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Thread: ruger 458wm take-off barrel

  1. #1
    Banned bigted's Avatar
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    ruger 458wm take-off barrel

    hi all, im looking for a ruger barrel in 458wm. i want to convert my hockeye 375r to 458wm and use a ruger barrel for this.
    any ideas where i might find a great to good take-off barrel for my project?
    thanks
    Ted

  2. #2
    Boolit Master wonderwolf's Avatar
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    Dunno where to find take off barrels, try gunbroker, numrich and midway for aftermarket barrels and the like. Do you have a reamer? you'll have to make sure the headspace is correct. Does the 375 Ruger have the same case head diameter? I'm not too familiar with that cartridge since its fairly new. Check and see how much the factory would charge to do the conversion as well.

    Edit. Ammoguide shows same case head dimensions....I answered my own question.
    Last edited by wonderwolf; 08-27-2009 at 11:00 AM.
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  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance Four Fingers of Death's Avatar
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    Just curious, what's the prob with the 375?
    "I'll help you down the trail and proud to!" Rooster Cogburn.

    "Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight! " - Will Anderson (John Wayne) "The Cowboys."

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    Psycholigist to Sniper; 'What did you feel when you shot the felon Sargeant?'
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  4. #4
    Banned bigted's Avatar
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    re-458 barrel

    wow i didnt know ruger would rebarrel a rifle for me...ill check this out. and there is nothing wrong with the 375r just want a 458 for the heavy boolits and the possibility of an instant kill at an angry grizz in camp. sometimes i stay 2 - 3 hundred miles away from any possible help and the reassurence of 4 or 5 hundred gr boolits is reassuring.
    the reasson i want a ruger barrel is to have the cosmetics of the barrel markings and contour to be pleassant to look at. important to me.
    the barrel needs only be 458wm either #1 or m-77 as i believe the thread pitch is the same. if i land a #1 barrel i will remove the rear rib and sight as i have a peep sight that installs in the reciever groove that ruger has in the reciever.
    ted

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance Four Fingers of Death's Avatar
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    You shouldn't have any trouble selling off the 375 Ruger Bbl, there are plenty of guys out there keen to try one out (myself included, it's a shame I'm so far away).

    The 458WM is said to be wanting a bit when used against elephants and cape buffalo, but it sure slaps anything else around big time.
    "I'll help you down the trail and proud to!" Rooster Cogburn.

    "Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight! " - Will Anderson (John Wayne) "The Cowboys."

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    Psycholigist to Sniper; 'What did you feel when you shot the felon Sargeant?'
    Sniper to Psycholigist; 'Recoil Ma'am.'

    From my Irish Ancestors: "You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was."

  6. #6
    Boolit Master wonderwolf's Avatar
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    The .458 WM takes practice. I've been shooting one for awhile now using 4198 and 500gr lee and lyman bullets. Pretty good success....but they should sell the gun with a bottle of Ibuprofen. Curious are you planning on using cast bullets for your bear loads? or are you gonna go with something jacketed? I'm wondering what if any brush you might hafta contend with in you neck of the woods....or lack of woods?
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  7. #7
    Boolit Grand Master In Remembrance Four Fingers of Death's Avatar
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    I would have thought that the 375 was enough medicine for bears. Maybe not with cast.
    "I'll help you down the trail and proud to!" Rooster Cogburn.

    "Slap some bacon on a biscuit and let's go! We're burnin' daylight! " - Will Anderson (John Wayne) "The Cowboys."

    SASS Life Member No 82047

    http://s89.photobucket.com/albums/k228/4fingermick/

    Psycholigist to Sniper; 'What did you feel when you shot the felon Sargeant?'
    Sniper to Psycholigist; 'Recoil Ma'am.'

    From my Irish Ancestors: "You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was."

  8. #8
    Boolit Master wonderwolf's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Four Fingers of Death View Post
    I would have thought that the 375 was enough medicine for bears. Maybe not with cast.
    It probably is, But shot placement has a lot to do with bullet performance. I havn't bothered to read up on the 375 Ruger...I probably should.
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  9. #9
    Banned bigted's Avatar
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    more 458wm

    let me tell a short storie that i know of first hand [ and i know 4 others that are similiar].
    here is one reasson i want a 458,

    friend of mine was hunting the white mountains and minding his own busness when he [ without knowing it] stumbled on to a moose carcas that a grizz was laying up on. minding his own and watching carefully, he startled the bear and without warning, the bear charged him. pissed and slobbers flying. he was shooting a 375 h&h with 300 gr jacketed hornady's. hand loaded to around 2600fps. he shot the bear in the neck as he stood up to sniff the air during his charge [ frontal shot thru the neck]. the bear screamed and dropped down on all fours and resumed the charge. friend shot him in the noodle with no result [ hit and proved with the hole in the forhead]. bear continued to charge and when bear was on top of him, biting his scalp off, he died finally but not without ripping friends scalp nearly off and huge scratches in his back and arm. 46 stitches later and scared outta his mind, he recovered and moved to the lower 48 where last i know...dosnt hunt anymore.

    now im not particular about getting scalped with out a proper gun to at least make the effort to dissuade mr. bear and hopefully stop him suddenly and permonantly.
    this and the reasson that i just have always liked straight walled cases and this one is pretty good at stopping most things in its tracks.
    long storie short...lol...i wanna have a canon to shoot. the 375 is super for moose and the rest af the critters here but when you have to deal wiyh a out of sorts bear...u want to make sure you have enough gun.
    ted

  10. #10
    Boolit Buddy
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    Just a caveat - Ruger will not rebarrel any of their rifles to any caliber other than what it left the factory as.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    bigted,

    There were a couple of different shops that sold take off barrels that advertised in "Shotgun News" and "Gun List", you might want to try and locate a copy of each if they are still in business, I'm not sure if they still exist as I haven't looked in a few years. Might also try on-line places such as "Guns America" and "Gun Broker", surely there is a Ruger .458 take off out there with your name on it somewhere.

    You will like the .458 and it is very shootable, but one wants to be careful about big bore rifles as they become addictive. I started with a 375 H&H and have progressed up from there.
    BIG OR SMALL I LIKE THEM ALL, 577 TO 22 HORNET.

  12. #12
    Boolit Buddy Big Dave's Avatar
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    Sighted in a Ruger #1 Safari Rifle a few years ago with Winchester factory 550 gr ammo as I recall. Put on a leather coat with a folded towel inside on my shoulder, it still hurt!!
    Probably shooting at a bear or such you won't feel a thing but on the bench over sandbags its plain brutal. Bore sighted, fired a shot and corrected, a second and corrected again and a three shot group, a nine and two tens at a hundred yards. Impressive but not a fun shoot.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master bearcove's Avatar
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    I prefer 45-70 in a marlin. Fast second shot without lowering gun. But I've always shot levers. Probably best to stick with what you are familiar with.When a bear is rolling at you you don't need to be looking for the safety.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master peter nap's Avatar
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    Stories like that kinda make me glad I only have black bears to deal with....then again, I would like a reason to build one of those wildcats that use a full size 50 BMG blown out to 12 ga.

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master leftiye's Avatar
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    Ma deuce?
    We need somebody/something to keep the government (cops and bureaucrats too) HONEST (by non government oversight).

    Every "freedom" (latitude) given to government is a loophole in the rule of law. Every loophole in the rule of law is another hole in our freedom. When they even obey the law that is. Too often government seems to feel itself above the law.

    We forgot to take out the trash in 2012, but 2016 was a charm! YESSS!

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy windrider919's Avatar
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    I'm a long time .458 shooter and have built each of the 3 I have owned. If you will search here there have been several good threads on 458WM. I like it because it is versatile:

    Some of the loads I have made. Cast bullets, jacketed bullets and shotshell {3" mag 410 load shot n powder} for snowshoe n pheasant


    Paper Patched custom 460gr bullet for 458.

    When I worked geophysical and forest survey in Washington, Idaho and Oregon I carried a 458 (re-barreled Weatherby w/ laminated stock) with a stainless barrel.

    Then a Remington 700 re-barreled (Douglas barrel) set in a Reinhart Fajin walnut stock,

    Now I have a Ruger 77 (old model bought n barreled 1982) action that is stocked in a fiberglass stock with recoil reducer in buttstock. I have a refitted military WWII M98 Mauser ladder rear sight and a Remington front sight for long range shooting. It is a simi-heavy profile (#7) with an 18" twist for 300 to 450gr bullets. Length is 20.5", short for good handling yet delivering 95% of full velocity. For glass I have a 1X4 mounted, using Ruger rings it will actually be close to zero when removed n remounted (+- 1" at 50 yds)

    _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
    But you should know that take down has a bad rep. I used to collect Savage Model 99s and they made quite a few take-down versions. And a lot of shooters hated them because they do not stay sighted in. And the threads wear fairly fast and the barrels get loose. They had a square thread, using a V thread as on most actions usually requires a vise n barrel wrench to properly tighten. Its a neat idea but the reason you see so few of them is that it requires some compromises and usually some bad ones. Research it and you might find that the portability you want might come at too high a price in functionality and accuracy. Or you might decide it is still what you want. Any competent gunsmith can do the job, its just a matter of thread tolerance/fit.

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