I know some of this has already been covered,but please, bear with me.

I have a .458 barrel on my savage. The barrel measures an actual length of 24 inches, TOTAL.That's out of the action. Everybody seems to have a different opinion on this.

1) How is barrel length measured.

2) After #1 is answered, what is the minimum length this barrel should be?
It seems very forward heavy to me. And this will be a close range brush gun, the shorter the better. So long as it is still useful.

Or is it just right the way it is?

measure it to the bolt face, is how the ATF measures them, especialy if you go short on a rifle

AB barrels are only heavy until you fire them!

23", to the bolt face, is my recomendation, which i lernt from miked

My gunsmith buddy, FFL, now retired told me that a BATF agent closes the gun, drops a stick, cleaning rod, whatever, down the muzzle until it stops, marks the point that it sticks out of the barrel, removes it and measures end to mark... pretty well shuts down discussion/games.

I never fired a .458, just a hot loaded .45/70. I would be more concerned with the other end. THEY KICK! I doubt if you need more than 20 inches with smokeless and fast handling... I am too old to be interested in that sort of confrontation any more. LUCK.

quote:

Originally posted by frank4570:
I know some of this has already been covered,but please, bear with me.

I have a .458 barrel on my savage. The barrel measures an actual length of 24 inches, TOTAL.That's out of the action. Everybody seems to have a different opinion on this.

1) How is barrel length measured.

2) After #1 is answered, what is the minimum length this barrel should be?
It seems very forward heavy to me. And this will be a close range brush gun, the shorter the better. So long as it is still useful.

Or is it just right the way it is?

Contour and length just like a Pre-64 Win in .458

Measuring with a dowel down the barrel is a good way too measure.

If you want to be quick about it, measure from the muzzle to the front edge of the action, then add one inch.

The barrel shank is typically about one inch.

I built two Savage 110's in 458 last year, with ER Shaw barrels. Mine is 20" stainless, my cousin's is 24" blued. I like the 20" better. It was much louder when fired on his back deck, with sound bouncing off the deck and house. At an un-covered range, and in the woods, we couldn't tell the difference.

I think the ER Shaw contour is a bit heavy, but it is a 458, so the weight can help.

Mine is my new favorite deer rifle.


I built mine on the old staggered feed action. I found a new center feed action for my cousin's, and it is far superior. Feeds better, smoother, better bluing. The new PAD recoil pad is as nice as the Limbsaver I put on mine.

according to quickload, the velociti with a maxload 510grains hdy rd nose would be
17" 1989ft/sek
19" 2032ft/sek
24" 2101ft/sek
Energy
17" 5957jule
19" 6215jule
24" 6646jule
Muzlepresure
17" 527bar
19" 462bar
24" 367bar

The diferens betwen a 17" and a 24" is the same as changing the shootingdistance about 60yd

quote:

bja105

Mine is 24inches. It seems a bit long to me. I have been thinking of knocking off 2 inches. And like you, it is to be my general purpose deer gun.

About the center feed action. Mine is an older action with a staggered magazine. Could you tell me what the difference is between the two actions, and if it would be possible to convert to the newer one?
Thanks.

I'm preparing components to start a custom 458Win project.
It will be a copy of my 24" 425 Westley Richards but made a little more compact for Elephant hunting in the rugged and heavily bushed Zambezi Vally.
To reduce weight and bulk but yet maintain enough length to achieve acceptable velocity from 480grn bullets I will have the barrel cut at 23".

I have owned several, with barrel lengths from 19" to almost 30". My post 64 Super Grade, 22" barrel is the best pointing of any of the dozen or so 458's I have owned. I normally like longer barrels, but that stock design and the weight of the M70 fits like it was made for me.

About a year ago, I bought a nice Browning FN-LE .458WM, vintage 1964, with a muzzle brake on it. I hate these abortions and since I want this rifle as a mate to my Dakota 76-.338WM for BC hunting, I will have the tube chopped to 23", a length I like and will add a Weibe 4+1 mag. box, Micky stock, Recknagels and already have Leupy QRWs on it. I will also get the trigger changed to a Mauser and install a 3-pos. safety as that is what I am used to.

I cannot see any real advantage to more than 23" in bbl. for this cartridge and since I will never hunt Africa, my velocities, energies, with my chosen 450 and 400 SAFs will be perfectly adequate for my uses.

quote:

Originally posted by frank4570:

quote:

bja105

Mine is 24inches. It seems a bit long to me. I have been thinking of knocking off 2 inches. And like you, it is to be my general purpose deer gun.

About the center feed action. Mine is an older action with a staggered magazine. Could you tell me what the difference is between the two actions, and if it would be possible to convert to the newer one?
Thanks.

The new center feed magazine attaches to the stock, not the receiver. The receiver is machined differently. I don't think it could affordably be converted. The center feed action I found was a 300 Win, barely used. I kept the barrel for a different action, and installed the new barrel for my cousin. (He's a good cousin. He's flying in from KC to help me fix my truck!)

Is your 458 factory, with the dedicated 458 Magazine?