I recently loaned out one of my rifles to a guy Ive known for 4 decades or more, as he expressed a desire to try one out on a upcoming hog hunt,
its a remington bolt action 458 mag, similar to this picture

I handed him 40 hand-loaded cartridges , I had on hand , that I used several times on local hog hunting trips,
as hes been curious as to the effective punch of a larger bore rifle,
hell yes its massive over kill, you could easily kill a 1 ton buffalo, or an elephant,
what you get is reliable and very deep strait line penetration,something you rarely see in the 30 and lower caliber projectiles that weigh under about 180 grains, as many are designed for fast expansion, and while thats lethal if you get a broadside heart/lung shot thats not always an option.
hes only used a 308 win in the past, and while the 308 win is a very good cartridge its not in the same class as a serious magnum big bore with a 540 grain hard cast bullet thats packing a considerable penetration advantage.
yeah, you certainly pay a price in increased recoil, but its certainly not something you can,t learn to handle with practice.
knowing that I down loaded the cartridges as hes very unlikely to make any shots at over 150 yards .
I loaded 540 grain bullets at 1500 fps
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/101030648
recoils still up near 43 ft lbs in a 10 lb rifle,
but if you use the sling properly its marginally manageable,
and well under what you would see pushing that same projectile to near 1900 fps.
now he tried several shots off the bench rest and while he was obviously impressed with the recoil,
it did not really hurt accuracy, yes, the accuracy was still decent as he shot a 2" 3 shot 100 yard group.
this rifle and ammo, will shoot length wise through a large hog,
chest too ham and still exit and still cut through 5" diameter,
trees past the intended target
(ask me how I know)
yeah youll know you pulled the trigger ,
but the hog won,t have a $%&^* clue,
when the result of a centered chest hit passing through the body length,
will be similar to being stomped on by GODZILLA
I insisted he use a vest with a shoulder recoil pad ,
https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1002531259?pid=699899

and after he tried a few shots he agreed its use with the rifle was mandatory, as Id suggested it would be..
I'm not sure if I will get a new big bore enthusiast.
or someone who trys and discards the big bore rifle use idea as unnecessary.
so far the big grin hes sporting at the range... makes me feel hes mildly infected with the magnum rifle big bore virus.
someones bound to ask.. why I did not load a 300-350 grain bullet at maybe 1400 fps as the recoil would be far lower....
well he specifically asked for ammo that would punch cleanly through a telephone pole or shoot lengthwise through a large hog,
he wanted to use something that would as he stated "KICK A LARGE HOGS A$$ SIX WAYS TO SUNDAY"
perhaps being partly masochistic, in your personality characteristics is part of the fun.

Heck Hardcast you don't even need a .458 Win mag. My 1874 Sharps replica .45-70 shooting 500 gr hard cast bullets passed through my target stand of 3/4" plywood, completely through a 11" live hard rock maple tree and buried itself out of sight a couple inches into another maple! That's some serious penetration.

I don't know if this makes me a big bore convert, but since I bought a Marlin Guide Gun in 45-70 I have pretty much not used any other rifle. Last year was the first time I went back to my mod 88 Win in .308 since I bought the 45-70.

I love my 45-70s Oldtimr. I have the above mentioned Sharps replica, a Marlin Guide Gun (one of the early ported ones) and another Marlin 1895SBL (stainless big loop). I just sold another 1895 Cowboy. I would like to get my hands on a Winchester 1886 for a decent price.

hardcastonly, That sounds like a pretty sweet hunting package for moderate ranges. I’ve always wanted a .458 WM, but, as I’m a “one gun” hunter....it just wasn’t practical for the ranges that we normally encounter! Recoil.... 43 ft/lbs is not bad at all. That puts it @17 under my hunting rifle, and only 3 ft/lbs more than my wife’s rifle! So....that makes it pretty comfortable to shoot! memtb

If you have to shoot a big bore, at least shoot one with style.



I used to have one of these, William Evans double rifle with exposed hammer in 450/400 3 1/4 nitro express. In a fit of extreme idiocy I let some guy talk me into selling it about 10 years ago. This is the one I always regretted selling!!!!!

right after I paid off all my whole families debts,
Id own several double rifles ,in cartridges like 416 ,470 and 577,
if the lotto numbers would just come up correctly!