As I understand no one in the know is happy with the way the 458Winn works with the 500/510 grain slugs,with the advent of GS and Bridger would any of you Pro's be against useing a 480 grain slug and loading it to the 450 Nitro level? Wouldn't it give you the same stopping effect of the Nitro or the 450/400 series of rounds?

I just acquired a new 458 and was wondering the same thing, and also about the 465 grainers from A-Square. I notice some of the loading manuals claiming 2150+ with some loads in the 500 grain bullets. Is this true? Has anyone tried these and chronoed them? I would kind of like to keep it as a standard 458 and not rechamber to the Lott. Some have mentioned the new Benchrest powder from Hodgdon will give good velocities with less compression and pressure.
Doug

I have a 458 win mag and I purchased some 465 gr. Bridger Bullets for it. Due to the lower specific gravity of brass compared to traditional lead core bullets, I suggest going down in bullet weight in order to reduce lenght. Somewhere in the 450 to 465 grain range should be about right. Otherwise the bullet will start cutting into powder capacity.

Try the 450 grains Barnes X

I can develop 2350 fps from my Ruger Nro. 1H, with 82.0gr of RL12. Amazing groups.

Tks!

My Ruger 77 .458 particularly likes the 400 gr. X and Solid. The 450 X and solids are OK also, but I tend to have a "slow" barrel so stick with the 400s to keep the velocity up. Besides, how big a bullet does it take to kill paper?

I have a .458 Win. Mag. with a 24" barrel. Loading 450 grain Barnes X's and solids a significant amount below maximum, I get in excess of 2200 fps. On 100 degree South Georgia days, the load shows no pressure signs at all. It isn't a Lott, but I wouldn't want to be a buffalo on the pointy end of the round. I have yet to hear of anyone not getting good penetration with premium bullets with the sectional density of .305 or so that the 450 grain bullets boasts. Just MHO.

[ 03-26-2003, 23:41: Message edited by: JudgeG ]

Magnum Hunter,
That is Hogdon Benchmark and it is very insensitive to temperature extremes. I have a bunch of Hornady 500gr loaded with this powder to try and am waiting for my MarkX to get back from the shop so I can compare speeds with my Ruger77. Also waiting for the temperature to climb for a better test, only in the mid to high 80's so far.
I will post info when I try them. I also have some GSC 450 gr solids that should perform well.

Similarly to JudgeG, I have loads for the 450 "X" and "SS" that approach 2,250 fps with a variety of powders. This easily exceeds .450 Nitro capability and I seriously doubt there is need of more power, for the visiting hunter. These projectiles offer wonderful penetration.

JudgeG

What kind of accuracy are you getting with the Barnes X 450's ? How about copper fouling?

Ralph

Haven't heard from you in a long time. After selling you the Ruger .458 my friends got tired of me whining about not having one so I found another one at the Dallas gun show a while back. It has been carried and shot extensively. When I got it home I discovered it would not feed. These rifles have about 1/4" of space between the front of the magazine box and the wood. It had been fired a lot with heavy loads and had deformed the magazine. I straightened it out and it fed perfectly. So be sure and put a filler between the magazine and the wood on yours to prevent the same problem.

The good news is I finally got to shoot it off the bench last week and one 5 shot group put 4 touching at one inch and the 5th spreading the group to 1.5 inch. 350 Hornady RN, 72 gr of Reloader 7 for 2190 fps. Should be a stunning Texas whitetail and hog load.

Dave and Magnum Hunter

I've been thinking along the same lines. Looks like Ralph and JudgeG may be ahead of us. Now we may be able to benefit from some of their tests I hope.

Out of the 400 and 450 X and solids that I worked up loads for, all would hold MOA or better. Fouling is not any worse in my rifles (and not only with the .458) than with any other type of bullet. Just because the lands are painted with the copper color a bit after only a few rounds does not mean the bore is fouled. I have not found that accuracy starts to fall off until 20 to 30 rounds have been shot, or about the same as when shooting Hornady 500 gr. RN and FMJ or 300 gr. and 350 gr. Hornady bullets.

500 grains might not be a bad weight bullet. Depends on what powder your gun will shoot well, and how much trouble you want to go to in reloading.

My loading data:
Win. Model 700 - 25" barrel.
Winchester cases, CCI 200 primers, 500 grain Hornady soft points.
IMR 3031 - worked up to 72 grains with no pressure signs. Loads vibrated to compact powder. Velocity 2,076. Wasn't particularly accurate, case was getting awfully full, so switched to IMR 4198.

IMR 4198 - worked up to 65 grains, and had some flattening of primer. No extraction problems or other signs of pressure. Velocity 2,138. Backed off and used 64 grains, virtually same velocity, and took that load to Africa. All went well !!!

Caution: These loads were developed in my rifle, and no one else's. Do not use these loads without working safely up to these pressure levels. I make no representation that this a safe load for anyone else's firearm.