Has anyone heard of this, or have any info about it?

Thanks Much
JuanTedman

Hi, Juan:
  Would you be thinking of Frank C. Barnes' .458 X 2" American? It's a .458 Winchester cut back to 2". The original rifle was a Remington 722. There's considerable loading data in Cartridges of the World, 6th, 7th & 9th editions for sure. The top load is a 405 gr. Winchester bullet ahead of 51 gr. of IMR 4198 for 2100 fps.

Bye
Jack

Juan,

I played with one for quite a while in the early 80's.  Very impressive little cartridge and works nicely in short actions.  Built mine on a short Model 70 with a cheap E.R. Shaw barrel, but it shot very very well, and wasn't finicky about loads, shooting most anything you fed it better than I could see the reciever sights it wore.

I even did a lot of experimenting with paper-patched .45LC bullets in this little monster.  What fun!  Time consuming, but the results were gratifying.

I kick myself, because when I let that gun go in a trade, the fellow whom I traded it to wanted all my loading data for the gun... like a dummy I gave it all to him without copying it!  Later lost touch with the chap, and haven't any idea what ever happened to the data or the gun!

A fun toy, but nothing over our new Guide Guns either for portability nor power.  Don't think I'd do the project over again with the great .45-70's we have available today!

Just a quick look back!  

God Bless,

Marshall

Is the 458 brass rimless or semi rimmed?

How does the Barnes 458 compare to the 450 Marlin?
Pressure?

Thanks Much!
JuanTedman

The 458x2 American is essentially a458Win mag shortened to 2" and inside reamed to seat the 458 cal bullets. with the introduction  of the 450Marlin, chamber a bolt gun for it and have a factory round. The bolt action is its ideal  situation for a warmly loaded 450. Winchester offers the 450Marlin in a custom M70 for 񘜼+/-.