458 Winchester Magnum

.458 Winchester Magnum 500 Grain Barnes Banded Solid- The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, Big Five game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle.^[3] It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express cartridges used in big bore British double rifles. The .458 Winchester Magnum remains one of the most popular large game cartridges, and most major ammunition manufacturers offer a selection of .458 ammunition.

The .458 Winchester Magnum was designed for hunting dangerous game animals by emulating the performance of powerful English double rifle cartridges in a bolt-action rifle. The use of a bolt-action rifle offered hunters a cheaper alternative to the big-bore double rifle, and ammunition could be manufactured using available tooling. The .458 Winchester Magnum soon became a success as dangerous game hunters adopted the cartridge. Soon game wardens, wildlife managers, and professional hunters switched to the .458 Winchester Magnum as their duty rifle. The cartridge would become the standard African dangerous game cartridge in short order. The .458 Winchester Magnum’s case was based on a .375 H&H case shortened to 2.5 in (63.5 mm) and renecked (to reduce taper) to accept a .458 in (11.63 mm) bullet. The cartridge remains the largest of the standard length magnum cartridge family released by Winchester, which includes the somewhat obsolete .264 Winchester Magnum and the popular .338 Winchester Magnum.

The .458 Winchester Magnum was designed for use against heavy thick skinned African game species such as elephant, rhinoceros and African Cape buffalo. While the .458 Winchester Magnum is considered over powered for North American game species, the cartridge has found use for the hunting of large bears such as the polar and Alaskan brown bear and American bison. A few guides in Alaska and Canada carry rifles chambered in this cartridge to provide a defense against these largest bear species for themselves and their clients. The number one cartridge of professional guides in Alaska for Great Bears is the .338 Winchester Magnum.

As almost all dangerous game hunting is conducted at short ranges with most shootings occurring well within a distance of 60 yd (55 m), the .458 was not designed as a long range hunting cartridge. Its effective hunting range against large dangerous game is considered less than 110 yds.

Choice Ammunition, and our 100% Hand-Loading techniques- produce a round of ammunition for the .458 Winchester Magnum that is demanded in dangerous game hunting. Accuracy, consistency and dependability are crucial at that final moments of such an encounter. Choice Ammunition takes this responsibility seriously by meticulously weighing each powder charge with our proprietary formulas and temperature insensitive powders, seating the bullet at the exact length for optimal performance and test firing each and every lot of ammunition at an average of 500% over industry average. We have no high speed production machines- only passionate and dedicated load technicians pulling each and every handle, producing one round of ammunition at a time. Don’t compromise with “Factory” ammunition when it really counts!

The Bullet-

Barnes’ Banded Solids stop dangerous game right now! In life-threatening situations, you can depend on Banded Solids to put the largest animal down. Machined from homogenous copper/zinc alloy, these indestructible bullets won’t disintegrate or deflect on heavy bone. Multiple bands, or rings, cut into the shank of Barnes Banded Solids relieve pressure and virtually eliminate fouling. New nose design tracks straighter through dense muscle and bone.

Banded Solid Spitzers kill fur-bearing game cleanly, without damaging valuable pelts.

• Velocity 2,040 fps
• 100% Hand Loaded