What are the best choices of factory ammo for 458 Win Mag for taking bear and moose sized game?
I'm considering using Federals 400 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. Any others?
Thoughts?
The picture attached below here, shows an acquaintance of mine and the huge bull moose he bagged in Sept 2016, Alaska.
He used exactly the same Federal brand, 400 grain Bear Claw bullet ammunition, that you were considering in your original post.
His rifle is a Ruger Model #1, single shot but I do not recall what scope, (if any), that he has on it.
He lives in another part of the state and so, I’ve ever seen the rifle.
He had only described his 2016 hunt and mentioned both the specific rifle and ammunition.
His critter was within 150 paces or less distant and trotting either left to right or right to left, as the story went.
Upon receiving the bullet through both lungs, he dropped and expired quickly so, no follow up shot was fired.
I do not recall if the bullet exited or was found in the carcass.
However, I suspect that it exited the far side ribs.
Personally, I’ve never shot anything except inanimate targets with the .458 Winchester.
That said, I found this cartridge much more pleasant of recoil with 400 grain bullets (including the Federal 400 gr Bear Claw ones) than it is with the more standard 500 and 510 grainers.
The 400 gr bullets are typically leaving the muzzle at perhaps 300 fps faster than the heavy, traditional bullets are.
And, I found that they shot flat enough to make hitting a 2 foot wide steel gong, at 300 meters quite easy, without having to aim at the sky and drop them in, mortar style.
