Hey everyone,
I thought I'd post a pic or 2 of my latest .458 Win Mag, and what's special is I thought I'd never own it.
It was one of several rifles owned by the late Bob Penfold, who ran Hunt Australia, one of Australia's premier hunting safari companies.
Bob was known as "the grandfather of the big game hunting industry of the South Pacific".
He had a rifle built known as 'Black Max', a M98 Mauser with a 22" Magnaported barrel chambered in .458WM. This rifle got it's name as it was all painted black.
Then he had 3 more built, based on his original rifle.
Then he had several more built to the same specifications that were used around the various camps by the guides and visiting clients.
Bob retired (and has since passed away, RIP), and Hunt Australia was then run by a fellow named Matt, who took over. Unfortunately, Matt passed away suddenly at a young age, and Hunt Australia then ceased to exist.
When Hunt Australia ended, the equipment – including the rifles – was sold off. I heard about this and immediately put my hand up for one of Bob's .458's.
While I was waiting, a brand new Zastava .458 became available, so I bought that instead. That rifle served me well, but I always regretted not getting one of Bob Penfold's rifles...
A few weeks ago on an Australian hunting forum, randomly someone said they owned one. I immediately messaged him and asked if he was interested in selling, but he wasn't. But he did tell me someone else who owned one, and maybe they would?
I contacted this person, and they were 50/50 on whether they'd sell or not.
I absolutely hounded this person (who I kind of knew) mercilessly until they eventually gave in and sold! And as a bonus, he only live a few hours from me so no postage... I just drove down and picked it up in person!
So now, I finally own one of Bob Penfold's rifles...
I need to mention that the reason I wanted one of these rifles so bad was because I'd read about 'Black Max' and these other rifles in magazines growing up.
I'd read about them and thought to myself how cool it would be to own one... and now I do.
When I picked it up, it looked like this...
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It now looks like this... everything done by me.
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When I first got it, it shot like this...
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After a scrubbing with Sweets and a bronze brush – and using my usual .458 load consisting of the 480gn Woodleigh RNSP and 2206H, it now shoots 3 shots like this at 50m...
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I got good speed with this load too. In the stubby 21" Magnaported barrel I got this...
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The scope that came with this rifle – the very same one that has lived on this rifle from the start – isn't the same one in the pic. The original scope is a Leupold 1.5-5x and the scope in the pic is a Leupold M8 4 power.
The reason for this is the original scope is being refurbished by Leupold. Life on a .458 for a scope – regardless of brand – is a hard one, and I just wanted it freshened up before I started seriously hunting with it. The 4 power is only a temporary scope until the original is back.
So this .458 is number 6... and this one is a keeper. I let one of these rifles slip through my fingers years ago, and I'm not making that mistake again.
Rather miraculously, I managed to locate 2 of them, and even more miraculously, I actually managed to buy one.
My plan was to load the 450 gn Atomic-29 copper hollow-point in it. I was going to aim for a velocity of around 2200 fps. That I thought to myself would be a potent load. But as the 480gn Woodleighs seem to shoot well in it, I'll use them for the moment. 2123fps with a 480gn projectile sounds pretty potent too...
So there it is, .458 number 6.
And even though the .458WM is my favourite cartridge, I never thought I'd get another one when I sold my last Zastava... but then again, I never thought I'd track one of Bob Penfold's rifles down...
I just need to blood it now, so keep your eyes peeled...
Russ
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