If You Were Building A .458 Win.....

I have read Phil Shoemaker's article from Rifle magazine on the 375 Ruger many times. A caption on one of the photos makes the point that the 375 with a regular Ruger synthetic stock, as opposed to the horrid Hogue stock, is almost identical to his 458 and if it had been around for purchase when he built his 458, "Old Ugly" may never have been made. Also, the peep sights from NECG are excellent. I just wish Ruger put a proper stock on the Alaskan. Thier black synthetic which comes on their all weather rifles would be a big improvment.

If they would just make the Alaskan with a laminate, like they do with their left hand model, I'd have one already! I can't believe they stooped so low as the Hogue which is absolutely horrible.
 
I can't believe they stooped so low as the Hogue which is absolutely horrible.

It probably was, and maybe still is, the cheapest stock available that would hold up to the recoil.

I seem to remember Phil Shoemaker having to re-enforce his factory Ruger synthetic after it started to let go.
He wrote that he was shooting 350gr Woodleighs.
If it won't take that, it propably won't take the .416 Ruger either...


....but let's not turn this into a discussion about the .375 Ruger Alaskan.
Let's discuss what actions can be made to feed the .458 Win Mag reliably, without too much fuss.:)
 
I've had a few custom 458's done on ruger mk11 actiona, and 1 done on a commercial mauser.the 416 ruger alaskan is awsome but I've had 3 and you won't get 2400fps with a 400gr out of the 20" barrel, but at 2300 no critter would be able to tell the difference.
 
If they would just make the Alaskan with a laminate, like they do with their left hand model, I'd have one already! I can't believe they stooped so low as the Hogue which is absolutely horrible.

I think they did do a run of them, about 100 iirc.


Hoo is this Phil Shoeshiner person? Is he some self proclaimed king of the hunting rifle world?

He is a fellow with more experience in his little finger dealing with really big beasts than 99.9% of us have in our entire bodies.

This is Phil:
DSCN0385w.jpg


http://grizzlyskinsofalaska.com/
 
It probably was, and maybe still is, the cheapest stock available that would hold up to the recoil.

I seem to remember Phil Shoemaker having to re-enforce his factory Ruger synthetic after it started to let go.
He wrote that he was shooting 350gr Woodleighs.
If it won't take that, it propably won't take the .416 Ruger either...


....but let's not turn this into a discussion about the .375 Ruger Alaskan.
Let's discuss what actions can be made to feed the .458 Win Mag reliably, without too much fuss.:)

I have had a factory 458 on a Rem. 700, and used a pre-64 Mod. 70 that was a build, but the smoothest working and best shooting 458s were two built by my brother.
Both used Bevan King barrels, one was done on a 1917 Enfield and the other on a Ross action.... both are very strong, dependable actions and work very well. I have been trying to swap him out of the Ross for several years, but it is his favorite Bison rifle having put a few in his freezer.
 
What's wrong with the Hogue stocks? I'd like more specifics on that, having never used one myself.

I must be an exception because I quite like the Hogue stock on my Alaskan.
Its comfortable for me and is rugged enough to take a beating and crappy weather conditions.
There are dozens of other rifles in my gun safes, several with very fancy wood, a couple with Mcmillan stocks and others which I really like, but in all honesty I have nothing against the Hogue handle.
I think its a matter of " To each their own ".

Sorry for the hijack...
 
Your assessment brings back memories :p. When I got my first 458WM my wife asked 'What are you going to use that for"? You have rainy day big game guns, sunny day guns, close range guns, long range guns plus, what are you going to do with a 458WM?? I told her, if we started a homested, I could use it for clearing land and stump removal. ;)Best I could come up with at the spur of the moment:p

My scenario went like this:

She;
What's that?

Me;
A .458 Win mag.

She:
Which is?

Me;
Pretty much a classic elephant gun.

She;
And you are going to use it for?

Me;
Oh come on, are you even listening? I don't know why you ask questions when you don't listen to the answers.:p

She;
So you are going back for elephants? Is this, like, booked already like last time when I found out from your partner before I heard it from you?:rolleyes:

Me;
Na, this completely different. This time I thought that a side by side test of the .375 against the .458 on all the buffalo that they will let me shoot would be enlightening. After that, depending on the conclusion, I might go with a .458, or maybe a .458 lott, or a custom in either of those or maybe just say screw it and go with another .375. Or maybe the old one. Building a custom heavy, without knowing exactly what I want would be silly. Then I'll take that rifle elephant hunting, unless I decide to just use what I got to save a few bucks.

She;
Whoa, back up there a bit. Is that hunt already booked?

Me;
Uh, maybe. Didn't I tell you? Wanna come?

She;
Hell yeah!
 
Ole Pounder wasn't hurt, but he was firmly in the .45/70 camp until he decided how to resolve the 602 issue, which he did by re-chambering it for the Lott, and the 602 is once again his daily carry gun. For a long time I wasn't convinced that the rounds sliding around in the magazine under recoil could have been the cause. I thought it was unlikely that a lead nose bullet would bounce back upon impact with the front of the magazine well particularly under spring tension of the follower; drop a bullet nose first onto a steel plate and tell me how high it bounces. I wondered if a round under heavy repeated recoil induced vibration, and some of Pounders rounds had rode in the bottom of the magazine under many firings, could result in the priming mixture becoming loose in the cup and with enough repeated vibration ignite.

In the end I conceded it was most likely caused by a small imperfection in the back of the mag-box which matched up pretty well with the primer indentation shown in the pic.
 
My scenario went like this:

She;
What's that?

Me;
A .458 Win mag.

She:
Which is?

Me;
Pretty much a classic elephant gun.

She;
And you are going to use it for?

Me;
Oh come on, are you even listening? I don't know why you ask questions when you don't listen to the answers.:p

She;
So you are going back for elephants? Is this, like, booked already like last time when I found out from your partner before I heard it from you?:rolleyes:

Me;
Na, this completely different. This time I thought that a side by side test of the .375 against the .458 on all the buffalo that they will let me shoot would be enlightening. After that, depending on the conclusion, I might go with a .458, or maybe a .458 lott, or a custom in either of those or maybe just say screw it and go with another .375. Or maybe the old one. Building a custom heavy, without knowing exactly what I want would be silly. Then I'll take that rifle elephant hunting, unless I decide to just use what I got to save a few bucks.

She;
Whoa, back up there a bit. Is that hunt already booked?

Me;
Uh, maybe. Didn't I tell you? Wanna come?

She;
Hell yeah!

:)I live & learn but obviously I lack your style.:p. I'll have to remember that tact for future application.

Side issue but graylake, my Son In Law and our Daughter had a great hunt experience in Africa a short while back.
 
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