I've not shot anything in my .458's over 600gr., but feel myself weakening towards something in this 700gr. range.
: KDM - it is truely a wonderful thing, to cast your own and do the testing. I'm certianly with you on that score.
: While a 500gr. solid might penetrate as deeply as that 720gr.FN lead bullet, the solid is not be legal for use on big game in this Province, while the 720gr. would be just fine. I'll lay odds that long cast bullet wouldn't lose very much speed during it's brief time inside a grizzly, whether shot from the side or lengthwise. 1,700fps develops 4,619fpe, the criterea many use to denote killing power. It's a bit of a drop from 5,100fpe, although a mere 100fps more to 1,800fps raises the bar to 5,181fpe, which is higher than 2150 with a 500gr. bullet, soft or solid. Most guys will aknowledge that 100fps is virtually a non-entity as far as increased killing power is concerned, too, many loads varry that much, shot to shot. Anyone with a chronograph and who's 'graphed' in strings of 20 shots knows that.