some of you might be familiar with this round...basicly a 404 jeffe case shortened to 2.65" and improved...

one of my wildcat creations is the same thing, a 404 case but just a neck up and trimmed at 2.65" keeping the shoulder angle and placement the same for excelent feeding and it has a cal length neck. it has about the same capacity as the lott but i need to check the capacity still. i came accross this image while doing something else and noticed how similar it is. it is what i think the 458 vincent should have been imho. Pierre van der Walt is the creator and i think he knew what he was doing when he made the 458 African Express but with all the "epifanies" of how little you realy need to headspace (only 10 thou according to robgunbuilder) the 20 thou shoulders of the simple neck up and trim 2.65" 404 jeffe to .458 seems cool to me. the 458 a.r. is better in almost every way and cheaper but i kinda like the idea of keeping the original 404 case as is minus the neck up and trim to keep some of its roots and feeding ability. some here might like the posting of the specs provided which is some of the motivation of this post.

can anyone provide more info on the 458 a.e.?

Now I thought the African Express was basically a straight walled 3-inch case.......or was that just called a .458 Express? I don't recall now......

/

In Pierre van der Walts Big Bore Cartridge Book, the drawing that BS has is called the 458 African Express (Rimless).

The straight walled one, that is basically a lengthened Lott, is called the 458-3" Belted Express.

Mike is right,

The .458 African Express is the shortened .404 case that is being discussed, the 3" version is the .458 3" Express, which is a lengthened Lott/Win/belted H&H parent case.

IMHO, the .458 African Express is great, as at 2.67" case (same as .300 Win , well 2.66"...) is really does do well in a STD length action and is not too bulky, but is obviously not a factory round in the true sense, although I believe cases with correct headstamps are available. I am sure others with more experience with this can elborate. The same can be said of the .458 Vincent Short, although this even more of a rare bird it seems?

Cheers

Better cartridge or not doesn't really matter. It's just a wildcat and anyone thinking of a .458 cal will be better served with the 458 Lott.

i can't speak for the AE, but the AR fits a standard action, is larger than a lott, and can easily do 2300fps at less pressure than the lott, is, frankly, is more efficent do to case shape (bottleneck)...

the nominal of the are is .550 largest diameter, and rum brass is both cheap and available every day.


either round will be a mere rebarrel of a 7rem or 300 win, or even a shot out 264 ...

the vincent long and short are the same class....

btw, the AR is 2.55case and 3.35 OAL, as the 458 500gr bullet is generally .800 from the crimp grove to the nose.

your mileage may vary, but one would be wise to recall that even the mighty 458 lott was a wildcat only a few years ago

jeffe

I don't know if many rifles have been chambered in this caliber, but Pierre has a reamer in South Africa and it would appear that a few rifles have been done there. I think Pierre is still a member here at AR so you might try to PM him directly at Pierre vd Walt. Perhaps he has some more recent data on loads with different powders. I like the name of the cartridge as much as the cartridge itself, although I don't have any 458 caliber rifle at this point.