.458 Beater Build....

I'd go for that one myself, but prefer to set the beasties up with a Brewer type, barrel locknut to make for easy headspacing and/or barrel swaps. I'm most likely going for a budget build using a Remington 783 action.
 
I just took a black bear with mine at 160 yards and running away. Smashed the spine and almost every rib on her right side and stopped under the front shoulder. Tough bear made 40 yards in the thick stuff. I finished her with a broadside shot at 10 yards. Remington 405 gr at 2400 fps make a big hole. 9"x5" entry hole thru the back with a expanded bullet almost 1.5" across. The second shot was basically 6" thru the ribs with u let fragments and none shards hitting some of the off side leg.
I love the caliber. You will to

That's what you get when you run a bullet 600 FPS faster than it's designed for.
 
Has anyone built a bolt action .450 Marlin? Any truth to the notion that they will feed in WSM rifles with minor modifications?
 
Steyr sells a bolt-action .450Marlin rifle...but why would anyone want one? You can load a .458Win down to ridiculously low levels if you really want to. What's the point of a bolt-action .450?
 
S
How about a Zastava M70 in .458WM? Tough strong modern Mauser 98 action. Tradex has 2 listed but both say sold for $795. I think they are available in short barrelled full stock version and Stainless Synthetic but you would have to add open sights.

May be the cheapest option to get what you are after? WK

Had a Zastava bolt action in 458 Win and it was rough outa the box.
Did a lot of action and chamber polishing and replaced the trigger with a Timney I jury rigged to fit.
Put a medium level 2-7x33mm Leupold on top.
I did such a fine job that a hunting friend fell in love with it and offered me twice what I paid for the original gun, scope and parts
together.
I just couldn't turn the offer down because I decided I had no real use for a 458 Win after the novelty wore off.
 
450 Marlin bolt rifle? Why?

I often ponder why motivation is called into question in the heady debate and philosophy chambers that are the CGN hunting and sporting arms threads but I will bite.

If a 450 Marlin is truly relatively easy to convert from a WSM case, it serves the same function as a 45/70 bolt action such a Siamese Mauser or Enfield conversion on a modern action for a possibly lower price.

The motivation for the 45/70 bolts at least for me is a rifle that can easily take any game in NA without going into the realms of the absurd in terms in cost for ammo, brass and shoulder surgery.
 
That's what you get when you run a bullet 600 FPS faster than it's designed for.


It's the first time it ever made such a big hole. Usually get a 4" wide hole straight thru. No jellied meat in either case. This time it was just a bad angle to enter. First time I ever recovered a 458 cal bullet in an animal though. My 25/06 and 300 wm would have ruined more meat for sure at that angle. I agree I'm pushing the limits of the bullet but they stay together well and I'm only shooting black bears and maybe moose someday with it.
 
450 Marlin bolt rifle? Why?

I often ponder why motivation is called into question in the heady debate and philosophy chambers that are the CGN hunting and sporting arms threads but I will bite...

No offense intended...I'm a firm believer in "just because" as a valid reason for buying or building a gun! :) I just wondered if there were some specific technical benefits of this project that I hadn't considered.
 
Nah, just thinking of a big boomer, think the 450 marlin is a good candidate because of its heritage (sort of) in the .458 American. The ultimate "just because" cartridge in a world of similar power powerful midbores that outrange it, but there is something about sending 400+ grains of lead downrange.

Sorry if I came across as rude there.

While tradex had them I was considering buying a .458 zastava, couldn't find brass anywhere. Went to wholesale and saw the cost of .458 factory ammo (unfired brass if you will), the dream died with the 120 something dollar price tag.
 
Nah, just thinking of a big boomer, think the 450 marlin is a good candidate because of its heritage (sort of) in the .458 American. The ultimate "just because" cartridge in a world of similar power powerful midbores that outrange it, but there is something about sending 400+ grains of lead downrange.

Sorry if I came across as rude there.

While tradex had them I was considering buying a .458 zastava, couldn't find brass anywhere. Went to wholesale and saw the cost of .458 factory ammo (unfired brass if you will), the dream died with the 120 something dollar price tag.
Cant you neck up .300 Win Mag brass?
 
Cant you neck up .300 Win Mag brass?

Yep HNL, one can blow out and trim 300 WM or blow out and trim 375 H&H, trim down 416 RM, 8mm RM, 300, 340 Wby...........possibilities, although not exactly endless, are many. R-P 375 H&H are readily available these days and are not ridiculously priced. I just saw 500 or so in the sports shop in Whitehorse for about 60 bucks for 50.

As far as short thumpers go, I was going to build a 416-350 RM years ago but ended up with a 375 barrel instead and built a 375-350RM on a short Ruger action.........It was a truly impressive cartridge and actually equaled original 375 H&H ballistics, getting 2700 fps with a 270 gn bullet and an 18" barrel. I hear it's still around the Yukon and killing a moose and a couple caribou every year...........
 
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Here's my Beater in 458 Win Mag:

458x2_1_Gun_zpscbbzfwmi.jpg


Turkish Mauser action, sporterized K98 stock, with all the Bubba goodness of a Truck Bedliner finish and a shotgun buttpad.

I like how the cheap Bushnell fixed 4X matches the unfinished stepped barrel.

I keep looking at the Ruger American in 450 Bushmaster and want one, then remember I have this old beater that will do everything and more that it will do.

16950.jpg


I've changed - a while back I would have just bought it......
 
Zastava for the price point is hard to beat and has the sights and 22" brl. Might add a synthetic stock to it for/ if wood stock cracks. Set mine up with qd rings and leupold 2.5 scope. Find the recoil not the bad for a lighter rifle
 
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