zmason1002

I was looking on cabelas and I found a couple .458 bullets in the 350 grain range. The one I was looking at was a Hornady RN 350 grain .458 dia. for the 45-70 I found that MMP makes a sabot for the .458 and I was wondering if anyone had experience with that combination. I'd be shooting them out of my Knight mountaineer .50 cal. I'm thinking about trying them. The other bullet I found was a Hornady Flex tip 325 grain .458 dia. Any thoughts???

fusion

I shoot the 325gr flex tip with a Harvester black crushed rib sabot, excellent terminal performance with this round.

sabotloader

I have shot that bullet quite a bit from my ML's with that MMP sabot. It shoots very well and is a good bullet. Since it is a true rifle bullet (45-70) it stays together much better than the Hornady pistol bullets.


I would pass on the flex tip - It really does help the BC of the bullet but I feel it also lowers the effective terminal velocity of the bullet. To many times I have seen pictures of the tip push back and to the side and very little expansion occurring.

Gm54-120

Depending on how tight your bore is, you may be able to use the Harvester Black Crushrib even though its made for .452 bullets. Ive used the MMP Orange quite a bit and it worked fine for me. Loaded OD is around .506-.507 depending on bullet used. Some 458s are actually .457 such as the Remington 300gr HP. The Harvester sabot will be a fair amount larger.

The 325gr FTX is a little on the tough side but should be fine if you can manage around 1900fps or a little faster. Much slower and you may get poor expansion at longer ranges.

The Sierra 458 300gr FNHP is much more lightly constructed and one of my favorites for moderate loads. Expansion will be very reliable all the way down to 1300fps or even a bit less.

fusion

I shot two deer with the 325gr flex tip last year, buck at 158yds and a doe at 60yds, both shots we're center punch double lung(no shoulder) and both deer dropped on the spot. But fair to mention this was with a Savage smokeless, velocity at around 2050fps.

hunters_life

While I'm by far no expert with saboted bullets, one thing that would concern me about the 2 bullet choices you made is slippage inside of the sabot. I would suggest a good bit of knurling even with the most likely tight fit down the bore.

Gm54-120

Both of those bullets have a long bearing surface, cannelure and the sabots are long too. Slippage should not be the slightest issue in a smoker with a tight fit.

sabotloader

Shot from a smokeless at that velocity makes a huge difference. The bullet needs to be traveling 1600/1700 FPS to work as designed.

zmason1002

I was wondering if the flex tip needs velocity. I'll probably go with the RN and try and see how they group.

The tighter the fit the better then?? I didn't know if you could use a sabot for a .452 bullet with a .458 bullet for sure and I didn't want to spend the money if I couldn't use them. I'll get some crush ribs and try them also.

I also found Hornady DGX in a 500 grain but I'm guessing that's a little over kill for a whitetail. But it is tempting to try them lol.

I shot the SST 300 grain flextips last year and wasn't very pleased with the performance of them.

sabotloader

Either and all are probably more bullet that you need.


You might take a look at this new bullet from Lehigh Defense..





These are awesome deer bullets.... I shoot them in a MMP - HPH24 black sabot


https://www.lehighdefense.com/collec...nt=36101510216


I know they are expensive as compared but in my mind they are worth it.


You can use a Sierra .451x230 for sight in, target shooting or plinking


https://www.sierrabullets.com/store/...cal-230-gr-JHP