This is a prototype .458/500-grain brass FN of which I have only one specimen.
It has a long base projection that is .458" in major diameter.
The flat base has only a minimal bevel or "break" on the edge,
so if it is jammed into the rifling, the length of that bevel is negligible when using it (loaded in reverse) to measure throat length.
This is another way to "slug" the throat, very quick and easy, and close enough in resolution for my purposes.
I reckon I can get within +/- 0.010" to reality.

The parallel-sided portion of the nose is 0.4485" in the minor diameter of the bullet.
That is of no importance for this method.
And, any flat-based, FN, solid bullet of copper or brass could be used, length not critical,
as long as the flat base has a relatively sharp edge, the sharper the better for accuracy.
Minimum rounding or beveling of the flat base is desired: NO BOAT TAIL OR REBATE OF BULLET BASE

1. Point the barrel of the rifle downward.
Drop the brass slug into the chamber,
flat base leading, i.e., bullet reversed,
and hear the pleasant "THUNK" as it jams into the end of the throat, gravity powered.
2. Then take a dummy cartridge, with FMJ solid bullet crimped tightly in place, and chamber it as far as possible,
until firm resistance is met in sliding the rifle's bolt forward. Apply maybe 5 pounds of forward pressure.
3. Take a 36"-long, 3/8" diameter, cold-rolled steel rod and slide it into the barrel from muzzle end,
while holding the rifle bolt forward against the dummy round and brass slug in the throat.
4. When the steel rod meets the flat base of the brass slug, apply about 5 pounds of pressure equally on the rifle bolt and the steel rod,
making sure their is no movement,
that all is steady and locked in place.
5. Mark the steel rod at the muzzle with a fine-point Sharpie (smallest available pen) or a scribe.
6. Withdraw the steel rod and eject the dummy FMJ round.
7. Use a 3/8" wooden dowel to tap the brass slug out of the throat, and remove the dowel and the slug from the .458-caliber rifle.
8. Close the bolt of the rifle on an empty chamber and leave the action cocked to avoid any chance of firing pin protrusion.
9. Slide the steel rod back into the barrel until it comes to rest with firm pressure against the breech bolt face.
10. Mark the rod a second time at the muzzle, carefully,
with bright light and your reading glasses as before, and you are ready to measure the throat.
The two marks give you the one measured distance between them which you need for calculating throat length.

The marks on the steel rod are measured from the muzzleward side of each mark.
The distance between those marks is the distance from breech bolt face to where the throat becomes .458-caliber.
Close enough.
Subtract the maximum brass length of the cartridge from that distance, and that gives you the length of throat from case mouth to bullet diameter of throat.
You can call that the "jump" distance for the .458-caliber bullet.

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.
Rip...

Using the "Brass-Slug&Steel-Rod" method, here are the throats I have measured so far:

1. .458 Win.Mag. Chimera WinCzechster ("Custom"): 0.745" Jump with 2.500" brass
(CZ .458 Win.Mag. barrel set back ~1/8" and re-chambered with a SAAMI .458 Win.Mag. reamer, installed on a Pre-'64 Winchester action.
The only explanation for this length of throat is that the pre-existing CZ .458 Win.Mag. throat was longer than 0.745" Jump,
or the most recent reaming exceeded SAAMI minimum of 0.6725" Jump with 2.500" brass.)

2. .458 Lott CZ 550 Magnum from CZ-USA (Factory): 0.840" Jump with 2.800" brass.
(SAAMI minimum throat for the .458 Lott is 0.2143" Jump with 2.800" brass.)
(If using 2.500" brass in this rifle: 1.140" Jump.)

3. .458 Lott re-chamber of .458 Win.Mag. Whitworth ("Custom"): 0.430" Jump when used with 2.800" brass
0.730" Jump when used with 2.500" brass
("Pre-existing Condition" of a .458 Win.Mag throat was not at all touched by a SAAMI .458 Lott reamer?
Barrel possibly set back by no more than one thread in re-chamber?
Unknown to me, will study the rifle beside an unaltered Whitworth .458 WinMag.)

4. .458 Win.Mag. Whitworth Mark X Express (Factory): 0.788" Jump with 2.500" brass.

Finn Aagaard always said that most factory .458 Win.Mag. rifles had a throat "jump" of about 3/4".
He also said that he thought the long throat was more of a mistake than the short case.

Either short case or long throat could be seen as a problem in isolation.
But in combination, they make magic, if you allow "LongCOL" loading with any magazine box length you like.
Maybe I do not differ with Saint Finn on that.
Maybe he thought that too?
He preferred the .458 Winchester Magnum for whenever the SHTF.

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.
Rip...

A friend had a .457"-diameter CEB 480-grain BBW#13 brass solid and reverse seated it.
He did find the end of the throat in his Heym .458 Win.Mag. double rifle.
The .001" skinnier bullet goes a distance of 0.0587" further into the leade than the .458-cal. bullet would,
so I have corrected his measurement here:



This is right in line with Saint Finn's rule of thumb: "About three-quarters of an inch of jump."

As long as the manufacturers of the .458 Win.Mag. exceed the SAAMI minimum throat spec, they are good to go.
That minimum throat jump is 0.6725".
That is the distance a .458"-diameter cylinder projection can travel from flush with case mouth (at maximum brass length of 2.500")
until it encounters a .458" diameter in the leade of the throat.

0.6725" of "throat jump" is minimum for the .458 Win.Mag.
0.2143" of "throat jump" is minimum for the .458 Lott.
This is according to SAAMI.
CZ-USA uses a Lott more than that on their .458 Lott. That exceeds the minimum required, by a Lott!
But I repeat myself ...


Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.
Rip...

Now I cannot stand it any longer.
I gotta go measure the throat on a gen-uu-wine South Carolina-made Super Grade M70 .458 Win.Mag.
She is giving me a come-hither telepathy.
I must go thither to the Safe Queen ...

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.
Rip...

By the Brass-Slug&Steel-Rod method,
my SC-made M70 .458 Win.Mag. has a throat of 0.675" Jump with 2.500" brass.

Meets the minimum required, exceeds it by only 0.0025.
Safe!
I was really sweating that.

They sure knew how to make them in South Carolina.
Hopefully they are doing as well in Portugal.

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.
Rip...

I was awakened from sleep by a nightmare about not being able to find the end of a .458 throat on a CZ rifle.
Sort of like that nightmare where you are running from some unknown terror but you never get anywhere.
Got up to post this as a precautionary tale.
I have not measured the throat on that CZ 550 Magnum that was re-chambered from .458 Win.Mag. to .458 Lott.
Nor on the CZ .458 Win.Mag. take-off barrel slated to be switched to the rifle to convert it back to .458 Win.Mag.
For the sake of THE MISSION, ken your throats as best ye' can.
Me throat-measuring tools and I are headed to the Spa for Wayward Rifles, ASAP.
I am lucky the Gunsmith broke a finger and hasn't gotten to it yet.
Now back to bed to toss and turn until the sun comes up.

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.
For the sake of THE MISSION, ken your throats as best ye' can.
Rip...

So RIP; Why I would want to mess with my successful loads in my old Whitworth I can't imagine. But if I did...what would I have to do to put a longer mag box in it?
Please tell me "can't find one" and "it requires much work."

I did a search and saved myself from temptation. I ain't changing anything!!

Fury- Too bad you don't have one of the Model 70 458 Wins that had a spacer in the magazine box. Removing it added .2" to potential cartridge length. Although, it sounds as that you aren't heartbroken at the prospect of leaving the Whitworth as-is. Good shooting!

Did CZ ever mark 550 barrels

458 Lott/
458 Win Mag

Or was this an aftermarket conversion?

I ended up buying this last night:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Item/721483284

I didn't notice until after I bought it but there's no cross bolts? Did CZ ever put cross bolts in the bedding? This thing's going out for a pillar bed job anyhow...

Early CZ 550 Magnum American Safaris had no crossbolts.
Even the early .505 Gibbs.
After they had to replace too many broken stocks they started crossbolting them.
The pre-American Lux stocks had one crossbolt behind the tang.



Marking of chambering looks like an aftermarket re-chamber, compared to what I have seen from CZ-USA:



When CZ-USA first started selling the .458 Lott,
the stamping had the "WIN.MAG." X-ed out (stamped over with Xs) and "LOTT" stamped in below it.
This was when the barrel stamping was on the top of the barrel instead of on left side of barrel.

The last one I bought in .458 Lott had this on the left side of the barrel (see picture above).

CAL. 458
LOTT

But yours might be a factory re-chamber, they could have marked them differently than what I have seen.

Hopefully your throat is that of a .458 Win.Mag. that has engulfed the throat of the .458 Lott within.
It's got to be better than my .458 Lott direct from CZ-USA. See above.


Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.

quote:

Originally posted by KY Nimrod:
Did CZ ever mark 550 barrels

458 Lott/
458 Win Mag

Or was this an aftermarket conversion?

I ended up buying this last night:

http://www.gunbroker.com/Item/721483284

I didn't notice until after I bought it but there's no cross bolts? Did CZ ever put cross bolts in the bedding? This thing's going out for a pillar bed job anyhow...

Yes. I saw one where the 458 Lott was actually marked below the woodline.

I need to try the 500-grain TSX with AA-2230 before winter gets here ...

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.

Mine is marked as shown in the picture. I purchased it used, with a synthetic stock, and it had made a trip to AHR.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RIP:




The last one I bought in .458 Lott had this on the left side of the barrel (see picture above).

Alf always supplies a good bit of knowledge that is fascinating! Explains RIP's Lott chamber!

yes he does

indeed-- a significant addition to the thread

ALF thanks --

RIP thanks---

for carrying the water for us all here


on the 458 win mag

good as it is ever going to get gun thread

nothing will ever come along that has an impact on --hunting-- africa and dangerous game --like the 458 win mag //did //is now// and// will have //in the future

lot of want- a bee-s // me tooo s //and well hell lots of us// could a done that //

guns shooters cartridges


thing is

the 458 win mag

has the history

was there

did it

and can still haul all the freight

you can fit in the truck

quote:

and can still haul all the freight

you can fit in the truck

Yup. That is roughly what I say to my son when he makes me watch one of those silly Jurassic Park movies and they start shooting at the dino's. Especially the ones with the open mouths towering up above the cowering shooter... "give me my .458 and a good flat nosed Barnes solid and we'd be grillin' Barney tonight" sort of thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Fury01:

quote:

and can still haul all the freight

you can fit in the truck

Yup. That is roughly what I say to my son when he makes me watch one of those silly Jurassic Park movies and they start shooting at the dino's. Especially the ones with the open mouths towering up above the cowering shooter... "give me my .458 and a good flat nosed Barnes solid and we'd be grillin' Barney tonight" sort of thing.

Yup.
That will work, even if restricted to 3.340" COL,
but I would use the 450-grain Barnes Banded brass solid and load it hot:
2300 to 2400 fps is easy with a 24" barrel.
That would be as good as it gets for T.rex perforation.
I would not try to brain them, brain so small.
Just shoot for heart lung area and maybe spine/neck.
Shoot early and shoot often.
The spinal target(s) would be much bigger than the brain when you consider the mischief that spinal bone fragmentation can cause.

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

quote:

Originally posted by Fury01:

quote:

and can still haul all the freight

you can fit in the truck

Yup. That is roughly what I say to my son when he makes me watch one of those silly Jurassic Park movies and they start shooting at the dino's. Especially the ones with the open mouths towering up above the cowering shooter... "give me my .458 and a good flat nosed Barnes solid and we'd be grillin' Barney tonight" sort of thing.

Yup.
That will work, even if restricted to 3.340" COL,
but I would use the 450-grain Barnes Banded brass solid and load it hot:
2300 to 2400 fps is easy with a 24" barrel.
That would be as good as it gets for T.rex perforation.
I would not try to brain them, brain so small.
Just shoot for heart lung area and maybe spine/neck.
Shoot early and shoot often.
The spinal target(s) would be much bigger than the brain when you consider the mischief that spinal bone fragmentation can cause.

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.

There’s a post somewhere of a guy who shot an elephant with a .458 450gr flat nose Barnes and as I remember it went in the front and ended up well toward the rear end.

stradling and ALF,
Thanks for the contributions to The Mission.
Love that stream-of-consciousness prose by stradling,
but I have to take issue with some attempted "shrewd awakenings" in Alf's post below. See my red letters:

quote:

Originally posted by ALF:
The 458 Lott chambering in CZ rifles is a aftermarket offering by CZ USA where 458 Win barrels are reamed to 458 Lott.

The Czech Republic is a signatory to CIP and per CIP rules their 458 Win Barrels are cut to CIP spec.

This means a chamber dimension 64.01 mm long (minimum) and a throat dimension 28.15mm long ie a total length of 92.16mm

The CIP dimension for the 458 Lott gives a chamber length of 71.37mm minimum and a throat of 8.10mm = 78.47mm minimum

The May 15, 2002 CIP standard for the .458 Lott was far different and actually showed a throat identical to that of the .458 Win.Mag, stuck on the end of a 2.8" case.
So what date did CIP revise their standard to the shorter throat like the current SAAMI standard?

Both the .458 Winchester Magnum and the .458 Lott are AMERICAN inventions.
We ought to look to SAAMI not CIP for any standards related to them.

The 2002 CIP standard gave a 0.300" longer throat than the way .458 Lotts were made initially, even by Jack Lott:
Use a reamer for the Lott that lengthened the chamber for brass, but did not touch the throat area, no enlargement there.
The original CIP throat standard would have been 0.300" longer than that, I repeat for emphasis.

This explains the findings of factory-made CZ 550 Magnum rifles for the .458 Lott
that have throat jumps as long as they are on the CZ .458 Win.Mag. rifles.
They were using an earlier CIP standard.
Hopefully they have gotten with the program now, and CZ-USA now uses the current SAAMI standard for the .458 Lott.

Therefore a CIP spec 458 Win barrel reamed with a 458 Lott reamer will clean up the chamber but not the throat so you still have 20.79 mm throat to play with ! Thats plenty given that before banded barnes or other banded monos' the standard 500 gr offerings all had a cannelure groove around 11.6mm ie 1 caliber length

This fact has had heavy emphasis previously, throughout this thread.

So I don't get the hoopla of loading long on the Win and not being able to do the same on the Lott.


There are occurrences of fact that are not intuitive at first blush.
There occurs in special situations (such as with the 500-grain Barnes TSX with 5 cannelure locations) where you can load that bullet with 2.5" brass to 3.780" COL and it works great through the magazine of the CZ 550 Magnum.
However, that same bullet in 2.8" brass can only be loaded to 3.730" COL, using the available cannelures.
Set it on the next available cannelure and it is too long to work through the magazine of the CZ 550 Magnum.
A small but definite victory in practicality for the .458 Win.Mag. versus the .458 Lott.
Of course you could add your own cannelures or seat without a crimp (bad idea in these cartridges)
and load as long as you like, especially if you have a 2002-spec CIP throat on your .458 Lott: as long as that on the SAAMI .458 Win.Mag.
But there are quickly diminishing returns on that for the .458 Lott, as with the .458 Express 3-Inch.
Magazine length especially is the limit.
The only hoopla is that the .458 Win.Mag. loaded to same COL as the .458 Lott will perform equally or a little better.
The .458 Win.Mag. is longer in length for the breech-bolt-face-to-.458"-diameter-in-the-leade dimension
(I love those hyphenated, run-on adjectives.)
than is the .458 Lott by current SAAMI standards.
Forget CIP. They are irrelevant.

Back in the day before the Lott the most commonly utilized conversion of the 458 Win to a Watt's or later Lott was the ZKK 602 ! In our world at least . The 458 ZKK's were relatively cheap and they were plentiful ! It was easy to do because the 602 had the mag box length and capacity and it had that long 458 Win throat !
Any one with a reamer could do it !

Jack Lott did exactly that, reaming by hand, for the first ever .458 Lott.
Watt a copy-cat!


Just for clarity:

The minimum data as specified by CIP are submitted by the lawful owners of the cartridge and some manufacturers will then submit their ammo for homologation or standardization

FORGET CIP. SAAMI IS THE STANDARD HERE.

For the 458 Win we see that Federal, Barnes, Hornady and Norma submitted their ammo for homologation through various CIP designated proof houses in England and Europe

For the 458 Lott we see Barnes Hornady and Norma through various proof houses in Europe

I have perfected the "Brass-Slug&Steel-Rod" technique of throat measurement.
I have tested 3 different "factory" CZ 550 Magnum .458 Win.Mag. rifles and gotten identical results to within 0.005" for the THROAT JUMP.

My .458 Win.Mag. CZ 550 Magnum take-off barrel,
as well as the .458 Win.Mag. CZ 550 Magnum .458 Win.Mag. that was converted to .458 Lott,
both have a 0.875" Throat Jump if using 2.5" brass.

This is the same Throat Jump that CZ put on their .458 Lott rifles, by CIP standard of 2002.
If you exceed the minimum then you have met the standard!
That is slop that exceeds the 0.6725" SAAMI minimum for the .458 Win.Mag Throat Jump by over 0.2000"!!!!

I am forgetting about using CZ take-off barrels.
The WinCzechster throat was corrected enough to be very accurate by setting back a CZ barrel by only 1/8"
and re-chambering it with a Clymer .458 Win.Mag. reamer.
I got lucky that time.
But that is cutting it close, too close to risk another rifle on that ragged edge.

Based on this experience,
I will be happy with a throat jump up to 0.750" in a .458 Win.Mag. No more than that.

I will be getting a McGowen .458-caliber barrel for any future .458 Win.Mag. builds, to be chambered with a SAAMI .458 Win.Mag. reamer,
hoping to approach a THROAT JUMP of 0.6725",
The magazine box length will be longer than 3.4 inches.

Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.

Factoid review to start page 29:

One of my favorite little differences of SAAMI versus CIP:

CIP MAPs:
4300 bar for .458 Win.Mag.
4300 bar for .458 Lott
(i.e., both have same MAP of about 62,350 PSI)

SAAMI MAPs:
60,000 PSI for .458 Winchester Magnum
62,500 PSI for .458 Lott
(i.e., the Lott needs higher pressure to help it along)


Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

AAMI MAPs:
60,000 PSI for .458 Winchester Magnum
62,500 PSI for .458 Lott
(i.e., the Lott needs higher pressure to help it along)

Page 29 Ron. I kicked of page 28 but I will allow you page 30. Of course I could beat you with ease due to time difference

With your pressure numbers I think that just highlights to different view points on the 458 Lott or for that matter, the 450 Ackley.

First up is about getting the 2300 or 2300 plus with 500 grainers.

The second view to me is the most important and that is getting 2100 plus with the 458 Win/Lott and 450 Ackley.

Personally, I think having a 458 Win with 3.6" magazine and seating the likes of a 500 grain Hornady way out so the cannelure is in mid air just looks like shit. Also, what if you did want to crimp those bullets?

quote:

Originally posted by Mike McGuire:

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

SAAMI MAPs:
60,000 PSI for .458 Winchester Magnum
62,500 PSI for .458 Lott
(i.e., the Lott needs higher pressure to help it along)

Page 29 Ron. I kicked off page 28 but I will allow you page 30. Of course I could beat you with ease due to time difference

OK, whatever you can add here is appreciated. It is a start on your rehab from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.
Sometimes a religious conversion is all that can help with such character problems. Pray to Saint Finn.

With your pressure numbers I think that just highlights to different view points on the 458 Lott or for that matter, the 450 Ackley.

So, surely a .458 Win.Mag. can also be loaded to 62,500 PSI.

First up is about getting the 2300 or 2300 plus with 500 grainers.

I will load some 500-grainers with AA-2230 next, for the .458 Win.Mag. WinCzechster.
COL will be 3.780" with the Barnes TSX crimped so conveniently and practically on the 5th cannelure.
You cannot do that with 2.800" Lott brass and make it fit in a CZ 550 Magnum box.
If you use 2.500" brass, it will feed through a CZ 550 Magnum box very nicely.

The second view to me is the most important and that is getting 2100 plus with the 458 Win/Lott and 450 Ackley.

Yep, very easy to do with all three of those.

Personally, I think having a 458 Win with 3.6" magazine and seating the likes of a 500 grain Hornady way out so the cannelure is in mid air just looks like shit. Also, what if you did want to crimp those bullets?

Mike,
You can turn a cannelure on those old roundnose 500-grainers and seat them just 0.300" deep on top of a powder that fills the case.
Makes a COL somewhere around 3.55" IIRC.
Yes, looks like you say, but it is a way to hotrod on the cheap.
I have about half-a-thousand of the old Hornady RNSPs and will eventually find a plinking use for them.
Better: 500-grain TSX. Hoping for +2300 fps from the WinCzechster.
My CZ .458 Win.Mag. is going to need a stainless McGowen #5 sporter, 25" length, 1:14" twist, and hopefully a true .458"-groove diameter.
3.8" box length!

If bullet length and box length issues were nonexistent, i.e., if you designed your own VLD, long, heavy bullets,
and used them in a single-shot,
the SAAMI .458 Win.Mag. would allow a longer COL than the SAAMI .458 Lott.
Then there is the old CIP .458 Lott of 2002 spec ...


Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.

A 21-Gun Salute to the .458 Winchester Magnum:




Anyone who claims the .458 Winchester Magnum is ineffective has either not tried one, or is suffering from .458 Winchester Magnum Derangement Syndrome.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:

Mike,

You can turn a cannelure on those old roundnose 500-grainers and seat them just 0.300" deep on top of a powder that fills the case.
Makes a COL somewhere around 3.55" IIRC.
Yes, looks like you say, but it is a way to hotrod on the cheap.

Ron, Not everyone is equipped to turn a cannelure. Although can't you buy a cannelure tool. What about Lee factory crimp ... but I guess that would not work on steel jacket solids or bronze bullets. However a bit more complicated than just having a 458 Lott or 450 Ackley.

I do think Ron that for your next hobby horse thread you need to forget this plain Jane stuff like the 458 Win and return to the exotic stuff. I think I would wrap this one up when it hits Page 30.

Is there something like the 375 Wby. As we both know this has the H&H beat on all counts except I suppose a top end wood custom gun, although I you could have one done in 375 Wby and 375 H&H put on the barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike McGuire:

Ron, Not everyone is equipped to turn a cannelure. Although can't you buy a cannelure tool. What about Lee factory crimp ... but I guess that would not work on steel jacket solids or bronze bullets.

I use extensively the Lee Factory Crimp die on several cartridges, including the almighty .458WM with the Barnes TSX (old design, no cannelures) with great results. Bullet not moving at all.

PS: with RIP at the helm of this superb encyclopedia my bet is to reach page 100 anytime soon.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike McGuire:

Is there something like the 375 Wby. As we both know this has the H&H beat on all counts except I suppose a top end wood custom gun, although I you could have one done in 375 Wby and 375 H&H put on the barrel.

You loose a little velocity firing 375 H&H magnum rounds in a 375 Weatherby chambered rifle IIRC.

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood 12-6-2017,
sunny and 46 degrees F, with a 12 mph wind at 0 degrees, straight into my face:



The foam-rubber blocks are "sorbo" pads used for elbow rests, and one used as a sissy pad.
Rifle sits high on bags to make recoil easier,
with upright shooter posture.

The twenty-one-gun salute went off without a hitch, not as a funeral ceremony for the .458 Win. Mag.,
but as a celebration of its continuing reign,
as the past and future king of DGRs,
it just keeps getting better.
Twenty-one rifle shots fired:



The primers are all about equally flat, and no funny business.
Any black marks aroung the primers are Sharpie marker ink, not leaky primers.
This was the second time this brass has been fired.

There were three bullet holes here, but the third one passed through torn paper on the right side of the group,
leaving some extra smudging on the paper flap,
parting the paper like Moses parted the Red Sea:

Again three bullet holes here, on a 50-yard target,
one of the three hard to see because they are in a "bug hole" group this time:



The Nikon SlugHunter keeps on ticking.
I decided to re-zero it,
using the first three shots to do that, with the 77.0-grain powder charges:
24 clicks right and 16 clicks up and I left scope settings there for the remainder 18 shots,
with the 78.0 through 83.0-grain loads.