Do you really need a magnum

I own a 458x2 inch American.
At this point in my life it's the most energetic rifle and cartridge I will ever need for big game. As a matter of fact, I would feel very comfortable harvesting bison with it.
If I lived on the grasslands would probably be a 264 Win Mag. But I live in the north so....
 
This is kinda a silly question...what constitutes a "need"?
I'd say for many western hunters a magnum is a good choice when considering shots can be past 400yds and game is large...moose, elk ect.
A better question than "does anyone really need a magnum" would be for your hunting needs, is a magnum necessary?
For myself many of my big game kills are from calling and still hunting, but I also kill at extended ranges where magnums are very much needed. So for me in order to hunt the way I choose yes a "magnum" is necessary. I don't HAVE to hunt that way but I choose too so I need one.....
My most used hunting rifle is an iron sighted 45-70... but I would never have make some of the kills I have with anything less than a "magnum"
 
obsessed1b said:
This is kinda a silly question...what constitutes a "need"?
I'd say for many western hunters a magnum is a good choice when considering shots can be past 400yds and game is large...moose, elk ect.
A better question than "does anyone really need a magnum" would be for your hunting needs, is a magnum necessary?
For myself many of my big game kills are from calling and still hunting, but I also kill at extended ranges where magnums are very much needed. So for me in order to hunt the way I choose yes a "magnum" is necessary. I don't HAVE to hunt that way but I choose too so I need one.....
My most used hunting rifle is an iron sighted 45-70... but I would never have make some of the kills I have with anything less than a "magnum"
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If you believe that you need something, then you need it.

Others may have an opinion, but their opinion has no bearing on the validity of your need.
 
conor_90 said:
460 wby is one of the few calibers that scares me.

I remember a ph ordered some in when I worked at a gun counter, even back then they were around 200 a box and incredibly impressive looking. He said they were great for hippos
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hippo on the ground is what you need ... in water not that much. i preferred to shoot the 460 than the 378 maybe the stock fitting.

in those days in car everybody got 460 wea: all the ex ivory hunters that shoot them with everything they had in the past days. but with the poachers and yaringas (road blockers mostly from sudan) few elephants left were not friendly at all ... you need to stop.
 
Dogleg said:
How did it fail?
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On two occasions, both on moose, with a 7 RM and 300 WM, lighter bullets at very close range, so traveling fast at impact... the front half "splashed" and the rear half took a very unexpected and in the case of the 7 RM, unexplainable weird and divergent route, given the shot angle and body posture. The .300 WM hit the scapula square and splashed and then the rear half angled forward and exited at the base of the neck, the follow-up was a couple minutes later at approximately 100 yards and worked perfectly through broadside lungs. The 7 RM went between ribs, broadside at 20 yards, the front half splashed and the rear made an inexplicable, turn/tumble through the liver and into the paunch, what would have been almost right angle, well, say 70 degrees to the flight path, and the entrance did not contact the rib... the follow-up through the neck put it down at about 50 yards. In my estimation, neither wound paths should have occurred as they did, momentum being what it is (?). I chalked it up to a bullet too light and fast for the close range, even though the two part design is suppose to compensate for exactly that scenario, it apparently does not do that perfectly in all circumstances. I still am a big fan of Partition bullets and use them alot in many calibers and weights, but not in my barn-burners.
 
hoytcanon said:
... the front half "splashed" and the rear half took a very unexpected and in the case of the 7 RM, unexplainable weird and divergent route,
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I saw similar results on 2 different deer shot 17-18 years ago using the original - softer - Swift Scirocco 180 grain 30 calibre bullets out of a 30-06.

Both deer were shot at relatively short range and were slightly quartering to. Both were shot on the near shoulder and the bullets both did a hard right turn and were recovered in the rear hams.

Both bullets retained near 100% of their weight but showed very lopsided mushrooms with all the front portions of the core pushed hard to one side.
 
hoytcanon said:
On two occasions, both on moose, with a 7 RM and 300 WM, lighter bullets at very close range, so traveling fast at impact... the front half "splashed" and the rear half took a very unexpected and in the case of the 7 RM, unexplainable weird and divergent route, given the shot angle and body posture. The .300 WM hit the scapula square and splashed and then the rear half angled forward and exited at the base of the neck, the follow-up was a couple minutes later at approximately 100 yards and worked perfectly through broadside lungs. The 7 RM went between ribs, broadside at 20 yards, the front half splashed and the rear made an inexplicable, turn/tumble through the liver and into the paunch, what would have been almost right angle, well, say 70 degrees to the flight path, and the entrance did not contact the rib... the follow-up through the neck put it down at about 50 yards. In my estimation, neither wound paths should have occurred as they did, momentum being what it is (?). I chalked it up to a bullet too light and fast for the close range, even though the two part design is suppose to compensate for exactly that scenario, it apparently does not do that perfectly in all circumstances. I still am a big fan of Partition bullets and use them alot in many calibers and weights, but not in my barn-burners.
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A partition usually blows the nose off at close range, that's what its supposed to do. Half varmint bullet/half expanded solid. You might prefer the A-Frame.
I don't know what to say about the bullet path changes directions though, I've see that with lots of bullets. The most extreme was a 400 grain TSX out of a .416 Rigby, shot a Zimbabwe bull in the left shoulder at 25 yards; perfectly broad-side and found the expanded bullet in the hindquarter on the same side.
 
Bullets can do strange things. I shot a Whitetail Buck that was chasing a doe. Skinning him I found the lead core of a bullet under the hide on his front leg near the elbow. Months later at the dinner table my knife hit the expanded jacket against the shoulder blade surrounded by scar tissue. He was none the worse for wear, I assume he was carrying that bullet around for a year or three.
 
Dogleg said:
A partition usually blows the nose off at close range, that's what its supposed to do. Half varmint bullet/half expanded solid.
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I don't think their target was "Varmint" bullet, but rather softer "SP" with the design objective of "mushrooming" at lower velocity in the frontal portion while the rear portion acts as a bonded (encased) solid. They did an admirable job and it does exactly that in most circumstances, but as earlier illustrated, not all circumstances. I have used the A-Frame alot in .375 cal and it is a terrific bullet... having said that, in most of the cartridges that I personally hunt with, the Partition has a better operational range... I am not really a "hotrodder" when it comes to hunting ballistics... except in a couple of specific scenarios.
 
MiG25 said:
Bullets can do strange things. I shot a Whitetail Buck that was chasing a doe. Skinning him I found the lead core of a bullet under the hide on his front leg near the elbow. Months later at the dinner table my knife hit the expanded jacket against the shoulder blade surrounded by scar tissue. He was none the worse for wear, I assume he was carrying that bullet around for a year or three.
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True. I once shot a rabbit at extended range with a 22. The bullet struck on his hip, entered the abdominal area with not enuf energy to exit yet it spun upwards in circular pattern confined by the ribs. Finally coming to a stop at bottom one of its lungs. Barely enuf energy to punch it. It flopped for about ten seconds and died. I seen the entry wound and expected a gut shot. But it was the cleanest harvest I ever seen with 22 LR on a hare. The bullet did not even nick the intestines or stomach wall in its spiral climb of the torso! Weird, just weird.
 
hoytcanon said:
I don't think their target was "Varmint" bullet, but rather softer "SP" with the design objective of "mushrooming" at lower velocity in the frontal portion while the rear portion acts as a bonded (encased) solid. They did an admirable job and it does exactly that in most circumstances, but as earlier illustrated, not all circumstances. I have used the A-Frame alot in .375 cal and it is a terrific bullet... having said that, in most of the cartridges that I personally hunt with, the Partition has a better operational range... I am not really a "hotrodder" when it comes to hunting ballistics... except in a couple of specific scenarios.
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The "varmint" part may have been a poor choice of words on my part, but it does sort of describe the effect of a semi frangible bullet stacked on top of a harder one. John Nosler's inspiration for his historic bullet literally was when he got the idea for two bullets in one.

Partitions retain between 55 and 85% of their weight by design, (Depending on caliber and range) with the shed weight doing the real job of making a bigger hole than a bullet that merely mushrooms.

So anyway, a 180 grain bullet that sheds 45% is like getting shot with a 100 grain expanded bullet and a couple of 22/250s at the same time. Things tend to shuffle off their mortal coil shortly after that. ;)

The Accubond does almost exactly same thing. So does a Interlock or Corelock "most" of the time. We're mostly paying for for making "mostly" into "Practically always".

Anyone else have cabin fever?

https://faq.nosler.com/index.php?ac... are designed to,range of velocities and game.
 
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