It was Dirty Harry who introduced me with this Bruiser.
Now I have owned one of this Super Guns. Frankly it was way too much gun for this old fart. Even back then when I was a lot stronger and meaner than I am today.
But nonetheless it definitely made an impression on me with a constant ringing in my ears that is still with me. I have also finally gotten rid of the flich that it endowed me with.
However I still miss it! Even with its huge and expensive diet of $2 to $5 a round. But if T Rex does come back around the Neighborhood. I know what Rifle I want with some solids in its magazine!
Grumpy
What You Need To Know About .458 Winchester Magnum
Winchester has introduced the .458 Winchester Magnum in 1956 in order to compete against the .470 Nitro Express and .450 Nitro Express cartridges.
The cartridge is a belted and very dangerous rifle bullet, suitable for hunters. Winchester Model 70 African rifle is the first rifle that chambered the cartridge first time. However, at present there are many rifles that are available for the cartridge in order to give you a wide option to choose from.
Many of the ammunition manufacturers prefer to provide the .458 cartridge chamber in the rifles. The .458 cartridge is one of the best and most popular for hunting animals during the hunting seasons.
Specifications of .458 Winchester Magnum
The cartridge is one of the famous among the African dangerous game hunters because of the performance level. The outlet is very strong and hit long distance animal whenever you shoot.
Although there are .416 cartridges that are good for hunting, .458 Winchester Magnum is still the ‘King of the African Safari’ as a hunting cartridge. Specially, if you are going for hunting in the wild life areas, you must keep the cartridge with you. You may the cartridge or similar one for hunting the heavy skinned animals.
According to the manufacturers, you will have 2,150 ft/s (660 m/s) using the cartridge. For that reason, this is very amazing and high speed bullet that can damage the targeted animal right the way you want to hit. This is a 33gram bullet that shoots from a 26 inch (660 mm) rifle barrel.
The .375 H&H case has reduced to 2.5 in (64mm) so that the .458 caliber bullet easily adjusts in the case. The bullet is the longest cartridge launched by Winchester ammo organization. However, the cartridge is available in different sizes but the work and features are same. On the other hand, the cartridges are not highly different from each other on length.
Performance level of the .458 Winchester Magnum
Winchester has achieved good performance level from its .458 magnum bullet to the hunter’s rifle. This is an original 510 gr bullet that provides 2,150 ft/s velocity fired level to a person. For getting highest performance from the cartridge, you could prefer 26 in (660 mm) barrel rifle to shoot.
However, the bullet velocity level has been surplus to 500 gr for 24 in (610 mm) barrel to get the same distance shooting range. Therefore, you will have a choice between 24 inch to 26 inch barrel rifles for the cartridge in order to get higher performance and shooting accuracy for hunting. While other bullets provide higher density of shooting, .458 bullets give a dangerous shooting result, even to kill hunt an elephant if you want.
The cartridge has enough power and shooting range to give the hunters a dangerous way to kill wild lives during the hunting season. The weight of the bullet is also reasonable that will not destruct due to heavy wind during shooting time. But, this is also a matter of regret that you may not able to hit the long range animals for hunting using the cartridge rifles too.
.458 Lott with 465 and .450 Assegais with 500 gr do not offer as much accuracy and weight tend while comparing with the .458 Winchester Magnum. Now a day, you can also use modern powers in order to get highest velocity at 2,600 ft/s launching a 300 gr bullet to the target.
Sporting Usage Level of .458 Winchester Magnum
When it comes for sporting usages of any bullet performance, .458 Winchester Magnum is a great option to use for hunting heavy thick skinned animals. Because of the highly performance level and velocity of between 1950-2250 ftands, a single 500 gr bullet is enough to kill African animals like rhinoceros, elephant and African Cape buffalo.
The rifles that are designed for the 11 lb bullets especially for .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge is very much suitable for African continent hunting. Moreover, the cartridge is enough powerful to hunt a leopard and Lion in Africa too!
However, experts believe that the .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge is not made for thick skinned wild lives to hunt. Therefore, you should never forget about the cartridge if you do not have any idea about the hunting area. Just keep the cartridge and rifle with you so that you can shoot any heavy skinned animals with the rifle if needed.
While considering the heavy skinned species hunting, you may prefer to have the .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge to have a good hunting experience. The North American game species required the cartridges because of the velocity level and weight of the bullet. Hunting polar and Alaskan bear become easier and comfortable using a single .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge during the hunting session.
The .458 Winchester Magnum bullet is not designed for long distance shooting because of the variable conditions. More than 150 yards shooting space could be troubled you if you choose a heavy skinned species to shoot. 50-80 yards shooting range is perfect for the cartridge because of the specifications of the bullet in African hunting experience.
You can also add a reloading dies in the .458 Win Mag rifles if you want because this will reduce the problem of reloading the rifle. Hand loading and manual loading may need some time while hunting. But, an size adjustable dies ensures to provide the correct and quick reloading option.
Moreover, the reloading cartridge dies can also convert the chambers of a same rifle. As a result, you can use the rifle of the .458 Lott for your .458 Win Mug bullets very easily. At the same time, the resizing die will help you to solve out the problem of case “budge” problem of the bullets.
Advantages of using .458 Winchester Magnum
When you are in hunting professional or hunting is your passion, you must need to select the cartridge according to the hunting target. However, many of you may not choose the cartridge because of the long-distance shooting unavailability; you can still get some of the advantages.
- The cartridge has a higher velocity about 2,150 ft/s with a 500 grain bullet. The weight of the bullet is always capable of going to the targeted without any influence of the wind. On the other hand, the cartridge has a higher rate of success in the hunting field.
- If you are going to hunt in the African side, this is one of the cartridges that you will pick for hunting.From the beginning of the cartridge, this has been the king of the cartridges among all other .458 cartridges in the market. The higher velocity rate, bullet weight, accuracy level and other factors are suitable and preferable to the hunters.
- The cartridge is specially designed for short range heavy skinned animal hunting purpose. For that reason, any short distance heavy skinned hunting experience can only be possible if you are using the cartridge.You will get a good accuracy to 100 yards for an elephant, African buffalo and others. Moreover, single cartridge is enough to stop the oxygen production of a heavy skinned species.
Lacks in .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge
Of course, all cartridges are not perfect as well as not suitable for getting all rounder hunting experience. A .458 Winchester Magnum can never give you a long distance shooting experience with full accuracy that you can have in a short distance shooting.
At the same time, the thick skinned animal hunting is not suitable for with the cartridge. The thick skinned animals including leopard or lion hunting is not suitable with the 500 grain bullet.
Sometimes people find the hunting practice cartridge before going to the real hunting games. But, the cartridge is not suitable for practicing because real dangerous hunting session because this is very costly. Per round bullet of the category may cost you around $120-$140 depending on some factors. For that reason, you will not surely go with this level of budget to practice.
For that reason, the cartridge could be avoided in some cases and in many areas in the world. People who love to hunt deer will never buy the cartridge in order to hunt a deer. Due to having a thick skin, the normal caliber bullets are enough for those types of small animals. The cartridge is one suitable for the dangerous hunting seasons.
Hunting experience with .458 Winchester Magnum cartridges
Hunting in the African side is always challenging and depends on your correct decision of bullets with rifles. Normally, the African hunters are suggested to take two or three hunting rifles with them in different caliber bullets.
I bought a classic rifle and another .458 Winchester Magnum cartridge rifle. The .458 caliber 500 gr bullet rifle cost me about $560 with two rounds of bullet. I have been hunting from three years and hunted 7 African Cape buffalos during my 3 year hunting career.
I have chosen the .458 Winchester Magnum cartridges for African side buffalo hunting because of their heavy skinned. Earlier, I had try with different calibers but did not get enough good result with the normal calibers. As you know, the caliber is perfect for heavy skinned animals, I have chosen the caliber. For that reason, I have shot one bullet from 50 yards distance and it’s enough to hunt the buffalo.
Because of having the cartridge, I did not need to use my rifle for hunting. A single bullet stops the oxygen production and soon I reached to my hunted buffalo to get it.
However, I never tried to hunt any thick skinned animals using the cartridge because the bullet is not made for them. Therefore, if you are also thinking of hunting such kind of heavy skinned animals in Africa, you should not avoid the .458 cartridge too!
Some powerful Rifles for the .458 Winchester Magnum
There are many dangerous rifles for the cartridge and you may get confused. Therefore, there are top 2 rifles for .458 Win Mag cartridge that you can buy and start hunting with the cartridge.
CZ 550 American Safari Bolt Action Rifle
CZ 550 American Safari Bolt action rifle is one of the most suitable for the .458 Win Mag bullet in order to provide dangerous hunting experience. The safari bolt action rifle is the perfect choice that offers American pattern stock.
The hunters will have 3 different laminate color combination rifles in order to choose the color you like! This 24-inch barrel rifle is perfect for the Win Mag cartridge as well as a part of the traditional African hunters. The wooden pattern of the rifle ensures to give a solid structure and smoothness of shooting.
WTHBY DGM458NR4O MKV DGR 458WIN
WTHBY DGM458NR4O MKV DGR is another good but premium expensive rifle for .458 Win Mag cartridges. This is a 24-inch barrel hunting rifle that comes with 3+1 capacity.
On the other hand, the rifle is a bolt auctioned rifle with a blue and black finishing. The trigger is adjustable, so, adjust it and you will have the best experience of shooting with the cartridge. For that reason, the .458 Win Mug will give the hunter proper shooting space and short range shooting using the premium rifle.
Conclusion
.458 Win Mag cartridge is enough powerful and suitable for dangerous hunting games. For that reason, never compromise while choosing for the dangerous hunting sessions along with worldwide hunters especially when you are in Africa.
The best features and cartridge shooting experience will enhance your hunting career and give you a sharp shooting career. However, choosing the right and featured rifle for the cartridge is also important for any hunters. As the cartridge is for the short range hunting only, you should choose it when you are going for short distance hunting.
If you are an experienced hunter, you may not have any problem to find out the best rifles for the cartridge. But, never to up to 26 inch barrel rifles for the cartridge because more than the length could become a major problem for not getting good range accuracy too!