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

Never fear, Sir Jerry, the fire that was lit in 1956 will burn proudly into the New Year as an eternal flame.
King Four Five Eight was shooting in 1955, shipping out all over the world by May 1956.
Arbitrarily, considering the royal gestation, January 1, 2024 will be named as the 68th birthday of King Four Five Eight.

BTW, shooting deer at 436 yards with a .300 PRC and a 230-gr Hornady A-Tip match bullet
is considered good practice for the .458 WinMag deer rifle.



Don't feel bad about not using your .458 WinMag for everything.
Sir Jerry shows where to shoot them, with either rat-caliber or .458.

www.wallsrifles.com

They have re-stocked.
12 in stock just now,
Garmin Xero C1 Pro.

+1 on that Nanuk recommendation. I use them for both my cameras & rifles so I’m a big fan of their quality.

LOL Sir Ron, yes, hunted a monster all season, just filling meat tags as time is running out, will hit zone 11 and 13 over in Arkansas tomorrow looking for two more old barren in the withers grey faced doe deer. may as well turn that paper into meat, big cut i set up on is 757 yards wide, wish i was good enough to cover that with a 458 WM, but alas, i must yield to .8 b.c. at 2930 fps with range finder and twisty scope knobs ; ]

No shame in that one!

You’re going to love it. No more nonsense. Set it on the bench and shoot. It doesn’t miss a shot. Best thing I’ve gotten for shooting in a long time. Next to the SuperTrickler.

Xero is looking to be everybody's hero.
Such a tough and compact item that the Apache 1800 is overkill, let alone the Nanuk.
Mainly the little hardcase is to keep it from getting lost in a pants pocket.

Dang it just two days left to finish that 500 Jeffery that has been a WIP since 2003,
if I want to get it done in 2023.
Ah well, I am past the 20-year mark anyway. Shooting for 2024 now.
Meanwhile, the next .458 WinMag, a so much more versatile chambering:









Sorry it is a .300 WinMag instead of a 7mm RemMag.

I saw some pictures of a Winchester Model 70 from 1951 recently,
pristine, like brand new in an aged 72-y.o. original cardboard box.
Chambered in 7x57mm Mauser, it used the same action as used on the African .458 WinMag of 1956.
Little African, Big African.
Karamojo Bell would have loved to brain elephants with the Little African.

I might be able to post some images of the Little African if the man who recently adopted it doesn't mind.
But right now I am having some internet connectivity issues slowing me down.
Beautiful rifle, that Little African.

Internet working OK.
The man says OK to post pictures.
He does not care about showing his serial number, not paranoid.
But just trying to be polite I hid the last 3 digits of his 6-digit SN from 1951 production.

Sir Jerry is the man.
He is a highly skilled gunnecologist who does thorough gunnecologic exams on 72-year-olds
in a most professional manner.
Forearm screw hole exam:



Buttstock fiddleback exam:



Obviously she is a cherry of a Standard Rifle.

Marvelous how they also used the same standard M70 action on the African model for the first time in 1956.
Both a 7x57mmM and a .458 WM using the same bolt stroke.
Simply mahvelous.

What a beautiful rifle. Thanks Sir Ron for posting. And one pic that shows chrony results at 2534 fps for that ancient ammo - say, I must be ancient too! My first bought centerfire was an in-grease Brasilian Mauser in 7 x 57. When cleaned up it was at least as beautiful as that M70 - but of course not as a sporting rifle. I bought a box of CIL 160grs and took it deer hunting. But, alas, It needed a scope for my purposes and I refused to spoil it by having to alter some pieces (bolt handle) and mount a scope by removing some wood and changing its appearance. It was returned where purchased for a '98 Military Mauser chambered to .30-06. BUT, I was confident that 160gr roundnose bullets at ~2600 fps was adequate for moose where they play hide 'n seek.

Sorry to hijack the thread, but it brought back memories. BTW, I did fire it twice at a running deer through woods - missed both shots. That helped persuade me it (or I) needed a scope.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

What a beautiful Specimen and a great Caliber Sir Jerry!

Not really easy to find in the original box. IMO!

Good Luck with it Sir Jerry.

Thanks for posting it here Sir Ron.

HS 58

Sir Bob,
Thank Sir Jerry for that.
I lusted after an as-original Modelo Argentino M98 7x57mm Mauser once upon a time.
Had the owner wanted to part with it I would have used it for Karamojo Bell cosplay.
Pith helmet, step ladder for shooting over the elephant grass, and a 7x57. What fun.
No scope needed for elephant braining inside of 50 yards.
Too bad elephants were scarce in New Brunswick.
Heh-heh-heh.

Sir Tony,
Welcome, my pleasure to post no mere gunporn here.
Sir Jerry's stuff has highest order social value, as usual.

Making the 10-pound weight limit for CreedMOA Match,
or just keeping your .458 WinMag light and lively,
here is some trivia:



That is the sort of scope that has survived Phil Shoemaker's Ol'Ugly .458 WinMag
and Alaska PH-ing for about four decades.
With that scope in old original Weaver "steel strap" rings he had to add about a pound of lead
to his fiberglass stock for comfort. Is Phil recoil shy, or did he add lead for balance, or both ?
Heh-heh-heh.















The little rubber bikinis (scope condoms) that go in your pocket when weather is good are my favorites.

Mixture of 1" and 30mm LOW rings above are a starting point for comparison, of various heights and diameters.
Note that you will add 2 to 4 ounces of cross-slot, steel bases or rail to fit all but the Ruger OEM rings.
CZ rings on integral bases also are another can of worms, with OEM "high heavies" and aftermarket rings, etc.

Now that I have discovered SWFA, I see that they also sell rings that are twins of the Burris Xtreme Tacticool rings.
Good price, like Burris, I wonder if they are made in China like Burris ?
Japanese SWFA scopes are great buys.
I am going to have to try another one of the SWFA scopes when a certain sold-out model is back in stock.
Will be sure to get some of their rings for a try too.
I now have one SWFA scope, late to the party.

That is definitely a fine looking M70 7mm. The 7x57 is nice mild mannered cartridge. This jogged my memory, I have a Ruger Round Top 7x57 in the safe. I bought it from a local pawnshop in the early 1990's. I replaced the aluminum floor plate that was cracked where the action screw goes through. If I recall correctly, I replaced the Weaver rings which had one or more screws stripped. Retained the 4x Leupold that was on it. Bought some Norma brand 154 grain (I think), carried it to range, and amazed myself and my neighbor with the 5 shot groups it shot. He had to shoot it to believe it. I think that was the last time that I fired it. I should get some brass and dies for it.

Sir Ron, I think your future stainless Ruger 458 Winchester should be a fine one. What are your barrel and stock plans on that one ?

Here is that SWFA scope, weight exactly as advertised by SWFA:



It shaves a whopping 0.6 ounce off of the NightForce SHV:



SWFA 10x42mm SS HD:
140 MOA of adjustment for elevation and windage, 3.9" eye relief, parallax adjustable with in-line rear focus 10m to infinity
MOA-Quad reticle to -40 MOA at 10X (second focal plane)

NF 3-10x42mm SHV:
90 MOA elevation/80 MOA windage adjustment, 3.5" eye relief, parallax side focus (old non-illuminated model) 25m to infinity
MOAR reticle to -30 MOA at 10X (second focal plane)

The newer SHV has illuminated reticle and parallax fixed at 125m, and is advertised at 22.2 ounces.

So, the SWFA has an easy 20 MOA to spare without needing a tilt base.
Dial from 100-yard zero to 600-yard zero.
Being a fixed 10X it is probably more rugged than a variable.

I suppose the NF SHV might handle it too by dialing without a tilt rail,
if using those integral Ruger or CZ bases without the weight-adding steel rails ...

Some other interesting scopes for 1000-yard CreedMOA Match shooting with .458 WinMag,
they have reticles usable at lower powers, but still, it is better than 1X iron sights,
whether the eye is young or old:

Just for fun:

See-through rings are usually found on the rifle of a beginner, on his first centerfire, which is usually a Marlin .30-30 WCF.
That was my story but I did not stick to it. Now I am trying it again,
either as a test of the definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results)
or simply as my second childhood in old age.



It barely works to clear that huge ocular bell on the Vortex 2-7x32mm, allowing use of peep sight:



It also allows a check on squash down when the aluminum tunnel collapses,
use feeler gauge to measure distance between peep and scope after each shot. Heh-heh-heh.

Many Thanks for the kind words Gentlemen, the old 7mm is way past time to put it to work, i dont think it'll mind being pulled up off that lifetime retirement program it's previous owner assigned it, the load chronographed is a load i put together for Wife's tang safety Ruger 77 with 175gr Hornady round nose bullets, in case she ever wants to hunt.

I wont fire the vintage ammunition, willl pull bullets and save for later, dump powder, knock out the primers, resize with fresh primers and build a hunting load with IMR-4350 and 175gr Speer Grand Slams, they should come in around 2650-2700 fps with 48-49 grs IMR-4350, easy 350 yard hunting with the 4X Unertl Hawk scope, that old WW brass from those days is gold to me and a sheer pleasure to work with.

The saami spec'd FN Browning 458 WM's old loads are the 500gr Partitions at 2155 fps and 450gr BBW #13 flat nosed solids a hundred fps faster, i have Ele and Lion on my mind, those two with a hefty bag of plains game will be a very fitting Safari for those two rifles, any situation from a full out rodeo to clean quick kills can be handled, i have no performance concerns from either rifle or loads capabilities.

Looking forward to Sir Ron's Creedmost results ; ]

Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year to You and Yours Gentlemen.

G5

RC , when you have the time will you share the make and mod. of the peep sight on the marlin please