"WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE .458 WIN MAG?"

TIGHTLOOP , I think you answered your own question quite adiquately with your comments quoted above!

That being said, the .458 Win Mag is a viable cartridge today, because of new powders, and handloaders can very narrowly reach what it should have done with factory ammo in the begining!

My opinion is, if you already have a .458 Win Mag, and you are a carefull handloader, then use it, if that makes you happy. With just a little work, however, one can re-chamber to 458 LOTT, which is what the 458 WM should have been origenally. It can be easily loaded to the old Win Mag .458, speeds, with lower pressures, and without crushing, or compacting the powder. Then none of the draw-backs of the win mag case exist, and there is no need to load to the top speeds of the LOTT case to get proper speeds with a 500 gr bullet. These loads generate no more recoil, or pressure than the 458 Win Mag, but do it without the problems!

You can "MAKE DO" with the old 458 Win Mag, but my question is, Why bother, when the lott is available.