My Winchester .458 WM Finally Arrived

[Panielsen]

Well after nearly a year, and a lot of frustration my new Winchester Model 70 Safari arrived safe and sound in West Texas. I knocked the dust off the Leupold 1.5-5x scope and had it mounted. Took it to the range and was pleasantly surprised. The action is smooth as silk, the trigger amazing, and the rifle is very accurate with the factory Hornady DGX 500 gr ammo I shot that day. Took 5 rounds to zero using the sled, then all off the shoulder from there. I honestly have to say that the recoil, while stouter then my Ruger .375 African, actually bit me less! What I mean is that Winchesters stock is so comfortable that it didn't create discomfort really after 12 rounds from the shoulder like the stock on my Ruger does with my slightly hot loads, not that it is really painful.... In any case, I am extremely happy with my new thumper and can't wait to get back out to the range. I would give the rifle 4.5 out of 5 stars when judging accuracy, comfort, looks, and action. Wish they still made a Lott, but at my age I will be happy with the Win Mag.

I would have had range pics of the target etc, but we were in between down pours and wind was crazy.

 

[spike.t]

congrats on your new addition looks nice . mind you i was looking at the rifles in the background as i have been looking at the springfield website and like the look of the M1A socom 16.........just wondering if any of those might be one? i got a price from the dealer here and it was £2095 delivered here....a bit over $3200 for the black stock version, camo is more and a wait list. oh well a bit more expensive than over there.......

 

[Patrick R]

You will not be unhappy with this rifle, i am using this specific rifle for the last 12 years with excellent results...and yes i shoot also a .375 H&H zzk 602 action and the recoil is much more than the .458 in my opinion!!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

View attachment 44700 Well after nearly a year, and a lot of frustration my new Winchester Model 70 Safari arrived safe and sound in West Texas. I knocked the dust off the Leupold 1.5-5x scope and had it mounted. Took it to the range and was pleasantly surprised. The action is smooth as silk, the trigger amazing, and the rifle is very accurate with the factory Hornady DGX 500 gr ammo I shot that day. Took 5 rounds to zero using the sled, then all off the shoulder from there. I honestly have to say that the recoil, while stouter then my Ruger .375 African, actually bit me less! What I mean is that Winchesters stock is so comfortable that it didn't create discomfort really after 12 rounds from the shoulder like the stock on my Ruger does with my slightly hot loads, not that it is really painful.... In any case, I am extremely happy with my new thumper and can't wait to get back out to the range. I would give the rifle 4.5 out of 5 stars when judging accuracy, comfort, looks, and action. Wish they still made a Lott, but at my age I will be happy with the Win Mag.

I would have had range pics of the target etc, but we were in between down pours and wind was crazy.

Congrats on the new rifle! With modern powders and bullets, you really don't need the extra capacity of the Lott. If you're a handloader may I recommend working up loads using the 260gr SOCOM bullet from Cutting Edge Bullets for a PG load. And a 420gr Hollow Point / 450gr Solid from CEB for a DG load.

I used the 260gr bullet on PG this year and it is just devastating in my .458B&M. The larger bullets from everything I've read are just as devastating on buff, ele and hippo. I know they're expensive but I'm certain I can good load info for you in .458 Win to less the load development costs. If you're interested just let me know and I'll chase that down for you.

 

[CAustin]

Nice looking rifle!

 

[Panielsen]

congrats on your new addition looks nice . mind you i was looking at the rifles in the background as i have been looking at the springfield website and like the look of the M1A socom 16.........just wondering if any of those might be one? i got a price from the dealer here and it was £2095 delivered here....a bit over $3200 for the black stock version, camo is more and a wait list. oh well a bit more expensive than over there.......

I do believe I had seen one there, but wasn't sure of his price on any of them. I will keep an eye out for you unless you already found a deal. Thank you!

 

[Witold Krzyżanowski]

Congrats Panielsen.
Legndary rifle in legandary calibre.
Beautiful.
Witold

 

[Panielsen]

Congrats on the new rifle! With modern powders and bullets, you really don't need the extra capacity of the Lott. If you're a handloader may I recommend working up loads using the 260gr SOCOM bullet from Cutting Edge Bullets for a PG load. And a 420gr Hollow Point / 450gr Solid from CEB for a DG load.

I used the 260gr bullet on PG this year and it is just devastating in my .458B&M. The larger bullets from everything I've read are just as devastating on buff, ele and hippo. I know they're expensive but I'm certain I can good load info for you in .458 Win to less the load development costs. If you're interested just let me know and I'll chase that down for you.

I am ALWAYS open for advise and loads. My first .458, so any advise as far as loads or anything else for that matter is always welcome and appreciated. I wanted to let you all know as well, that this rifle, when ordered last year, was supposed to be made in the Browning plant here in the USA. It was actually made in Belgium I believe. I had heard rumors that Winchester was going over seas again with FN, and it appears to have happened. Still, the quality of the rifle thus far is amazing so I am not upset. I was hoping to get a U.S. made rifle as promised, but not the case. All in all, I'm stoked. Now comes the practicing for my Buff, so if any of you have training suggestions at the range that don't involve ninja rolls, please post em!

 

[Panielsen]

Congrats Panielsen.
Legndary rifle in legandary calibre.
Beautiful.
Witold

Thank you Witold! Wish I had a fraction of your collection, but it is a start, Lol... Thank you!

 

[matt85]

love it! congratulations on your new rifle. 458 WM isnt a bad cartridge and im sure this rile will serve you very well in the field.

Congrats on the new rifle! With modern powders and bullets, you really don't need the extra capacity of the Lott.

lets not get hasty here, try loading a 500gr mono-metal bullet to 2150fps in the 458 WM and then tell me it doesn't need more room.

-matt

 

[spike.t]

I do believe I had seen one there, but wasn't sure of his price on any of them. I will keep an eye out for you unless you already found a deal. Thank you!

thanks but dont worry as its impossible or very difficult to get one here from there . at least i have the option with the dealer unlike some other places . cheers mike

 

[Panielsen]

The only downside to this adventure is that shot up all my DGX cartridges thinking I'll just reload them.... Well, Midway has those listed as out of stock and a seasonal run! I ordered more DGS for practice, but the search is in full effect now for DGX.... Oh these happy dilemmas''......

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

love it! congratulations on your new rifle. 458 WM isnt a bad cartridge and im sure this rile will serve you very well in the field.




lets not get hasty here, try loading a 500gr mono-metal bullet to 2150fps in the 458 WM and then tell me it doesn't need more room.

-matt

What's so magical about 2150fps? Load an A-Frame, North Fork or CEB and you'll have all the momentum you need through the superior weight retention.

Mr. Lott wanted 2150 fps per the original .458 Win advertisement. It wasn't making it by significant amounts due to the powder available at that time. I've seen plenty of results of 500gr bullets making this velocity. But in the end hunters were using bullets that didn't have weight retention that today's bullets do.

So if I can only get a 500gr bullet to 2100fps, I really wouldn't care if it's one of the bullets listed above. Does the Lott offer more? Of course it does, but sometimes more is just more and not better.

 

[Panielsen]

According to Hodgden, 74 gr of Varget will push a 500 gr bullet to 2159 or something. That is the max load. I am going to start off with 72 gr loads and chronograph it. I would like to be between 2050 and 2150 without compression. IMHO an 500 gr bullet moving at 2100 fps should down whatever I am hunting, even if it takes a few shots, as most Buff seem to do no matter what you hit him with, and I would hope sufficient for ele using solids of course. By the way, I am wanting to use my Varget as I bought several pounds of it during the "shortage" and I like the "Extreme" line they came out with. I wish I had load data for the Superformance powder as well as that is what I use in my .375 Ruger with great accuracy. Varget and H4895 have done me well in other rifles. As for bullets, it's no surprise to many on here I am a Hornady fan, but I don't hate the other brands either. The only thing I have against the monometals is the fouling and I will have to load light for caliber as far as bullet weight. The Woodleigh bullets I hear are soft, but don't have first hand knowledge. I will be checking out the other mentioned brands as well though. I have always preferred Hornady, but never swore I wouldn't use anything else either. I have been tempted to try those GS Bullets as well. I would have to call them to get load info though as they use less pressure from what I understand.

http://gscustom.co.za/

 

[enysse]

Congrats, beautiful rifle. Don't let the Lott boys persuade you that their caliber is so much better. Accuracy is final, no one needs that much power. Wanting power is one thing, but need is another.

 

[larry4831]

Love the four five eight!

 

[matt85]

i have never said the 458 WM wont work. it just is limited on what bullets it can use effectively.

i was just saying that regardless of what the 458 WM is capable of doing, its still inferior to the 458 Lott due to case capacity.

-matt

 

[Royal27]

Congrats, beautiful rifle. Don't let the Lott boys persuade you that their caliber is so much better. Accuracy is final, no one needs that much power. Wanting power is one thing, but need is another.

I love my Lott, but I can't argue this either, nor will I try to.

Congrats on a beautiful rifle!!!!

 

[Panielsen]

Thank you all! I do want to correct myself now that I am home and looking at it. The rifle was built in Portugal, not Belgium as I had said earlier... My mistake. It was built by Browning in Viana. I know the .458 Win Mag is a great old cartridge and know the story of how it gave birth to the Lott by a mishap Mr. Lott had with a Buff. When I read Safari Rifles and other internet articles it made me nervous at first, but I just loved the Winchester action. Then I finally found a many more articles about how Winchester and modern powders fixed the problem with the short case and so on. The only thing I don't really like is having to drop to 450 gr in a monumental bullet with this caliber. I really don't use them anyway, but still sits on my mind when I look at Barnes and GS products, but hell I like the old style solids just fine and there are plenty great bullets to choose from. I will work up my load to get the magical 2100 to 2150 fps and be content. Besides, my nephew is a monster of a young man and he will most likely go with a .460 Weatherby or .505 Gibbs since he has gotten into these Safari rifles with his uncle, and I will get to play some with his (probably not too much) when he gets it. I do welcome advise and loads though, so please keep them coming!

 

[matt85]

if i had a 458 WM id load it with 480gr Woodleigh softs and FMJ. these bullets are for the 450 NE and will perform perfectly at 458 WM velocities!

the Woodleigh bullets will out perform the DGX/DGS any day of the week on anything!

-matt