Home Forums Lever Action Central Big Bore Levers .460 S&W Conversion

With Ohio changing its laws this year concerning the use of rifles for deer, I have been exploring the list if legal calibers. The 460 came to mind as a perfect choice for a lever action. Do you think this conversion would be feasible and worthwhile? I have shot deer with a pistol in this caliber and it is a real sledge hammer.

Is the .500 S&W on the list? Big Horn Armory makes a dandy.

Big Horn 89

Yes it is but I don't want/need all that extra recoil. The .460 is brutal enough but shoots fairly flat for a pistol round.

Why wouldn't the 454 Casull work?
I seem to remember that Rossi makes a 92 in that cartidge.

Jim

What would the 460 S&W do that the 45-70 could not?

You might check posts on this subject by 86er over on leverguns.com . He has converted a lever gun to .360 and he, his young sun, and hunting clients have had great success with it on critters from deer up to bison. IMHO, it seem to be a tad more effective than a .357 rifle with heavy slugs.

It would depend on what rifle you're converting. The pressure of the .460 S&W is 65,000 psi as is the .454 Casull & I believe 45,000 psi is the ceiling for the Marlin lever actions. You would have to use a modern steel '92 or '86 type action. The .460 is too long for the '92 and the '86 type actions are pretty long and would probably require quite a bit of work. The Big Horn 89 would be the correct size but buying a $2500 gun then re-barreling and 'smithing to feed and eject the smaller case..........well, you have more money than I! If you absolutely need to throw .452" bullets at deer, the aforementioned Rossi .454 or one of the .45 Colt levers would be the most feasible way to do it. Since the .45-70 is on the list also, that would be my choice although I would love to have one of the .500 Big Horns!

The appeal of the .460 to me is the flatter trajectory. Where I hunt, 200-300 yards are a possibility. 75-150 are the "norm". I would love to be able to comfortably cover the longer shots without the "cannon" effect of the 45/70.

How much flatter would the 460 shoot at 200 yards compared to a 45-70 shooting a 300 gran bullet at 2,000 - 2,000 feet per second? I doubt the .460 could even reach 1,700 feet per second with the same grain bullet.

I understand and fully agree. But the 45-70 would kick like a mule...

444 and leverolution ammo is what you need.

You've never shot a .45-70 have you? The factory loaded Winchester or Remington 300 grain JHP at 1800 fps or Hornadys 250 gr Monoflex at 2000 fps or even the standard Remington 405 JSP at 1330 fps are pussycats. When you move up the ladder in bullet weight and powder charge like some of the Buffalo Bore ammo, then you will feel it on your shoulder.

"This week, the Ohio Wildlife Council voted to approve deer hunting with certain straight walled rifle cartridges (pistol caliber rifles or PCR) during any season that shotguns are legal to use.

Shotguns and rifles used for deer hunting may be loaded with a maximum of three shells in the magazine and chamber combined. Approved calibers include:

.357 Magnum, .357 Maximum, .375 Winchester, .375 Super Magnum, .38 Special, .38-55, .41 Long Colt, .41 Magnum, .44 Special, .44 Magnum, .444 Marlin, .45 ACP, .45 Colt, .45 Long Colt, .45 Winchester Magnum, .45 Smith &Wesson, .454 Casull, .460 Smith & Wesson, .45-70, .45-90, .45-110, .50-70, .50-90, .50-100, .50-110, .475 Linebaugh, .500 Smith & Wesson."

I'd buy the H&R 45-70 Buffalo rifle which is very accurate and with the 250 gr Hornady LEVERevolution starts out at over 1600 fps and shoots flat enough for 200 yard shots with no holdover.

It also costs a lot less than the type of conversion you are thinking about.

My other dilemma with the 45-70 is that I hunt Indiana as well and it is not legal there....the .460 is.

A friend who lives in IN hunts with a 500 S&W Handi Rifle. Has no problem ringing the gong at 200 yards. As for deer, it's DOA.

The .475 Linebaugh is legal in both states and some Ruger #1s were chambered for it.

Hmm...hadn't considered that one. Have to do some research on trajectory. Thanks

Would the 375Win do it?

300 gr Hornady 45-70 flex tips recoil about like a 30-30, it's a very low pressure load anyone should be comfortable with

As long as you loaded it down to 40k pressures you could look at a conversion on a Win 94. I doubt any gunsmith would want to take on that liability though.