I find that, in my corner of the world, I'm considered a bit of a freak in my taste for cartridges. Not many charging elephants or cape buffalo in Kansas, you know. But I do love my 458 Win Mag, and love to make handloads for it.

Any else handload for the mighty 458? I'm curious what you've experienced as for as case life expectancy. I full-length size (only option I've found), and use the Innovative Tech. Belted Magnum Resizing Die when needed. No lost cases yet, but this obviously isn't a high-volume rifle, either.

I mainly shoot 405 grain "cheapy" Remington JSP bullets for fun, and have some 500 grain, 1991 FPS thumpers for more resistant pests.

Any other 458 shooters (or those curious), please pipe up.

458plinker

458,
Like you, I enjoy shooting the big boys! A favorite load of mine is the Speer 350 gr bullet seated over 70 grs 4198, sparked by a CCI 350 magnum primer. This load chrony's 2600 fps and it is not unusual to see one hole groups at 100 yds. when shot from my Ruger 77 w/ Weaver 2.5 fixed scope. Lotta fun, those big bores ! My kind of contact sport.


Jeff

Be patient and wait until somebody's cow goes berserk and then charge the naysayers a hefty fee for fixing the problem.

I usually shoot a .375 H&H, but I'm currently without a .458 and attempting to figure out how to afford a double rifle in .470 NE.

Richard.

Have 50 cases and may never wear them out!

400 gr. Speer bullets will make a real mess of a pig, I can tell you that.....

Have 50 cases and may never wear them out!

400 gr. Speer bullets will make a real mess of a pig, I can tell you that.....

I just started working with Hornady 350's and H-322 in my #1.

Haven't settled on a load yet.

Jason

The Lyman 45 Caliber Short Neck Die will work in the 458 Winchester Magnum. You can size just the portion of the case where the bullet is to be seated. Used with the Lyman 'M' Die, cases will last significantly longer.

Probably the most fired gun in my safe. Find I load heavy bullets to somewhat less than max most of the time. Have a nice 405gr Saeco spire point mould for light stuff. Bought 400 FMJ seconds, 500gr, from Lock Stock And Barrel couple of years ago. Still working my way through them. Case life seems excellent. Use a 550gr RCBS paper patch bullet to. It is surprisingly accurate.

There aren't any Elephants in southern Indiana either.

My 458 has never had a factory load through it. Right now , my favorite load uses a 550 grain Lyman bullet. I have some 525 gr Beartooth bullets, but they shoot too well in my 45/70 to waste in the 458.
If anyone has an extra 462560 Lyman mold they want to part with, I could sure use one.
PS: No elephants here either.

I originally had a Ruger No. 1 in 458, beautiful rifle, shot well. I just didn't like all the little parts in the action. Seemed like a possibly large headache if I need to strip it in the field. Traded it and a T/C Encore (Fox Ridge) custom stainless with 18" 45-70 bull barrel for a NIB (specially ordered) Winchester 70 Safari Express. LOVE IT!!! I've only put handloads through it except for 4 factory Winchester 510gr loads (mainly to make sure they would feed). Factory open sights, I can hold it from a bench at less than 2 inches at 100 yards with 500 grain Hornady Interbond over 56 grains of IMR 3031. Can probably do "fresh", but that load was shots 25-28 on a morning I test 36 rounds, average recoil of 70 ft-lbs each. A little humbling to think I absorbed 2305 ft-lbs of recoil while sending 165,000+ ft-lbs of energy down range.

The No. 1 I traded was bought by a local bison rancher who wanted something to put down 3000lb bulls for harvesting. 45-70 factory loads, seven total, didn't kill one the year before. He also bought a box of Hornady Heavy Magnum 500 grain cartridges. Or so I was told.....

458plinker

I have one question about the Ruger #1 458WM. I would love to get a 458, have been looking for a Ruger 77 or a Win70. I have found a #1, older with beautiful wood, looks like it was never shot. An oximoron comes to mind when I think about it though. I am getting a dangerous game cartridge in a single-shot rifle. Is that leaving yourself open to get mauled or stomped? I know for plinking it would be great, but I'd like to think that I might go bear hunting with it. (Or Africa, because it appears cheaper than going to Alaska)

Bill

Well Sir -

There's a lot that goes into that question of yours, Bronco.

If the shot is a telling one, then follow-up shots are normally not required.

If a follow-up shot is necessary, the dexterity of the shooter predicates how fast the next shot is. Some of the old time African hunters carried singles or doubles with extra cartridges in the off-hand for fast reloading. Some were even faster than bolt action shooters at getting the second, third and fourth shots off.

The Ruger #1 Tropical is a beautiful firearm. Rugged and throughly reliable. Ejection is strong to allow a fast second shot if you're able to function in moments of high stress.

Guess the answer simply boils down to just how good are you individually in high stress situations to function mentally and manipulate the action (bolt, pump, lever or single) in such situations?

A question about neck-sizing belted magnum cartridges--Since the brass is not being full-length sized, will neck sizing eliminate the dreaded "above the belt bulge" that puts severe limits on case life? I have the die to correct that problem, but it would be contraidicative to use both dies on the same case.

I have the Lyman neck sizing die for my 45/70, so I had figured it might work for 458 as well. But for the "must work" type of loads (hunting, dangerous game, etc) I still lean more towards full-lenght sizing.

458plinker

When the ammunition MUST chamber properly and quickly, FL sizing is a must.

Yes, you can neck size only and not worry about the base bulge until the neck sized cases no longer chamber without undue effort. Then, they need FL treatment again.

Actually, the best of all worlds for good chamber alignment is when the case headspaces on the rear of the case (rimmed & belted) and the case is neck sized. This gives alignment with the rear of the case plus the shoulder/neck. Rimless cases must count on just the shoulder/neck to do so. The custom fireformed cases to the individual chamber is another plus.

Without loading my belted cases "foot to the firewall" maximum loads, they generally last about 10 reloadings prior to suspect incipient thinning/separation. Never had one crack, but feel 10 loads are enough for them and give them a toss.
Sorta expensive with the 7mm Dakota cases, though!

Have always FL sized my 458 brass with no problems. The bulge does not seem to be an issue for me. However they are only fired in one gun, I only have one 458 WM. I agress with kdub 10 loading are easily achieved unless you load to the max.