So, finally after 30+ years, I have my bolt action 45-70/450 Alaskan/450 Marlin - (equivalent plus). Ballistically, this rifle does anything any of the rimmed 45 cal or the 450 Marlin will do, plus a whole lot more, starting with and most significantly it feeds 100%, slick as a well lubed whore.

I just got started testing my Ruger 458WM, which I got back from PacNor last week. This is a project that had some setbacks, and actually has been in the works, in one form or another, for over 30 years. The idea is for a bolt action somethingerother in .458 (45-70, 450 Alaskan, 450 Marlin, or 458 WM) to shoot light loads - cast and jacketed - and also something to serve as a moose getter, and bear thumper too, with heavier 400gr loads.

In the mid-80's, I got two Siamese '98 actions, one for parts. I was going to have one barreled in 45-70, then discovered the 450 Fuller/Alaskan and decided to go with that. Well, along the way a gunsmith screwed up the action, fortunately in hindsight, so that ended that project and I got rid of all the stuff/parts.

Then I got a factory 458 and had it modified to suit me, and shot it for several years, took a moose, worked very well. I've missed it since selling it.

Meanwhile the 450 Marlin was introduced. The barrel on the rifle shown below was first chambered in 450 Marlin and installed by Pac Nor on a short action Ruger 77 MKII. That short action was factory barreled in 350 Rem Mag, so I thought surely the 450 would be no problem to feed, so I had the barrel installed before thoroughly testing feeding. That was a mistake - I was wrong. Even after a lot of alteration to the feed ramp, it still would jam, especially with the flat nose bullets. It would have worked OK with those new pointy bullets from Hornady, and perhaps the 300 gr Barnes TSX, but I decided to get rid of it, and I pulled the barrel and kept it, but sold the short action, and the stock.

Then I picked up a Ruger stainless in 338 WM, and it wasn't especially accurate, so I had Pac Nor install the .458 barrel on the replacment Ruger MKII action. Pac Nor set the barrel back a little to adj for the narrower belt of the .458, and reamed the chamber to .458 WM. I asked for a short throat, which is what they stamped on the barrel. Looking at the face of the receiver and the bolt lugs, it's obvious that PacNor lapped and squared things when they installed the barrel.

I don't have any factory loads, so I don't know if they will chamber, but I suspect they will. I'm using handloads. My intent with this rifle was/is to develop two loads. One using 405 flat nose bullets subsonic, and the other using 400 gr (swift hopefully) at close to full blast. The light load is for fun and for deer & hog hunting, and the 400 gr Swift for use around here in case I draw a tag for moose, and for carying when hiking the trails in case I run into an irrate bear. It's light, short and handy, and I don't have to worry about scratches and dents or rain, or salt spray when boating.

This barrel is 20" long with a 20" twist rate, which is standard for the 45-70, and so far my theory that it would be great with 350-405 gr bullets seems to be correct. Another thing which is perhaps the main thing for me is that it feeds the flat nose bullets very well. They just glide into the chamber, and the action has not been modified at all. Nor has the safety or the trigger, which is slightly heavy and crisp - just right. I'm very happy about that.

I'm not pleased with those Warne rings (bricks). The scope rotates as the rings are tightened making it difficult to align the cross hairs. Plus they sit slightly higher than necessary for the 1x4 Leupold. I sure wish Leupold would start making the 3x fixed power scope again, in full length tube, with that long eye relief - not the compact or ultralite scope - but just like the old ones, but with improved lenses and coatings and adjustments.

Many of you traditionalists will turn your noses up at the Hogue stock, the lack of iron sights, and the lack of a barrel band sling stud. Fact is I already had the Hogue stock, and it's paid for, and it was already opened up for the barrel contour, and it's a drop in, and practically impervious to Alaska conditions - so what's not to like about that? Also, I don't have to wait months for a gunsmith to finish a stock, I can go shoot now. I just don't use iron sights, and the sling stud doesn't bother me where it is.

I'm shooting some old 405 Winchester 45-70 bullets that I have a good supply of. The two powders I've tried are Trail Boss (21 gr) and SR4759 (29 gr). I think I like the Trail Boss best, mostly because it fills the case just below the base of the seated bullet. The 4759 can be double charged.

The velocity with the SR 4759 is close to 1375 fps, and the Trail Boss is 1070 fps, which I think is subsonic.

I think the Trail Boss load, suppressed, would be a lot of fun to use for thumping hogs down South. The energy of a 405gr .458 bullet starting at 1070fps has about the same energy at 100 yds as a 44 mag has at the muzzel.

The targets shown were each two shot groups, just getting on paper, and my initial test to see if the load is a keeper. The first two groups are with SR4759, and the last two are with Trail Boss.