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Had a play with the .458WM today... |
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Russ
.30/06 SpringField Joined: 13 July 2014 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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Posted: 15 July 2014 at 22:56 |
Hey guys,
Had a bit of of a play today with Winchester's big .45 and thought I'd post the result for you all. Was looking for a lighter load that would be cheaper to reload and easier on the shoulder. Using a lighter bullet is the easiest way to decrease recoil in these bigger rifles and the beauty is with even with light loads they are still super effective on medium sized game. The cheapest .458 projectile I could find was the Sierra FP. This projectile is designed for the .45-70 and Sierra states that it shouldn't be shot at over 2500fps - which is still hauling butt and absolutely enough for anything that a bullet such as this (ie. reasonably lightly constructed) would be used on. In reality, 2000-2100fps would be more than enough for deer/ elk/ sized game, and in fact running this projectile much faster would probably question the integrity of this particular projectile. Not a criticism on the Sierra and all bullets (with the exception of some mono-metals) share the same fate when run to fast. I already had some AR2207 (4198) on hand and this powder in my opinion is THE powder for lighter bullets in the .458WM. Looking in my ADI manual the STARTING LOAD was 72grs and a MAXIMUM LOAD was 77grs. I went for the starting load and I was hoping that the MV would be around 2500fps. As it turned out this load chrono'd at 2650fps (spot on with what ADI said it would) and as to be expected pressure was very mild. This load shoots about 150fps faster than I wanted, but it would be unwise to lower the powder charge because ADI states this is a STARTING load and the risk of SEE is a possibility. I didn't get the chance to do any for 'formal' penetration tests except for shooting a small 6" tree, which toppled over when shot. Impressive to look at but doesn't really tell us much as far as performance on game is concerned... so I'll keep you all posted. One thing I can say is that recoil is way down when using 500gr. Using my recoil calculator recoil in my rifle (CZ550 Safari Magnum) is 45ft/lbs with this handload. Using the 500gr handload recoil is up around 65- 70ft/lbs. Thats a fair difference! One more thing, ADI states that with 77grs a velocity of around 2800fps is achieved - and with my 25" barrel I don't doubt it. That load has over 5000ft/lbs of energy but unless one is using the Barnes X I don't recommend it. First bullet integrity would almost certainly be questioned and poor penetration would be the result. Also using a flat point, trajectory isn't flattened much at this speed and finally I think 5000ft/lbs should be used with 450-500gr bullets for the big stuff, not for lighter bullets for medium game. Will keep you posted on group sizes next week! Russ. Edited by Russ |
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BEAR
Administrator Joined: 07 September 2013 Location: Appalachian Mtn Status: Offline Points: 13734 |
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Russ, ever think of cast bullets and light loads for the 45-70 in your 458?
Beartooth has some 325 flat nose look good to me. ( $20/50 bullets) http://www.beartoothbullets.com/bulletselect/index.htm
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MtElkHunter
.375 Holland & Holland Magnum Joined: 10 August 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 587 |
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Like bear said have you thought of cast. I have a 45-70 and shoot 405 flat nose hard cast at around 1900 and they are very impresive. I buy them for about $60 for 250. Russ |
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SW Montana
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Irish Bird Dog
.416 Rigby Too many Joined: 01 March 2009 Location: Midwest Status: Offline Points: 5511 |
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I too use cast .405 FN bullets in one of my 45-70 rifles...but use 535gr Postel's cast in my BPCR with BP.
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Irish Bird Dog
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Russ
.30/06 SpringField Joined: 13 July 2014 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 430 |
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I actually have thought of using cast bullets. Was thinking of loading up
some light loads with Trail Boss for about 1000fps or so. That way the wife can have a shot too |
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deaddog
Administrator *AKA The Flying Gun* Joined: 23 April 2004 Location: Svalbard Status: Offline Points: 991201 |
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11 grains Unique with a little Dacron pillow ticking. I use this load in
45-70 with a 420gr cast bullet. Not much louder than a .22 LR. I won a bet at a shoot this spring with a 1873 Trapdoor Springfield carbine. Cold bore shot standing at a 8" gong at 200 yards. It took the bullet a while too get there. I started to get nervous with the growing crowd of guys as I proceeded to bang 8 shots in a row and finally flinched the 9th. The bet was for only one shot. This load works well for almost any caliber and cast bullets. I've used it in: .30 carbine, 30-30, .308, .30-06, 7.62x39,7.62x54R,8mm, etc. Just be sure not to pack the Dacron filler just lightly push it in. It is just to keep the powder from detonating in the larger cases. I'm sure it'd make that .458 a pure pleasure to shoot. DD |
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Endeavor to persevere.
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MtElkHunter
.375 Holland & Holland Magnum Joined: 10 August 2007 Location: United States Status: Offline Points: 587 |
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i have three load for the 45-70. a kick ass 1900 FPS load, a middle of the road 1500 FPS and a 1000 FPS slow load. The 1000 load uses trail boss and is so quiet that you do not need hearing protection and anyone can shoot it. It is my favorite load in the gun! |
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SW Montana
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