My .458 journey...

[Nhoro]

Yeah an oiled finish somehow makes the wood glow.

 

[1dirthawker]

View attachment 411410
Though, they are certainly pretty.
And, I hear good for vampires also.

i have 2 boxes of these, brand new, need to take to the range and get the gun set up to use as a brown bear back up. i bet they don't bounce off

 

[1dirthawker]

I have personally owned 5 .458's over the years but my latest one is a keeper. Every time I've sold one I have ended up regretting it so I'm not selling this one!

russ,

thanks for that story. its funny how we react later to the one we got rid of....dammit!

i appreciate your honest thoughts on this mis understood cartridge. you were pretty instrumental in my 458 win purchase. i have the same stock, on a interarms rifle. i am gonna fill the rear of the stock with spray foam, then put a hunk of lead in it to help give it a bit of weight. i think it weighs 8.5 pounds as is with a scope! (yeoowwww!)

anyway, well done and keep us all in the loop of you and your 458 adventures.

 

[sestoppelman]

Nice rifle. I have 2ea in 375 H&H. One older and one newer. And one in 458 Winchester. I have had another one in 458 Winchester years ago, and a few others in 375.
I have yet to see one Not cracked as you describe and several with cracks behind the tang. This includes my present three, regarding behind the recoil lug.
I have had a couple that magazine / follower springs needed a little tweaking.
I like the rifles, but glass bedding the stocks seems to be a definite necessity. Certainly not a bad idea on any rifle, in
My opinion.

I also have another of these, a .375 bought new in 1984 with 3 safari's under its belt. My buffalo avatar rifle.
No cracks or damage to this one with many many rounds thru it. Its bedded from the factory both at the recoil lug and a second steel lug under the barrel forward.
This very early .458 had no bedding in it and no second lug. I have repaired the main lug area and bedded it. I may at some point add a second lug to it like the .375.

 

[Viral_SIGness]

Hey Bob,

Yeah, I have thought about it. Like you said, Ted and the crew are big fans of them. And I like supporting Aussie products.

The only problem is I've loaded up 80 or so rounds using the 550gn Woodleigh and I'm gonna have to shoot those off first before I experiment again.

I'm not even sure if I've done the right thing using the 550gn Woodleigh...
The recoil was horrible off the bench and I need to now just shoot it in the field and get used to it.
I'm hoping in the field, on game, when the adrenaline is pumping the recoil will not be noticeable - just like the other .458 reloads I've used.

I'm getting 2080fps with the 550gn Woodleigh for a ME of 5285ft/lbs - which is impressive, but at the expense of 80ft/lbs of recoil.
So I guess what I need to do now is just shoot it and come to my own conclusion if the ME is worth the recoil?
Time will tell...

Russ

2080 with a 550, from the Wounder-Wonder ? I may have to stop calling it that. That moniker was picked up when it's factory 500 gainers were barely over 1800.

 

[ldmay375]

i have 2 boxes of these, brand new, need to take to the range and get the gun set up to use as a brown bear back up. i bet they don't bounce off

I would bet that you are very correct about the bear. I think, for close range moose they would also give very good performance. I assume the 400 grain Swift A-Frames should work pretty good for moose and bear also. But, I really like those solid shank bullets.
Two days ago, I saw a couple of boxes of Trophy Bonded at the local gun store for a penny or two under $160 per box.

 

[Badboymelvin]

russ,

thanks for that story. its funny how we react later to the one we got rid of....dammit!

i appreciate your honest thoughts on this mis understood cartridge. you were pretty instrumental in my 458 win purchase. i have the same stock, on a interarms rifle. i am gonna fill the rear of the stock with spray foam, then put a hunk of lead in it to help give it a bit of weight. i think it weighs 8.5 pounds as is with a scope! (yeoowwww!)

anyway, well done and keep us all in the loop of you and your 458 adventures.

Hey, thanks for your reply
And I'm humbled that I was instrumental in you purchasing a .458!
I've always been totally honest with my experiences with the .458 and hand loading for it.
I am certain that if someone who was a critic of the .458 back in the day was told to work up a good hand-load for it, they'd be surprised how easy it is now.
Well, I've never had a problem working one up and I'm not a PH or a professional... I'm just a nurse!

Please keep us posted on your .458!

Russ

 

[Badboymelvin]

2080 with a 550, from the Wounder-Wonder ? I may have to stop calling it that. That moniker was picked up when it's factory 500 gainers were barely over 1800.

Wounder-Wonder - hahahaha, I haven't heard that one before!

Yep, 2080fps with a 550gn Woodleigh, chronographed myself from the 24" barrel from my Zastava. With only 4fps variation too

And I also got spot on 2150fps with the 480gn Woodleigh from the same rifle,
2135fps with the 500gn Woodleigh PP out of the 21" barrel from my custom CZ,
and once I achieved 2200fps with the 500 Woodleigh PP out of the 24" barrel from my Winchester M70 - but this was a super compressed, hot load.
Also people I have chatted with have achieved an easy 2200fps with the various 450gn projectiles.

All these loads deliver on what the .458 promised from the start.

And I don't jealously guard my hand-loads with secrecy.
I always give anyone who wants to know, my exact load - with the caveat that you should always start from a couple grains below and work up.

I will always try and help out anyone I can anyway I can, especially when I hear stuff about the .458 that just isn't true - or stuff about the .458 that isn't relevant today.

I have never said that the .458 is better than anything else - or that you should sell your .416RM, .375H&H or .458Lott to buy a .458WM.

I'll just give my experiences I've had with the .458 (which have been positive) and let that person decide for themselves.

Russ

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Wounder-Wonder - hahahaha, I haven't heard that one before!

Yep, 2080fps with a 550gn Woodleigh, chronographed myself from the 24" barrel from my Zastava. With only 4fps variation too

And I also got spot on 2150fps with the 480gn Woodleigh from the same rifle,
2135fps with the 500gn Woodleigh PP out of the 21" barrel from my custom CZ,
and once I achieved 2200fps with the 500 Woodleigh PP out of the 24" barrel from my Winchester M70 - but this was a super compressed, hot load.
Also people I have chatted with have achieved an easy 2200fps with the various 450gn projectiles.

All these loads deliver on what the .458 promised from the start.

And I don't jealously guard my hand-loads with secrecy.
I always give anyone who wants to know, my exact load - with the caveat that you should always start from a couple grains below and work up.

I will always try and help out anyone I can anyway I can, especially when I hear stuff about the .458 that just isn't true - or stuff about the .458 that isn't relevant today.

I have never said that the .458 is better than anything else - or that you should sell your .416RM, .375H&H or .458Lott to buy a .458WM.

I'll just give my experiences I've had with the .458 (which have been positive) and let that person decide for themselves.

Russ

@Badboymelvin
My best mates son bought one at a give away price with a box of 18 rounds and 2 empty cases. I don't know what make it was but it had a bit of work done to it before he bought it.
He fired 2 shots and sold it as he couldn't handle the recoil. The dam thing weighed under 7 pound and belted the snot out of him.
Bob

 

[Badboymelvin]

@Badboymelvin
My best mates son bought one at a give away price with a box of 18 rounds and 2 empty cases. I don't know what make it was but it had a bit of work done to it before he bought it.
He fired 2 shots and sold it as he couldn't handle the recoil. The dam thing weighed under 7 pound and belted the snot out of him.
Bob

A sub-7lb .458 would be lively to say the least!
It'd be great to carry - but boy o boy, would it back you out from under your beanie when you fired it!

 

[1dirthawker]

I would bet that you are very correct about the bear. I think, for close range moose they would also give very good performance. I assume the 400 grain Swift A-Frames should work pretty good for moose and bear also. But, I really like those solid shank bullets.

i bet you are right about the swifts. most folks under estimate the usable range of a 458/470 nitro class weapon. they are for sure 200 yard rifles, if the are scoped and you do your part. farther if you have the right bullets and know the drops.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

A sub-7lb .458 would be lively to say the least!
It'd be great to carry - but boy o boy, would it back you out from under your beanie when you fired it!

@Badboymelvin
Greg reckons he said more than golly gosh gee wullickers that's not fun. The reason he bought it was because of the light carry weight. I would have liked to have seen the look on his face when he touched it off. I'd probably still be rolling around laughing.
Bob

 

[AZDAVE]

Russ thank you for sharing your adventures/misadventures of arriving at your last 458. Like you I have owned several over the years. Mine went to friends that said they really needed a elephant gun. I also have bought for very good prices ones than have a box of shells with one or two shot cases in the box. Most all of mine went on trades for doubles. My final 458 that I kept is a VZ24 mauser that the gunsmith that built it knew what he was doing. Feeds slick as can be with all the softs and solids I have shot through it. It is the ugliest rifle I have in the safe. It has the same stock as yours but the guy I got it from did a rattle can black spray job to the rifle. but with the way it shoots I don't care what it looks like. Your story reminds me I need to get it back out to the range soon. Shoot straight and shoot often.

 

[CBH Australia]

Great reading, I had one myself and moved it along to fund my .375H&H but that's how I do things and I have no qualms with the round or its capabilities. I just found it hard to justify having both.

 

[1dirthawker]

A sub-7lb .458 would be lively to say the least!
It'd be great to carry - but boy o boy, would it back you out from under your beanie when you fired it!

I am still twitching a little bit thinking about touching that rifle off!! btw Russ, i took my 458 win to the range yesterday (was sighting in my 375 ruger as well) and shot it about 12 times, to sight it in. the rifle an interarms mauser with a 1.5-5 leupold and a hogue stock that i bought off your recommendation, was not horrible to shoot. I also added about a 1 lb bar of lead to the rear of the stock after a discussion with velo dog about it.

it shoots pretty good! i did most of my shooting off of the lead sled, and then shot it a few times with 500 gr hornady's (just to get me in the area) and then 400 gr bear tooth bullets to get the actual sight in. not a one hole group, but pretty good. recoil off sticks seemed a little more than my 375 but doable. i suspect shooting it prone over a pack might be a different proposition.

now i gotta decide which rifle to take bear guiding, the stainless 375 or the blued 458. it will get sea water on it pretty much every day. still, will see. thanks Russ for the info, i will likely put off hand loading for it till next season since i have a couple boxes of the bear tooth bullets to shoot.

i have some 450 swift A frames to load up when i need some more bullets.

 

[CBH Australia]

I am still twitching a little bit thinking about touching that rifle off!! btw Russ, i took my 458 win to the range yesterday (was sighting in my 375 ruger as well) and shot it about 12 times, to sight it in. the rifle an interarms mauser with a 1.5-5 leupold and a hogue stock that i bought off your recommendation, was not horrible to shoot. I also added about a 1 lb bar of lead to the rear of the stock after a discussion with velo dog about it.

it shoots pretty good! i did most of my shooting off of the lead sled, and then shot it a few times with 500 gr hornady's (just to get me in the area) and then 400 gr bear tooth bullets to get the actual sight in. not a one hole group, but pretty good. recoil off sticks seemed a little more than my 375 but doable. i suspect shooting it prone over a pack might be a different proposition.

now i gotta decide which rifle to take bear guiding, the stainless 375 or the blued 458. it will get sea water on it pretty much every day. still, will see. thanks Russ for the info, i will likely put off hand loading for it till next season since i have a couple boxes of the bear tooth bullets to shoot.

i have some 450 swift A frames to load up when i need some more bullets.

Would Cerakote or other aftermarket coating protect the Blued version?

 

[ldmay375]

i bet you are right about the swifts. most folks under estimate the usable range of a 458/470 nitro class weapon. they are for sure 200 yard rifles, if the are scoped and you do your part. farther if you have the right bullets and know the drops.

I think that I have found the match for my 458 bolt rifles, the 404 grain Hammer Bullet. This bullet has a bc over .400. From testing by Michael458, and another big thank you to him for doing it; this bullet will perform way above its weight class compared to more conventional design.
Hopefully within a few weeks, I will have satisfactory loads for my 458 Winchester & Lott using this bullet. I am Very confident this bullet will be bullet of my choice for moose from a few yards to 200 yards.

 

[1dirthawker]

Would Cerakote or other aftermarket coating protect the Blued version?

yes, i believe it would. however, time would be a problem for cerakote, or other coverings as well, since i will be sending it to the hunting field in 10 days or so.

i have considered painting it with a rattle can, flat colors in black, brown and green. i painted a 7mm i owned about 30 years ago and it held up well, might need to pick a paint that will be able to be stripped off, but i could get it done in a day or two.

a buddy and fellow guide on the boat cerakoted his 375 H&H, and it has worked well for him, so will think about it.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

yes, i believe it would. however, time would be a problem for cerakote, or other coverings as well, since i will be sending it to the hunting field in 10 days or so.

i have considered painting it with a rattle can, flat colors in black, brown and green. i painted a 7mm i owned about 30 years ago and it held up well, might need to pick a paint that will be able to be stripped off, but i could get it done in a day or two.

a buddy and fellow guide on the boat cerakoted his 375 H&H, and it has worked well for him, so will think about it.

@1dirthawker
Just send it off to @Forrest Halley he is a rattle can Picasso

 

[Forrest Halley]

@1dirthawker
Just send it off to @Forrest Halley he is a rattle can Picasso

I propose rattle canning one ugly Leupold scope to a normal color and I'm a rattle can Picasso.

Townsend Nelson is tilting the Bundy way back again...