Why 458 SOCOM?
Use 45-70 or 450 Marlin.
Rebated head is going to be tough to get to work right in lever with big body IMO and not sure what the useful purpose is over the existing big bore lever action calibers. They use bigger bullets and more KE and MV.
BH
JWH, maybe to clarify this a little, the .458 SOCOM is a rather specialized cartridge designed specifically for a lot of power in an AR-15 platform. For this purpose, it DOES provide an exceptional amount of kinetic energy.
Once one moves away from the AR-15 platform, which you seem to intend, the .458 SOCOM offers no special qualities and is easily exceeded by many other more popular (lever gun) rounds.
Lever guns are plentiful in other more appropriate calibers, such as those recommended above. I have a.444 Marlin that offers about as much power as a .30-06, and the .450 Marlin offers more power yet:
.30-06: 180 grains/2,700 fps/2,900 ft/lbs.
.444 Marlin: 240/2,350 fps/2,940 ft.lbs.
.458 SOCOM: 300 grains/2,000 fps (claimed)/2,665 ft.lbs.
.45-70: 300 grain/1,800 fps/2,158 ft.lbs.
.450 Marlin: 350 grain/2,100 fps/3,425 ft.lbs.
I say "claimed" with the .458 SOCOM, because that's what the designer's say in their sales hype, but other sources say it's more like 1,750 to 1,800 fps, or, about the same as the .45-70. Even at the claimed 2,000 fps, of comparable lever gun choices, it only actually exceeds the .45-70 . . .
Subsonic? Any of them can be loaded to sub-sonic levels, if you're willing to toss all the above energy out the window. At sub-sonic velocities for any/all of them, bullet weight alone will determine energy, and anything in .458 diameter is going to deliver the same energy with the same weight bullet. If we load a 500 grain bullet at 1,050 in all of them, they all deliver 1,220 ft.lbs. . . .
Yea , I'm sure that the dogs would apperciate the quieter round !! but if your using dogs then you don't need a gun at all , just catchthem and grain feed them for a moneth before you butcher em , it helps alot with the taste , most of our hogs are cought in the marsh so the meat wil often have a bad taste do to the mud that these rascles find their food in so we pen raise them a for a bit. Besides its alot more chalenging to hand to hand with a tusker than to just shoot one.
What silencer are you planning to use?
Hey James, understood and agreed. I also have a suppressed rifle and know exactly what you're talking about with sub-sonics vs super-sonics through the suppressor. The question was specifically about sub-sonics, hence my approach to the answer, though I think you are right to read through that.Eshell , I've been making and playing with silencers and for a little bit now and have found that unless your looking for absolute movie style quiet then subsonic isin't realy needed. , My 308 is quiet enough that at 50yds the round inpact at target is louder than the sonic crack , I did a bit of testing wtih me standing close to the target (1 gallon full jug) and had a buddy shoot it for 50yds away , while the report was able to be heard it wasen't nearly as loud as the impact , the noise level is on par with that of a regular 22lr being shot out of a 24" barreled bolt rifle.