if i can score one, I plan on doing pretty much exactly what your friend did. id increase the weight to around 10.5 pounds via lead in the stock and replace the stock rubber pad with a 1" decelerator. im pretty sure the recoil should be very manageable with those simple modifications. rechambering the gun to 450 NE would be something to consider in the future but I think 458 Win would be cheaper to reload and shoot.
velo dog, aren't you shooting a double chambered in 458 Win at the moment?
-matt
Matt85,
My friend chose the No2 version because he was convinced he would have had to otherwise address the recess in the factory chamber, cut for the belt on .458 cartridges.
In other words, he believed the .450 Straight was not large enough at the base to cut that feature out during the rechambering process.
Yes, the .458 is slightly cheaper to shoot but the majority of that slight saving is due to the .458 empty casings being easier to find and therefore cheaper.
After that, the .458 might burn a tad less powder per fps perhaps.
In live factory ammunition, I presume the .458 is cheaper but I have not seen either for sale in awhile.
Yes, my one and only double rifle these days is a SxS in .458 Winchester.
Wanted a .450/.400 in the same rifle (Heym 88B) but both in excellent used condition were $4,000. difference in price, at least at the time I bought mine.
(Plus mine has outstanding walnut that was not so with the specific .400 that I was tossing and turning over at the same time).
Any whooo, my .458 weighs about 9.9 lb empty and kicks like Satan's Mule, with factory 500 gr and some older 510 gr ammunition.
Planning to shoot it through a friend's chronograph, soon as he returns from the bush (he works remote here).
Hopefully it shows at or above 2125 fps with factory ammo.
If so, I plan to begin experimenting with 500 gr and 480 gr bullets @ around 2050 fps.
There is very strong evidence written about Pre-War Kynoch ammunition going about on average; 150 fps slower than Kynoch claimed, by people way more educated on this subject than I, and who offer compelling evidence (Kevin "Doctari" Robertson is one of them).
My old Army & Navy (probably made by J. Manton) regulated best with 480 gr at 2050 fps (it had 28" barrels to boot) which, tends to support this theory.
With the 480 gr loads at 2050 fps, I absolutely knocked a buffalo off his hooves, twice.
Incredible sight to behold if I do say so myself.
One buffalo is possibly beginner's luck but, possibly it's a time proven load for buffalo in that caliber but, due to poor ballistic measuring equipment of the era, or puffed up advertising, we've been convinced 2100+ fps was the magic formula.
Very likely the real Nitro Express large bore velocity was actually more like 2025 to 2050 fps that kept the ivory trade alive and other large/thick skinned animals simmering in the stew pots of those historic times.
(If that is so, the .416 Rigby was actually going about 2200 fps instead of the shoulder bruising 2350 fps as advertised then).
We'll see more of ya when we all go swimmin',
Velo Dog.
