if your a bit of a rifle loony, you have at least wanted to try a 458 win or you might own one.
for many years it was about the only really common ELEPHANT RIFLE caliber familiar to most American hunters who failed to read a great deal , as it was always listed on those rifle charts the magazines published and gun-shops had posted, on their walls.
well I succeeded in finding a good deal on a 458 win rifle at a local gun-shop, when its previous owner decided that it was beating him half to death with recoil, after less than 12 shots were fired.
the gun-shop owner was a friend and knew how much of a rifle nut I was so when I was offered a Remington 700 custom shop 458 win, for $700 it found a new home.
now I like heavy caliber rifles like the 375 H&H ,444 marlin,45/70 marlin, 450 marlin, 416 rem mag so ITs not like a bit of recoil would be a surprise and I hand-load so I was 100% sure I could reach a level of accuracy and recoil I could deal with comfortably, and I love having the ability to use cheap home cast bullets, which is at least to me a huge draw.
and carrying a 458 win in the field is usually a good conversation starter if nothing else.
I started out with some Remington 405grain bullets I had in inventory, loaded over some imr3031 as suggested in one manual, and I found the accuracy was good but the recoil was formidable.
and its fun watching guys faces when they ask you what caliber your using when you reach into a pocket and hand them a cigar size 458 win cartridge, it makes for some silly but entertaining conversations, especially when they show you they have a 243 win, for example,... and don,t get the idea a 458 wins necessary or required, it may be a great choice under some conditions but a skilled hunter with a 25/06 or 270 win can kill deer/elk just as effectively, but as a conversation starter a 458 win works rather well.
now obviously you don,t need to load to its max potential in bullet weight or velocity , as hot 45/70 level loads will drop anything in north America convincingly in skilled hands, with decent shot placement.
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_ ... ing%20Data
http://www.gunsandammo.com/content/the- ... ter-magnum
now obviously you don,t need a 458 win to hunt deer , but having purchased one, the lure of hunting with it, soon proved too much and it went out with me, Id loaded some reduced loads using hard cast 470 grain bullets cast from wheel weight lead over IMR 4064 and a federal 215 primer,because getting a good ignition is critical to accuracy loads, I made those loads with that hard cast 470 grain bullet ,and I push that bullet too just under 2100fps
keep in mind powder selection will need too vary a great deal as bullet weight increases, the heavier projectiles will require slower burn speeds
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0152640671
and found I could get 2" 100 yard groups of the bench rest, so I sighted in at 3" high at 100 yards and went hunting,the first deer I managed to shoot after several weeks of hunting UN-successfully was a legal 4 point buck I shot that stood looking at me from across a meadow at about 120 yards at the shot he spun and dropped, penetration was full length, chest to hindquarters and he basically dropped on the spot.
obviously the caliber and bullet worked and the rifle went into my safe until the following ELK SEASON, except for a few trips to the range.
I carried that rifle many times in heavy timber areas looking for ELK, but it claimed its first ELK when frank borrowed the rifle when his 30/06 rifle scope fogged on an elk hunt and I offered the use of my back-up rifle for the day, Frank was very hesitant as recoil intimidates him, but like he said, he probably would not get a shot so it probably would not get shot, only carried, and if he did shoot it would only be that once, well Frank had stopped for a rest , sitting on a log when a small legal ELK stepped out at about 70 yards, frank was very hesitant to fire but after, he admitted the recoil was not nearly as bad as he suspected it would be.
the elk whirled and ran about 60-70 yards then dropped with a high lung hit, penetration was side to side, frank swore the rifle had knocked him half silly but not nearly into the next time zone as he had thought it would.
the NEXT year, AL had shot a COW ELK he had a permit for, with his 7mm mag, but his shot had gone a bit further back, and the cow ran, he followed with three more wild rapid shots that missed, he reloaded and asked me to help him track in the 6"-12" snow, (obviously what he wanted was help dragging out the ELK not tracking help) as an almost blind guy could track blood drops and deep hoof prints in white snow. but As we tracked I carried the 458 Remington , we found the elk dead after a short tracking job, and were busy dressing him when we heard distant shots and after a few minutes started seeing, more ELK drifting thru the aspens,most trotting away from the direction we heard shots from,most ran thru on a ledge or bench in the canyons lower slope, about 120 yards below our location, when a legal bull trotted into range I led him about 20" as he was trotting and fired he went face first into the ground with both front shoulder busted, hind legs kicked a few times and that was it, the 458 win had proved, to be hard of recoil, heavy to carry, not totally necessary, but darn effective.
If your only likely to hunt deer and ELK, in the timber a 35 whelen, or 338 win is probably a better choice, but a 458 win with hard cast loads has proved to be very effective.
some guys feel an attraction to owning a rifle thats got some serious punching power and I'm afraid I'm one of those poor souls
theres something a bit impressive with seeing a rifle that will shoot thru a thick tree trunk, or shoot thru a deer end to end, and theres little doubt that the larger rifles both look and hit in a way that impresses most people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.458_Lott
http://www.gunsandammo.com/content/the- ... ter-magnum
http://www.shakariconnection.com/458-caliber-rifle.html
http://www.reloadbench.com/cartridges/458wm.html
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/featured ... index.html
458 lott.........-375 H&H ..................458 win
BTW if your smart youll NEVER shoot two elk about 1-2 miles from the nearest road on the same day, trust me packing out the meats a project best left to younger guys
let me repeat that, excellent tip I learned the hard way.......
NEVER shoot a second ELK that happens, to be stupid enough to wander by the spot your, at, while your helping a buddy dress out his elk , especially when its more than a mile down slope from the closest location you can drive a truck too,leave that bone head move to the younger guys
for many years it was about the only really common ELEPHANT RIFLE caliber familiar to most American hunters who failed to read a great deal , as it was always listed on those rifle charts the magazines published and gun-shops had posted, on their walls.
well I succeeded in finding a good deal on a 458 win rifle at a local gun-shop, when its previous owner decided that it was beating him half to death with recoil, after less than 12 shots were fired.
the gun-shop owner was a friend and knew how much of a rifle nut I was so when I was offered a Remington 700 custom shop 458 win, for $700 it found a new home.
now I like heavy caliber rifles like the 375 H&H ,444 marlin,45/70 marlin, 450 marlin, 416 rem mag so ITs not like a bit of recoil would be a surprise and I hand-load so I was 100% sure I could reach a level of accuracy and recoil I could deal with comfortably, and I love having the ability to use cheap home cast bullets, which is at least to me a huge draw.
and carrying a 458 win in the field is usually a good conversation starter if nothing else.
I started out with some Remington 405grain bullets I had in inventory, loaded over some imr3031 as suggested in one manual, and I found the accuracy was good but the recoil was formidable.
and its fun watching guys faces when they ask you what caliber your using when you reach into a pocket and hand them a cigar size 458 win cartridge, it makes for some silly but entertaining conversations, especially when they show you they have a 243 win, for example,... and don,t get the idea a 458 wins necessary or required, it may be a great choice under some conditions but a skilled hunter with a 25/06 or 270 win can kill deer/elk just as effectively, but as a conversation starter a 458 win works rather well.
now obviously you don,t need to load to its max potential in bullet weight or velocity , as hot 45/70 level loads will drop anything in north America convincingly in skilled hands, with decent shot placement.
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/defau ... er&Source=
http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_ ... ing%20Data
http://www.gunsandammo.com/content/the- ... ter-magnum
now obviously you don,t need a 458 win to hunt deer , but having purchased one, the lure of hunting with it, soon proved too much and it went out with me, Id loaded some reduced loads using hard cast 470 grain bullets cast from wheel weight lead over IMR 4064 and a federal 215 primer,because getting a good ignition is critical to accuracy loads, I made those loads with that hard cast 470 grain bullet ,and I push that bullet too just under 2100fps
keep in mind powder selection will need too vary a great deal as bullet weight increases, the heavier projectiles will require slower burn speeds
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/i ... 0152640671
and found I could get 2" 100 yard groups of the bench rest, so I sighted in at 3" high at 100 yards and went hunting,the first deer I managed to shoot after several weeks of hunting UN-successfully was a legal 4 point buck I shot that stood looking at me from across a meadow at about 120 yards at the shot he spun and dropped, penetration was full length, chest to hindquarters and he basically dropped on the spot.
obviously the caliber and bullet worked and the rifle went into my safe until the following ELK SEASON, except for a few trips to the range.
I carried that rifle many times in heavy timber areas looking for ELK, but it claimed its first ELK when frank borrowed the rifle when his 30/06 rifle scope fogged on an elk hunt and I offered the use of my back-up rifle for the day, Frank was very hesitant as recoil intimidates him, but like he said, he probably would not get a shot so it probably would not get shot, only carried, and if he did shoot it would only be that once, well Frank had stopped for a rest , sitting on a log when a small legal ELK stepped out at about 70 yards, frank was very hesitant to fire but after, he admitted the recoil was not nearly as bad as he suspected it would be.
the elk whirled and ran about 60-70 yards then dropped with a high lung hit, penetration was side to side, frank swore the rifle had knocked him half silly but not nearly into the next time zone as he had thought it would.
the NEXT year, AL had shot a COW ELK he had a permit for, with his 7mm mag, but his shot had gone a bit further back, and the cow ran, he followed with three more wild rapid shots that missed, he reloaded and asked me to help him track in the 6"-12" snow, (obviously what he wanted was help dragging out the ELK not tracking help) as an almost blind guy could track blood drops and deep hoof prints in white snow. but As we tracked I carried the 458 Remington , we found the elk dead after a short tracking job, and were busy dressing him when we heard distant shots and after a few minutes started seeing, more ELK drifting thru the aspens,most trotting away from the direction we heard shots from,most ran thru on a ledge or bench in the canyons lower slope, about 120 yards below our location, when a legal bull trotted into range I led him about 20" as he was trotting and fired he went face first into the ground with both front shoulder busted, hind legs kicked a few times and that was it, the 458 win had proved, to be hard of recoil, heavy to carry, not totally necessary, but darn effective.
If your only likely to hunt deer and ELK, in the timber a 35 whelen, or 338 win is probably a better choice, but a 458 win with hard cast loads has proved to be very effective.
some guys feel an attraction to owning a rifle thats got some serious punching power and I'm afraid I'm one of those poor souls
theres something a bit impressive with seeing a rifle that will shoot thru a thick tree trunk, or shoot thru a deer end to end, and theres little doubt that the larger rifles both look and hit in a way that impresses most people
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.458_Lott
http://www.gunsandammo.com/content/the- ... ter-magnum
http://www.shakariconnection.com/458-caliber-rifle.html
http://www.reloadbench.com/cartridges/458wm.html
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/featured ... index.html
458 lott.........-375 H&H ..................458 win
BTW if your smart youll NEVER shoot two elk about 1-2 miles from the nearest road on the same day, trust me packing out the meats a project best left to younger guys
let me repeat that, excellent tip I learned the hard way.......
NEVER shoot a second ELK that happens, to be stupid enough to wander by the spot your, at, while your helping a buddy dress out his elk , especially when its more than a mile down slope from the closest location you can drive a truck too,leave that bone head move to the younger guys