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

Page 24 of the August 1956 AR, split into 3 sections
and pieced back together for enlarging within the size limits
of the 24hrcampfire photo gallery and
working with the resolution limits of the source web site:

Page 25:

Page 26: chopped up and enlarged








(My comment from the peanut gallery: Tail slap on a round-nose solid helps keep it going in a straight line.
Solid oak thus favors a RN solid in a way that aqueous media and live soft tissue do not.)

Page 27, finis:



Above split in half and enlarged below:




Might be easier on the eyes (but not by much!) at the web site where these were harvested:

https://archive.org/details/sim_american-rifleman_1956-08_104_8/page/n25/mode/2up

That is the earliest extensive description in print of the King of Cartridges that I have found, so far.

Here is some pretty good stuff from here:

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/another-458-win-mag-thread.67907/page-3

By Hunter-Habib:

In a chronological order, here's the "why":

When Winchester released the .458 Winchester Magnum in 1956 , factory loaded ammunition had an advertised velocity of 2130 FPS (a chronograph test in an HP Laboratory in 1961 documents the actual velocity as being 2087 FPS, out of the 25 inch barrel of a pre '64 Winchester Model 70) . Loads were a 510 gr soft nose and 500 gr steel jacketed round nose FMJ . When Remington started manufacturing .458 Winchester Magnum factory loaded ammunition in 1961 , advertised velocity was also 2130 fps . Offerings were a 510 gr soft nose and a 500 gr steel jacketed round nose FMJ (with a thinner steel jacket than those offered by Winchester) .

Now , when fresh ammunition was used , These velocities were indeed accomplished (or at least, close enough to get the desired effect) . The problems arose with ammunition, which was a little old ( Like a year or two ) . The Compressed olin powders led to clumps . This resulted in erratic velocities ( Often lower than 1900 FPS ) . Bullets would also slowly get pushed out of cartridge cases , as well . This caused feeding problems in short actioned rifles ( FN Browning , Interarms Whitworth Express , etc ) .

In '73 , Winchester and Remington BOTH lowered the advertised velocity to 2120 FPS , in an attempt to increase shelf life . However , the problems were still there .

In '78 , Winchester and Remington Both lowered the advertised velocity to 2040 FPS , in another attempt to increase shelf life . Shelf life was improved , but now the Winchester and Remington factory ammunition was inadequate for frontal brain shots on big bull elephants ( and Matriarch cow elephants ) , and frontal heart shots on Cape Buffalo . Also was inadequate for Rhino and Hippo on land .

The Elephant cullers working for the game departments in the National Parks ( Like Clem Coetzee and Mike LaGrange ) in Zimbabwe ( Then , Rhodesia ) and the cullers working for Tseste Fly control and Cape Buffalo eradication culls found this out the hard way ( From the 1970s to the 1990s ) .

Art Alphin ( Owner of A Square ) decided to help the game departments , by providing them with specially loaded .458 Winchester Magnum ammunition . These were Remington Peters cartridge cases , loaded with 500 gr Hornady round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids . They were loaded to early Winchester's original advertised velocities of 2130 FPS .

These were performing satisfactorily , but the original problems found in the pre '78 Winchester and Remington ammunition began to resurface ( Short shelf life ) .

In '87 A Square ditched the 500 gr Hornady round nosed steel jacketed FMJ solids , and began to load their ammunition with 465 gr monolithic solids . This accomplished a velocity of 2200 FPS . But again , if the ammunition sat around for a couple of years in a shelf or a closet , then velocities became erratic and the bullets started slowly getting pushed out of cases . A Square monolithics also caused excessive strain on rifle barrels ( Rifle barrels were getting shot out , only after less than 500 firings ) .

In 1992 , Federal started offering their Trophy Bonded Bear Claw and Trophy Bonded Sledge Hammer Solids in .458 Winchester Magnum . These used a 500 gr bonded soft nose or a 500 gr bonded steel jacketed round nosed FMJ solid . However , these loads accomplished little above 2000 FPS , and frequently below 1950 FPS . Also , when Jack Carter stopped being involved with Trophy Bonded Bullets , the bullet construction notoriously deteriorated .

After 1995 , Hornady started offered factory loaded ammunition for the .458 Winchester Magnum . This was called their " Heavy Magnum " line and were loaded with round nosed steel jacketed FMJ 500 he solids and 510 gr soft nose . Advertised velocity was 2230 FPS . How ever , shelf life was only 6 months . This high pressure ammo was also causing extraction problems on bolt action rifles in humid climates ( Like Zambezi Valley ) .

In 1996 , Remington stopped offering their 500 gr FMJ loading , altogether . The discontinued the offering , and only offered a 450 gr Swift A Frame loading , for a few more years . Then , they discontinued their .458 Winchester Magnum ammo line , altogether .

Finally around 2006 , Hornady fixed the problem by releasing their DGS and DGX line . These were a 500 gr Flat Nose bonded steel jacketed FMJ solid and a 500 gr soft nose bonded bullet . Advertised velocity is 2140 FPS . The shelf life problems have ( largely ) been taken care of . Because Hornady uses a special fine grain cool burning powder . However , you occasionally still get reports of fluctuations in velocity . Hornady DGS solids also have a small propensity to distort on Frontal brain shots or shoulder shots on big bull elephants and shoulder shots on Cape Buffalo .

The best solution nowadays is to hand load and ditch the 500 gr bullet , and use a 480 gr bullet ( As sold by Hornady and formerly Woodleigh ) .
These improve case capacity enough to solve the shelf life problems , permanently .

In 2009 , Winchester listed two different loads for their .458 Winchester Magnum factory loaded ammo :
- A 500 gr Nosler Partition Soft nose , which was advertised as only accomplishing 2010 FPS
- A 500 gr Nosler monolithic solid , which was only advertised as accomplishing 2010 FPS .

Needless to say , neither offering was a success. In 2010 , Winchester dropped their .458 Winchester Magnum ammo line , altogether .

Avoid monolithic solids in the .458 Winchester Magnum. Monolithic solids need to be longer than a conventional FMJ solid in the same weight ( In layman's terms : A 500Gr monolithic solid will need to be longer , than a 500Gr FMJ ) . Thus , increased powder space gets compromised . In a caliber like the .458 Winchester Magnum ( Which is already well known for case capacity issues ) , this becomes a huge problem . If you gotta use monolithic solids in the .458 Winchester Magnum, then stick to 450 - 465Gr monolithic solids . Nothing heavier .

I hope this helps.
Last edited: May 19, 2022

My reply nearly 2 years later is Square Table fundamentals:

Hunter-Habib,
Nice write up, but you forgot to mention the original H. P. White Laboratory tests in 1955.
Julian S. Hatcher, Major General U.S. Army, Retired was Technical Editor for the NRA's AMERICAN RIFLEMAN then. WRAC sent him "the pilot model" .458 Winchester Magnum and ballistics reports: "... no shortcomings in ballistics were noted." This was a recollection recorded in HATCHER'S NOTEBOOK.

He recalled that he got the package from WRAC on November 8, 1955, rifle and ammo and lab data.

His first article on the .458 WinMag in the NRA pub was entitled "For the Biggest Game" and subtitled
"A report on the .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge and rifle," in the August 1956 issue of AR.

The .458 WM exceeded all advertising claims regarding ballistics:
25" barrel
76 degrees F, 59% RH
Bullet: 500-gr WRA FMJ RN
COL: 3.340"
Winchester cases and Winchester 120 primers
Propellant: 71.0 grains of HiVel #2, NOT COMPRESSED
Velocity average for 10 shots: 2160 fps, intstrumental velocity 20 feet from muzzle
Pressure average for 10 shots: 50,410 PSI

Assuming G1 BC was 0.295, corrected to MV = 2174 fps
KE at MV = 5247 ft-lbs

Any of the terrible stuff that happened in the decades after that can be blamed on slobs of one sort or another, mostly at the ammo factories, but end-user abusers as well.

On March 9, 2022 test-fire and dissection of 1957 vintage ammo from WRAC was done by me.
Date code on end flap of the red and yellow Winchester SUPER SPEED box was 91MM8,
indicating Nov. 8, 1957 ammo lot date.
Enaa baasee' to Sir Tony for graciously supplying the ammo.
Advertised MV was 2125 fps for the WRAC 500-grain FMJ RN
This .458 WinMag factory load was 64 years and 4 months old when fired.

25" Shilen barrel
51 degrees F
Bullet: 500-gr WRA FMJ RN
COL: 3.331" (brass length = 2.494")
Winchester case, red sealant around primer
Propellant: 67.0 grains of extruded, small grain tubular, charcoal-grey-black color
5-yard chrono for 5 shots: 2072, 2072, 2061, 2065, 2059 Mean = 2066 fps
If G1 BC = 0.295:
MV = 2080 fps

Ammo was stored in homes with central HVAC climate control FOR OVER 64 YEARS.
If that had been HiVel #2 powder, 4 more grains of it might have been nice.
Anyway, not bad stuff, factory loaded before the Democrat voters took over the factory.

Nowadays powders and bullets are so advanced as to allow handloaders near endless options.

This is undeniable:
Load the .458 WinMag to same COL and higher pressure (MAP) as the .458 Lott
is allowed by SAAMI,
and the .458 WinMag will give higher velocity or lower pressure or both, compared to the SAAMI .458 Lott.
It is all in the throat and a bullet long enough to make the span.
Physics does not lie.
Slick up your action and you can work the longer action fast,
don't feel bad about using an H&H-length action for your .458 WinMag.

Here is a funny. The .458 Lott had its brass lengthened by 0.3"
and was meant for primary use in an action only 0.2" longer.
That is a bit cramped.
Don't get me started on using a 3.000" case length (extra 0.5" length) in an action that
is only 0.2" longer (long action) or even 0.4" longer (true magnum action).

Bullet weight: 404-gr Shock Hammer easily does +2500 fps from a 24" barrel at COL of 3.380".
Nice trajectory.
For the CEB 400-gr brass FN, 2500 fps is fast enough at less than 3.380" COL.
A shorter solid has more inherent stability in an elephant skull.
Fine and dandy in a 3.4" (standard) action length.

Even with the old factory ammo (lousy bullets) Richard Harland and Ron Thomson slew thousands of elephants in control work with their .458 WinMags, circa 1960 and onward.
Thomson guessed he had made 5000-6000 kills, and backup on many more.
"But what is a few thousand elephant among friends" he said, or something like that.

Really, the saddest thing about the whole deal is how James Watts gets so little credit for starting it all with his .450 Watts Magnum with 2.850" case length, and .450 Watts Short with 2.500" case length, long before anyone else.
Alas, the "Winchester Magnum" moniker was necessary for WRAC to get started on their .458, .338, .264, and .300. Watts signed a release to get WRAC going on it.

Jack Lott used a .450 Watts Magnum chamber reamer in a .458 Winchester Magnum barrel with no set back. He was using 2.800" brass length in a chamber of 2.870" length, meant for 2.850" brass.
Stolen valor.

And this afterthought by me about the Hornady ammo, more old hat at the Square Table,
but some on other forums have not heard it:

Hornady, bless their heart, continue to improve their bullets.
The DGX and DGS are their best so far.
We can only hope someday they will get it all alright.

What they do produce in the way of internal and external ballistics needs no improvement.
It is just the terminal ballistic performance of the bullets that is still wanting.

I have been checking MV of the Hornady 500-gr DGS factory load for the .458 WinMag over the last 5 years.
Hornady claims 2140 fps MV in a 24" barrel. They are RIGHT ON.
Ruger No. 1 with factory 24" barrel, 1:14" twist
DGS 500-gr, 5-shot mean = 2145 fps MV at 52*F

Winchester M70 Super Grade (Cabela's) with factory 23-7/8" barrel, 1:14" twist
DGS 500-gr, 5-shot mean = 2135 fps MV at 46*F
DGX 500-gr, 5-shot mean = 2146 fps MV at 46*F

Custom FN M98 with Pac-Nor 24-1/4" barrel, 1:10" twist
DGX 500-gr, 10-shot mean = 2145 fps MV at 86*F
Standard deviation = 7.42 fps
Whenever st.dev. in fps is less than number of shots fired,
that is excellent.

Same lot of ammo for each DGX or DGS above.
Several other rifles tried over the last 5 years.
23" to 25" barrel lengths.
Twist 1:14" for all but the one 1:10" twist.
Groove diameters all within 0.458" to 0.459".
All have SAAMI .458 Winchester Magnum chambers.
Temperatures all within 40*F to 90*F range.

All results very much equivalent to Hornady advertising claims for 500-grain bullet MV.
They got that right.

One ".458 Winchester Special" custom KRAB 98 Mauser rifle I have
has a shorter throat by 0.200" than the SAAMI .458 WinMag chambering.
I got it used, said to be Douglas barrel, has a 1:14" twist, groove is 0.458, barrel length 24-1/4"
from breech face to muzzle crown.

Custom KRAB M98 with Douglas 24-1/4" barrel, 1:14" twist, non-SAAMI short throat:
Hornady factory ammo:
DGX 500-gr, 10-shot mean = 2196 fps MV at 86*F

Pressures and velocities were higher with the shorter throat.
That is how the .458 Lott works.
The SAAMI .458 Lott throat is even shorter than the one on my .458 Winchester Special.

I bought 100 each of the DGS and DGX factory loads about 2018.
The last reported MV above was done in the latter half of 2023.
Shelf life of Hornady .458 WinMag must be pretty good.
At least 5 years with no worries.
Stored at about 70*F and normal central heating and AC home humidity.

The 1957 vintage Winchester ammo was good for 64 years.
Sometime after 1957, the Democrat voters took over the ammo factories.
Last edited: Yesterday at 3:35 PM

No riled up Lottites have replied there yet.
But I am hopeful for a bite eventually, at:

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/another-458-win-mag-thread.67907/page-3

Were it so that we had an elephant invasion on the southern border instead of what we do have.
Some great warm weather testing would be available in Texas.
Alas…
F01

Militarized mass deportation and detention camps please.
If the Democrat voters don't like it, they can seek dumbass-asylum outside of the USA.

As you were.
Found the February 1961 "Dope Bag."

https://archive.org/details/sim_american-rifleman_1961-02_109_2/page/44/mode/2up

This H. P. White Laboratory data was previously found in HATCHER'S NOTEBOOK of 1962 edition.
The way it read there, I thought he had gotten this on Nov.8, 1955.
Maybe not, may have come later, first published in early 1961 ?




That beloved HiVel#2 load was sourced from this table, it is load #2 here, not compressed.
Loads 3,4,5 are compressed.
The sixth load here is that factory load from WRAC.

https://archive.org/details/sim_american-rifleman_1956-08_104_8/page/n25/mode/2up

I just got done reading your responses and contributions on africahunting.com. I've been a member there for a few years. Well done Sir Ron!

I almost went to the range today, it's been relatively warm and sunny at 10*C, but didn't feel completely ready. I want to try some of those 400gr TBBC, and I've loaded some 250 TTSX over BIG GAME for my .375. Barnes shows a max of 84.3 grs for their 270gr TSX and LRX, so I loaded 83 for the 250 TTSX, and that seemed highly compressed. If that works out for accuracy, I should be getting well over 2900 fps. The .375 will serve as back-up for the .458 on the Spring Bear Hunt. I've been contributing to the thread on a Ruger No.1 in .375 H&H for black bear. Very interesting thread, even if a bit contentious!

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

Sir Bob,
I am headed to the range tomorrow, Lord willin' an'th'cricks don'razz.
First outing for a Garmin XERO.
I'll figure something to test for comparison to past results, maybe even some new stuff.
Buddy needs an elk load for his .300 WinMag, maybe a starting load for that.
Cannot talk him into a .458 WinMag so far, but I am working on it, heh-heh-heh.
Will look for your .375 H&H thread ...

Correction to the above: Two different threads on Hunting and Shooting: The one on bears - grizzlies in particular, was: 9.3 x 62 or .338 Win Mag - which would you rather have in your hands when confronted . . .? The other was on a Ruger No 1 in .375 H&H for African game (including DG). I've contributed to both. Both interesting and informative. Hunting and Shooting - Africa for the Ruger No.1 in .375 H&H, and Hunting and Shooting - Rifles, for the 9.2 x 62 vs the .338 Win Mag.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

That new Garmin makes it fun to get speeds. While expensive it’s really handy and just catches everything.

Sir Ron,

Just joined AH.com because after seeing your link, curiosity got the better of me.

Unintentionally, I probably added some more fuel to the 458 Lott fire you lit. But, have to call a spade a spade based on my experience with that cartridge. Personally I have no use for a cartridge requiring a true magnum length action which doesn’t deliver any added performance to a 458 WM loaded with proper powders and modern bullets, especially with monolithic solids, when pachyderms are on the list.

For those who truly think they need more power, see the 460 G&A or 450 Rigby. Or, for radicals, throw in the 500 NE 3”. Sometimes, more is more.

Sir Scotty,
Yep, that Garmin XERO is a dream come true.

Sir Khulu,
I will go check on your mischief at AHdotcom, heh-heh-heh.

But first, a report on Ms. Piggy Warthog ...

Recall that Ms. Piggy Warthog (aka Ol'Fugly) began life as a .458 WinMag barreled-action, Whitworth MKX,
purchased from Boondock Sporting Goods in Eagle River, AK circa 1987.
She was inspired by Phil Shoemaker's Ol'Ugly which I had read about in 1985.

Over the decades she morphed into a .458 Lott with residual .458 WinMag throat,
re-chambered using a SAAMI .458 Lott reamer with no set-back of the SAAMI/CIP .458 Winchester Magnum chamber.

She is not a SAAMI .458 Lott with tight throat and 1:10" twist.
I prefer to call her a .458 Watts Winchester 2.8" abbreviated as ".458 WW."
Her practical advantages over the .458 WM+ amount to only being better with stubby varmint bullets and birdshot loads.
She makes a better rat gun.
However, she can also handle any heavy load for the .458 WM+,
even those that may be excessive in the short-throated SAAMI .458 Lott.

That was the ammo tested above, and some shootin' results below.
Ms. Piggy was never zeroed with this Leupold 1.5-4x20mm until bore sighted at the 50-yard target.
Her first three shots with .458 WM+ ammo:



I was aiming at the big central bullseye and got really close to the lower left little diamond.
Scope was adjusted to zero with true clicks on the Leupold.
Five shots with the .458 WW (2.8" brass) were fired then at 50-yard target, central bullseye,
and windage was true, elevation of POI was about 2-1/2" high,
attributable to greater muzzle rise from greater recoil (4 grains more powder) and only minimally faster MV:



Here is a XERO summary of that .458 WW target above:





Paint-typed tabulation of all six loads fired, two handloads and four factory loads:



The 500-gr DGX .458 WM load only lost 40 fps from being fired in the longer .458 WW chamber, and had a std dev of only 2.4 fps for 5 shots.
The 500-gr DGS .458 WM load similarly lost 51 fps with 3.1 fps std dev.
That is excellent factory ammo velocity consistency.
In a SAAMI .458 Lott the tighter throat would make for less velocity loss/higher pressure.

Ms. Piggy is good, bad and ugly, even with lipstick.

Ms. Piggy refuses to be photographed when wearing this:



She is threaded 5/8"x24tpi at the muzzle.
I am thinking this thing is a pretty effective muzzle brake after all,
just not the right shade of lipstick for Ms. Piggy.
You'd think it was hair curlers when a camera comes near her.

Too much fun Sir Ron, you're rippin' it, no pun intended ; ]

Great info Sir.