On the Zastava website the m70 in 458 win mag is available with 22" or 24" barrel, I've never seen one with 24" barrel in Canada, I've read on several forums that a longer barrel is better than a short one with the 458 win mag. Any idea where I can find one in Canada?
Zastava M70 458 win mag with 24" barrel.
- Thread starter Buster95
- Start date
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
I don't think that you'd notice much if any difference between the 22" and 24" barrel on a 458. I would expect to find 24" barrels rather than 22" but I've never been in the market for one. I'd call Tony at TradeEx and ask what length barrel the 458 he has in stock is equipped with. If 24" is the oddball I imagine he could tell you if they are get-able.
take a look at most load data for most cartridges in most manuals...most utilize 24 inch barrels for load data development. Does that mean that all of these cartridges should ideally be outfitted with 24" barrels in the real world? Not necessarily. Much is personal preference, some shooters like shorter, handier barrel lengths while others prefer longer barrels for balance and perhaps increased muzzle velocity or sight radius.
Ardent
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
The .458 really doesn't gain a ton in a couple inches, medium bores and up do quite well in short barrels due to them utilizing powder pressure more efficiently than smaller bores (more base area on the bullet to distribute an equal pressure over means more force, just like hydraulics). And given you're not making many 500 yard .458 shots, the last few feet per second really don't make much of a difference. The cartridge certainly isn't starving for energy either.
English sporting rifle convention was longish barrels, and a lot of Africa pattern rifles still lean that way, it helped back in the days of iron sights and poor powders, and mostly was just an old convention from long arms of yore. These days, things are getting shorter and shorter, and I've found I appreciate the trim handling or a 22" or so barrel better than the bit of extra velocity I never notice hunting from 24 or 26". I've used a 22" Zastava .458 in Africa that belonged to a PH and it's a functional little package.
English sporting rifle convention was longish barrels, and a lot of Africa pattern rifles still lean that way, it helped back in the days of iron sights and poor powders, and mostly was just an old convention from long arms of yore. These days, things are getting shorter and shorter, and I've found I appreciate the trim handling or a 22" or so barrel better than the bit of extra velocity I never notice hunting from 24 or 26". I've used a 22" Zastava .458 in Africa that belonged to a PH and it's a functional little package.
In the '70s most Magnum rifles had barrels between 24 and 26 inches long.
Now, the trend is to shorter and often a tad thicker barrels. When you increase the bore size, it usually decreases the velocity gain per inches of pipe. Then, with the .458 WM, how much will you lose by using a 2" shorter barrel - 50 / 60 fps? In real life this is of very little to no interest.
Now, the trend is to shorter and often a tad thicker barrels. When you increase the bore size, it usually decreases the velocity gain per inches of pipe. Then, with the .458 WM, how much will you lose by using a 2" shorter barrel - 50 / 60 fps? In real life this is of very little to no interest.
Once upon a time, I cut back and restocked (full stock) a 450 Ackley to 20". My thinking was that I didn't need 2550 fps from a 500 grn bullet to kill all the things the cartridge was meant to kill, most of which would be inside 100 mtrs anyway. It was a 602 Brno so it was anything but light, but let me tell you did the short barrel and full stock ever make it handy and balanced with the weight between the hands. I figured the speed I gained in handling more than compensated for the 160 fps it lost with the same loads. I even backed them down a touch more to right around 2300 fps, unfortunately I never got to kill anything with that rifle.........but was it ever sweet.
A heavy like the 458 with a very high expansion ratio gains next to nothing beyond 20" of barrel, given the burn rate of the suitable powders, unless one is using open sights and then you gain sight radius. However for what the cartridge is designed for even sight radius is pretty much irrelevant. It is infinitely more important how fast you can bring the rifle into action with relative accuracy, say 4-6" at 50 mtrs. I always thought I should build another 20" full stocked heavy, and keep it this time. Maybe I'll do this with the Rem I'm turning into the 458 Ruger, I'd just like to have the 5 under like the Brno. Maybe I'll pick up another 602 and build another 20" Ackley or better yet another Sako Safari, maybe in the 458 Ruger.
A heavy like the 458 with a very high expansion ratio gains next to nothing beyond 20" of barrel, given the burn rate of the suitable powders, unless one is using open sights and then you gain sight radius. However for what the cartridge is designed for even sight radius is pretty much irrelevant. It is infinitely more important how fast you can bring the rifle into action with relative accuracy, say 4-6" at 50 mtrs. I always thought I should build another 20" full stocked heavy, and keep it this time. Maybe I'll do this with the Rem I'm turning into the 458 Ruger, I'd just like to have the 5 under like the Brno. Maybe I'll pick up another 602 and build another 20" Ackley or better yet another Sako Safari, maybe in the 458 Ruger.
- Location
- Somewhere on the Hudson Bay Coast
My M-70 has a 21" barrel, and flings 500 gr Interlocks at 2100, which is only 50 fps off the 24" velocity. I'm not entirely satisfied with the cartridge, so there might be chamber surgery required sometime in the future. The rim of the ejected case seems to nick the mouth of the top round in the magazine, even with a hard crimp, and bullets with crimping grooves tend to be expensive and while there's cast, 2200 fps with a 480 gr WFN doesn't produce the kind of accuracy that I find inspiring, even though its well within MOE (minute of elephant).
- Location
- Calgary, AB
Short and fat is where it's at!
That's what I keep telling myself...lol
