Cast bullet sizing diameter for Ruger number 1 .458

[tatwell]

I'm new on here and I hope I put this post in the correct place. I am looking for some feedback from those who have used cast bullets in a Ruger #1 in 458. I have just bought a new Number1 in.458 Lott-which of course also shoots .458 Win Mag. I have plenty of 458 cases, and I am almost done forming some 375 H&H to 458 Lott. I want to try some cast bullets, but I am wondering what diameter I should order? My first instinct is to order .459, but I'm not sure. If anyone can give me what's worked or them I will greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance, Terry.

[Jim]

First, Terry, welcome to the circus! Glad to have you with us.

Have you slugged your barrel yet? Generally, the rule of thumb is use a boolit that is 1 to 2 thou over groove diameter.

Not knowing your level of experience and/or knowledge, I'm going to assume you're familiar with this and leave it at that. If not, ask away. There's a lot of knowledge here and most will be happy to help.

[oldgeezershooter]

I use Bullet Meister in all my 45-70's they measure .458 and shoot well.

[bigted]

i take 50cal muzzleloader balls and with a brass hammer i pound one into the muzzle. then with a brass rod or a tape covered steel rod i pound it thru a well greesed barrel to find the general diameted of the bore. usually you want a boolit diameter to be around 1 to 2 thousanths larger then this meassurment.

you have a 14 twist rifling and thusly it will take long heavy boolits and stabilize them in good shape. my m-77 win mag does pretty well with just about everything i feed it but it likes 400 grain boolits the best. i size them for my bore at .459 and they work well. ive loaded several kinds of pouder and think i like the 14 to 16 grains of 'unique' the best behind 400ish flat nose boolits.

welcome and have a blast. there will be an answer to almost every question you can come up with here so enjoy and again...welcome!

[frnkeore]

If you can take the recoil, I'd suggest the 458406 (480 gr w/gc) or the 462560 (550 gr w/gc) sized to .001 over groove size. You can get both of those above 2000 fps. Who needs jackets for power? :) Elephants and brown bears won't be able to tell.

Frank

[stubshaft]

I size them to .460" same as for my 45/70's and have shot the 457125, 457406, 462560 with cloverleafs at 50yds.

[tatwell]

Thanks guys for all the info. I haven't slugged the bore yet, but I know I have some 50 cal round balls around here and I'll slug it and see what I get. Thanks again for the help.

[Lloyd Smale]

the bullet i had good luck with was the rcbs 500 grain round flat gas check. Id size to 459 and seat them out to the second lube grove and only lube the first two groves. Not the ones that were outside the case. I dont remember the loads now as i havent had that gun in over 10 years but it shot one inch groups at a 100 yards with both a light load and a shoulder breaker.

[tatwell]

I slugged the bore and I have a .458 groove diameter. I contacted Marshall and he recommended some bullets to try. I'll place an order, and let you guys know how they worked out. Thanks again for the help.

[emailed]

My remington action with the new 458mag stainless barrel with a 1 in 18" twist will be back from Hart this week I hope it will shoot well with cast I asked that he kept the throat tight but with the reamer having a throat I don't think it will be and I don't know how hard my alloy is wheel weights with some 40/60 mixed in I have 2 lee 458 molds 90373 and a 90577 that I cant wait to try if anyone knows what the best load to get me around 1000 fps is let me know.
Thats not a typeo lol thats where Im going to start.

[bigted]

word of admonition about downloaded 458's. i just experimented yesterday with mine with 2 bullets...first was a rcbs 45-500fp boolit with a gascheck...loaded this to a comfy 50 grains of imr 3031 powder. this load comes to the bottom of this boolit so i felt comfortable with this load to try.....second was a hornaday 350 round nose jacketed bullet that i also loaded with the 50 grains of imr 3031 and this load did not come to the bottom of the bullet lacking around 1/4 inch in the case.

the rcbs loaded rounds went off without a hitch...probably around 1600 to 1700 fps as near as i can tell without my chrony settup.......now the 350 hornaday load did not do so well. when i touched off the first round the muzzle flash was something to behold...thinking i had mayhaps done a small crappy i chambered another and the same fireball erupted from the barrel. thinking that maybe the bullet was too light for the semi-lite charge i ran another thru and the same lite-works...thinking that the powder cigar burned till the bullet was out of the barrel and then erupted in a huge flash...this is from downloading a bullet/powder combo that definetly didnt work with each other...it was way lite from the book so i sat rite down and loaded the litest of loads for this bullet being 64 grains of the same powder...we will see tomarrow what kinda load it is but the rcbs load...man it is nice and ill play with them awhile for accuracy and use the chrony for tru fps results.

just wanted to allow that downloading some of these powders will have an uneasy effect on you//your gun///the stand onlookers.

another great load is a trailboss load that also kisses the bottom of the boolit...its the same rcbs boolit with 17.5 grains of trailboss lit with a cci 200 lr primer in a fedral 458 case. this has the boolit way deep in the case so the 3031 load and the trailboss load will both have the powder kiss the bottom of the boolit hence not allowing much of an air space for goofy stuff to happen. try the trailboss as it will come in around the velocity you want to start with.

another great 458 win mag load is with unique...14 grains makes a nice load with just about any kinda boolit you wanna push with it.

have fun and report back with your findings and experiences as we all are interested in your success.

[Lloyd Smale]

Keep in mind that all of the 458 ruger #1s need bullets seated WAY out to really get accuracy out of them.

[bigted]

shot the 64 grain 3031 behind the honaday 350's and my what a difference...they are a bit easier to shoot then the 522 grain rcbs boolits but in the same recoil dept. both these loads now will need some accuracy tests to see if i can get the lead to out perform the jacketed with the short range i will be hunting at...im leaning to the rcbs as i like that flat point with 522 grains of lead backing it up...dont know anything that will withstand many hits with such a load and walk away here in the frozen north.

[nanuk]

I have the RCBS 45/500 GC.

haven't cast from it yet, but was wondering what folks think I can expect with as cast diameter?

I have a Handi that slugs at about 0.455/0.459

[bigted]

nanuk...just read your last post here and my 45-500 fn casts rite at .460 and comes in at rite at the 522-523 grain weight. this is a super looking boolit and i think it will do very well on the moose population here as well as the blueberry blackbears in fall.

i only run em outta my 458 win mag at around 1500ish...maybe a small bit hotter...[havnt crony'ed them yet] but very good on the shoulder and still has enough horsepower to do the intended job i think.

[nanuk]

1500fps? Yeah.. I'd think they have the HP to perforate a Moose, or Blackbear.

and nothing beats sitting in a blueberry patch calling moose! MMMM.....

I can't even look at the Greenhouse berrys now...