458 Win Mag for deer and bear

[Riflecrank]

 

[Riflecrank]

 

[Fryeguy]

I experimented with the 300 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip bullet in a reduced .458 load... I HIGHLY recommend you NOT use that one for hunting... I shot a late season WT doe with it and the bullet completely came apart and made a mess, with shrapnel going everywhere, excessive meat loss.View attachment 702014

I agree with your experience 100%!!! I used the nosler 300 ballistic tips in a savage ML, speeds around 1800-1900fps. I happened to shoot a black bear that dressed 364# (the day after I shot it) It turned into a long evening. Bullets did NOT penetrate well at all. I did spine it first shot thank goodness, but bears are tough. I hit him 3-4 times from treestand, with shots being 100-125 yards. Once he was out of sight, I had to get down and follow up, and I found him dragging himself into the worst hollow ever 175 yards away. One last shot quartering away behind the shoulder finally got lungs and heart, and he didn’t take another step. I think the additional yardage and slowing bullet down even more helped it too. First and Last time I ever used that bullet. Will never use it again, ever. It was definitely made for 458Socom cartridge. I think I gave the others I had left away. So please don’t use them. I never had a minute of trouble with the hornady 300 bullets. I plan on using the HP interlock and the 350RN myself some this fall in my 458WM

 

[jnmullins]

@Riflecrank, what powder are you using with those 300gr Barnes? That looks like it would really be effective on deer and hogs.

 

[Muskox]

View attachment 706545

Sexy stuff that!

 

[Muskox]

This is all the flavors of 10.3mm (.413) bullets I have for the two Swiss Cartridges I shoot.

10,3x68 RWS and 10,3x60R.

The 2nd one from the left is a RWS HIT 200 Gain. The factory rounds look a lot like the 458 Barnes X bullets you have loaded.

 

[Riflecrank]

Oops.
I meant to say 71.0 grains of H4198.
Gave 2638 fps Mv with 300-gr/.458 TTSX-BT in a 25" barrel.
W-W brass and F-215 primer, 3.390" COL.

78.0 grains H4198 with the stubbier 300-gr TSX-FB did just over 2800fps MV and accurate in same 25" barrel, COL 3.330", W-W brass, F-215 primer.

Stay tuned for some 24" and 20" velocities with 300-gr TTSX-BT and H4198.
That bullet is a more reliable expander at low impact velocities, according to Michael458's testing,
and no top-end impact velocity worries, like with that 300-gr Nosler blower-upper-exploding-pancaker.

Then scope adjusted to zero at 100 yards:

Hoping to flatten the trajectory and reduce wind drift with higher MV.
But above load is like a hot-loaded .375 H&H as far as oomph.
Graf & Sons was having a sale on those bullets recently .
Been a while since I tried them, got some more to go for .375 WBY MAG OOMPH this time,
instead of .375 H&H oomph.

 

[Riflecrank]

Drop tube and bullet sitting on mildly compressed charge of H4198 with a LEE Factory Crimp,
next time with the TTSX-BT 300-grainer.
H4198 likes mild compression with 250-gr to 300-gr bullets in the .458 WIN MAG.

 

[Muskox]

What is recoil like with the 300 Grain Barnes X? I bet it is a pussy cat like a 300 Winchester or so.

 

[Mountaineer]

I shoot mine laying prone with the 300 grain bullets.

 

[Riflecrank]

What is recoil like with the 300 Grain Barnes X? I bet it is a pussy cat like a 300 Winchester or so.

Subjectively it kicks about half as hard as a 500-grainer at 2150 fps in the same weight rifle.
Shootable from prone.
Run the numbers for a 10-pound rifle and you get.
300-grainer: 40.2 ft-lbs recoil energy @ 16.08 fps recoil velocity
500-grainer: 63.0 ft-lbs @ 20.1 fps

Corrected image for that sweet 300-gr load:

 

[Riflecrank]

Even kinder to the shoulder:

Shooting it at 3000 fps instead of 2700 fps gains you only about 50 yards down range,
poor BC.
I would stick with the 65.0 grains of AA-5744, zeroed at 208 yards it is only 2.98" high at 100 yards:

No top-end limit on impact velocity, don't know about the low-end impact velocity for expansion for the Monoflex.
The 300-gr/.458 TTSX BT is a "known known" for me, thanks to Michael458.
Maybe he has tested the 250-gr/.458 also.
If so, that would be an "unknown known" for me.

 

[Riflecrank]

From Bro' Fury01, getting ready for meat season:

And:

The weights of those bullets are based on clip-on wheel weight alloy, 480-grainer and 485-grainer, like Sir Dennis is using.
Whatever he is doing, he is doing it right.
If that 480-grainer is for a single-shot 45-120, it would have to be throated like a .458 WIN MAG.
The 485-grainer has sold 3 times more than the 485 grainer.
The 485-grainer will be an easier feeder for rifles less talented than the one Sir Dennis has.
I might use a caulk backer foam wad of 1/2" diameter sliced from a 20-foot roll of it with my fillet knife.
Less fussy than the Dacron snow storm.

Elmer Keith thought a 45-70 lever-action with 400-grainer at 1800 fps MV was perfect for his timber-elk rifle.
Fury01's .458 WIN MAG cast bullet load would be even better.

 

[Riflecrank]

Typo correction: 485-grainer mould has sold 3 times more than the 480-grainer mould at Accurate Molds.
Probably forever since sales figures updated in catalog.

 

[Warbeast]

What Distances are we Talking about?

Deer and Black bear sound to me like short range Woods hunting.
And within that, Trailboss and some flat Cast Boolits from 405 grains should work.

Then its like a brass fed Muzzleloader.
And both Species are clranly taken with that.

 

[Riflecrank]

DOH !!!
The Fury01 cast bullet load is quite furious by .45-70 modern standards, but quite mild in his .458 WIN MAG, most notably with great accuracy.

The SAAMI .458 WIN MAG chambered barrel can be adapted to shoot like a Trapdoor .45-70
or more powerfully than a SAAMI .458 Lott.
You can do it all with one rifle.

 

[BGGMKLR]

I agree. Shooting paper is fine. But getting out and actually hunting and killing with your chosen rifle and bullet is valuable.

Last winter stalking sitting rabbits with my daughter.

One quartering away. One frontal brain. .458 WM with Barnes banded solids
View attachment 702016View attachment 702017

You really should get that one on the left scored.
If it's not a Booner it's prettu damn close.
Best
Spike

 

[Riflecrank]

"Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis is in the building."

My latest deer rifle acquisition is another .458 WIN MAG, a BAR MK 1 by Atkinson Gun Co. of Arizona.
22" ported barrel did 2610 fps and functioned flawlessly with the 300-gr TTSX-BT load discussed previously.
I call it Elvis since a gentleman living just south of Las Vegas, NV was kind enough to allow me to adopt this baby, built at the time Elvis was King.
This is the King of Deer Rifles.
It is a Kodiak Deer Rifle and Alaskan Sheep, Bear, Moose, and Caribou Rifle.
500-gr Nosler Partition, 404-gr Stone Hammer, 308-gr/300-gr CEB ESP Raptor (as soft and solid)
and 300-gr Barnes TTSX-BT ought to handle all chores.
Haven't tried the CEB as FN solid yet, might be limited to pointy or round-nose bullets for semi-auto function.

Won't be legal for Africa, but I am sure it would be perfect for blasting jackalopes.
250-gr Hornady Mono Flex at 2700 fps MV would be ideal for stopping a charging buck.
3000 fps MV is easy and accurate in a 24" bolt-action .458 WIN MAG with 3.340" COL.
But that would be "overkill" and make it hard on the jackalope taxidermist.

 

[hoytcanon]

"Ladies and gentlemen, Elvis is in the building."

View attachment 714637View attachment 714640

My latest deer rifle acquisition is another .458 WIN MAG, a BAR MK 1 by Atkinson Gun Co. of Arizona.
22" ported barrel did 2610 fps and functioned flawlessly with the 300-gr TTSX-BT load discussed previously.
I call it Elvis since a gentleman living just south of Las Vegas, NV was kind enough to allow me to adopt this baby, built at the time Elvis was King.
This is the King of Deer Rifles.
It is a Kodiak Deer Rifle and Alaskan Sheep, Bear, Moose, and Caribou Rifle.
500-gr Nosler Partition, 404-gr Stone Hammer, 308-gr/300-gr CEB ESP Raptor (as soft and solid)
and 300-gr Barnes TTSX-BT ought to handle all chores.

Good luck with that one... they are known to suffer many issues from 9.3X62 on up.

 

[Riflecrank]

I am well aware.
This one was claimed to be the original "project gun" done for Guns & Ammo magazine and
suffers only from inability to use FN bullets.
Must use pointy bullets.
I refuse to use round nose solids, and prefer pointy softs.
A proposed plan to create a 450-gr pointy bullet that transforms into a 400-gr FN penetrator on impact:

That is just a "Paint-apped" image with a CEB bullet widened from .375-cal. to .458-cal.
Same way as the 404-gr/.458 Stone Hammer was conceived from the 270/.375 Shock Hammer that Fordy instigated.

The 450-gr Maximus FCG from CEB will make a fine hollowpoint jackalope charge-stopping bullet.
Could also take out any charging elephant following behind the jackalope charge.

FCG stands for Fracture Control Groove. Ought to expand down to 1300 fps impact.
Seal-Tite Band on the bullet is also an excellent feature for a .458 WIN MAG.