who makes the most aerodynamic bullet for the 458? I am looking to practice longrange with my 458 winmag. (400 yards-600yards)

I know the cartridge was not made for this and that there are better cartridges but I am experimenting.

I am presently shooting BarnesX. tried 300gr, 500gr. will be testing 400, and 450grainers.

would be nice if nosler made a Ballistic tip.

Jensen lists a 400 gr bullet in .458", I believe it is the most aerodynamic.

Your best bet may be some of the cast bullets the BP crowd uses for long range target work.

The most aerodynamic bullet in the .458" arena is the Lost River Ballistics bullet. It has a BC of .470

http://www.lostriverballistic.com./LRB_Start.htm

Try GS Custom:

www.gscustom.co.za

...and look under "HV bullets"

According to my Load from a Disk software, the following bullets have good BC's:

Barnes 400 grain X S .457
Barnes 450 grain X S .488

shiflan

Dr John..not to get off the subject, but how did those 500 Gr Hornady solids shoot out of your rifle?

old4x4,

the hornady bullets are 500gr softpoint round nose.
here is my story.....
I had a rife built out of a rem 1917 action. 26" barrel, gass bedded, mercury recoil reducer, 2-7 leupold varII. shot terrible. I tried the 440gr cast performance hard cast bullets using their load data. 8-12" groups at 100yards. I was EXTREMELY dissapointed. so, I loc-tited all screws holding my scope and free floated the barrel.
shot those 500gr RN bullets. (70gr of Varget). I should be getting somewhere around 2150f/s with the extra barrel lenght.
at 50 yards.....first group....3 shots....1/2" group. I was shocked and very very happy.
then shot 300gr Barnes x. was worried that the short bullet would not perform. 3/4" group at 100 yards. now very happy. I really wanted the 300 grainers to work because I will be using this for deer and also wanted to extend the range.travelling at around 2850 f/s. should shoot flat out to 300 yards. good enough for me.

so I love this rifle.

Dr. John,
Your experience with lead bullets matches my own. I know no one that has been able to get decent let alone good groups with lead bullets from a 458 Win Mag.

Have you shot those 300gr X bullets at long range yet? I would be very interested to hear how they group at 400 yards.

Todd E

Woodleigh also make a range of .458 bullets, some with a high B.C.
I've used their 400gn Protected Point that is very spitzer like for a .458. Worked well on camel too.

www.woodleighbullets.com.au/catlog5.html

RJW

The 500 gr. Barnes X has a B.C. of .526 and would be at or near the top when it come to aerodynamic 458 bullets.

I have not shot the 300 grainers out to 400 yards yet. once the weather gets acceptable I will.
I had contacted Barnes and they were good enough to sell me an assorted package of X bullets (400,450,500, and 600gr originals) I will be trying all of these soon. the 500grainers I tried. same accuracy as the 300 grain bullet. but I am looking for a flatter trajectory so I will be working on the other weights. so far I like the 300gr bullet.
the only way I got the 440gr hard cast bullets to shoot great was to slow down the velocity. I used 30-35gr of alliant 2400. little clover leaf at 50yards. I was just shooting off the rounds with a leupold 2-7. this made the rifle nice to shoot. should be a great 100-150yard cartridge for deer.

the more I play with this cartridge, the more I like it. very versatile.

I used to have a win mod70 safari express in 458 win mag. I got slammed in the forehead (off the bench) more often than I wanted to with that rifle (topped with a leupold 1-4). was not heavy enough. this new rifle shoots more accurately I believe because I never worry about getting slammed.

why don't more rifles come with 26" barrels? especially the 458?

I have been wondering the same question. NEI handtools has a mould for a 600 grain VLD-flat base. For a stainless Ruger #1-H, I have been considering rebarreling to .458 Lott for its extra 0.3" of freebore, when needed with 2.5" brass. I also wonder if 1:14 twist works. I'd like to play with subsonic loads as well as 500 meter targets.