The .458 Winchester Magnum Of Our Time
I was 15 years old , when Winchester Western 1st introduced their brand new “ Short Magnum “ : The .458 Winchester magnum . 5 years later , I would actually begin to see it being used in the shikar field ... By countless of my clients .
During my career , here are the following .458 Winchester magnum caliber rifles ... Which I have actually seen being used , in the shikar field :
> Pre 64 Winchester Model 70 ( With long claw format extractor )
> Post 64 Winchester Model 70 ( With plunger format extractor )
> Pre 1962 Fabrique Nationale / Browning Mauser ( With long claw format extractor )
> Post 1962 Fabrique Nationale / Browning Mauser ( With plunger format extractor )
> Birmingham Small Arms Emperor
> Birmingham Small Arms Majestic
> Remington Model 700
> Mannlicher Schoenauer
> Mauser Model 66
> Custom bolt rifles built on Springfield Model 1903 , Enfield Model 1917 or salvaged military surplus Mauser 98 actions
> Double barreled side by side rifles built by Holland & Holland , Auguste Francotte , Dumoulin or Franz Sodia .
> Double barreled over under rifles built by Dumoulin or Franz Sodia
During my career , here are the following makes of .458 Winchester magnum caliber factory loaded ammunition ... Which I have actually seen being used , in the shikar field :
> Winchester Super Speed 500 grain solid metal covered ( “ Full Metal Jacket “ ) cupronickel jacketed round nosed cartridges.
> Winchester Super Speed 510 grain soft point round nosed cartridges
> Remington Peters 500 grain solid metal covered ( “ Full Metal Jacket “ ) steel jacketed round nosed cartridges.
> Remington Peters 510 grain soft point round nosed cartridges
I have also seen countless of my clients bring hand loaded cartridges to India , for shikar . These were invariably loaded with Hornady brand 500 grain bullets . Prior to 1961 , Hornady used to manufacture their solid metal covered bullets with copper coated steel jackets . After 1961 , Hornady replaced the copper coated steel jackets with a cupronickel jacket .
In 13 of the 17 states of India , the Game Departments had enforced the following legal regulation : If a foreign client hunter wished to acquire a permit for shooting a royal Bengal tiger , gaur bison or Moheesh water buffalo ... Then , the .375 Holland & Holland magnum was the lightest caliber which he /she were permitted to use . Since ICI Kynoch had completely ceased manufacturing all center fire ammunition in 1963 , practically all of the heritage British sporting calibers ( Such as .505 Gibbs ) had disappeared during the time of my career . The only large calibers for which factory loaded ammunition or re loading components could be found ... Were the .375 Holland & Holland magnum , .378 Weatherby magnum , .458 Winchester magnum and .460 Weatherby magnum .
With out veering too much off topic , let us just say that the excessively high velocity of the Weatherby magnums made them undesirable for field use on dangerous game . That left most sports men with but 2 options : The .375 Holland & Holland magnum and the .458 Winchester magnum . Now , the .375 Holland & Holland magnum was ( Ans still is ) an exceptionally magnificent little cartridge . But since the largest of our Indian royal Bengal tigers can weigh up to 600 pounds , and the largest of our Indian gaur bison can weigh in excess of 3000 pounds ... It goes with out saying that countless sportsmen felt the need to kick things up a notch .
Enter the .458 Winchester magnum . Both Winchester and Remington Peters used to advertise their wares ... As being capable of propelling a 500 grain bullet at a velocity of 2130 feet per second . Indeed , when the .458 Winchester magnum caliber ammunition of our time succeeded in accomplishing this advertised velocity ... It was a magnificent thing to use . The problem was that most .458 Winchester magnum caliber ammunition of our time ... Was NOT able to deliver what their manufacturers had advertised .
Sample taken from Winchester Western 1965 catalog . Taken from the “ International Ammunition Association “ web site .
Sample taken from Remington Peter’s 1966 catalog . Taken from “ International Ammunition Association “ web site .
Winchester Super Speed factory loaded cartridges were the worst of it’s kind . In fact , I dare say that their product quality control ... Was down right criminal . Winchester was loading their factory manufactured .458 Winchester magnum caliber cartridges , with “ Olin Propellant Powder “ . This propellant powder was prone to clumping together ... And when this happened , the entire charge of propellant powder was frequently failing to ignite . The end results were disastrous . Fluctuations in velocity frequently resulted in speeds which were much lower than 1950 feet per second . This was not even close to the minimum acceptable speed for a 500 ( Or 510 ) grain bullet to travel ... In order to successfully punch in to the vital organs of a large male royal Bengal tiger or a large male gaur bison . To make matters worse , Winchester was loading their factory manufactured ammunition with ( What was possibly ) the most flimsily constructed bullets ... Of all time . Even at the fairly dismal velocities of 1950 feet per second , the bullets were encountering beastly amounts of distortion . 500 grain “ solid “ metal covered bullets were bending badly , up on striking the shoulder or rib bones of large male gaur bison . 510 grain soft point bullets were completely disintegrating , when being fired in to the chest muscles of a charging male royal Bengal tiger . How ever , Winchester’s most heinous crime was that they were frequently using UNDER SIZED bullets to load their .458 Winchester magnum cartridges . What was happening , was that 500 grain bullets were often being fired from rifle barrels ... With out even engaging the rifling !
Remington Peters factory loaded cartridges were marginally better , but only just . FRESHLY MANUFACTURED ammunition was actually capable of achieving the advertised velocity of 2130 feet per second . How ever , ammunition which was stored for more than a year ... Would develop erratic velocities . Velocities which were , in fact FAR lower than what was advertised. The solid metal covered ( Steel jacketed ) bullets were reasonably well constructed , and could be expected to properly penetrate in to the vital organs of a gaur bison from most angles . How ever , even these “ solid “ bullets would distort and bend terribly ... Upon striking the shoulder bones , or when being used for frontal heart shots on the heaviest of the male gaur bison . The 510 grain soft point bullets were excellent , and FRESH soft point cartridges were magnificent performers on the heaviest of royal Bengal tigers .
Countless of my American clients were passionate hand loaders , and I have seen my fair share of hand loaded .458 Winchester magnum caliber cartridges being brought to India for shikar . Back in those days , IMR 3031 powder was invariably the standard propellant powder ... Which was used for re loading cartridges . And Hornady bullets were the standard projectiles , which were used by hand loaders . FRESHLY hand loaded cartridges were , indeed capable of achieving a decent velocity of 2130 feet per second . How ever , if the loaded cartridges were kept unused for more than a year ... Then , velocities became erratic ( Just like the aforementioned Remington Peters factory loaded cartridges ) . The Hornady solid metal covered bullets which were manufactured prior to 1961 , had impressively thick copper coated steel jackets . Freshly hand loaded cartridges with these bullets were capable of CLEANLY breaking the shoulder bone of the heaviest 3000 pound male gaur bison , and penetrating in to it’s heart . The recovered bullets never showed even the slightest perceptible signs of distortion . In 1962 , Hornady ( In an attempt to reduce costs ) replaced their copper coated steel jackets on these “ Solid “ bullets with a ( relatively ) inferior cupronickel jacket . While These cupronickel jacketed “ Solid “ bullets could be expected to perform reasonably well on normal gaur bison , at most angles ... They were prone to severe distortion up on striking the shoulder bones of our heaviest gaur bison , and also when frontal heart shots had to be made on these 3000 pound brutes .
2 problems were evident in all the variations of .458 Winchester magnum caliber ammunition ( Be It Winchester , Remington Peters or hand loaded cartridges ) :
> Loaded ammunition could not be left unused for longer than a year ... With out the velocities becoming erratic .
> Loaded ammunition which had been kept unused for longer than a year , would slowly begin to push the bullets out of the cartridge cases ... Past the point of the original crimp . This would invariably cause feeding problems ... Especially in bolt rifles utilizing short actions , such as the Fabrique Nationale Mauser rifles .
During my 10 year career as a professional shikaree , 2 very grave tragedies can be attributed to the .458 Winchester magnum .
My best friend and former fellow professional shikaree , the late Tobin Stakkatz actually lost a kidney ... When he had been gored by an enraged gaur bison which had been wounded by a client’s .458 Winchester magnum caliber Birmingham Small Arms Majestic rifle . The reminiscence of that horrifying day , may be read here :
The closest I ever got to getting killed during my career ... Was when I was nearly mauled by a charging royal Bengal tiger , which was wounded by a client’s .458 Winchester magnum caliber Auguste Francotte double barreled rifle . The reminiscence of that bone chilling brush with death , may be read here :
Needless to say ... I was not a fan of the .458 Winchester magnum caliber , through out the entirety of my career . But would that change , over the years ?
