Bought an old Super Grade Model 70 .458 W M made in 1957 I think. Getting ready to start working up a load for it. Planning to use 500 gr Barnes Banded solids. Going for Ele in the fall of '07 in Zim.

Anybody got any starting suggestions for loads?

Also, It has an old Griffin & Howe side-mount QD scope mount on it. Planning to sue it. Is it OK.

Great acquisition! I have seen and handled rifles with the G&H side mount and they seem really excellent. All I've heard are good reports.

I have killed eleven elephants with the 458wm and I would stongly encourage you to try 450gr North Fork flat nose solids. Penetration is phenominal at easily acheived 458wm velocities, 2190fps in my case.

I've also used 500gr Woodleigh solids with success, at an easy to acheive 2135fps.

I think the 500gr Barnes will be long, too long, but I haven't tried them.

If you want some load data for the Woodleighs or North Forks, send me a PM. My first choice would be North Fork, but Woodleighs will do the trick too.

JPK

ledvm, Does your M70 have the original barrel length of 25"? I hope so. gduffey

quote:

Originally posted by ledvm:
Planning to use 500 gr Barnes Banded solids.

That is a very long bullet which will gobble up case capacity and the 458 wm has no case capacity to spare. I would suggest you consider the 480 grain Woodleigh solid or else the 450 grain North Fork flat nose solid (www.northforkbullets.com).

I would second JPK on the 450-grainers.

North Fork is great, SP, CP, FP.

GSC FN is the one that Barnes is making a poor attempt to copy. North Fork has done a good job of the FN copy with the North Fork FP.

GSC makes an FN in 450-grain and 500-grain.

The copper FN in 500 grains would be quite a bit shorter than the brass Barnes pseudo-banded, pseudo-Flat-Nose (ogived).

The .458 WinMag is limited on case capacity, but can certainly do 2300 fps easily with a copper FN from GSC or a copper FP from North Fork.

The GSC .458/450gr HV would be a great soft to pair with the FN solid.

If you like the leaded-bonded-nose, grooved solid copper shank North Fork, you are wise also, as it is an improved version of the old Jack Carter Trophy Bonded bear Claw.

450 grainers all the way in a .458 Win Mag makes best sense. The SD is still over 0.300 and that is enough bullet.

Good advise from all...Note the .450 Rigby was even designed around the 480 gr. Woodleigh. And that 25" barrel? It bring the .458 WM to life. It doesn't get to many looks anymore with all the current options...it is a good one in itself. gduffey

I tried 480gr Woodleighs and, in my rifle, saw no reason to prefer them over the 500gr Woodleighs.

If you seat them to the cannelure, they eat up more case space than the 500gr Woodleighs.

JPK

gduffey,
The barrel is the original barrel & it is 25" long. It has been ported however. The guy I bought it from said it was ported from the Winchester Custom Shop at the same time as a Griffin & Howe side moumt QD scope mouting system was installed. Does the porting hurt the ballistics???

ledvm, While the porting is not desirable to me it is not a killer of the utility of the rifle. I do not like muzzle brakes/porting of any kind. I would doubt the factory having anything to do with a porting job on a pre-64 African. They may have installed the G&H sidemount however. With some judicious load planning and some of the advice already given, that rifle will give you tremendous service and if you didn't pay too much for it, you can't lose a nickel. Is you rifle glass bedded? Does it have one or two crossbolts? gduffey

It is bedded and has 2 cross-bolts. You did not specifically answer the question on porting and its effects on ballistics. Does it hurt them? What is too much $ for this rifle.

What type porting? If it is ported in say the last 1" only you would not lose more that 20-30 fps at the most. An insignificant amount. You will be able to get any 500 grain bullet to 2150 easy and with no problems. You can probably exceed that pretty easy. It is not necessary. If you use the 450-480 class bullets obviously you can crank it up a little more. You may opt for the lighter bullets, you may use the 500 grain Woodleighs, IMHO at 2150 the older Hornadys (FMJ) work great at 2150 and you can still find them here and there usually cheap. Its all part of the fun. Please post pictures of your rifle when you can. gduffey

Lovely round, I love my 458 Heym, does all I want it to, and is a pleasure to shoot.

Don't know how to post pics but I will try to figure it out!

60gr RL7 with the Barnes 500 banded solid gives me 2163 fps in my CZ 550. The bullet can be seated fully to the driving band with very little powder compression, very accurate load. The Barnes 450 banded solid is a little shorter for a little less case encroachment, with a loss of some sectional density but an increase in muzzle velocity. Both will work just fine, the banded solids really hit hard.

ledvm, I would probably start with the NorthFork's, soft and solid. If you can gain any case capacity it helps you use the 25" barrel. You may be able to use a slightly slower burning powder. Maybe Varget Extreme. I have a rifle like yours and have never done anything but shoot 500gr. loads. It will work very well for what you want it to do. Too many different projects. So many rifles so little time. gduffey

ledvm:

You can probably squeeze the 500 grain Barnes in the .458WM, but I feel that the 450 grain solids from North Fork and GS Custom are probably better options.

I have .458WM on a VZ-24 Mauser with a 22" barrel. I have developed loads using both the North Fork Cup Points and GS Custom FN Solids. I will be using the NF CPS this summer in Zimbabwe for buffalo. Since elephant is on your menu, the FN solids from NF and GSC would be more suitable than the Cup Points.

I have arrived at 68 grains of AA 2230 with the NF CPS for a MV of 2240 FPS. No signs of pressure and no powder compression in the case. I have also arrived at 65 grains of Hodgdon 4198 for the GSC solids for a MV of 2230-2240 FPS. Again, no pressure signs and no powder compaction. I crimp both loads with a Lee Factory Crimp die and am using Winchester brass and Federal 215 primers. I use a COL of 3.34" I like the AA 2230 ball powder and will ultimately develop a load for the GSC FNS using this powder.

REMEMBER, these are loads that I developed for my rifle. Both Gerard at GSC and Mike at North Fork were very helpful. Your rifle might respond differently.

Or, you can just buy Federal factory ammo with the Barnes solids!

Good luck.

RCG

If someone will help, I'll put pics of my rifle on the list.

As RCG stated above, use AA 2230 and you will get all the velocity you need. I developed a really accurate load with this powder and the 500 grain Barnes Banded solids and was able to get just over 2,150 fps.

The 50 grain Barnes Band solids do take up a lot of case capacity and the advice of those saying to use the 450 grain North Fork or GS is good advice. However, if you want to stay with a 500 grain bullet, but also want the most case capacity, the 500 grain Woodleigh solids work great. They do not have the flat tip, but should work fine at 2,150 fps.

I also have a Pre-64 M70 African SuperGrade 458 WM (without the porting or GH side mount).

Best of luck!

Tim