No need to compare it to the other .458 cals.
I have a friend who has an Interarms Mark X that was originally a .458WM that's been rechambered to .450 Ackley.

Give me your opinions on the 450 Ackley. in this setup.

Thanks

The 450 Ackley has a very slight advantage in powder capacity and velocity over the 458 Lott. Game will not know the difference. The Mark X action is adequate to the task as long as the gunsmithing is of high quality. But I would check very thoroughly how this feeds, because there is a pretty good chance it will not feed reliably from a full magazine. Good luck!

I had two MarkX Witworth rifles. One a 375, the other a 458.
The 458 was fairly light. If the 450 Ackley were mine I would load 500 grainers to 2150 fps. If the rifle feeds it would be a good one.

I shot a m70 in 450 ackley. I think the loads were supposed to be 500gr at 2400fps. They were handloads marked on the box. They were the limit I felt a little stick on extraction.
I can say this, that gun kicked far worse than my ruger#1 in 458lott! But it shot! I hit a shotgun shell with open sights at about 50yards probally couldnt do it again but all shots were in a nice tight group.
I am not sure if it had anything worth the extra costs of ammo over a 458lott.
Dean

I have a CZ550 that was a .458 Win Mag rechambered to a .450 Ackley. I have only shot the A-Square ammo, which is their 465 gr. at 2400 fps I believe. All I can say is this rifle will bust balls at both ends!

it's something different... That's the good news. 3-die set vs 2-dies for the Lott, factory ammunition for the Lott; it WOULD be interesting to shoot some Lott in an Ackley, and shooting 458 in a Lott, while not the best option would rescue someone whose ammunition got "lost" clearing customs. That has happened to me before, fortunately it was my 375 and all sorts of 375 is available all over Africa. The major stumbling block is that little thing about ammunition headstamp matching the markings on the barrel. Would you fudge and mark it 458 Lott and try to get through? Get caught and you may very well end up being booted back out the door you came in on.
That would not be fun. I would enjoy having another one, Ackley built me one about three years before he retired, sold it to an Ackley collector the next spring. I have a Lott now.

JMHO

Rich

I have used the 450 Ackely on a standard 98 Mauser alot but I had a good German gunsmith heat treat the action to make sure it was strong enough because you end up chewing away metal from behind the lower locking lug recess in order to get the cartridge into the magazine.

I think it is the perfect African cartridge. A-square was in operation when I bought it and I used their exclusively with 465 grain monolithic solids for years. They worked perfectly. The dead tough softs I had broke up to easily.

When A-square went Kaput I used the rifle with both 458 Lott and 450 Watts ammo, whatever I could get, and with these and 500 grain solids loaded a bit hot it still shot pretty much to the same point of aim. I also used 458 Winchester ammo in it but the 500 grain bullets hit about 6 inches low at 50 yards. Not so good.

But its so close to the Lott that I would get a Lott now that A-square seems shaky and Hornady has good Lott ammo.

I have put about 1,500 A-square monolithic solids, and more recently Rhino and Barnes solids into hippo and buffalo and have never had one .458 calibre mono solid bend. I have had 375 mono solids from Trophy bonded bend into an L shape. I have not used the 416's much but so far have not seen one bend with mono solids. Most of the old frashioned FMJ bullets filled with lead, and in all calibres, will bend.

Rob Style who has likely shot more elephants than any other young hunter (more than 100) swears by 375 H&H A-Square Mono solids in that calibre but I forgot to ask him if they ever bend.

I think it likely the Hornady and Woodleigh solids will penetrate even deeper (in flesh) than the mono solids, feed better and seldom bend but they likely will veer of course more often on hitting bone than the mono solids due to their more conical nose shape.

Joe O'Bannon has this veering problem with his three 470 double rifles and Woodleigh solids but he cannot change ammo because the guns are regulated for the Woodleigh ammo.

I have had 458 solids fail to penetrate as well as I thought they should.I have had them stop in warthog and kongoni chests when shot from the rear or found them sitting in the dirt just beyond the animal. I recently had a 500 grain Hornady solid from their heavy magnum load stop in a buffalo's skull and I wasn't expecting that but the rifle has a short barrel, as it was designed for sleeping in lion blinds, and it may be most of the powder burned beyond the muzzle.

I have had the same lack of penetration problem with 500 Jeffrey and 535 grain solids. Also the big 500's become slower to use because of the weight of the gun and the recoil.

I'd get a 458 Lott because its almost the same thing as the 450 Ackley, is easier to get to feed properly in a converted 458, and you can get Hornady ammo that ammo feeds well.

But I'd get a 450 Ackley again if I had a reliable source of ammo.


VBR,



Ted Gorsline

Not sure of my powder charge but I remember getting 2,400 fps with a 500 grain bullet with no high pressure signs what so ever. 22 in barrel.
But I would get a Lott today (in fact I have one on order). Cheap dies, cheap brass and no animal can tell the difference,

I have two .450 Ackleys, one on a Rem 700 switch barrel and the other on a pre-64 Win action. Wondertfull cartridge. You really have to push a Lott to get a honest 2300fps, but an Ackley will hit 2400 easily.-Rob

I think the highest and best use of the 450 ackley is to load it to that magic 500 grain bullet at 2150 fps. This can be done at very low pressures, little or no powder compression and managable recoil.. Mine weighs 10.5 lbs and once I get past 2150 fps second shot follow up gets slow.
. Besides that I like my retina's right where they are. just MHO.

Dear els,

If you load the 450 Ackley down to 2,150 FPS you are just re-inventing the 458. The Hornady heavy mags in the 458 allegedly already exceed that.

The extra 200 FPS really helps penetration when you hit bone or when potting at a wounded buffalo that has gotten 100 yards away and is still going.

I have never had any pressure problems using the A square monolithics in 50 deg C temperatures.


VBR,

Ted Gorsline