What's a good source for .458 Winchester Magnum reloading data?

My Sierra and Hornady books, plus a very old Lyman handbook, give only a few types of powders and little bullet selection.

Other dribs and drabs like Elmer Kieth's gunnotes talk about a specific load but I don't get anything for 400 or 450 grain bullets.

What type of bullets do you want to shoot? I always get the bullet manufacturers books. There is good data in Barnes, Speer and A-squares manuals. Finn Aagard had a good writeup in Handloader, I think back in 97.

I haven't used these loads myself but they are directly out of the Speer #12 manual to give you something to start with...

400gr JFN/CCI250primer/W-W cases

AA2230 powder Starting: 78.0gr = 2290fps
Max Load: 82.0gr = 2429fps (compressed charge)

RL7 powder Starting: 70.0gr = 2190fps
Max Load: 74.0gr = 2316fps

You should be able to substitute most 400gr bullets with this info.

Thanks for the replies. I probably don't know what kind of bullets I want to shoot until I see the ballistics but 400 and 450 grain would be right up there. I like the IMR powders and Hodgdon extreme powders, because the latter do not change pressure at higher temperatures. I would think H4895, Varget, maybe 3031 would be useful powders with these bullets. Maybe I have to get a few more manuals.

Indy,

Just get the "Loadbook" for the .458 Win Mag and it'll save you ALOT of money compared to buying all those manuals... It's about $8-10 and you'll have numerous sources right in hand.

http://www.loadbooks.com/

Indy:

Don't forget to visit the powder mfg websites. Most have load data on them.

When you decide on bullets, contact them directly for load data. Most will give you a few suggestions. Barnes, Woodleigh, GS Custom have been very helpful to me.

By the way, I load for my .458WM and am currently using 450 grain GS Custom Flat Point solids with 65 grains of H4198 developing 2230-2240 fps with no pressure signs and only very slight powder compaction. Results are for my rifle and may vary in yours. H4198 is temperature insensitive. www.hodgdon.com

Good Luck.

RCG