Forums.NitroExpress.com

The whole thing sounds like kind of a skimpy, unsatisfactory compromise in my opinion.

If you have DG on the menu, 500 gr bullets are the only way to go, and then you'll be restricted, fundamentally, to 100-125 yard shots for EVERTHING, and Kain-tuck windage be dipped. Plus, the vast majority of the animals you'll be hunting would be better reduced to the salt with a lighter rifle that shoots flatter and kicks way less than the 458 does.

The 458 Win. Mag. (and it's ilk) is a specialized rifle in my opinion, not an all-around, workhorse safari rifle. On the one safari where I did indeed take a 458 Win. Mag., I also brought along a 300 Winchester. I used the 458 (500 gr. Trophy-Bonded solids) for three animals, and the 300 Win. Mag. (180 Fail-Safes) for thirty-three. And the truth is, all of the animals I shot with the 300 went down basically on the spot. The 458 wouldn't have killed any of them any deader, and all it would have done was make the 200-250 yd, shots I was sometimes faced with just that much more difficult, and the much heavier recoil would also have made those shots more difficult. It would have been more of a hindrance than a help in every way.

Some guys are under the impression that bullets from "regular" hunting rifles just sort of bounce off or otherwise fail, while a bullet from a big bore is somehow going to hammer everything just straight into the ground and offer some big time set of advantages. Most of the time the reverse is actually true. Believe me, it's worth the extra expense and bother to take a true plainsgame rifle in addition to your 458............

AD

Post Extras