I guess I should not be surprised, but I chronographed some Remington factory ammo, 500 grain solids, and some Federal Factory ammo, 510 grain softs. They (3 rounds of each) all came in between 1,920 and 1,950 fps.

I thought my rifle's 25" barrel (Pre-64 M70 "African") would help with velocity. I would hate to think of the velocity from a 22" barrel like my PH's old push feed M70.

Anyway, I mostly handload and always hunt with my handloads, so it is no big deal to me. I was easily getting 2,150 to 2,200 fps with 500 grain Hornady (softs & solids), Swift A-Frames, and Barnes Triple Shocks & Banded solids.

I just thought this would be of interest for anyone hunting with a 458 WM and factory ammo. If you are going to hunt with factory ammo, you may want to consider the 458 Lott.

I know my friend Mark "N'gagi" Jackson used factory ammo in his 458 WM during our Cape Buffalo & Plainsgame hunt last August. He had no problem killing his buff with this ammo (his rifle has a 26" barrel). If he was also only getting this velocity, I would like to see what happens when you hit the buffalo with the same bullet at 200 fps faster.

Tim

You'd think with today's modern or "high energy" powders the factories would bring the round back up to where it should be.

My handload with RL7 and the 500gr Hornady RN in my two .458's gives 2100 and 2105fps respectively (both with 24" bbls). You can still hear the powder rattling in the case when you shake the round and no pressure signs. It doesn't seem like it should be that difficult for the factory to get it back up to par - it took me a whole 2 or 3 days of tinkering in my spare time.

PS: Perhaps Hornady has accomplished this with their Heavy Magnum loading? Do they offer this in .458 and if so has anyone chrono'd these?

If your PH is hunting with a push feed, you should buy him a new rifle.

The only Factory 458 win. mag ammo I chronographed were Winchester 510 grain Softs @ a bit over 2000+fps, 2000 to 2050 fps and Federal 500 grain TB Softs at a nominal 2100 fps. These were both small samples with a wider estreme spread than I would have like to seen. With my handloads 2100 to 2150 fps was obtainable and much more consistent. These results were with a 25" barrel CZ 550.

Hornady does offer their Heavy Mag. in 458, if I remember correctly the box listed velocity with 500 grain solids at 2250 fps...never chronographed that load but it would be interesting to hear of the results if anyone here has tested those..

500 Grains,

I have hunted buffalo twice with Ian Gibson of Big 5 Safaris. He has been hunting for over 20 years in DG country (Chewore North) and each year he has clients take quite a few leopard, elephant, buffalo, lion, hippo, etc. He was briefly featured/interviewed in Craig Boddington's new Hunting the Cape Buffalo video.

Ian carries an old Winchester M70 Supergrade pushfeed in .458 Win Mag. These rifles only have 22" barrels. His rifle only has about 1% of the blue remaining and the wood looks similar to a 2x4. It only has one fixed/standing rear sight and no optics.

Apparently he hits what he shoots at. He feels it is all the rifle he needs.

I have been on two safaris (buffalo & plainsgame) with him and during those two safaris, he only fired his rifle one time. On my 2nd buffalo, I hit it square in the chest with a 416 Rigby (400 grn X bullet @ 2,400 fps) at about 25 yards. The buff immediately came for us and Ian shot it in the chest with his Pushfeed .458 at about 20 to 22 yards. The buff dropped at the shot.

He has a ton of confidence in that POS rifle, and I guess that is all that matters.

Tim

I'd love to see pics of Ian's rifle, I've always been fascinated by "work-horse" guns and the stories all the wear and dings tell.

Ian sounds like a prime example of being a "one gun" man who knows it well and trusts it implicitly - that's the most important factor of all and that rifle's proven itself time and time again I'm sure.

Like jjs, all the Winchester 510gr ammunition I've chronographed has come in at around 2040fps. That's from both a Zastava with 22" barrel and CZ550 with its longer barrel.
Cheers...
Con

2040 FPS is plenty for buffalo with a 500 gr. bullet...

And like always pick your ammo carefully or handload it with a .458 and you got all the gun you will ever need..Shoot junk ammo and there is plenty around in that caliber and you might get in trouble, who knows...

The .458 is plenty of gun, but it was a poorly designed case from the get go, no doubt about that, but it can be fixed with handloading and/or the good ammo,

The pushfeed is your choice, I know a lot of PHs and some are the best, but they are better hunters than they are shots or gun experts, being a PH makes not an expert in all fields, I like the PHs that carry a control feed or double rifle in the dangerous game fields, they give me confidense, and make for better conversation around the campfire......

The .458 Hornady Hvy Mag ammo I have chronoed from my 21" bbl .458 gave around 2180fps. When I fired them from a 22" bbl .458 Lott they gave 2220fps and the Hornady Lott ammo gave 2260fps. That is not much difference.