J E Custom
Well-Known Member
Every now and then a wild cat just makes sense for certain game and when looking
for something special a wildcat may be the only way to go.
Even though I normally avoid wildcats because of there extra needs this was the only way
A close relative of mine and I could achieve the desired results.
The 45/70 brass is fairly light if loaded hard. so we looked at the 450 marlin and it did not measure up to the requirements so we decided to use the 458 winchester mag as a parent
case for these reasons=
They are heavy and strong cases, and in this case the belts are a good feature.
In order to get this cartrige in a short action we shortened the care to 2.250 giving it a overall loaded length of 2.750 to fit in a short action magazine and named it the 458 short mag.
The reamer was cut to 2.285 because it head spaces on the belt. And a 458 Win Mag will
not chamber even single loaded.
The project was developed to push a 410grain bullet to 2150 ft/sec out of a short action
with a magnum bolt face. And a 325 gr to 2400 ft/sec for 4150 ft/lbs of energy without heavy
loads (Around 50,000 CUPs).
The rifle was built for heavy cover bear and hog hunting and with a 23" barrel is very handy.
Loading is strait forward simply trim the brass to 2.250 and load using standard 458 dies.
I know that this is not a long range rifle but I though it was worth mentioning because of all
the bear hunters and hog hunters on this site.
The rifle has not taken any game yet but after some load developing we will try it out on
some big pigs.
With almost a 1,000 ft/lbs more energy than the 444 marlin and 800 ft/lbs more than the
450 marlin it should really be a stopper. and best of all in a nice short rifle that is very
handy.
I'm sure we are not the first to do this but it seemed like a good idea and is very simple
to do (I subscribe to the KISS theory) to "keep it simple".
Just though I would share this build with the members.
J E CUSTOM
for something special a wildcat may be the only way to go.
Even though I normally avoid wildcats because of there extra needs this was the only way
A close relative of mine and I could achieve the desired results.
The 45/70 brass is fairly light if loaded hard. so we looked at the 450 marlin and it did not measure up to the requirements so we decided to use the 458 winchester mag as a parent
case for these reasons=
They are heavy and strong cases, and in this case the belts are a good feature.
In order to get this cartrige in a short action we shortened the care to 2.250 giving it a overall loaded length of 2.750 to fit in a short action magazine and named it the 458 short mag.
The reamer was cut to 2.285 because it head spaces on the belt. And a 458 Win Mag will
not chamber even single loaded.
The project was developed to push a 410grain bullet to 2150 ft/sec out of a short action
with a magnum bolt face. And a 325 gr to 2400 ft/sec for 4150 ft/lbs of energy without heavy
loads (Around 50,000 CUPs).
The rifle was built for heavy cover bear and hog hunting and with a 23" barrel is very handy.
Loading is strait forward simply trim the brass to 2.250 and load using standard 458 dies.
I know that this is not a long range rifle but I though it was worth mentioning because of all
the bear hunters and hog hunters on this site.
The rifle has not taken any game yet but after some load developing we will try it out on
some big pigs.
With almost a 1,000 ft/lbs more energy than the 444 marlin and 800 ft/lbs more than the
450 marlin it should really be a stopper. and best of all in a nice short rifle that is very
handy.
I'm sure we are not the first to do this but it seemed like a good idea and is very simple
to do (I subscribe to the KISS theory) to "keep it simple".
Just though I would share this build with the members.
J E CUSTOM
