As some of you know from my previous posts I'm a 458WM fan basically just because it works regardless of the fact that it should have been spawned as a full length round. When I was in Botswana I had the opportunity to talk to a couple of PH's about their personal thoughts on the in the field effectiveness of the 458WM. Garry Kelly who doesn't hunt elephant all the time but takes several elephant safaris each year believes the 458WM to be more than adequate in all DG situations. Actually he presently is carrying a very nice Webley & Scott Ltd. double in 470. He really likes it but cannot say in all honesty that he sees that it kills better than the 458WM that he carried for many years. Ronny Crous who works for Calitz also likes the 458WM for clients who can shoot it. He personally carrys a 450 Watts with GS Custom loads but doesn't see that it is necessary for a client. Of course in my case I've only shot 2 elephants and one buff with the 458 but it has worked like a charm for me while still being of manageable recoil.

If there is any conclusion to be drawn here I think it is that if a guy is shopping for a DG rifle he may not want to overlook the 458WM because of bad press in the past. It just works!

Regards,

Mark

And the conclusion is that 5000 ft-lbs kills about like any other rifle of 5000 ft-lbs.

And until someone had shot as much game as Taylor or even Ron Thomson, who claims the 470 is noticeably better than the 458, they can claim anything they want to.

Hey, the 458 is good enough with good placement and good penetration, just about like all the other hundreds of super duper calibers.

Mark,

After a couple of martinis about a week ago, JudgeG convinced me that I needed to bid on a Parker Hale 458WM. Well, lo and behold, I won the damned thing (as if I needed another rifle). Anyways, if you could take a minute to recommend bullet types etc, I would appreciate it. It should be here in a few days. I will be going to Tanzania in July 2005, and will use it on buffalo. Thanks

1115 (Dale)

Dale,

Personally I have only shot the 500gr. TBSH solids at African game. For me it worked great and because of its shorter OAL compared to the mono-metal bullets it works well in the 458WM. The Speer GS solid although expensive should also be a good candidate. As for soft points which you probably will want for buffalo at least for the first shot I think my first choices would be the TBBC or the SAF. My personal experience with the 2 latter bullets in 308, 338 and 375 has been very positive.

In Alaska I have shot quite a bit of game with the 458WM. I can drive the 350-X at about 2550 fps. This load is quite deadly on thin skinned game even at fairly long range.

Regards,

Mark

Geez. With all the demeaning posts and bad press by all the experts, I thought the 458 Winchester just bounced the bullets off any animal larger than a whitetail. Whats a guy to believe?

Dave