Gentlemen,

I am in the planning stages of building a 458 Win Mag - on a Commercial Mauser Action - and would like your input and perspective regarding barrel contour. This will be an open-sighted utility rifle and I am leaning towards a relatively short barrel length of 20-22 inches.

Any comments and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks,
Nathan

For a similar application I have been looking at the Lothar Walther #724 contour. Haven't got around to placing the order yet.

It will be lighter than some prefer but should make a very handy rifle.

I have a M70 that came as a 458 22" barrel with a quite trim taper. I had CP Donnelly replace the barrel with one that was 24", taper was full diameter for 2" forward of the receiver, then a slight concave step with straight taper to the muzzle where the diameter is .9". It adds a pound or two to the rifle but has made it much steadier to shoot with muzzle shifted balance, less muzzle blast and slight reduction in recoil. I much prefer it to the factory barrel. If I were making the decision on it, I'd try shooting one that has a 22" barrel before submitting the order. You may decide the extra inch or two on the barrel is not such a bad idea.

https://www.douglasbarrels.net/dimensions/index.html

No.4 sporter contour is the lightest, based on a Douglas contour scheme, the most generic:
0.650" muzzle diameter at 26" length, thickening about 0.010" for each inch you shorten it from 26" length.
0.690" at 22" length.
0.710" at 20" length.

That is roughly equivalent to what CZ uses for .375 H&H, .416 Rigby, and .458 Win. and Lott, though they add some integral features to add some weight.
The Mauser Banner folks (SIGarms) used the same slim contour (about 0.665" at 25" muzzle) on a .450 Dakota.

No.5 sporter contour is the medium for a .458 Win.
0.700" at 26" length.
Shorten it to 22" and it will have 0.740" for muzzle diameter.
0.760" at 20" length.
Plenty heavy.

You want heavier, go heavier than a No.5.
Latest Winchester barrels in .458 Win. are a little heavier than a No.5, closer to a No.5A Douglas contour.

Balancing barrel weight with stock weight and overall rifle weight desired gets into what sort of stock you want to use.
You can always add weight where desired with lead shot and epoxy, mercury, etc.

Rip ...

Great info - thanks everyone.

Nathan

quote:

Originally posted by Ray B:
I have a M70 that came as a 458 22" barrel with a quite trim taper. I had CP Donnelly replace the barrel with one that was 24", taper was full diameter for 2" forward of the receiver, then a slight concave step with straight taper to the muzzle where the diameter is .9". It adds a pound or two to the rifle but has made it much steadier to shoot with muzzle shifted balance, less muzzle blast and slight reduction in recoil. I much prefer it to the factory barrel. If I were making the decision on it, I'd try shooting one that has a 22" barrel before submitting the order. You may decide the extra inch or two on the barrel is not such a bad idea.

I bobbed 2 inches off my .416 Rem to make it 22 inches and love it. I shoot better with longer shotgun barrels (which isn't saying much given my skill with a scattergun), but can't say I have ever noticed on a rifle. My long range rifles have barrels as long as 30 inches, and they are, to put it mildly, kind of a pain. I do love the extra velocity they produce but a 22 inch .416 gives me all the velocity I need.

The other reason I like the shorter bbl on my .416 is ease of use getting in and out of the truck in Africa - same reason my favorite coyote rifle has a 20 inch bbl.

I like mine a little barrel heavy. My Zastava came with a 25" (approx.) long barrel with a .660" muzzle diameter and was way too light. I had a 25" long barrel with a .750 muzzle diameter put on it. This matched up pretty close in weight to the .725' muzzle diameter factory barrel on my 375 H&H Win. M70.

Here is the CZ .458 WIN take-off barrel:



It weighs 48.0 ounces, 3.0 pounds even, as shown,
25" long, 0.671" diameter at muzzle, integral rear sight base and secondary recoil lug, banded ramp front sight.

I am going see about shortening this to 23.5" by taking 0.75" off of each end of it,
for a "featherweight" Pre-'64 M70 .458 WIN with H&H action.
A screw-on KDF "Slimline" muzzle brake will add the lost 1.5" and 2 ounces,
to keep with 25" overall length tube length.
The front sight will have to be moved back to make room for the muzzle brake threading.
Very important on a 7-pound ".458 Winchester Magnum Longclaw."

Rip ...

Pictured is the take-off from a M70 Safari Express from mid-90s production. The details are: 22" long, 1.2" diameter ahead of shank, 2" straight portion for chamber, step down to 1" then straight taper to muzzle which is .75". Weight is 3 pounds exactly. I'm not sure what the weight of the 24" barrel presently on the rifle, but I'd guess it is about 4.5 pounds.

A little bit bigger photo