Best 458 Win Mag ammo for North American game?

[Velo Dog]

Thanks for the advise. I'm basically treating my 458 WinMag as suited for hunting the same distances I would with my 45-70, 150m and In. Knowing I have the option to push it to 200m is a bonus.

So far I can consistently ring my 10inch AR500 plate at 100m with all loads using irons. I'm going to start stretching that distance out next weekend.

Shooting large bore rifles can be a lot of fun, provided the rifle stock fits the shooter’s physical dimensions and is built heavy enough to dampen some of the recoil velocity.
You might discover that you’re able to hit smaller targets than the 2 foot wide steel gong, at 300 meters / yards, that I mentioned earlier, especially if you have a scope on yours or even a “peep & blade” type sighting arrangement on it.

All of my hard kickers have a wide, shallow “V” rear sight and either a white or silver color, over sized bead front sight.
I like this arrangement to be zeroed to a proverbial 6 O’Clock hold, at 100 yards / meters.
However, it is not as precise as a peep and blade.
And of course nothing beats a scope for precise accuracy.

I do not like being struck in the face by my scope during recoil.
So, I do not put scopes on anything I have, above .375 caliber.
Some folks are probably better at avoiding scope cuts than I am, as I know of ones who have scoped up to and including the .505 Gibbs, apparently with no problems.

Oh ya, I almost forgot…. I would avoid shooting large animals, such as moose, bison, grizzly, etc., with any 300 grain bullet from your .458 Winchester.
Those are quite soft and intended to be used at old timey .45-70 “trap door” ballistics, on smaller animals, most specifically white tail deer.
I’d be very nervous that at any speed,
especially the dreaded magnum velocity, they’d expand too violently and thereby fail to penetrate far enough to pierce a large animal’s vitals.

 

[1dirthawker]

I'm considering using Federals 400 grain Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. Any others?

I bought 3 boxes of the federal 400 gr bullets you mentioned. they shoot well in my rifle (intertarms) and I will be using this combo for backup on brown bear. I don't intend on using beyond 200 yards, but I will know the drops for this ammo.

I suspect it will not bounce off of them.