Need to draw on other’s 458 knowledge

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BKS1

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I’m working through my brass and will have rifle in hand next weekend.
I would appreciate anyone/everyone’s opinion on what might be the most accurate/suitable load for whitetail and hogs.

Speer or Hornady ?
350 gr or 400gr

My experiences with the 45/70 and 300gr JHP at 1850 have led me to believe that the 300gr JHP are less likely to pass thru a decent sized deer. I like an entrance and exit. Blood out/air in.

I’m thinking a 350gr SP at around 2100 or maybe the 400gr Speer at 1600-1700

I’m not adverse to the mono metal bullets but the Hornady and Speer are cheaper for sure.

Read a lot on here about how good the Hornady bullets have shot for some people.
 
BKS1 said:
I’m working through my brass and will have rifle in hand next weekend.
I would appreciate anyone/everyone’s opinion on what might be the most accurate/suitable load for whitetail and hogs.

Speer or Hornady ?
350 gr or 400gr

My experiences with the 45/70 and 300gr JHP at 1850 have led me to believe that the 300gr JHP are less likely to pass thru a decent sized deer. I like an entrance and exit. Blood out/air in.

I’m thinking a 350gr SP at around 2100 or maybe the 400gr Speer at 1600-1700

I’m not adverse to the mono metal bullets but the Hornady and Speer are cheaper for sure.

Read a lot on here about how good the Hornady bullets have shot for some people.
Click to expand...

Are you loading for the 45-70 gov't or the 458 Win Mag? Assuming that it is the 45-70 Gov't before you give up completely on the 300g pills, take a look at the Barnes factory loads with the 300g TSX. They are getting 1925fps out of them and Double Tap makes a 300g TSX load that is rated 1990fps. That TSX is going to penetrate all the way thru a deer, even if you are doing a Texas heart shot. Barnes factory ammo is better and more consistent than most of my reloads. You might be able to get a bit more speed from reloads but you really should not need it for deer.

I used to hunt with a 16" trapper model of a Winchester 94 in 44mag and with 240g HP ammo, I always got a full pass-thru on deer with broadside shots and almost always got a bang/flop result.
 
BKS1 said:
I’m sorry 458 Win Mag
Click to expand...
Copy that. I will not be much help on that one. The only 458wm loads that I have are 500g Hornady SP and Solids and they both penetrate thru most everything smaller than Elephants. Never tried em on deer but did use my 375HH one year on Whitetails before taking it to Africa and the 250g Trophy Bonded Bearclaw bullet passed totally thru the buck that I shot with it. Very effective but way too much gun for deer.
 
Using the 458 for deer, my preference is the Speer 350 grain mag-tip. Various powders easily push it to MV 2100 fps, so whichever produces the best accuracy would be the one to choose. I've not shot any hogs with it so can't offer an opinion on animals tougher than deer. For deer they do very well with complete penetration, adequate expansion but minimal bloodshot meat.
 
The 250gr Hornady Monoflex would be a low recoiling high velocity king for deer hunting, minimum or max load of RL-7 or H-4198 would put you in very good country, you can push 'em over 2900 fps if you choose, that's easy 400 yard whitetail hunting if you know your drops or need to make a shot on a wall hanger at those longer ranges.
 
IMG_2709.jpeg

From left to right on deer.
1)300gn hollow point-messy
2)325gn ftx-very messy
3) 400gn woodleigh PP-effective but overkill
4)405gn soft point-very accurate in my rifle but not made any more, large wound channels
5)560gn hardcast- pencils straight through unless it hits solid bone, then you are digging out bone shards

I personally use a 308or8x68 and go for head shots or high neck shots
Gumpy
 
My son hunts deer here in Australia with his 458 WM loaded with the Barnes X 300gn 458 SOCOM bullet. We are running them at 2400fps, which is quite a lot more speed than they were designed for. The copper bullet handles that speed okay - they kill well. This load would be a very effective as a lighter weight hunting bullet for pretty much anything except dangerous game.

img-3865-jpg.562152
 
I have killed several whitetail with Cutting Edges 295 grain raptor. They shot better than the 258 raptor for me. I tried the 250 grain Hornady Monoflex a couple weeks ago and shot a one hole group. I only loaded 4 shots so I’ll load some more of those and see how consistent they are. The Cutting Edge’s are very consistent.
 
@Grumpy gumpy and @rifletuner

Bruce Bertram is now doing a 375 grain .458 proj.

He gave me some to try recently - another thing I havn’t got around to.:rolleyes:
 
Tintin said:
@Grumpy gumpy and @rifletuner

Bruce Bertram is now doing a 375 grain .458 proj.

He gave me some to try recently - another thing I havn’t got around to.:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
I have 100 of them waiting to be loaded. Will be at least a few weeks before I can do load development with them. Im thinking they shoud be a nice sambar bullet.
 
rifletuner said:
I have 100 of them waiting to be loaded. Will be at least a few weeks before I can do load development with them. Im thinking they shoud be a nice sambar bullet.
Click to expand...
Sort of same here, I’ve still got a bag of his projectiles, I think 400gn, could be 450gn (I’ve had them for a while) that I was going to use when I’ve used up the 400 odd other ones I have
Gumpy
 
Grumpy gumpy said:
Sort of same here, I’ve still got a bag of his projectiles, I think 400gn, could be 450gn (I’ve had them for a while) that I was going to use when I’ve used up the 400 odd other ones I have
Gumpy
Click to expand...
I was already planning to try the 350gn Woodleigh RN (their part# 30A) they make for the 450 BPE. Its only intended to black powder velocities, but I wasnt planning to run it too hard. Then I saw the 375gn Bertram's at the Ballarat Arms Fair a few weeks ago and decided to give them a try.

I used to use 45/70 400gn bullets in my 450 Ackley back in the 1990s for shooting pigs, etc. I found the lighter 400gn were noticeably more comfortable to shoot vs the 500gn loads I used for dangerous game. So planning to do much the same thing with the new 458 Win build I have underway.

BRNB422008-B5-E70-000797.jpg
 
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