Does anyone out there have any experence with the .458 win mag on bears or any big game for that matter. .

Tanoose,

Not with the .458 WM but it's little brother the .450 Marlin. With it I have taken 3 wild boars(220 to 315 lbs.), Alaskan Caribou(230 yards), Moose(165 yards) and Black Bear(175 yards and just over 400 lbs.) all with one shot each. I used 350 gr. Barnes X bullets with very good results. My brother in-law used it to take his Brown Bear(110 yards) using three shots but the last one was an insurance shot. The .458 WM would be even better in my opinion. Lawdog

Phil Shoemaker, a long-time Alaskan guide and writer of a regular column for Rifle magazine, uses the ugliest .458 Win. Mag. rifle I have ever seen as back up on brown bear hunts.

It's definitely more gun than necessary, since many, many brownies have been taken with .30-06 level cartridges and rifles, but so what?

As someone once said, with critters like that, there ain't no such thing as too much gun!! Use it and have fun!

Tanoose,

This subject has created some very long threads and this one may be one before it ends.

Anyway in my experience shooting caribou, moose, buffalo and elephant with the 458 I have not found it lacking. It worked well for me with the 350 X bullet right through 500 gr. Trophy Bonded solids. Handloading of course is the trick but there is nothing wrong with the cartridge. It just works. Maybe the 458 Lott is better but not by a large margin.

458 Lott by a wide margin

Wide Margin equals three tenths of an inch?

The .458 is based on a straight, standard length belted case with moderate body taper that measures 2.5" in length. It has the standard .532" magnum rim diameter, which is also the diameter of the case at the belt. The cartridge is 3.34" in overall length. The SAAMI maximum average pressure is 53,000 cup, or 62,000 psi by the piezo transducer method.

The .458 Lott uses a straight walled magnum case. Its dimensions include a rim diameter of .532 inch, a head diameter of .513 inch, a neck diameter of .481 inch and a case length of 2.80 inches. Overall cartridge length is 3.6 inches. Rifling twist is specified as one turn in 10 inches. Maximum average pressure is 53,701 cup or 62,409 psi.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/450Watts.htm

This one is interesting too:

Whats Wrong with the .458 Win?

[ 09-10-2003, 05:54: Message edited by: Fish Springs ]

The margin is 2-300 fps (less if using the "high energy" or "heavy magnum" type loadings in .458 Win. Mag.). I much prefer the Lott. But for bears when the shooting is done at the right ranges, the difference, IMO, is not terribly significant

[ 09-10-2003, 06:54: Message edited by: mrlexma ]