A long long time ago when I was very young shooter, the local gunsmith arrived at the range with two scoped hunting rifles he was sighting in for a customer who was going on a safari in Africa.

One was a Weatherby in .460, the other one a Winchester in .458. He was kind enough to let a few of us youngsters have a go with them. Needless to say it was a blast and a kick. And I remember the 458 being a lighter rifle and kicking more than the 460.

And obviously dirty Harry Callahan used one (unsuccessfully though) against Scorpio.

Fast forward 25 years, I decided to see if I could find one, so I placed a WTB ad and within two weeks a gentleman offered me a new one for sale. Well new is relative since the serial number indicates it was built in 1967, just one year before I was born, and has a few tiny handling marks.

Price was $ 1700. It also came with NOS Burris rings and mount. I’m not sure I will put a scope on it. Firstly this is not a long-range rifle and the open sights are more than adequate up to one hundred metres. Secondly the scope kiss in the face is a very real hazard with a rifle like that, kicking like a mule.











Since I had recently bought some cheap ammo for it ($ 1 per round) I took it straight to the range.

The first three shots below the bull’s-eye were taken at 25 m just to get a feel for where the rifle hits. The last two shots above the bull’s-eye were taken at 50 m. In both case standing, as it is the best way to absorb the massive recoil.





Now I have dirty Harry’s revolver, semi auto pistol and bolt action rifle. If anyone has a nice harpoon for sale, hit me up.

Switzerland must be gun heaven!

I shot one of those about 30 years ago. My shoulder still hurts.

As always, great post and pictures.

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Possum—The other white meat!

Nice!
Don’t forget to add a LAW’s rocket launcher to your list...

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"I also cook."

I purchased a new Winchester Mod 70 in .458 about 30 years ago. When I took it out of the box one side of the stock looked nice but the other side was almost black. The difference in grain and color between the two sides of the stock was drastic. I contacted Winchester and they told me to send it back and they would restock it. I sent it back and Winchester restocked it and sent it back within a couple of weeks. The new stock looked nice and I was happy.

The first time I fired it I guess I wasn't holding on tight enough. The stock came up off my shoulder and knocked the hearing protectors off my head. As I picked up my hearing protectors I noticed they had taken a chip out of the stock on the top of the comb! So much for that new gun feeling. I still shoot it occasionally using a PAST recoil shoulder pad. Out to a 100 yards it is amazingly accurate.

With high-power rifles, you do have to hold them tightly.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

Cool gun. It may be one of the few instances in which a gun is less expensive here than in Switzerland.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

That is a beautiful rifle. Nice eclectic little gathering of guns there, an appropriate homage to our friend Inspector Callahan.

The harpoon gun? Hmmm...you'll have to keep us posted on that, maybe Captain Quint can help you out!

Man, that's a beautiful rifle!

A nice Leupold variable scope would be very nice on it. A scope or a red dot is much faster on to target and would be great to have if you plan on using it on something other than paper. I never had any problem with scope bite from 375 H&H, or 458win. I have not shot 460 WM. I dislike 340 weatherby mag recoil, just seems very sharp compared to 338 win. Beautiful Rifle Be Safe,

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I BACK OUR BLUE

In 1984 or 85 my best friend shows up at my farm on an October afternoon. He has come from an Ohio Gun Collector's Association show. One of the things he bought that day was a Ruger 77 in 458 Win Mag, that came with ammo, dies, and components. We took it out back and started playing with it. The 500/510 grain Round Nose Solids and soft points we not bad to shoot at all. The hand loads using 350 grain Hornady soft round nose bullets over some ungodly amount of powder were REAL NASTY! (We each only shot 2 of those!)

In the components There were 2 1/2 boxes of Hornady 500 gr SPRN and about 3/4 of a box of 500 gr FMJ. When I pointed out the uneven numbers, he said he ask the previous owner about that. He had originally bought 400 of each, found but the soft points unsatisfactory in pentation while hunting! My friend ask what he was hunting and where? Turns out that in Ohio, it is more sporting to shoot ground hogs (something like a big Marmot) after they get in their burrow! The 458 Solids would tunnel up to 5 feet in the packed clay soil we have many places!

Happy Hunting!

Ivan

That's beautiful. I've never shot a .458, but would like to. I've shot .375 H&H and found it not at all unpleasant, but I know .458 is a whole 'nother level. I did shoot a .500 double rifle a couple of times. Not terrible due to the weight of the rifle.

When I was in my late teens I shot a full power .458 load out of a Ruger #1. Note, “a” full power load.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Back in 1976 I bough a Ruger 77 in 458 Win Mag and a box of
ammo. Took it to the range once. When I pulled it out of the
safe 35 years later to sell found one box of ammo. Only 4 round
fired....I fired two and my buddy fired 2. I think the price was $10.99
for 20. Never made it to Africa.

Indeed, I had the feeling that most people who bought one of those would fire it once and think “nah, not for me”

You also need a switchblade and a roll of tape. Harry got more of Scorpio with the shiv than the rifle.

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I need ammo, not a ride.

I have that. Damn, I’ll have to do the photo again.

I hand load for mine and it is definitely more pleasant to shoot with the 500 grain bullets than the 350 grain ones.

Believe me, I had a good grip on it, just had no idea how fierce the recoil would be. I never made the same mistake again.

I originally purchased a PAST Mag recoil shield, it helped but the recoil was still fierce. I the then bought the PAST Mag Plus and that tamed it down considerably. I wouldn't even attempt to shoot mine without a recoil pad today.

My good friend got to go to Africa to hunt and shot a elephant and some other stuff. He bought a Model 70 in the .458 African for the trip.
After he got home we were out to his brothers farm and he dragged out that thing and a Model 29. He was hell bent that I was going to shoot them. I did, one shot with the .458 and 2 with the 44 mag. If it isn't fun I don't shoot them.

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Mighty 90's,Trying 4 a 100!

That had to real "interesting" to fire in an indoor range.

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Jim
Many K and N Frames

I had a Herters 458 in early 70s. The Dirty Harry syndrome was going around and I sold it to a guy at work, with a 44mg. The full meal deal.
I’ve shoot several 458s of name brand manf. None could compare to the recoil of the Herters. It was cheapest one they made with about same stock of a 20g bolt action shotgun. It hurt.

Years ago I had a safari grade Remington 700 in 458 Win Mag.. I shot factory and handholds out of it never scoped my 458 but put a scope on my 375 H&H Sako Safari..
458 bothered me 375 never really bothered me..I had a pre 64 Model70 in 338 Win Mag that bothered the hell out of me..

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NRA Benefactor

Nice looking rifle. Just think, if Harry had used something like a .222 Remington, the movie would have ended right there.

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Tony

A fixed 2x or 3x would give you a long long eye relief and a wide wide field of view if you ever desire to try a scope.

I believe you! I have never fired any of the big doubles but in bolt-actions, the Model 70 .458 is certainly a legend in my mind. I read about people complaining how vicious the .378 Weatherby is and that seems rather a joke to me. I’d shoot ten .378s in preference to one .458 in a Model 70. Well, maybe five. I’ve always wanted to try a .458 in a different rifle but everyone always seems to have a Model 70. Maybe another brand would not be quite so fierce.

Congratulations on your Winchester. Nice rifle to add to a collection. For me, at least, not all that much fun to shoot.

I have a Remington Model 1917 with a stock like that. Clearly the military saw no need to stain it to even things up and thankfully never did any of the intervening owners. It's one of my milsurp oddities.

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Release the Kraken

I never understood Callahan's choice of rifle. It made no sense.

But, the OP's rifle is gorgeous and I appreciate the collection.

When I shot an 8 bore double rifle the owner told me to make sure I clenched my teeth a bit as a slack jaw might slam my teeth together and give me a concussion. Fired 1 round hit the target and quit while I was ahead!

I'd detach a retina shooting that.

Congrats on a very fine rifle. I’ve always liked big rifles. The one on the left below is a newer controlled feed Model 70 in .458. The one on the right is a 1949 M70 375 H&H, nicely restocked. The .375 wears a variable Leupold because it can easily reach out to 300+ yards. The .458, not so much. So it gets a forward mounted red dot - no scope bite and quicker than the irons for me. I can shoot the .375 all day. The limit with the .458 is about 10 rounds per session. The .375 is a very practical rifle, and I’ve killed lotsa game with it, mostly elk. The .458 isn’t really very practical but it’s fun and conjures up images of Africa and buffalo and elephants. I’m sure you’ll enjoy yours. They really do grow on ya.

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Everybody could shoot

Actually it makes perfect sense (Hollywood wise)... Dirty Harry had the most powerful handgun of the day, and the .458 Win Mag was one of the most powerful offering in a bolt action rifle at the time.

Congrats to the OP on his Dirty Harry weapon trifecta collection.

And now, for a bit of Dirty Harry trivia... the actor (Andrew Robinson) that played Scorpio, he went on to play one of the central characters on the Star Trek Deep Space Nine TV series.

You'd be hard pressed to identify him by appearance... as he was the Cardassian named "Garak", that ran the tailor shop on the DS9 station.

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Conrad
SWCA #1830 SWHF #222

Nice score, Classic12. I fired a .458 once but it the guy that owned it had 350 grain handloads, said they were loaded down a bit.
I owned a Ruger 77 in .300 Winchester when I was stationed in Alaska, but my cousin offered me his .375 H&H to use on a few hunts, I really like that caliber.

Classic12, I'd check the rubber on that recoil pad. The rubber on a 53 year old rifle can turn hard from age.
I had to put a new pad on an older Browning Superposed 12ga. as the original pad was as hard as concrete.

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U. S. Army Veteran

A little late to the party, but thanks to Classic12 for starting such a wonderful thread. The Dirty Harry references are fun.

Since my early teens I have dreamed of an African hunting safari. I never planned my finances well enough to afford it, but sometimes dreams are sufficient entertainment in life.

Until that day in 2009 when I walked into a high end gun shop in Salt Lake City to drop off a lovely LC Smith double 12 ga. I had just inherited. I was making sure it was good to shoot, and it was and is.

On one wall rifle rack was a gun that just jumped out at me--so different from anything else around it. The store owner had been a PH in Africa for a number of years, and when I showed interest in the rifle he really beamed.

Forty minutes later I was driving home with it, only $1300 poorer but with dreams of bagging a Cape Buff dancing in my head again. A dream now more possible before I age too much more.

This gun was custom built on order by a local gunsmith--Nighthowls--and it is beautifully done. Look at the laser engraving on the rear stock. And, its a .458 Lott.

I own a Barrett 95 .50 BMG which I can shoot about 15 rounds through before quitting. The recoil is not the stopping issue; it's the concussive back blast from the massive muzzle brake that limits the fun.

Likewise, this 'Buff gun has a very effective muzzle brake. I know PH's hate them, but I'm not in Africa (yet). I first shot some .458 WM through it and was surprised that the recoil seemed acceptable to me. I went through about 10 rounds of 500 grain solids.

I stepped up to the 458 Lott 500 grainers, and yup, there was a noticeable difference. I'd say about a 15% increase. I would never shoot this gun from any position other than standing. About 5 Lott rounds is my limit for enjoyment, but there is nothing like letting this boomer go at a watermelon at 50 yards with a Barnes TSX hollow point. It is hard to find a piece of watermelon bigger than a silver dollar.

For those interested, here is a link to Kentucky Ballistics, a channel with a guy who shoots all kinds of stuff with a 458 Lott. He put together 64" of gel and shot three solids through all of that and into a railroad-tie berm so deep he could not dig the bullet out. Approximately 5,600 FPE at the muzzle.

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Just make sure you don’t shoot while sitting with your back against a hard surface.

I saw a guy do that at the range once. He cut loose with a .375 resting his back against a pillar of a concrete bench. We listened to him bellowing for a while.

I’m surprised the Weatherby had less perceived recoil. The MK V stock has quite a bit more drop than a Model 70. Maybe that big comb keeps it good.

Shortly after making that original post I had to go to the range with all three guns, and I made a video about it.

Shooting Dirty Harry**™s guns - YouTube

Dirty Harry's choice of the 458 Mag was a bit odd to me. I see Harry as more of a 30.06 guy.

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No baby we aint

Harry’s 458 Win Mag trumps Scorpio’s 30-06 any day!

Reading in a BPCR publication on the .458 Win Mag was, it was basically a .45-110 or .45-140 (don't remember which), that had been belted and stuffed with smokeless powder.

Made sense, as the bullets are the same diameter (.458), and it is a straight walled case. A sxs photo of the 2 cartridges looked identical except for the belt on the Mag.

My 9# C. Sharps in .45-70 thumped me enough that I had zero interest in firing the .45-110/.45-140 and certainly not the .458 Win Mag.

No wonder some of those Buffalo guns weighed up to 16#.

Rob

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Strange days have found us

I took a Cape buffalo in Botswana with my Ruger #1 in 458 Lott.
Google Jack Lott to learn why he invented the 458 Lott - interesting read.

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Best I can do is a 6.5” 29-2 and a pretty Asian girlfriend.

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S&WHF 483 , S&WCA 1699

Good start, let’s see them both

Hell of a trophy. And fascinating landscapes I’m sure.

Probably more elephants were shot with 7mm rimmed double rifles than any other caliber.

Note to younger guys. Don’t buy big bore bolt action rifles. The browning bar semi auto in magmun calibers is easier on your body as you get older. It’s something you can always shoot and enjoy. The bar is a sporting rifle.

The Browning BAR Mark II Safari - Revivaler

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Plant garlic in the fall

When I was younger, me and my brother would love to shoot 3" Magnum slugs from a pump gun. The recoil was the point. We'd shoot it, look over at the other guy and just giggle. It was fun. We had nothing to kill that needed that much power, it was purely for the enjoyment of touching off a small bomb and hearing the boom and feeling the recoil. After about 8-10 of those though I was all giggled out. Fast forward 20 years and I find my fun elsewhere. Perhaps on the rimfire range. That is a beautiful rifle and I would love to own such a wonderful firearm. It would look great hanging on the wall.

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The best I can with what I got