Just think about tinkering a bit this Fall with my 458 WM.
I have a favorite load with a 450 gr swift at about 2280 FPS.
Thought about a short 500 gr. which would have to be primarily lead,
Any good history with a Woodleigh 500 PP or the new Hornady DGX bonded?

Hi eezridr,

I have loaded the 500gn PP in the .458 and it is well suited to the WM case.

I got 2150fps over load of 74gn H4895. Accuracy was good and no pressure problems.

Never got a chance to use it on game but they are a very popular bullet here in Australia and all the reports I've heard is they work well on Water Buffalo.

Russ

BBM,
That big old bullet for a water buff?

I took my first one with my .405 WCF and a 300 grain a bullet at 2250 fps. Of course that was a North Fork Cup Point Solid-- shot clean through the darn buff. It was a big sucker and made a lot of good eating.

Thanks for the tip. Been using Accurate 2230 for my 458. No problem achieving the same velocity.
Now if I can just find some projectiles!
Doubtful I will hunt anything larger than your buffalo down under.

EZ

quote:

Originally posted by badboymelvin:
Hi eezridr,

I have loaded the 500gn PP in the .458 and it is well suited to the WM case.

I got 2150fps over load of 74gn H4895. Accuracy was good and no pressure problems.

Never got a chance to use it on game but they are a very popular bullet here in Australia and all the reports I've heard is they work well on Water Buffalo.

Russ

I like you guys going old school..

quote:

Originally posted by crshelton:
BBM,
That big old bullet for a water buff?

I took my first one with my .405 WCF and a 300 grain a bullet at 2250 fps. Of course that was a North Fork Cup Point Solid-- shot clean through the darn buff. It was a big sucker and made a lot of good eating.

I have no complaints with the 500 gr. woodleigh soft or solid, it knocks big holes in big stuff at 2000 to 2100 fps with a decent handload..Don't use factory stuff, but been told they upped their charge???

If Im going to shoot a 450 gr. Woodleigh, I will do that in my 416 or 404, both of which Id have to buy back, I sold all my big bores except my rare 2003 Ruger in 375 Ruger caliber in case I decide on one more trip to the dark continent...

quote:

Originally posted by crshelton:
BBM,
That big old bullet for a water buff?

I took my first one with my .405 WCF and a 300 grain a bullet at 2250 fps. Of course that was a North Fork Cup Point Solid-- shot clean through the darn buff. It was a big sucker and made a lot of good eating.

Hey mate,
I'm using the bigger again 550gn bullet for my buff hunt whenever it happens!
I'm getting 2080fps with the 550gn in my Win Mag and I can't wait to use it on something big

The North Fork bullets have a legendary reputation and I'm not surprised they performed so well for you.

To the OP, I actually got 2218fps with the 500gn PP through my M70 - but it was a super-compressed, hot load and I backed it off.
But I got it!
I'm sure you could reach the same velocity using 2230 which I've only heard good things about when used in the .458 ...

Cheers,

Russ

I helped Geoff on those plus the 550 gr. bullets and they work wonders on big mean stuff, 375, 350 gr., 40 calibers 450 gr. and 458s at 550 grs. and as a matter of observation only im impressed by the reaction of DG to hits with those heavy bullets, they shake like a dog pooping peach seed and make few tracks, and LOTS of blood pouring out those big holes....fN, RN, for herd hunting and PPs for everything else..Woodleighs are great IMO..

BBM,
Woodies also have a good reputation.

I killed a cape buff with a 400 grain Woodie from my Winchester 1895 .405 at 2100 fps.

I am using practically the exact same load as Russ except with Hornaday's DGS and DGX. In spite of the critics, I used both bullets with no problems on game. Elephant, buffalo, impala, kudu. Used the 480gr. out of a .450 Nitro on lion and 400gr. out of .416 Rigby on hippo.
The load he mentions chronographs for me at 2156 avg.

quote:

posted 07 August 2021 04:29 Hide Post
Hi eezridr,

I have loaded the 500gn PP in the .458 and it is well suited to the WM case.

I got 2150fps over load of 74gn H4895. Accuracy was good and no pressure problems.

Never got a chance to use it on game but they are a very popular bullet here in Australia and all the reports I've heard is they work well on Water Buffalo.

Russ

I never used the PP in my 458 Lott, used plenty of the Woodleigh 500g RNSP on water buffalo. My 458WM has been rebarreled to 416 Rigby and like it better than the 458 Lott.

Cheers.

For information, North Fork was purchased by another company recently and are now in production.

They also are in production the the flat point solid and my all time favorite shoot anything bullet the CUP-POINT..

The the NOrth Fork soft points are disgustingly perfect on game, gives us nothing to bitch about..I have a box full of them and they all clone each other..

This is one and 1/2 years late, but a more recent report: Late last fall (November, 2022), I did a test of several .458-cal bullets in my test medium (hard dry glossy magazines packed tightly in a box - like shooting bone). The 500gr Hornady DGX bonded out-penetrated by a significant amount the 550gr Woodleigh Weldcore RN and 450gr A-Frame. It retained 314 grains (63 %) and expanded to 0.80" at 0.76" in length. The 550 Woodleigh retained 364 grains total (including 2 broken off pieces where it was stopped) at 66% retained weight, expansion at 0.88" at the greatest point with one side flared out quite a bit and the other side broken off at the lip (where the two fragments were found). Without those two fragments it weighed 286 grains (52%).

It was out-penetrated by the 500gr DGX by 4 inches that represents about 7 to 10 times that distance in flesh. That test involved my Ruger No.1H in .458 Win Mag.

The 500 DGX or 480 DGX bondeds represent the best that Hornady has ever produced in expanding .458-cal bullets for large and dangerous game - and one of the best on the market today if those tests were meaningful, which I've no doubt they were. I've done a lot of testing of bullets over many years, especially in .458-cal.

Just thinking someone out there might want to know.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

The RN woodleigh is designed for bush hunting in herds, its softer and should not penetrate and kill or mame another animal in the herd!! the PP is designed to hunt dagga boys and open country, its harder and cnsiderbly more penetration..All woodlieghs aer designed with velocity control both up and down and tested on live game.

Thats the advantage of shooting live game to determine the usefulness of a hunting bullet instead of paper balistics..