Daryl,

Maybe you can clear up something I ahve been curious about for a long time. But first, I need to establish a commonality of terms. When you say .458 Alaskan 2", are you referring to the .458 Winchester Magnum case shortened to 2"? In my book, that cartridge is a .458X2" American, and the .450 Alaskan is a .348 Winchester opened up to .450 for use in the Model 71 Winchester.

Assuming that it is, what exactly is the purpose of changing the case length on the .458 WM? I have been shooting a .458 WM for 47 years now, and if I wanted to reduce the velocity, I just reduced the powder charge. Same with my .450 Watts, which I have had for 30 + years now. Is there some advantage, other than case capacity, with the 2" case? I know that according to Cartridges of the World, the original .458X2" was built on a 722 action, which is too short to accomodate a full length .458 WM, so that makes sense, but putting on on a Model 70, unless it is the short action post-64 model, seems like an exercise in futility.

In my opinion, the .458 WM case is too small to start with. Most full power loads are compressed, with the result that performance can be erratic. Leaving the case length the same and reducing the charge seem to me the best way to achieve ideal loading density.

Is there something I am totally missing here?

To return to the topic, I think the worst I have ever been beat up by a rifle was when I was sighting in a Remington 760 pump rifle in .30-'06 off the bench for a friend. The stock slapped me in the face every shot. He can sight his own rifles in from now on.