I've been shopping for a big bore rifle for a while, but I stumbled onto the idea of getting a .458 Win Mag a few months back. I don't hunt, so the gun will be a range toy, but the idea of a gun I could load up to elephant killing levels immediately appealed to me if just because it's over the top for almost any purpose.

I was watching a couple on Gunbroker, but one was overpriced for its condition and the other ended up going for more than I was willing to pay.

I had all but given up and decided to get a .444 Marlin instead when I stumbled onto this gun on another forum for a fair price. I PM'd the owner and it came with 50 pieces of brand new brass, which is about $50 worth, so it immediately became a pretty good deal.

I sent the money maybe ten days ago and it got to my FFL late last week.

Right when the buying panic hit.

The background check took two days instead of twenty minutes, More importantly, I ordered and received bullets but some pants-******* cleaned out my LGS for rifle primers late last week. They had thousands a couple of weeks back, both magnum and standard - all gone now.

Once I get some primers, my plan is to start light and load it up to my own personal max. I may put a scope on it due to failing eyesight.

This will be last range toy for a while, but it promises to be fun. BTW, the serial dates it to 1975, which is amazing to me because it's in beautiful shape for that age. I wish I had aged as well!

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That's very pretty; I love bolt action rifles (among other things but I've been a bolt gun fan for 50 years). Let us know what you think of the recoil when you get up there; I had a CA .416 Rigby and it rocked my world but it was definitely fun!

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Come and take it!!

Beautiful!! I love older bolt action rifles. Let us know how those loads work out when you are able.

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

you can do and hunt a number of thing with a 458 Win Mag!

My best friend bought a used Ruger 77 Tropical in 458 in 1984 at an OGCA show. It came with brass dies and all the remaining bullets he had. When ask why there were so many more Hornady 500 gr. soft points than FMJ, the previous owner said he had been hunting with them. That really got our interest! What was he hunting with 500 grain "Solids"? After a little Hemming and Hawawing he admitted that he used it on ground hogs! Is that a fun sport? Weeelll, you let them get in their hole first!

There is a load in the Hornady loading manual for their 350 soft point, at the maximum load it is the most fierce recoil I have ever experienced, far worse than 500 grain, or anything in 375 H&H, and far worse than my 450 3.25 inch Nitro Express!

Ivan

Or, you can load it down to .45-70 levels or below.

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John 3:16
WAR EAGLE!

I doubt I'll get to that level, but we'll see!

Chief: .458 Magnum? This thing will stop an elephant.

Callahan: Yeah.

Chief: Apparently you like a little edge.

Callahan: All I can get, sir.

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213th FBINA

I have always wondered what the 458 Win Mag would do to a eastern white tail deer if you shot him in the chest if he was facing straight at you. I would imagine field dressing would be completely unnecessary...

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Randy

She is truly a beauty.

I fired a .458 once with a factory load--that was enough for me. Enjoy!

Great looking rifle.

I felt that Harry should have chosen a .300 Weatherby, better for his needs.and would provide ample drama. Drama is what the .458 was all about.

In 1976 I bought a Ruger No. 1 American Liberty .458.
It was an excellent shooter with full house 510’s, but rough on the shoulder. Five to seven shots off the bench was good for a session.
I also had a rebarreled ‘86 Winchester .45-70 carbine I was shooting a handload of a 300 grain Hornady HP over 57 grains of 3031.
Tried this load in the .458 and shot as well as 510 without the brutal recoil.
I shot one deer with that load in the No. 1 and didn’t feel undergunned in the least.
One suggestion though. If you’re planning on hunting deer with this thing, unless you enjoy lugging a 9 lb. + rifle all day long, hire a gunbearer.

Al Huff was a Central Ohio gunsmith, he is the first to barrel Siamese Mausers into 45-70. He was on an Mountain Elk Hunt and shot a young bull at 400 yards right up the rump with the Ruger Only 45-70 load. Upon impact, the elk went out of sight, and he assumed he missed or worse he had wounded the animal. His guide, hearing the cannon go off drove the Jeep over and the went looking for the elk. When they reached the spot where the elk had been standing, they found the elk face planted on the ground, NOT ONE STEP had been taken. As they examined the elk, the shot taken was obvious. The guide started yelling that "I told you not to asshoot the animals!" Al was looking at the exit wound, next to the sternum. When they field dressed the elk, most of the organs were exploded from hydrostatic pressure. That animal, never knew it was hit. Walking on the mountain one instant, walking with the creator the next!

Ivan

I have a M70 .458 very much like yours that I’ve been working with for quite a few years. Light loads are fun but, at least in my mind, sort of defeat the purpose of a big bore magnum rifle, that being POWER! Getting to full power handloads can be a bit tricky because of the limited case capacity but it can be done. More than any other rifle, you need to make each shot count when range shooting. I find I can handle 6-7 full power rounds off the bench when testing or maybe 10 rounds standing. Any shooting after that is just wasted noise and ammo. And that rifle will give you a “gun headache” in fewer rounds than any other I know of. Enjoy it! You will find it a real learning experience.

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Everybody could shoot

I'd wanted one for years after seeing it in the 1967 Winchester catalog. Finally saw an 1994 Natchez Shooting Supply ad in Shotgun News for it at $495. My LGS/Pro Shop ordered it for me by phone. They even asked the dealer how many did we want!

No fault of Natchez, but EVERY screw was chewed up. I wrote Winchester who said send it back for examination. Never did. Also impossible to lighten the trigger pull, despite instructions in manual. Still enjoyed it at the range; many folks wanted to try it, firing just 1 round. Sold it out here to a fellow going to Africa.

OP's gun is a higher grade with beautiful wood and 24" bbl. Magnificent gun. Good shooting to you!

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

I knew a young man about45 yrs ago who bought one. He wanted to shoot something with it, so drove out in the country in NW Fla. He noticed a small pole about 6 inches in diameter supporting electric service to a trailer house and let off a round. It sawed the top half completely off, bringing down the electric service. He hightailed it out the area, never to return.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Correct me , if I'm wrong, but wasn't Harry's 458 a 700 Remington?. Not to take ANYTHING away from the op's gun; that is one beautiful beast.

Here's some info on the movie gun:

Dirty Harry - Internet Movie Firearms Database - Guns in Movies, TV and Video Games

I have owned a Interarms MK X 458 win mag for several decades.
I bought it when I was a DPS trooper in the South West. It was my “barricade” rifle, and if necessary anti vehicle rifle.
I actually got to shoot a four legged critter with it about 15 years ago. There was a Bison farm South of here, a big bull had apparently become bored with being fenced in, walked through the field fence. He was amusing himself by standing out in the two lane highway charging at anything that presented itself.
The state and county police were not amused.
Sister in law was/is the county animal control officer. The state police had shot the animal several times with a 5.56, without much visible damage. Sis had arrived with a tranq rifle after the trooper had shot the bison several times. So, sis calls me.I shot the animal head on from about 70 yards with a 500 gr. Solid. End of game. Farmer came out with a big tractor, with a big end loader, scooped it up, crisis solved.
dr. mordo, your Winchester is a beautiful rifle, enjoy it.

Outdoors writer Sam Fadala told of firing a round from his .458 at the middle of a large Saguaro cactus. The part above the POI went skyward...

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

That would make a great cast bullet rifle and wouldn't be unpleasant to shoot with the right loads.

That is a pretty gun you got there, dr. mordo. But I bet it kills on one end and maims on the other with 500 grain solids.

I just looked over at the Hodgdon website and they show a couple of Trail Boss loads for some cast lead bullets that I bet would make for some fun range play though. And I would think that some 350 grain Speer Spitzers would make for some ammo you could hunt big deer or black bear with and I would guess recoil might be a little milder with.

Congratulations on a great acquisition! And a Super Grade, no less! Such a beautiful rifle...stylish and classic lines. And look at that blue! Wow. That older Winchester blue is hard to beat.

"Pants-*******". I like that. Have to file that one away for future use.

Don't forget this "Other" Dirty Harry gun from sudden impact.

Thanks for the reloading tip. I'll have to see if I can find some 3031.

I will certainly be shooting cast bullets, likely exclusively. Heck, this may even get me into casting! I currently have 200 coated 350gr bullets from Acme Bullet. I now wish I'd ordered a box of 500 gr just for the amusement factor, but I'll get some eventually. Also, another forum member very kindly offered to cast me some of the bullets he uses in his 45-70, which I am excited about.

I do plan to start with Trail Boss, since I have a bunch of it. then I plan to get some H4895 and start at the 60% reduced load level and work up.

Was I the only one expecting to see a harpoon gun?

That is a beautiful gun, Doc. I bought my elephant gun back in 1994, a left hand .460 Weatherby with Lazermark stock. I was perusing Shotgun News and saw several NIB left handed Weatherbys for sale in Louisiana. Sent the guy a check for $970 and he shipped it.

Screen grabs from 2008. The target is a one-gallon can of hominy corn.

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Great pics!

Nice. I've never owned a 458. I've had a 375, but really didn't have a need for it, so it moved on. My only "big bore" now is my Marlin 1895SBL. I can used factory loads for deer, but load it up to "almost" elephant level.

Beautiful rifle! It certainly doesn't compare, but a number of years ago my FFL had a magnificent tang safety Ruger 77 in .338 WIN MAG with a sweet looking muzzle brake. Way out of character for my usual tastes, but the darn rifle was so pretty I just had to have it. WOW, does it kick like a mule and send a shockwave to either side with that brake. At $2 a round I don't shoot it much, but it sure is a hoot to take to the range on occasion. Enjoy and let us know how she shoots.

Doc,
I shot a Ruger Tropical in .458 for over 20 years. Bought in Loxahatchee, Fl and inquired why it was for sale so cheap. The Gal who owned the shop said the guy who purchased it shot it 3 times and had enough. Had the original box of 500 grain Win Soft Points. The weapon was well stocked and I could handle 10 or 12 shots in a session. Any more than that and it was like I was back boxing and getting too many good shots in a bout. I think you will enjoy it and reloading really broadens your range possibilities. Enjoy.

I’ve shot Win 70 and Brn Safari in 458 factory loads. The worst was a Herters Mauser action. It had the stock design of a bolt action shotgun. It would rattle your teeth. I lucked out and sold it when Dirty Harry craze hit.
Same guy bought it bought a Hawks SA 44mag off me. M29s were almost impossible to get at the time.
The 458 didn’t impress me never shot game with it. The 375H&H did impress me. I had old Sako and I did shoot deer with it. A 458 would punch a hole right through a deer not doing any more damage than 45/70. A magnum like 300 or 7mm will ruin a deer if bad hit. The high velocity with an expanding bullet will blow a white tail deer in half.

Big Bores are fun. You will be shooting full power loads in no time. The weekend I picked up my Ruger No.1 in 416 Rigby my shoulder was black and blue after about 10 rounds and now I can shoot 25 rounds in a row and no marks.

Get you some Trail Boss if you want some reduced loads. I have been playing with the idea of a ground hog gun with my Rigby. I cast a HP with a Wheel Weight base and the top 2/3 of the bullet is pure lead.

Here is a vid of a 5lb. trail boss jug shot with my Rigby Encore pistol. 350 gr. sitting on top of 70 grains of IMR 3031 going a bit better than 1800 fps out of a pistol. The cement block it was sitting on was cracked the whole way through I gave it a tap and it fell apart.

I now have a metal lathe so one of the first projects was a new HP pin (making and moding all kinds of things now), it goes almost the whole way through now. I have not tried it out yet but will be soon, the hogs are starting to move.

Here is my mold, the pin on the bottom is the one from the video, the one on the top is the one I made, I think it might come apart a bit faster.

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Congratulations on your new rifle.

Like many here I had the “pleasure” (or pain) of trying one, many years ago.

The LGS was sighting in two scoped rifles for a customer who was going to a safari in Africa, one like this and a .460 Weatherby magnum. He was kind enough to let a couple of youngsters hanging around the range have a go. I shot one round of each. A skinny guy took 5 shots, his whole body was moving back two feet at every shot. A few days later he had the biggest hematoma ever.

The .458 was lighter and kicked more than the .460. In any case a day I won’t forget.

I, too, wondered if it would be the .458 or the Auto Mag. "Super Grade" is no exaggeration.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

Beautiful gun.Congrats!
While I've never shot a .458 Win.Mag at full throttle,I have experienced a 45-70 load in my Ruger no.1 with a 525gr at 1800fps which is still a little less than a full 500gr .458 load;but recoilwise close since the no 1 is such a light gun compared to the Win Mod 70.
One advice I can give you is keep your mouth tightly shut while shooting it.In 1987,I didn't and found my tooth filling in 1991!!!

Beautiful ol classic bolt gun.
When i was a teenager (in the 70’s) a shooting buddy of my dad’s had a 458 WM.
WE were out shooting one day and he brought it with him. He asked if I wanted to shoot it. Ten foot tall and bullet proof, I accepted.
I touched the one and only round I fired off and when I came back around after the beating I took, my dad was laughing harder than I had ever heard him laugh.
When he stopped laughing he said when I touched the shot off, my just below my shoulder length hair was standing straight on end all the way around my head.
To this day I wished I had a picture of that.
I have never shot a gun anywhere near that power level since.

That's not a Rifle, it's a Hand Held Canon. Sir, I salute you. I shoot somewhere between 100 and 150 Target 12 gage loads every weekend thru my Beretta 686 and would not even consider firing that canon. Give me a nice warm 308 and I'm perfectly happy.

I will also note that wood of that quality and figuring would be considered Grade 4 in the shotgun world, so that Rifle you've acquired is not only a classic Model 70, it's also equipped with a stock that would run about 2000 dollars in the shotgun world.

I once, long ago in the 60s, had a Model 70 .458, but not for very long. I fired only a few rounds through it, enough to convince me I had no reason to keep it.

i had a few Model 70 458`s. Much handier than the Ruger 458 Lott i had

Watching it never, ever gets old!

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"You're messin' up my Zen"

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

I'll add that when I started shopping Winchester Model 70s, I quickly realized that the .458s are among the cheapest Super Grades, I suspect because most folks have the good sense to buy a more reasonable caliber.

That is a beautiful bolt action.

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KM
S&WCA 3110 S&WHF 625

Now that's fun to shoot!

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SWCA #3356, SWHF#611

He shouldn't have pointed that gun at that guy like he did.

Cast bullets are on the way Monday morning per our messages. The ice pack for your shoulder is all on you.

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S&WHF 366

Thank you again, you are a great man!

Early 1990's version. Winchester Model 70 Super Express with Leupold Vari-X III 1.5 X 5

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Beautiful!