Big Uncle

What have you got there Ray? I can not see the picture clearly and am curious about both the cartridge and it's intended purpose in addition the make & model..

RaySendero

If you click on the thumbnail pic it will enlarge.

mrbb

yes can see it better, but no info on what it is< caliber, make or model??
not everyone is an expert at Id-ing things from pictures, just saying, no bash here !

RaySendero

Oh, No offence taken.

Big Uncle, mrbb,

Here's a look at the rifle when it was NIB:

RaySendero

It's a Rem M798. It is composed of an imported Zastava Arms barreled action Remington assembled with
a laminated stock after import to the United States. It is based on a Mauser 98 action.

An old rifleman told me years ago that he preferred to carry a light rifle,
but could really shoot a heavier one much better. So most of my rifles are heavy.
That one isn't. I specifically customized that rifle to be easy to carry stopping rifle for Africa.

RaySendero

My Plan wasn't to hunt with it - Just protection, Light so that I wouldn't put it down or not for long.
It came new with a 26" barrel. Zastava made both the 375HH and 458WM with the SAME barrel taper.

OK for 375 but was very thin in 458 - Too thin at muzzle for my liking.
So cut barrel back to 23" get 150 thousands wall thickness at muzzle and recrowned.
Recoil is viscous! Front sling swivel would really get after your hand and butt would bite into your cheek!
Had to move the front sling swivel from underneath to the front of forearm. Also add the 1/8" cheek pad.
Finished it with an elephant hide sling.

RaySendero

Began to reload for it, realizing that the 458WM case capacity was at a premium!
So when with a shorter 450 grain bullet, a magnum primer and a 10" drop tube.
Wanted both a soft point and a solid bullet that would shoot to the same POI.
So worked up both together at same time.
Settled on the 450 Swift-As and the 450 Barnes Banded Solids.
Took quite a while to get same POI from both reloads. Then adjusted the iron sights.
Finally got this right. Attached is pic of my final results.
Two shots at 50 yds 1/16" CTC - 1 shot is the soft point and the 2nd is the solid:

Big Uncle

I have had a couple of Whitworth rifles (same as the 798 except the stock). One was in 375 and one was in 458. The ones I had were a little rough but they were built like a tank and would have been worth throwing a few dollars at to make into really good rifles. The stock and the sights were not quite to my liking and the 458 had punishing recoil. The 798 was quite a good rifle for the price and the 458 WM is definitely a stopper for heavy game. Very nice toy you have there!

salukipv1

Think it depends on the game animal at hand....even in africa...

I really like the idea of 2400fps in a bullet...so in some circumstances a 416 may do more for you than a 458 would...
believe I read a story of a guy suing hornady or something when shooting a lion witha 458 that failed to work...

the 3 big boys I tend to like, are 375 H&H, 416 Rigby, 458 Lott.