hunting moose/elk with a .458 win mag

gonna start reloading next summer/fall, and have always wanted tthis calibre. finally found one i like and just completeing a trade deal pretty soon.

where i hunt moose and elk there are no motorized vehicles allowed and its all on foot. have shot with good placement in the past with 30-06, 300win and have sometimes still had animals run off into some not so desireable places. .458 might increase the chances that it will drop in the spot i shoot it and not give me nightmares later.

really looking forward to this fall with this calibre. and what shocked the hell out of me was the wife said, " since you save money tying your own flies, why dont you load your own bullets? you could use another hobby to keep you out of trouble" :D
 
I had two. Elected to keep the model 70 and traded the Brno. Haven't used it on game, yet, but as someone has alreday mentioned, there are better or more appropiate choices available for game in North America. However, use it on a big Bear one day, possibly. It may be a little overkill, but better to 'have the extra power and not need than to need and not have. I've picked up some cast 420gr RNFPGC and some 525gr RNFPGC from a guy that makes them locally I want to try in it. For the time being, I'll use it to punch paper, other targets and to 'clear land':D .
 
the 416's give you more power and more range, with the same recoil

a 375 H&H has even more range, and tons of power for moose
 
He said

Win94 said:
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.
Click to expand...
Very good advice!
 
if you want it, get it. i would use any soft point ammo that you can find on moose or elk. lots of guys telling you it is overkill, but dead is dead....and lots of guys are using magnums on 100 lb whitetails.

get reloading though, load up some light loads for practice with either cast bullets or some that were designed for the 45-70 and have at 'er.

i used to want one, but now i would like a 404 for no real reason.
 
Alberta Bigbore said:
where i hunt moose and elk there are no motorized vehicles allowed and its all on foot. have shot with good placement in the past with 30-06, 300win and have sometimes still had animals run off into some not so desireable places. .458 might increase the chances that it will drop in the spot i shoot it and not give me nightmares later.
Click to expand...

Don't kid yourself, moose are big creatures. It may still run off on you. I know a guy who punched a clean hole through both lungs with a .300 Win mag broadside, and it stood there and looked at him. He said you could see steam from it's breath coming out it's sides. The only sure fire way I can see you being garunteed to knock it down on the spot, would be a head/spine shot, or put the bullet through the shoulders. Otherwise, he may or may not go down right then. I'll let you in on a not so little secret. The .458 is as high on my wish list as any rifle. I'm thinking of rebarreling my 7mm Rem mag. I don't know why, but I think they are ###y.:p
 
Used to own a Ruger #1 in .458, and remember shooting some Lee 500gr cast bullets @ 2121 fps from the bench. I used a PAST as the tiny factory pad wasn't much use. The recoil was in the 65-70 ft/lb range, and the geyser of dirt that flew up from behind the 25yd target was something to behold. Must have been 6ft high. Man, I would not want to be on the receiving end of that :eek:
 
:D

moose12.jpg
 
John Y Cannuck said:
No, the 458 is the father of most of the Winchester belted mags, including the 338WM,
The 375HH is a long action cartridge of British (Holland & Holland) origin.
Click to expand...
The 458 is the 375 H&H shortened down and straight walled.
 
Well kinda... all the original Winchester 'short mags' (.458, .338, .264) started life as ye olde .375 H&H, cut down to fit in a standard length action. The .458 was the first to be released, so yes it was the 'father' of the .338 and the .264, but really all three are children of the .375... semantics;-)

The .458 is dead ###y, no doubt about it, but you NEED to reload it. Luckily it's also an easy cartridge to reload, and you can work your way from full-bore elephant medicine all the way down to soft elk/moose loads. I used to shoot one that duplicated a very hot .45-70 Ruger #1-only load, using a 425 grain hard cast. Wasn't exactly pleasant to shoot, but at least I didn't need my chiropractor on speed dial...

I found that the old Barnes X bullets were very accurate in mine, if you can find any it might be worth playing around. Though it's probably much easier (and just as accurate) to work up some loads with the new TSX.
 
I fully plan on using my 458. With a nice 350gr you should be able to get respectable ballistics.

I also 'need' a 416 Rigby one of these days. Combines the thump of the 458 with the trajectory of the 375
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom