hunting moose/elk with a .458 win mag

I cann't imagine that anyone has put much thought into an appropriate bullet for elk or moose in the 458 win mag. But what the hey, dead is dead.
 
If I owned one(which I dont but would like to) I would choose the 450g Barnes TSX. Nothing wrong with shooting a swamp donkey with a 458, should work very well.
 
Then I would choose a 400g Federal premium Trophy Bonded Bear Claw. Or maybe a 450g Remington Premier Safari A-frame. But thats just me.

There are lots of choices in factory loaded ammo.
 
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Find issues of "Successful Hunter" Phil Shoemaker writes in their and has mentioned and wrote about the .458 he also goes by .458win over at 24hr campfire forum. He uses it when he is guiding up in Alaska.
 
You are defintley not messin around if you choose the .458:D Maybe a tad overgunned but you won't be questioned about whether its an ethical caliber or not in regards to stopping power!!:D :dancingbanana:
 
An option is to have a friend load for you , and learn the process with him. (factory is costly)
Would be a good choice for short to medium range . If your gonna go in open country , a flat shooting caliber with good power would be better, and easier to shoot accurately at those longer ranges.
 
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An option is to have a friend load for you , and learn the process with him. (factory is costly)
Woud be a good choice for short to medium range . If your gonna go in open country , a flat shooting caliber with good power would be better, and easier to shoot accurately at those longer ranges.
Click to expand...

.....................x2 if you don't reload it might be a pain to own and shoot the .458
 
If you haven't bought the .458 and have your heart set on a big boomer and would also like to start reloading, the .45-70 is a very versatile round and very very easy to reload. You can shoot a 405 grain hard cast at 1100 fps for plinkin and small game and open the throttle to 1700fps to 1900fps for anything that walks. I am shooting a plain based lead cast at 1690 fps with no leading whatsover. Cheap and powerful to shoot.
 
I have one, but don't hunt with it - I hunt only deer, and within 200 yds, there are just so many better choices. More than needed on Elk/Moose too. Anyways, the best choice for bullets are IMO the 350-400 gr ones. Beyond that, the bullet uses up too much valuable powder space. The bullets tend to be blunt and travel at modest speeds - 350gr at 2500 fps (and go down from there), so at ranges beyond about 200 yds, the bullet drop can be dramatic.
 
In my opinion the 458 Win could be a good choice for NA game but only if you reload. Think of it as a super 45-70 /450 Marlin designed for spitzers and a useful range boost.

A 300 grain X Spitzer at 2500+ ft/sec will hit hard, penetrate as well as a good conventional 400 grain bullet and get you to 250+ yards.

I used a 458 Win for several years and reloaded it is quite a gun. Why not start reloading?
 
The .458 actually makes a very good cast bullet gun and a dose of 480gr. Wide Flat Point gas check, hard cast from MT Chambers should settle any arguments with those critters.
 
remember, the 458 is the "mother" cartridge for the 338 win mag, which is a very opoular elk and bigger cartridge- granted , imo, it's a little much for north american game, but loaded down to 45/70 vels or 450 marlins it should be fine- either that or or take real LOOONG SHOTS- so it hits with the same force downrange
 
I used to use the 350 Grain Hornady Round nosed bullets in mine......
Got them going almost 2600 fps.
It is definately a short range cartridge though...200 meters and less.
I also had Great result shooting Hard Cast bullets from mine as well.
More like a 45-70 on Steroids.
The Factory loads are mostly 500-510 grain, full jacketed Rhino Busters....

If you do not Handload go with a 45-70, much more versatile for NA Game and if chambered in a No 1 ain't too far behind the 458 levels anyways ;)
 
.458

I like cast in my CZ, I use .45acp copper gas checks backward like a cup when I seat the bullet, seems to work very good. George
 
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