I was at a small gunshop the other day and picked up some 400gn Barnes Originals for a steal. I bet they had been on the shelf for quite a few years. I am having a hard time finding .458 Win loads for this bullet. The data I am finding is that this bullet is really for the 45-70. I just bought the .458 the other day and this will be the first time I have loaded for this caliber. I have shot .375 H&H for a while and this rifle is my first true big bore so even if they are lighter loads that would be fine. The big brown truck of happiness is also bringing me some 500gn Barnes Banded Solids and some 350gn Hornady Round Noses. I was going to pick up a can of IMR-4198 or RL-7 'cause loaddata.com says it works for both bullets. Any and all loads w/ those bullets would help tremendously. Also they are going to be loaded in a Ruger M77 Tang Safety. Thanx Guys
P.S. Once you get started down the big bore path there is no turning back LOL

Hey K

RL 7 and IMR 4198 are fine with 350s-400s. Get some RL 15 for the heavy 500s. RL 7 and IMR 4198 are a bit fast for the 500 Barnes. With the Barnes bullet very long for the 458 Winchester, you also might want to consider the 450 Barnes that can be run over 2200 fps in the 458 Win with RL 15. The 500 Barnes I can get 2130 fps in one of my 24 inch barrels, which is plenty to do anything you would want to do. Same with the 450 Barnes at 2200--more than enough to accomplish any mission.

Not much need to run the 350 Hornady past 2400 fps, they start to come apart at that velocity, better to keep them around 2200--2250 fps for great performance in 458 Winchester. IMR-4198 great for that bullet. The 400 Barnes keep them to 45/70 velocity for good performance-1600 fps or so. Another wonderful choice, and not very expensive is the Remington 405 bullet-extremely accurate, reasonable price, and excellent for smaller chores and practice at 1600 fps.

For serious thin skinned critters the 350 Barnes X and the 400 Swift A frame are excellent with RL 7.

Be happy to share more info if you want, drop me a line at michael458@earthlink.net

Hope this helps
Michael

rl7 or h335, and plan on starting with rem 405 loads, which are easier to find. at 2400, rem 405s and 400gr hawks DETONATE .. in fact, they come apart badly at anything over 2100 ...

these are unbonded "pure lead / pure copper" bullets, just held together with pressure, and are soft soft

think wicked great deer / hog plinker

Jeffe is 100% correct-the 405 Remingtons are explosive at velocities I find over 1800 fps. I have used them on critters up to bear and kudu, but anything bigger than deer sized keep those velocities to the low end, if they encounter bone at the higher velocities they will break up and not reach vitals. Wonderfully accurate at any velocity, and can be used in working up loads for other 400 gr bullets.
Michael

My standard load for 400 gr 458 bullets is 70.0 grs of IMR 3031. That is used with 400gr Kodiak bonded, Barnes X, and Speer hot-core. The speer is either the same as the Remmy 405 or dead similar. I have shot several animals with them and so long as they are smaller thin skinned types, you'll be fine. However, I have shot a great many into wet paper/plywood expansion boxes, 14" Oak logs, and 500 lb chunks of ice and every speer has failed miserably. The water barrel test only returns fragments of the core with the rear most part of the jacket turned inside out. The Barnes X is almost always recovered missing from one to all of the petals and the Kodiak is recovered in tact and often to over an inch in diameter. The load listed above with the Speer Bullets averages 2271fps through three rifles. One being a Ruger #1 and the other two both 24" barreled Mark X Mausers. I have not tested the speed of the Barnes or the Kodiak out of all three rifles but I find the Barnes to be slower than the Kodiak and the Kodiak to be slower than the Speer in the Ruger #1. I don't waste the Kodiak's anymore because I lost the number for Alaska Bullet works and can't find them on the web any longer. I also had some good warm weather results with Win 748 but the loads were night and day different at 20 below zero. The cases would come out of the chamber soot black because the pressure had dropped off to far. IMR 4198 is another great powder and so is RL-7.

Joe

Thank you for all the replys!!! I was looking at the box again and it says ".458 Win" right on the box so they may be very old. I was going to call Barnes and see what they had to say also. I was wondering if the 350gn round nose Hornady's would work well on thinner animals. Or if they are a little too tough for the task. Visions of a hog hunt are dancing in my head!!!! I might try to take a whitetail doe also just to say I did it! Safarikid told me the hollow points work well on turtles LOL! Thanx Again!!!! Some of those 405 remmy loads would be appreciated. (I promise if I blow myself up I wont send Robert Shapiro over
)!!!!

K
Drop me an email I will give you some super loads for those deer and hogs with that 350 Hornady.
Michael

I have had the 350 gr Hornady bullet break up in 100 lb spike bucks ...The 350 gr Speer Hot Cor bullet is a very good bullet .. If your Barnes Originals have the .049" jacket , then they arn,t bad .. But if they have the .032" jacket they are only GOOD at punching paper .......AAC 2230 is an excellent 458 Win mag powder ... H 4198 and 4895 are good 458 Win mag powders .... I never liked 3031 much .. I know alot of guys did ,but it seems I always had to over compress it ... 71 gr was a standard charge of 3031 , with a 500 gr bullet such as the 500 gr Hornady RN SP .. Which isn,t a bad bullet at all .........The 400 gr X bullet was one of the best .. I,ve thot of buying a couple hundred 450 gr TSX and having 50 gr cut off the base of them ....

my experience with the 350gr and 300gr hornady in the 450 marlin ... the 300gr HP BLOWS UP at nominal 2200fps, while the 350 acts like an expanding bullet.. however, when in a 456 winmag at 2500, the 350 shatters like ice

Jeffe

I have little to no experience with the 300s--but my experience with the 350 Hornady in 45/70, 458 Winchester and 458 Lott, you are 100% on the right track. In my experience I would not run the 350 Hornady past 2400 fps at max, and it is at it's best at 2200 fps or so. At the other end at 1600 fps impact velocity it does nothing, no expansion, no nothing.

Below is a re-post of mine in another .458 thread. The key with the Speer 400 and Remington 405 is to keep the velocities fairly low or they will break apart.

"I like 79.0 grains of IMR 4831 with a 215 primer and Remington 405 grain soft points at about 3.235" COL (rear cannelure). It clocks a hair over 1800 fps in my 20" .458 WM. It's light on the shoulder and cheap to shoot with bulk Remington bullets. As a bonus, it does a number on deer, black bear, and hogs."

4831 in a 458Win?

Yep, it's slow burning, but with a good crimp to hold it for a bit it will burn completely. I found the load on loaddata.com and gave it a run in my gun. It worked perfectly and does exactly what I need a reduced velocity load to do.

Sounds like it would be a fun load ..

Thanx!! I just got my brass today so I will be starting to load directly. Man are those 500gn Barnes solids huge!!!!!! I am like a kid at christmas.