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I like a sourdough post with a ghost ring peep. About the only sight I dislike more than a square notch rear with post front is a deep narrow V with a bear front. A friend of mine just loves square notch rear with post front. And he shoots well with them. I don't! I'm also not too keen on rounded front beads. Usually I file them flat and sloped toward the top. Our sun is usually lower on the horizon and a round bead can leave part of the bead in a shadow. It can really throw a shot off. Phil Shoemaker : "I went to a .30-06 on a fine old Mauser action. That worked successfully for a few years until a wounded, vindictive brown bear taught me that precise bullet placement is not always possible in thick alders, at spitting distances and when time is measured in split seconds. Lucky to come out of that lesson alive, I decided to look for a more suitable rifle." | |||
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To the .458 Win. deniers, this guy would be no saint. They would probably say he was a prostitute for Winchester:   The early Post-'63 pushfeed M70 .458 Win. still had the "African" rear sight, on a 22" barrel. GUNS magazine way-back "Classic Issues" (1955-1968) can be found online at: https://gunsmagazine.com/class...s-magazine-editions/  Rip ... | |||
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Thanks for the Guns magazine link to their old issues. I used to like one of the guys who wrote a lot of their European hunting articles but could never remember his name. I have a 1965 .338 Winchester m70 that doesn't look much different than Ommanney's 458 though obviously it's not the African model. Regardless of the stories about the early post 64's it's always been an excellent rifle, just not too pretty. But it functions flawlessly. Roger ___________________________ I'm a trophy hunter - until something better comes along. *we band of 45-70ers* | |||
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Cougarz, Welcome, my pleasure. There is more material for THE MISSION to be found in those GUNS "Classic Issues." Why, a couple of articles in the very issue pictured above are MISSION RELATED. Rip ... | |||
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I will start off page 54 with a "Classic." Rip ... | |||
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This classy guy is the author of the classic article that follows, from GUNS, January 1965:  | |||
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Proper use of the .458 Win. is discussed below:  | |||
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From same issue, further description of other proper uses of the .458 Win. Lookie there! A John Buhmiller muzzle brake:  | |||
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Excellent read ! Thank you for posting them up. ! I guess if all ya got is 3031 then I suppose. I'm real glad we now have 2230 ! Phil Shoemaker : "I went to a .30-06 on a fine old Mauser action. That worked successfully for a few years until a wounded, vindictive brown bear taught me that precise bullet placement is not always possible in thick alders, at spitting distances and when time is measured in split seconds. Lucky to come out of that lesson alive, I decided to look for a more suitable rifle." | |||
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I'm behind times, I suppose. When I was developing loads for the 458 Hercules Reloder 7 produced the best performance. Maybe I should try something new, but then... | |||
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CTF, Welcome, my pleasure, for THE MISSION. Yep, 2230 is the one. I was just using BENCHMARK as a better IMR-3031 to break in Alderella Ruger gently. Also BENCHMARK serves as a benchmark to beat with AA-2230 in the .458 Win. Rip ... | |||
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Ray B, Jack Lott thought RL-7 was the cat's meow in the .458 Win. If only he could have had the new and improved, thermo-ballistically-independent AA-2230 back then ... Rip ... | |||
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https://gunsmagazine.com/class...s-magazine-editions/ GUNS magazine 1955-1968 "Classic Issues" ought to contain some more chatter about the golden age of the .458 Win., encompassing as it does, 1956 to Post-'63. Will take a look, for THE MISSION. Rip ... | |||
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Here is an interesting addition to the sub-thread "and if not 458, then what?": From another thread, by a 458 saint:
Hmmm. 416 Ruger. Wha'd'ya know? There is something appealing and practical in the 416 Ruger. +-+-+-+-+-+-+ "A well-rounded hunting battery might include: 500 AccRel Nyati, 416 Rigby or 416 Ruger, 375Ruger or 338WM, 308 or 270, 243, 223" -- Conserving creation, hunting the harvest. | |||
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416Tanzan, I am convinced! The .416 Ruger is a good choice for backup to the .458 Win. The 20"-barreled Hawkeye Alaskan stainless version in a Zytel "canoe paddle" stock weighs exactly 7 pounds empty, with the factory open sights.  Hornady factory 400-grain DGS ammo gave exactly 2350 fps MV in my 20-incher, at 77*F. Same ammo gave exactly 2401 fps in a 24"-barreled Ruger No.1 at 67*F.  That .416/330-gr HV can surely be handloaded fast enough to give it a slight ranging advantage over the .458/400-grainer at 2500 fps, from my handloaded-with-AA-2230, 25"-barreled .458 Win. The shorter-barreled, lighter-weight .416 Ruger will certainly make a better African Sheep Rifle than my M70 404 Jeffery that is 8.5 pounds with 24" barrel and only a little more powerful than the .416 Ruger. The .416 Ruger is redundant enough in ballistics for backup to the greater muzzle whomp of the .458 Win. There are certainly worse choices. I will have to give my .416 Ruger 20-incher a nickname after another Alaskan glacier I have knocked about a bit: .416 Ruger: Tina Ruger, the Tazlina Tickler .458 Win.: Alderella Ruger, the Knik Knocker I sheep hunted near Tazlina Glacier once, landing in One Shot Lake long ago, Super Cub on floats. It was in a volcanic-looking mountain bowl, open on one quadrant for take-off and landing, like through a keyhole. One shot was all you got at take-off. Sheep and sheephunter have to come out of there in two separate trips by the bush pilot. Quite a tickler. Rip ... | |||
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https://gunsmagazine.com/class...s-magazine-editions/ A cursory perusal of the Classic Issues of GUNS: Earliest mention I found was by Colonel Charles Askins, our favorite "Unrepentant Sinner" of yore. His article was entitled "HE LOOKED AS BIG AS A TANK" in the October 1957 issue. Charlie was a leftie. He used a lever action, M71 Winchester, .450 Alaskan (.458/.348 WCF built by Harold Johnson himself) with unspecified 400-grain bullet at alleged 2140 fps, for 4110 ft-lbs muzzle energy. He loaned his right-handed .458 Win. M70 African to The General, his huntin' buddy, somewhere near Cambodia/Laos/Viet Nam ... Askins started shooting at close range and after eight shots The General shot the lead-poisoned gaur twice in the chest and once in the head, with the .458 Win.   8 X 400 grains = 3200 grains 3 x 510 grains = 1530 grains Total weight of bullets for those 11 shots = 4730 grains, not 4630 grains. Rip ... | |||
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GUNS was pretty slow on the uptake of the .458 Win. A few more mentions of it came over the next two years, no advertising of the .458 Win. in the mag. Then a two-page ad for Winchester rifles in Septemebr 1959 mentioned the "famous Model 70, available in ten calibers, including the hot new .338 Winchester Magnum, and a variety of styles -- from $129.95* ... All available on the Winchester Time Payment Plan. * Prices subject to change without notice." Of course the price of the .458 Win. African would have been a little more than the base price. Rip ... | |||
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I remember reading about that. Something Askins wrote ( don't remember where) . He blamed the lowish SD of the 400 gr bullets. Iirc. If he had something like a 400 gr GSC Flat nose solid , CEB Flat nose solid or North Fork flat nose or Cup Point. Chances are he would have burned ALOT less powder. Phil Shoemaker : "I went to a .30-06 on a fine old Mauser action. That worked successfully for a few years until a wounded, vindictive brown bear taught me that precise bullet placement is not always possible in thick alders, at spitting distances and when time is measured in split seconds. Lucky to come out of that lesson alive, I decided to look for a more suitable rifle." | |||
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Now your back to the Copper Basin  Home of the late Andy Runyon. A strong advocate of the " Fast Forties" Somehow he managed to cram 3 grains more IMR4064 into a 416 Remington case than I or a friend could ever figure out how to get into that case. He lived at Lake Louise. Which if your on the Lake Louise road. You can see Taz lake. Phil Shoemaker : "I went to a .30-06 on a fine old Mauser action. That worked successfully for a few years until a wounded, vindictive brown bear taught me that precise bullet placement is not always possible in thick alders, at spitting distances and when time is measured in split seconds. Lucky to come out of that lesson alive, I decided to look for a more suitable rifle." | |||
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In the days when the 458 was introduced the makers of guns and ammunition displayed a significant aversion and denigration to handloading. the apparent position of manufacturers was that handloading was done to save money with the implication that only those without means to purchase factory ammunition were the ones that would be handloading. With this position the gunmakers narrowed the marketing niche to those few that would be hunting dangerous game. this significantly reduced the perceived market for their M70 African 458. the only thing that encouraged Winchester was the surge in interest of African Safaris made possible by the increased incomes of Americans during the 1950s. Later the gun/ammo makers realized that handloading resulted in increased components use rather than decreased factory ammunition sales and that it was handloading that increased the utility and types of use available to owners of magnum rifles. No longer was the 458 Win Mag limited to familiarization firings then a few rounds fired at dangerous game. Handloading opened a new world of opportunities for the rifle and with it expanded sales of both the rifles and ammunition. The increased sales of components by companies such as Sierra and Speer were noticed by Winchester and Remington and this led to opening their sales of components as well as loaded ammunition. And the circular progression of heavy magnum rifles had begun. The rifles had more usefulness because of expanding loading options, which caused increased rifle sales, which caused increased ammo/components sales, which caused... | |||
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CTF, The Chugach Mountains are a huge wonderland, and a tiny little corner of Alaska. Andy Runyon liked those .416/300-grain Barnes X-bullets at +2800 fps from a .416 Remington for bear, eh? I'd prefer the .416/330-grain GSC HV at +2700 fps from the Tazlina Tickler. Great Alaskan Sheep Rifle! Maybe .416Tanzan will be along shortly with the load data. Rip ... | |||
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Ray B, Good point about the attitude of gun&ammo making firms toward handloading in the 1950's, and still true to some extent now, though much less so. Overall much enlightened now. Handloading was illegal in most of Africa back then, was illegal in Botswana last time I was there, though RSA allowed it. And then the advertising in the mags, correlating to the featuring of the guns&ammo of the makers is interesting to watch play out, as mentioned earlier. Rip ... | |||
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https://gunsmagazine.com/class...s-magazine-editions/ A cursory perusal of the Classic Issues of GUNS: Next, a veiled reference to the .458 Win. came in GUNS Jan. 1958. An article about hunting asiatic water buffalo in Brazil, near the end of the article, sneaked in a mention: "I think the new highly successful .458 cartridge with its 500 grain bullet pushed along at 2125 feet per second would be a perfect gun for Marajo buffalo." Rip ... | |||
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https://gunsmagazine.com/class...s-magazine-editions/ A cursory perusal of the Classic Issues of GUNS: GUNS Mar. 1958: Elmer Keith article: "KEITH ON BIG BULLETS" "The .400 Whelen, .405 Winchester, and .404 Magnum are all excellent on our heavier game, and some use the .450 Alaskan and .458 Winchester with excellent results. "I never did believe in sending a boy to do a man's work, nor in driving railroad spikes with a tack hammer. Similarly, when hunting big game I believe in using a rifle whose caliber and bullet weight is adequate for clean, one shot kills." A .333 OKH Mauser with 300-grainers and a .476 Westley Richards double rifle with 520-grainers tickled Elmer's fancy for Africa. And he was Ross Seyfried's mentor. So many more high-falutin' choices to write about ... and no money coming in from Winchester just yet. Rip ... | |||
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Chronologically next from GUNS Classic Issues: https://gunsmagazine.com/class...s-magazine-editions/ Note PH's squattie-potty pose. Not just anybody can squat like that. I have to be holding onto a sapling or bush in front of me to get that low without falling over into the cathole.  Phil Shoemaker might have gotten his idea for the .416 Rigby in the outhouse from this guy, John Lawrence, who was Elmer Keith's PH. He was also a contemporary of Harry Selby, he started using the .416 Rigby before Harry, by a few years, and he might have inspired Harry's acceptance of the .416 Rigby to replace the .470 NE DR that their boss ran over with the bakkie. Anyway, he was almost apologetic to the GUNS readership about not using a .458 Win. instead of the .416 Rigby. "I am not used to the double barrel, and until the coming of the .458 Winchester there has been no better magazine gun." By early 1959 the .458 Win. was obviously developing fans in Africa. Rip ... | |||
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Then, finally in May 1959 an article worthy of inspiring some advertising dollars from Winchester for that ad appearing in Sep 1959. Wait for it ... Rip ... | |||
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 Then came Winchester advertising dollars to GUNS magazine. Rip ... | |||
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Ron, We are indebted to you for the reproduction of all the past Big Bore articles you post up. Many thanks. | |||
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Mike, Thanks for the reply. Any praise or disparagement are welcome here. Tracking chronologically onward to "ELMER KEITH SAYS" in GUNS June 1959: New Hornady .458" Bullets "J. W. Hornady, maker of some of the finest soft-nose and solids in 300 grain weight for the .375 Magnum (also in 220 grain weight for the .30 calibers), is now out with a 500-grain soft-nose for the .458 Winchester and all other .450 caliber rifles. Like all his soft-nose products, this bullet has a good heavy jacket of gilding metal. His 500 grain solid, another recent addition to his line, has a copper coated, very heavy steel jacket like his excellent 220 grain .30 and 300 grain .375 caliber." A milestone. Rip ... | |||
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Chronologically next from GUNS Classic Issues: https://gunsmagazine.com/class...s-magazine-editions/ "Elmer Keith Says" in GUNS August 1959: .458 Winchester Reloads "For some time, I have been recommending 66 to 70 grains of 3031 with 480 to 500 grain jacketed soft nose and solids in the .458 Winchester. Now comes corroboration from Fred Huntington of R.C.B.S. Gun & Die Shop, Oroville, Calif. J. W. Hornady and Fred Huntington ran a series of chronograph tests on the .458 with some fine 500 grain soft-nose and steel-jacketed solids that Hornady makes in this caliber, and they found by actual chronograph test that 70 grains of 3031 seemed to exactly duplicate the factory loads." Not quite earth-shaking news to .458 Win. fans of today. About like 70 to 71 grains of Hodgdon BENCHMARK duplicating the Hornady Superformance 500-grain DGX and DGS factory loads. Elmer was still hung up on that .476 WR double rifle which he had hauled to Tanganyika in late 1957 with John Lawrence as his PH. At least he was aware of the .458 Win. up and comer. Good ol' Elmer. Rip ... | |||
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Almost seemed like Elmer was starting to warm up to the .458 Win. for a while there. I am going to have to go thumb through his GUN NOTES, Vols. I & II, and HELL, I WAS THERE! to see if he was just blowing cigar smoke through his 10-gallon hat, just kissing up, or what?  Rip ... | |||
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