yeah, the old geezer lost it....well maybe maybe not!

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
yeah, the old geezer lost it....well maybe maybe not!
theres been a rather serious and nearly un-curable, infectious mental disease, thats been circulating through the population of mostly older adult males ,
it only seems to be highly contagious in males that have an appreciation for both hunting large ,
and generally at least potentially dangerous game and since the early 1900s all over the world,
its initially seen as a harmless endeavor, it can be contracted at your local gun-shop,
from a friend or even by flipping through a few catalogs and reloading manuals.
Ive seen it rapidly afflict some guys, but in most cases its a slow rather sneaky cumulative process that locks, into,your mind
and at times almost becomes rather obsessive.
there seems to be something about fine quality meticulously machined rifles with bore diameters from about 35-58 caliber,
that inspires day dreams and almost something resembling the emotions of LUST and ENVY,
in owning the larger bore diameter finely built rifles.
theres not a single game animal in north America, that mandates the rifles of this power range,
and the cost of the rifles can cause your eyes to water, and your checking account to scream in terror,
ammo in some cases can cost $3-$20 a CARTRIDGE, (not a box a CARTRIDGE)
and recoil can if your not familiar with how to properly handle the rifles so chambered ,
well frankly it can be painful, more than a few guys have had a scope on a magnum rifle come rearward,
with enough force to split eye glasses or cut a gash in the shooter eye brow that requires stitches too repair.
yet for some Males looking at, and handling and shooting , a big bore high quality rifle,
the ownership and pride of owning one, becomes as addictive as some pharmaceuticals.
now having and owning a big bore rifle you can,t afford to shoot or one that has a tendency to generate recoil levels,
far in excess of what the rifles owner can comfortably tolerate is rather silly,
thankfully you can hand load ammo with cast bullets to provide far lower recoil levels,
yet still maintain excellent accuracy in most of the big bore rifles,
and because you really have potentially a huge excess of power in a fully loaded to it true potential rifle in these calibers ,
shooting lower pressure hand loads with lighter weight cast bullets can significantly reduce the wear and stress on the rifle and cut the cost of that ammo using cast gas-check bullets,
in many cases by 60% to 80% while still providing more than enough bullet weight,
penetration and power to still punch through and kill "lesser GAME " like ELK or DEER very convincingly.
now most big bore rifles are designed to hunt game like elephant or cape buffalo,
and most of us can only dream about affording a safari ,
but you can use properly loaded ammo in a 416 rem or 458 lott, to hunt deer or elk,
with few down sides other than the cost of the rifles ,
tends to be a good deal higher than your typical deer rifle.
generally pushing a 350 to 400 grain bullet to the 1800 fps-2000 fps range provides more than enough power.
its a bit like owning an L88 corvette and realizing its not ideal for trips to the local supermarket,
and tolerating a 70 mph speed limit, when you realize the cars fully capable of driving at 180 mph,
but like the corvette, you can still handle and drive it,
so can you use a big bore rifle if its throttled back a bit from its max potential.
oth the 416 remington and 458 LOTT, can be hand loaded to shoot slightly lighter weight and vastly less expensive cast gas check bullets at several hundred fps slower velocity's
, this reduces wear and stress, on the rifles and greatly reduces the ammo costs,
yet 1" 100 yard groups and even having the potential to devastate ELK or deer is still available.

now if your read through all that you may be asking, where and why did this come up?
well Ive been using my 458 lott with cast bullets at the local range the last few months,
and one of the guys Ive hunted with for decades (SAL) has been looking for a similar rifle, well this morning he stopped by with a new toy,
he found a deal on a remington 700 BDL in caliber 416 rem at a local pawn shop and picked it up rather reasonably at $820.
After I got through admiring his new toy, I started researching the required cast bullet designs in 416 caliber.
its become rather obvious hes contracted a moderate case,
of big bore rifle infection.
that silly smile and glased look in the eyes.. gives it away most of the time!
https://www.newenglandcustomgun.com/Gun_Services/Peep_Sights.asp#Weaver
CZ-550-Safari-Custom-458-Lott_100718736_19355_BFD112A6CE5419FF.jpg


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related info
http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/index.html

http://www.shootingtimes.com/editorial/the-ballistician-416-remington-magnum/99516

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.458_Lott

https://www.ph-rifles.com/bolt-action-rifles/

https://www.chuckhawks.com/reduced_400_loads.htm

http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/rifle
 
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occasionally you'll find some amazing deals on big bore rifles or reloading components,
I had a friend inherit a Remington 375 H&H mod 700 H&H rifle,
he had tried firing it a few times, and had developed a rather obvious aversion to the recoil.
I was over at his home and he mentioned he was interested in trading it in,
what he really wanted,....almost lusted after, was a weatherby vanguard rifle in caliber 243 win,
just by chance I had recently traded for a weatherby vanguard in caliber 308 win,I did not really want,
I let him try it out , at a local rifle range, and we struck a deal on a even swap he was thrilled to make.
a couple months passed, and I stopped at a local gun-shop that was in the process of moving too a new location,
all reloading components were hugely discounted,
I made an offer on the 12 boxes of 20 new reloaded-able brass
along with all the 375 caliber bullets he had in stock at that time ,
and I got a small additional discount on even the sale price after talking too the shops owner.
as I paid the gun-shop owner ,told me I was the first guy in months to show any interest in those components,
and he was so happy to have found them a home with someone that could appreciate the components he was glad to unload the stuff at his cost,
(now Id believe he had paid considerably less, simply because the boxes looked like they had been sitting on a shelf for decades)
 
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ts a bit like owning an L88 corvette and realizing its not ideal for trips to the local supermarket,
and tolerating a 70 mph speed limit, when you realize the cars fully capable of driving at 180 mph,
but like the corvette, you can still handle and drive it, :D
 
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