The 458 B&M was just behind the first 50 B&M in design and having the first of the rifles built. First rifle was done in 2006. That first rifle had a fairly heavy barrel, and 20 inches long. Load data started in June/July of that year. By early 2007 I had a second rifle, still 20 inches, but the barrel taper way down and rifle was much lighter and easier to handle.
I also got serious about the load data, and was shooting 500 gr bullets at 2150 fps and 450s at 2250 fps. This was dead equal to a 458 Winchester, except the 458 Win had to have a 24 inch barrel to achieve those velocities, and a longer action. The 458 B&M is built on a Winchester M70 WSM action, and uses a 2.240 inch RUM case. Same basic case capacity as the longer 2.5 inch Winchester. This is where shorter and fatter actually starts to show some real potential for efficiency.
In 2008 I had a Winchester 1885 done in 458 B&M with a 24 inch barrel. The single shot action being so short, that a 24 inch version was the same overall length as a 20 inch bolt gun. The 24 inch barrel was able to produce 500s at over 2200 fps and 450s to 2350 fps, basically getting seriously into 458 Lott velocities.
But long barrels is not what I am about. Short, light, handy and fast to get on target, this is what makes a Dangerous Game Rifle. Today, my main two 458 B&Ms both sport 18 inch barrels and for serious work, we shoot serious bullets that were designed here, and turned over to Cutting Edge Bullets and North Fork for production. This would be the BBW#13 Solid Series, now called the Safari Solid, and its matching Hollow Point Safari Raptors.
For Elephant, hippo, buffalo, the heavies, the 450 Safari Solid and 420 Safari Raptors are the bullets of choice.
One of my favorite rifles of all time is a Winchester M70 458 B&M with a Bastogne Stock from Accurate Innovations. This rifle sports a 18 inch barrel, black matte GunKote Finish (like teflon--Only much better). This gun without scope weighs in at 7.5 lbs. Perfect for carrying all day long in the bush. It runs the 450 Solids at 2220 fps and the 420 Raptors at 2280 fps, both same POI at 50 yards. I have shot numerous buffalo with this gun, elephant, and hippo with incredible success. This gun went on a long and hard Safari in 2013 that spanned both South Africa and Zimbabwe. In South Africa it took numerous plains game, with a then experimental bullet that we now call the 250 Socom from Cutting Edge. Running this bullet at 2900 fps in the 18 inch gun, it also had the same POI as the 450/420 heavier combination at 50 yards. This was very handy, no resighting in for different loads/bullets, just pick and choose for the mission at hand.
I don't have many photos of this rifle, will have to get some more, but I do have this one....................
Using the 250 Socom extensively on several species the gun was absolutely deadly. Zebra, wildebeest, and many others were DRT on the spot. Anyone ever shot a zebra knows just how tough zebra are, they can go forever with lesser caliber vital hits. Not with this, they drop where they stand.
Pigs don't stand a chance............
Nor anything else with this combination...........
We did a tremendous amount of shooting in South Africa testing these bullets........ they were so successful that today lots of guys are using them all over the world, and in particular in Alaska for bear and moose.
To be Continued;
I also got serious about the load data, and was shooting 500 gr bullets at 2150 fps and 450s at 2250 fps. This was dead equal to a 458 Winchester, except the 458 Win had to have a 24 inch barrel to achieve those velocities, and a longer action. The 458 B&M is built on a Winchester M70 WSM action, and uses a 2.240 inch RUM case. Same basic case capacity as the longer 2.5 inch Winchester. This is where shorter and fatter actually starts to show some real potential for efficiency.
In 2008 I had a Winchester 1885 done in 458 B&M with a 24 inch barrel. The single shot action being so short, that a 24 inch version was the same overall length as a 20 inch bolt gun. The 24 inch barrel was able to produce 500s at over 2200 fps and 450s to 2350 fps, basically getting seriously into 458 Lott velocities.
But long barrels is not what I am about. Short, light, handy and fast to get on target, this is what makes a Dangerous Game Rifle. Today, my main two 458 B&Ms both sport 18 inch barrels and for serious work, we shoot serious bullets that were designed here, and turned over to Cutting Edge Bullets and North Fork for production. This would be the BBW#13 Solid Series, now called the Safari Solid, and its matching Hollow Point Safari Raptors.
For Elephant, hippo, buffalo, the heavies, the 450 Safari Solid and 420 Safari Raptors are the bullets of choice.
One of my favorite rifles of all time is a Winchester M70 458 B&M with a Bastogne Stock from Accurate Innovations. This rifle sports a 18 inch barrel, black matte GunKote Finish (like teflon--Only much better). This gun without scope weighs in at 7.5 lbs. Perfect for carrying all day long in the bush. It runs the 450 Solids at 2220 fps and the 420 Raptors at 2280 fps, both same POI at 50 yards. I have shot numerous buffalo with this gun, elephant, and hippo with incredible success. This gun went on a long and hard Safari in 2013 that spanned both South Africa and Zimbabwe. In South Africa it took numerous plains game, with a then experimental bullet that we now call the 250 Socom from Cutting Edge. Running this bullet at 2900 fps in the 18 inch gun, it also had the same POI as the 450/420 heavier combination at 50 yards. This was very handy, no resighting in for different loads/bullets, just pick and choose for the mission at hand.
I don't have many photos of this rifle, will have to get some more, but I do have this one....................
Using the 250 Socom extensively on several species the gun was absolutely deadly. Zebra, wildebeest, and many others were DRT on the spot. Anyone ever shot a zebra knows just how tough zebra are, they can go forever with lesser caliber vital hits. Not with this, they drop where they stand.
Pigs don't stand a chance............
Nor anything else with this combination...........
We did a tremendous amount of shooting in South Africa testing these bullets........ they were so successful that today lots of guys are using them all over the world, and in particular in Alaska for bear and moose.
To be Continued;