Went out this morning to go out and shoot that Browning .458 Win Mag I bought a week or so ago. Up until this point recoil wise I had only shot 250gr out of a .338 & some lighter reloads out of a friends .458.

This thing will wake you up in the morning! At 8.5lb I was sure it would but wow!



I bought a few boxes of ammo to plink with and hunt hogs with to get some use out of the gun instead of the $134/box Federals...






The range was a little bit packed and my shoulder started to get tender so I put up after 20 rounds, but here are my last 6 from the gun, open sight, at 25yd. The top 4 things are some recovered bullets, I plan on cleaning up and weighing later and posting up.



We shot the gun once at 100 yards and next trip we plan on trying to see what happens at 50, but I'm not use to shooting open sight and so I think I did fairly well the first trip out.

I can't figure out if the dot needs to be near the bottom of the valley in the sights, even with the top of the sights, or above the sights? I had the dot low in the sights in these shots which is why they were hitting low I think


Justin

Very nice looking rifle, and 8.5 lb's seems pretty light weight for range work. Mine weighs in around 10 with the scope and I still don't like shooting too many off the bench. I use to have the best luck shooting with the dot even with the top of the sights but now the only irons I shoot are peeps.

Very cool indeed, Justin!! Welcome to the world of the big-bore! With express sights, you want the bead right in the bottom of the V.

Buglemintoday,
Nice rifle. Chief Thunderstick of my tribe prefers that rifle over all other DGRs.

Looks like it wants to shoot, you just need to get more consistent with your hold.

Being the quality rifle it is, Browning FN Mauser well set up, I suspect the sights must be good as is for standard factory ammo ballistics, 500-grainers at about 2100 fps ... unless some derelict has messed with them.

Set the bead in the bottom of the V, showing all the bead, and then put the center of the bead on the center of the orange dot: combat style. I'll bet your rifle shoots very close to right-on at 25 yards and 100 yards if you do it that way.

Then just get a QD set of mounts and put a 2.5X Leupold on it and go hunting.

We don't need to know what those empty Winchester jackets weigh, recovered from the berm, but any chronograph data and load data in a specific barrel length, for a .458WinMag, is always interesting to see.

look for some of the 350 gr factory loads... the recoil will really go down... muzzle energy 50 yd energy is impressive...and unless the west texas ground squirrels are tough to kill, it's all you'll need....

........Looks Great .. Enjoyed the vid ... What Rip said ....If you got a big bore , you gotta reload ....400 gr rem sp @ 2100 fps are all fun .. and may become your fav hunting load..I shoot lots of 350 Hornady and other brand plated bullets @2350 fps ,about 200 fps under max . and they are fun fun fun ...

Thats a beatiful Rifle. I have the CZ Lott.

very nice!!
my son's 458 is just at 8# and is weigh too light for bench work

Thats a great looking Browning. I think its rare to find one without the raised comb, its probably much easier to shoot with the irons. Mine has the raised comb, someday I'd like to replace it with a stock like yours. Does that rifle have the barrel mounted recoil lug with a screw? I wonder what the chances are of finding a stock like that around?

Just an update -


Thanks for the tips on the sights guys! I was able to find out tonight that the 458 Win Mag has enough energy at 60ish yards to throw 100lb pigs!


Man Big Bores are fun!

You're hooked now!! Welcome to the addiction!

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/rescources/calculators/php/recoil.htm

seems you were getting about 70 lbs of recoil

Boomstick - What I like is you can't feel the recoil when you have the sights on game

Very nice rifle...

Nice song choice on the vid as well...

Start hand loading like the posters above said...

The 458 is relatively cheap to shoot when you roll your own...

Matt V.

NICE lookin' rifle! Gonna be tough to shoot from the bench unless you are very recoil tolerant. Best to use a standing rest or sticks.

You'll feel it a lot less if there is game under the sights as you're pulling the trigger

Four Five Eights are lots of fun! Welcome to the addiction.

My alltime favorite rifle is the unwanted stepchild of bolt guns. But it was my go to gun. I now have seller's remorse. It was a Savage 458 safari style. Yes, it had the adjustable muzzle break. And I used it - was stuck in the on mode. I had the best luck for sighting by changing things a bit from the factory. I used a Jim Brockman's front sight. It was a thick steel post filled with brass in the middle and easy to acquire. The rear was the Ashley Ghost ring. Fast and efficient. I would buy it back in a second but it left the state of Misery to hunt Colorado. So long old friend. Packy

The 458 was the first heavy hitter I ever fired and I wanted to see how I could shoot one off hand quickly and accurately. I used a 100 yard NRA target and fired in succession 3 rounds with a buddy watching through a spotting scope.

My first round was dead on and with each additional shot I got further away from the bull. Maybe it was because I was concentrating on speed but the recoil (using heavy bullets) really thew me a bit. For fun give this a try and I think as has been said here, go to lighter bullets. Much more fun to shoot.

And yea, you have one very nice rifle there. Good going....you'll be happy with it.

I got a good deal on some loaded ammo so now I have

20 - 500gr TBBC's
180- 510gr SP's

quote:

Originally posted by Buglemintoday:
I got a good deal on some loaded ammo so now I have

20 - 500gr TBBC's
180- 510gr SP's

Trying to corner the market? Those 510 grain SPs should be great for deer and hogs (as you have already discovered).

lol, the guy I bought the gun from is keeping in touch with me and cut me a great deal on his left over ammo from the gun. I found out the gun hasn't been shot in over 17 years.

where are you shooting??? i used to go to the range in notrees....

Midland Shooters Association, It's a decent sized range that is South of town

pm sent...

The wood on your rifle is really attractive... all around good aesthetics. Now, turn it into a Lott by reeming it out to 2.80 in., and you're set.

Thanks Madden!

Maybe later it will be a Lott, or join a lott in the safe

Unfortunately I think my new .243 will acquire the most from my next paycheck...but I don't think I will have to buy ammo for a while for the .458

This weekend is a gun show again so if some wood and metal catches my eye I told my friend to kick me away from it!