[Marshall Stanton]

Although my best loads for the .460-405g LFNGC don't include your powder selections, here are the top loads that I've recommended to folks all over North America when shooting these bullets in Marlin 1895's (and variations thereof) in .45-70. These loads generally will shoot well into an inch at a hundred yards, and be bumping hard on the 2,000 fps velocity mark.

BTB .460"-405g LFNGC/56.0g H335/WLRP/Rem or Starline Brass

BTB .460"-405g LFNGC/52.0g H322/WLRP/Rem or Starline Brass

Take note that primer selection is crucial in both of these loads, and in our experience, and that of our customers, the Winchester primer is the hands down winner in delivering uniformity with both of these loads.

Use a firm crimp, and hang-on!

THESE LOADS TO BE USED ONLY IN MODERN MARLIN 1895'S, CURRENT PRODUCTION BROWNING/WINCHESTER 1886'S, BROWNING 1895'S, RUGER NO. 1' AND NO.3'S AND NEF HANDI-RIFLES ONLY!

Hope this helps!

God Bless,

Marshall

 

[Marshall Stanton]

Mike,

Yes indeed, some are using the .45-405g LFNGC with great success in the .458's. It all depends upon throat length of the rifle. Some Interarms MKX's and CZ's tend to have really long throats that don't like cast bullets at all, simply because they have to run through so much freebore before engaging the lands of the rifling. However, if you have a gun without an exceptionally long throat, it's really hard to do much wrong with cast in the .458's. Generally speaking most .458's digest .460" diameter cast pill the very best due to their large diameter throats.

Also, the new .45-425g WLNGC and .45-525g WLNGC bullets, both designed for the Marlin .45-70's have performed wonderfully in the .458 Winchester. (The .45-525WLNGC isn't on the shopping cart yet, but can be seen on the price sheet in our printable resources http://www.beartoothbullets.com/pdf/price_list.pdf )

The .45-525 WLNGC is a brand-new bullet based upon lengthening our very successful .45-425g WLNGC. Both of these bullets are actually designed around the Marlin 1895 action, and work well through the Brownchester 1886's like butter. Some bolt action .458's could be a little finicky about feeding that huge .370" meplat nose, but most production guns I've seen digest them without a hitch.

Mike, I hope this helps!

God Bless,

Marshall

 

[Marshall Stanton]

Mike,

Yikes! That's one LOOONNNGGGG throat! Question is, how much length do you have to play with in the magazine box? That will be the limiting factor on how far you can seat a bullet out of the case. Crimp to the most convenient lube groove, or use a Lee factory crimp die to cinch that bullet down anywhere you want.

Best results will be with the bullet having the longest bearing surface.... more than likely the .460"-525g WLNGC. It's a lot of bullet, but then again, you've got a lot of throat! I'm not surprised at the .459" groove diameter.... those Zastava made barrels are excellent, but a bit on the generous side.

Again, the magazine box length will be the limiting factor here. Just seat as close to the lands as possible. We ran into this with a .458 that Big Bore had a few years ago.... the gun never did shoot cast bullets.... AT ALL! However, it was a MOA gun with most any jacketed pills. We tried all manner of cast bullets and sizing diameters and it didn't make a bit of difference. The gun just wouldn't shoot them. As I recall his was an early Ruger M77 with an extremely long throat.

Hope this helps


God Bless,

Marshall