hardcastonly

have you ever purchased a rifle to use for cast bullets have you ever purchased a rifle to use for cast bullets, I guess we all have a different goal and way we select rifles we use, but in the last 45 plus years Ive hunted elk I tend to hunt the steep canyons and heavy timber, and shots over about 200 yards have been extremely rare, in fact 100 yard and under,range, shots are more like the average range Ive killed elk,thus Ive tended to prefer the 33-45 caliber rifles as extreme long range has never been a major factor.
about 37 years ago I was standing in a local gun-shop when a guy walked in wanting to sell the owner several rifles , one of them was a remington 458 win mag,
the owner saw me looking it over and I think knew he had a potential instant sale,
on at least one rifle, and said too the guy that he would give the guy (X) amount for the four rifles,
he had brought in to sell, and when the guy agreed, too the offer, he wrote him a check, for that amount, and after the guy left.
I ask the gun-shop owner what he wanted for the 458 win mag,
BOB the gun shop owner, was a good friend , he could have easily gotten $800 even back then, so he smiled and stated he had just paid $400 for that rifle, and knowing that I liked big bore rifles he would let me walk out with it for $450,
(he knew in the long run it was good business sense)
which was at that time still a very decent deal ,as a used remington custom 700 bdl easily cost several hundred more than that even back in the early 1980s, so I wrote him a check....knowing ID catch hell from the wife..... but I simply could not pass on a deal ID be very unlikely to see repeated. ( I figured if I showed her what they cost vs what ID paid it would at least minimize the fight intensity... she was not thrilled but we worked out a few personal compromises, favoring her future requests , and she was willing to accept the transaction. )
BOB later told me one reason he purchased the group of rifles was he felt sure he could make a small profit on the transaction almost instantly, as he saw a twinkle in my eye looking at the rifle in question, and he was sure that he would make out on the others at the price he paid.
you certainly not going too need a 458 lott or 458 win to hunt elk, but both rifles hand-loaded
to hot 45/70 power levels, with cast bullets , in the 350grain-450 grain,range, make excellent thick timber elk rifles where range under 200 yards are the rule and a 400 grain bullet at perhaps 1800 fps-2200 fps make a very effective elk hunting rifle

http://handloads.com/loaddata/default.asp?Caliber=458 Winchester Magnum&Weight=All&type=rifle&Order=Powder&Source=

well this picture I found posted could be its twin!

I quickly purchased reloading dies and found that the rifle was exceptionally accurate with reduced velocity hand loads.
the nei, 355 grain bullet with a gas check sized to .459 over a load of 50 grains of RL7 and a 215 fed primer became my standard reduced load that has been used frequently on deer and hogs.
I doubt the load hits 1500 fps but its deadly on deer and hogs out past 100 yards and its recoil is rather mild, its effectively a mid power 45/70 class load.
http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/index.html

off a good bench rest on a day I shoot well, a 2" 5 shot group at 100 yards, is very common with those gas check cast bullet reduced loads
most of my groups were in the 2"-3" range,
but I was just relaxing , not really concentrating and several guys saw me shooting and asked what caliber I had..
when I showed them a 458 win, cartridge they seem amazed ,
especially when the rifle obviously was not kicking the crap out of me ,
off the bench rest.... BTW if your not into casting projectiles the 458 caliber is one of the potentially most common and frequently more accurate bore size available.
I've always been one of the guys that can,t understand why ,
if your seriously into shooting that you don,t see hand-loading as almost mandatory.
after all with hand-loads you can custom tailor the bullet type, weight and velocity and in many cases increase accuracy and drastically reduce the cost of ammo.
I can hand load ammo for the 458 win with hard cast gas check ammo for under 35 cents a shot,
factory ammo costs a bit more,like $5 a cartridge,
obviously the factory ammo's using full power loads with jacketed bullets, which is un-necessary for hunting deer/hogs or even elk
the 45/70 marlin I used with both 405 remington jacketed bullets
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1...-government-458-diameter-405-grain-soft-point
and 405 grain, gas check, hard cast gas check bullets both worked fine
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/6...er-458-diameter-405-grain-flat-nose-gas-check


both 45 gains of RL7 and a load of 45 grains of IMR3031 with a 215 federal primer work great



looking at the wounds ,the hard cast , cast from 95% WW alloy and 5% pure tin, punch deeper and so far always exit
Ive used those on elk, the remington 405 soft point is devastating on deer and hogs
, the remington soft point jacketed, expand a bit faster,
http://www.handloads.com/loaddata/default.asp?Caliber=45-70&Weight=All&type=rifle&Source

my remington 700 458 win bolt action, looks very similar to this picture I found posted

Ive generally used the same bullets but changed te powder charge to 50 grains IMR 3031, or varget with a 215 federal primer, all those are accurate but not near peak pressure
punch a hard cast 350-450 grain bullet through an elks chest on the upper edge of those heart icons and you generally get a short run and a nose in the dirt.





example
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2...chester-magnum-500-grain-dgx-bonded-box-of-20

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/3...nchester-magnum-500-grain-partition-box-of-20

hardcastonly

I recently spent a few hours at a local range sighting in a new cast bullet design,
I had recently purchased a mold for specifically
for use in my 458 LOTT , I tried several loads before I found one that produced what I considered consistent and reasonably good accuracy.
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/47...n-semi-pointed

I generally don,t buy or use non-gas-check rifle bullets. but this ones had several people recommend it,
I was trying to get about 1600-1800 fps, if anyone has experience, and load data, with that particular bullet and a 458 LOTT
please post that info.
it generally takes some time to get cast bullets and loads sorted out, but once its got the sweet spot , they do tend to be rather consistently accurate.
one of the guys I shoot with at a local range uses that bullet in a 30" barrel rolling block 45/70 and getting good accuracy