuminated reticles should be trusted on the .458 WM ?
Will they hold up to such moderate recoil as that ?
That scope weighs 18.5 ounces per spec sheet.
Not bad.
Geri and Freki both could make sub-10-pound weight with that.

If it is good for a rampaging trannie in a school room,
ought to handle about any DG duties well on 1X, and still have 6X available for PG duties.

And the Democraps are still hiding the transexual shooter's manifesto ... I wonder why ?

I’d likely trust illuminated made by Trijicon on our 458’s…. They’ve seemed to got that figured out.

I have an old, discontinued Trijicon 1.25-4x24mm that has a 1" tube and amber triangle aiming point.
Good eye relief and light weight.
An old review found on the web said it had stood up to .375 H&H and .416 Rigby for 6 years.
Owner was so happy he bought a second and lamented the discontinuation.

They now make a 1-4x24mm with 30mm tube, heavier and more expensive, boo hoo,
(eye relief 4.8" and weight 14.4 ounces)
but lots more reticle options, red, green, amber, G4, duplex, mildots and chevron and horseshoe-topped trees, etc., yippee !
If I do another Trijicon, it might have to be an ACOG with a low mount.
Such might exist at Optics Planet.
They are very light weight.
3x30mm with high mount only 9.8 ounces.
3x24mm with low mount only 7.9 ounces.

Eye relief reports vary according to source from 1.9" to 3.6" quoted on a 3x30mm, huh ?
Civilian versus military models or just typos ?

The Trijicon "Operator's Manual: Trijicon ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight)"
for Model: 3x30
TA33-8
TA33R-8
TA33-9
TA33R-9
says 3.6" eye relief.

3.5" eye relief quoted often allows me to use it at a full 5" from my eyeball.

Anyway, Sir Scotty is probably right about the non-electronic, no-battery, dual illumination by Trijicon,
with tritium and fiber-optic-piped ambient light ...
probably as durable as it gets for "illuminated."

I have several of the Trijcon 1.5-4x24mm scopes all with green posts there on Ruger 77 458 WM, Winchester 70 50 B&M SS, H&R 12 ga. slug gun, T-C muzzleloader plus 2 sitting in boxes new just incase theres a failure or a new gun needing one....
Sure wish Trijcon would bring back the 1.5-4x24mm scope I've even put one on my Excaliber crossbow....

Not typos. Some ACOGs have incredibly short eye relief. None have a lot. I found them to be sub optimal on an M4 when work issued them to me, I can't imagine using them on a 458WM, but anything is worth trying. They have grown on me over the years, but...

Ouch !
But I am a glutton for punishment.
Just have not been able to get to range lately for many reasons ...

Comparisons of twist, throat and barrel-length effects coming up:

Freki the .458 WM 1:10" versus Cabela .458 WM 1:14", both with "24-inch" barrels.
Geri short throat .458 WM Special 1:14" versus Cabela SAAMI throated .458 WM 1:14", both with "24-inch" barrels.
Freki the .458 WM 1:10" with 24" barrel length versus Toot-Toot .458 B&M+ 1:10" with 17" barrel length: Same case capacity, same throats.

Can briefly report that a 450 grain 0.458” CEB Safari Solid fired from the Ruger Hawkeye African 458 Win Mag at 2400 fps MV breaks the near shoulder of a mid-sized elephant at ~52 yds and exits in a straight line behind the far shoulder. Same performance as the 400 grain 0.423” CEB Safari Solid from a 404 Jeffery at 2500 fps MV.

Hopefully will be able to post details of this tuskless encounter on the Africa forum next week. Details of the 460 G&A’s performance will follow.

"Can briefly report that a 450 grain 0.458” CEB Safari Solid fired from the Ruger Hawkeye African 458 Win Mag at 2400 fps MV breaks the near shoulder of a mid-sized elephant at ~52 yds and exits in a straight line behind the far shoulder ..."


YIPPIE KI-YAY SIR KHULU !!!
That elephant died hard.
The bards of the Square Table will sing your story forever.
Will look up that BC and get an impact velocity.
That will be arbitrarily assigned as
one unit of elephant penetration
for that bullet.

Would add that the 500 g SS CEB BBW#13 fired from the 460 G&A penetrates completely through on frontal and side brain shots as well. Because that is not a bona fide 458 WM I’ll save that report for the ‘Africa ready DGR’ thread on the Africa forum.