Well after a couple of years of I'm going to... I got the Rem 798 Zastava rechambered to 458ar. Thanks Jeffe (reamer was mailed back today). I got 14 rounds through it today -light loads at that. But it is running. The big bore match is next Saturday so I under the gun. Feeding from the left side of the mag needs some work. The crappy, too small, flat sided bolt knob was cup off and replaced with a VZ24 knob, shank straightened and lengthened a bit. Now it is a right proper bolt that can run quickly. The factory glass bedding was brittle, and it was applied after the inside of the stock was varnished, so it cracked and broke out. I ground, chipped and chopped then re-bedded with Acra-glass gel. The Ruger sling swivel and front sight will be put on next. Forearm was too long and had the ugliest rendition of a schnabel so it went away. I am thinking of going with a NECG rear aperature instead of a V rear (which I love). The barrel will get chopped of about 1" or so to fit the banded front sight but it is 26" now so big deal. That uber-traditional dot sight seems to be working well - 50 rounds of 458WM and a few 458AR's.

I threw in some pics to compare the original Mk X style bolt, Stainless in the pics, and the new bolt, blued.






Hope to see some of you next Saturday.

Best luck, Dan! Looks like its coming together.. thanks for letting me know its on the way back...

tons of load data on ammoguide, as well

I joined ammoguide last night. Yes, lots of info. I would like to try some Varget, TAC, or some other stuff I have in the cabinet. The most pressing issue is to get the left feed rail cooperating.

Dan,

Welcome to the .458 AR owner's community! Is a GREAT chambering that can loaded to whatever power you are comfortable shooting.

I think you will find that TAC is a possible, but that Varget is too slow. H335 has been a great performer for me.

Keep us informed as to your progress!

We don't have H335 in Australia, so the closest powder we have here is called, AR2206H, which is infact your H4895, so try some of that, forget Varget its too slow unless that's what you want.

Reg S&F

Thanks. I use Varget in so many other ctgs I have bunch of it around. I will get some 335 today. With 80 gr of IMR4895 and got 2190fps with the Hornady 500. It is at the doctor right now getting the feed rails worked over. Hopefully this afternoon it will be at the range again.

wow.. i didn't expect the barrel to add 60 fps!

good load! how was the recoil to you?

quote:

Originally posted by Dan416:
Thanks. I use Varget in so many other ctgs I have bunch of it around. I will get some 335 today. With 80 gr of IMR4895 and got 2190fps with the Hornady 500. It is at the doctor right now getting the feed rails worked over. Hopefully this afternoon it will be at the range again.

You know funny you say that, IMR4895 is ment to be similar to the H4895 powder, but the H stuff definitely has the upper hand

Wayne worked over the feed rails. He went in from the bottom with a ball end mill then widened the front - feeds like a fat kid eating a donut. The action was set up for 30-06 I imagine.

80 gr IMR4895 was a bit stout in the recoil department for 20 shots this saturday. 6-8 offhand is ok but not 20. I backed off to 79gr. for today, avg. 2144 but extreme spread was over 100. I don't think it is getting into enough pressure to be consistent. Extreme spread with 80 gr. was 41.

ShortandFat - what differences do you find between IMR and H4895?

I did get a can of H335 so I can play with it some next week. I have to fine tune the zero because the red dot had to come off for the rail work.

Dan

While the burn rates are similar or ment to be the same, I think H4895 (our 2206H) has better load desity and produces better velocities. Not sure why ?

In this case I believe the Hodgdan stuff is a better powder than the IMR stuff

I sort of remember when I ran some (H4895) 2206H behind the 500 Hornady, I think 83g produced just over 2300 fps

regards S&F

Dan, try some RL15 It works great in my 450G&A I've been to 88gr at 2400fps 82gr gives a much more managable 2150. I do beleive the two cases are very close.