325 gr FTX in a 458 Win???

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flip1

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Has anybody tried the Hornady 325 gr FTX bullet in a 458 Winchester?

The bullets for the 450 Marlin and the 458 are the same diameter, and I love the Marlin round. Was thinking that the same bullet in my 458 might be a longer range alternative to the 450 Marlin.

Anybody tried it?? Any thoughts??

Thanks
JB
 
Working up a varmint load? There's 300 grain .458 Win load data on Hodgdon's site, so the weight isn't an issue. Your .458 uses 20 grains plus more powder than your .450 with a 300. More velocity, but I don't think you're range would be terribly different though.
I suspect nobody has tried it, yet, because Hornady has only released the FTX bullets as components fairly recently. Doesn't seem to be any FTX load data on-line either.
 
Hornady does have some load data available for the FTX bullets, but not in 458 Win. You could likely start with 450 Marlin data. It might be worthwhile contacting Hornady to see if the FTX's will withstand much higher velocities than they are getting out of leverguns. Hornady's data for their 300gr bullet in a 458 isn't any faster than for the 450 Marlin because the bullet won't perform well at higher velocities. There is a 500fps difference between their top loads for the 350gr bullets with those two cartridges though. I plan on working up a load for my 45-70 single shot using the 325 FTX, so I'm kind of curious as to what they recommend as the max velocity for this bullet as well.

www.hornady.com/ballistics/ftx_reloading_data.php

Maybe the mods could make a sticky with this link and put it near the Barnes data sticky.

Jim
 
I've sent an email to Hornady asking them about a maximum velocity for their 325 gr FTX bullet, and a possible load for the 458.

I'll let you know what they tell me.
 
rommelrommel said:
I would not start with 450 Marlin data... like seriously, WTF?

350gr 458 win mag data and work up.
Click to expand...

If you have a Hornady manual handy, take a look at the 300gr loads in the 450 Marlin and the 458. Depending on the powder used, in some cases the 458 starting load is lower than the Marlin starting load. In this case they are driving the bullet at similar velocities. If you look at the starting load velocity for the 350 gr bullet (2100fps), you'll see it starts 100fps faster than the max load in the Marlin, which is why the loads use so much more powder. If you check out reduced loads for the 458, I think you'll find the powder loads right in the Marlin load data range.

BTW Flip, I sent them an e-mail as well. I'm guessing that since the bullet is intended for use in lever actions, the max recommended velocity won't be too much higher than the lever guns achieve.

Jim
 
I got a response from Hornady today stating that they recommend a Max velocity of 2400-2500fps. I am surprised, I thought it would be lower, more like 2200fps. This being the case, you probably could use the 350gr 458 Win data as Rommel suggested, unless of course you are looking for a reduced load. I am curious if Hornady suggested any load data for you Flip?

Jim
 
Here's my entire response from them ...

"The bullet can handle up to about 2400/2500fps. We do not have data for the 458 Win Mag at this time. Thank You "


Funny, my question was longer than their answer.
 
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