458x2 american rifle build

[colonelsanders]

Collected up a bunch of bits and pieces to put this rifle together.

Ruger No. 1 Tropical 458 win mag barrel.

Remington 798 Mauser action (made by Zastava) and a magnum bolt body.

Doumolin Mauser 3 position Winchester style wing safety.

A rather disappointing commercial hinged bottom metal (seems like pot metal to be honest).

Doumolin spring and magazine follower

The barrel got cut back to 20 inches and timed for installation since Ruger shrink fits their sights and I couldn't get the front sight off.

More to follow as time allows.

[RustyReel]

Keeping an eye on this one as a 458x2 is on my wanna-do list. Nice to know a Ruger #1 barrel has enough meat on it to rethread for a large ring Mauser. Looking good.....

[cainttype]

Kind of a coincidence, but I also have a used Ruger #1 Tropical 458 WM barrel stored with the same intention...eventually. I plan to keep the sights, though, and hopefully refit the quater-rib for an IER scope.
My 458x2" on a Rem 600 action is a favorite toy. Built by a master, she's a beauty. Almost too pretty to shoot...ALMOST! :)

[wlc]

I have a friend with one and I like it a lot. Been thinking about getting one built for awhile now. I'll definitely be watching this.

[colonelsanders]

Made some good progress this evening.

[cainttype]

Cool. You're gonna love it.
Mine is throated deep enough to handle long heavy projectiles, sorta like the 458 WM. If (when, hopefully) I get to moving on #2 it will be throated mainly for the shorter 350-400 grainers that I shoot the most of.
Thanks for sharing the build.

[colonelsanders]

Got the barrel mounted and timed. Finished off headspacing the rifle and I temporarily mounted the quarter rib. I did indeed intend to use the ruger sight mout to mount an eer scope.

[cainttype]

Looks like a good weekend coming to range test a new toy... I have a BIL in the Baytown area. Not exactly sure where he spends range time, but the two of you may run into each other sometime. You couldn't ask for a better shooting partner.

[colonelsanders]

Worked on the feeding aspects a bit, need to open the feed rails a bit at the very front and soften the viciously sharp edge on the head spacing shoulder. I popped the barrel back off and put a small (1/32") radius on the entrance to the chamber to stop the chamber mouth from machining my brass.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PpABWpUuS8E

[colonelsanders]

Had my brother send dow his 458 win mag brass and cut all of it down to 2" using the part of the 458 barrel I cut back as a case gauge.

Made up three dummy flat point rounds and they actually fed pretty well. Just a few more tweeks and ill be good to go.

Also ordered a boyds nutmeg prarie hunter stock for this gun, so by the time it arrives ill have some test loads mage up and be ready to light it off.

http://youtu.be/JM0aqXrQO40

[justashooter]

now you done gone and started it again. i've got a gew98 action tuned and jeweled in the 50's, an a&b barrel in 458 wm, a parker hale stock, some crossbolts, sight parts, and not enough time. i should just send it all to you...

[oldsagerat]

Found a Ruger 77R short action that had been a 350 Rem Mag. Rebarreled it in 458x2, a.k.a. 458 American. No changes needed to the magazine was a big plus. Got a 458x2 trim die
and cut off every 7mm Rem Mag case i could find. Now I have a 45-70 with large gonads. What i like is that i can shoot cast at any velocity I want, or 350 grain J-word hollow points
at high velocity. I can thump jack rabbits or whack elk. Used brass is readily available
in the form of all the magnums that nobody wants any more. Click, bang, reload!

[StrawHat]

Had one that was built on the Remington 722 action. Sold it years ago but have thought about another.

Enjoy them, they are usually good shooters.

Kevin

[jroc]

Great build, great pictorial and it is going to be one great rifle. Can't wait to see it with a stock. One question is that a CBX engine in pic#4 of the first set of pics. I had a '78 and an'80 CBX also had a '79 GS1000 suzu. Don't know why I'm still alive. All 3 were scary fast and at that age I feared nothin. Not trying to change your thread but seen that motor and it brought back memories. jroc

[colonelsanders]

That is a spare motor for my 78 cbx. Another project....126532

[colonelsanders]

Got some loads made up and finally got my stock in. Boyds chesnut laminat that i am currenlty inletting. 25 400 grain jacketed flat points and 25 400 grain spitzers next to a 45-70 case

[warboar_21]

Very nice. I was attempting to do this same thing a few years ago and dropped it. My donor rifle is a M44 Mosin. I saw a guy turn one into a 450 Marlin so I figured I could go with the 458x2" since it's easier to find brass for a standard magnum.
I have the Boyd's stock, 458 barrel, donor rifle with bent bolt. Now all I need is a reamer and some new sights and some local to do the work for me.

[Bull Shoals]

You might try 49 gr of 4198 under a Speer 400 gr soft nose. Took moose with it and it grouped s holes touching at 100 yds. This was out of a Rem 600 re built .

[ballistim]

I'm waiting to see if anyone shortens a .458x2 chambering to .458x1.8" as is now legal for deer hunting in the lower part of the state I live in. Many are using the shortened case in a full length 45-70 chambered gun but wonder if accuracy wouldn't be improved in a properly cut chamber & throated for cast. Same thing would be interesting in 444 if brass ever becomes available since heavy cast designs for .44 mag would probably work well. Sorry, didn't mean to hijack thread but I thought this might apply to the subject.

[kens]

458x2,, would that feed OK thru a Enfield P14 action?

[nekshot]

I might have some love for a 45cal after all! I like what I see.

[lucaswpb]

You guys are probably going to be as sick over this as I am but here goes! Remember P.O. Ackley built this gun and designed the cartridge for a 2 or 3 part article in a gun magazine back in the 70's? 10 years ago I came across his gun at a show here in Florida. It was the original for the article gun. Full length stock, mauser action and marked with his name and caliber. The dealer is a good friend of mine and he had sold it to someone with more money than sense. Not wanting to make his own ammo it was converted to 450 Marlin and all stamping was X'd out and restamped. Might as well take a magic marker to the Mona Lisa!

[MaLar]

458x2,, would that feed OK thru a Enfield P14 action?
Yes I built a 458X2.17 on a P14 Enfield. Changed the mag box and follower from a 1917 Enfield.
Probably didn't need to change the mag had the parts laying around. I did it in case I wanted to re chamber to 458 Win.
2.17" because I have a bunch of 350 Rem Mag brass and didn't want to trim all the extra off.
Still use RCBS 458X2 dies. I used a 1 in 22" Douglas barrel, shoots 500+grain cast bullets to over 1800fps thats more than you need.

[RustyReel]

You guys are probably going to be as sick over this as I am but here goes! Remember P.O. Ackley built this gun and designed the cartridge for a 2 or 3 part article in a gun magazine back in the 70's? 10 years ago I came across his gun at a show here in Florida. It was the original for the article gun. Full length stock, mauser action and marked with his name and caliber. The dealer is a good friend of mine and he had sold it to someone with more money than sense. Not wanting to make his own ammo it was converted to 450 Marlin and all stamping was X'd out and restamped. Might as well take a magic marker to the Mona Lisa!

Was that today? If so, what show?? May have to swing by and take a look.

[lucaswpb]

No this happened 10 years or so back. The dealer is still a good friend of mine and I'm sure the owner is known by him.

[Mhars]

I have a 458x2 in a #4 Enfield I have been tinkering with. To make the brass from about any belted magnum brass I cut a 2x4 on table saw to about 2.2 inches. Drilled holes that brass fit in tight from the long side. Counter sink for belt. Split 2x2.2 about half way through down center on table saw. Drilled 2ea 1/4" holes for carriage bots with wing nuts to clamp shells in your new high speed shell trimmer. Fill your 2x2.2 jig, press on flat surface to seat brass even, tighten your wing nuts to clamp shells. Make sure you have fine tooth carbide saw blade. Put on your personal safety gear, adjust saw fence to 2.2. Fire up saw and push through. You now have cases to final trim and a large number of mini brass funnels. Finish with case trimmer ream for 458 and your ready to load.

[Artful]

Ah, sort of like 300 blackout brass - done with a band saw here
http://2coolfishing.com/forum/showthread.php?p=11381841
http://2coolfishing.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=1775585&stc=1&d=1414269719

[cainttype]

I usually use a miniature tile saw with a 4" diamond blade for making 458X2" cases.
I picked up the saw w/blade at a pawn shop long ago for $10. It has been a great little tool to have around for big case trimming jobs. The motor-driven RCBS trimmer is used for smaller jobs when quantities are needed.

[colonelsanders]

Finished inletting the stock this evening. Took a while to open up the barrel channel and get the bolt handle inletted.

Mocked up the rib again and took a few pictures, its really starting to come together.

[Alan in GA]

131137Wow, I've not been visiting this site enough!
My .458x2" was built about 10 years ago. Been thinking about it for years and the event that started it off was finding a take off barrel in a local gun shop. It was a Ruger #3 45/70 blued with sights still on it. I got to measuring and figured the #3 and #1 Ruger barrels become a 'perfect' Ruger 77 barrel when the barrel face is cut to where the extractor relief is 'just' gone. Made me wonder how many #1 and #3 barrels in the Ruger factory got tossed into the Ruger 77 barrel bin if they messed up milling the extractor relief!?
Anyway, face off the #3 barrel face, then a .458x2" reamer cleans up the resulting remnant 45/70 chamber. I had a Ruger 77 Mark II short action in 6mm Remington. Removed and sold the unfired 6mm barrel. Ordered Brownell's bolt face cutter for my lathe and opened up the 6mm/308 bolt face. Learned a HS steel cutter would probably be better as a carbide tooth does not like hitting the ejector gap in the Mark II bolt face! I got through it and the 6mm bolt face was successfully trimmed out to magnum diameter.
Took my time on the lathe and cut the barrel face and shoulder JUST ENOUGH to 'time' the open sites to perfect 12 o'clock on the Mark II action. Reamed to .458 x 2" American. Polished the chamber opening edges as you also did to not make brass shavings when chambering my new cases. I had just sold my Ruger 77T in .458 Win Mag and decided to cut the 458 Win mag cases to 2" as I did not plan on owning another full size .458 Win Mag....(one was enough fun).
Feed rails only needed a bit of polishing with a Cratex wheel and the .458 American cartridges fed like butter!
The factory Mark II walnut stock needed a bit of opening up in the barrel channel for the #3 barrel...and easy job.
We played with this gun on the bench AND in a cow pasture. There was a 40 yard across watering pond for the cows. A 7' log was at the edge but it 'became' a crocodile and we had fun firing the .458 American as fast as we could at it as though it was either charging or getting away.....just an excuse to shoot the rifle.
My initial desire was just to 'have one'. After several trips to a cattle ranch with bears and lion in Montana I figured a 'light' .458 would be the cat's meow for hikes into the back woods and ravines.
I sold the rifle for some stupid reason, and it definitely is one of the 'wish I hadn't sold that' rifles I think about!
I figured if doing again I would do a 450 Marlin, but ammo is disappearing, and one can always make .458 American cases from about any bigger magnum case. Nothing to make 450 Marlin 'wide belt' cases from though! I modified a used set of .458 Win Mag dies on the lathe and they sized/seated .458 American rounds just fine. Also shortened a Lee 45/70 Factory Crimp die for same.
Good to see you took pictures of your project. Wish I had. I've posted the ONLY picture I have of my .458 American. I have a video of a friend shooting it but no way to post it.

ADDED NOTES: First time shooting this rifle, my friend hollered at me while I was shooting it off the bench. He said to STOP!,..and pointed to the walnut factory stock. It had cracked wide open [1/8" gape] at a point from mid fore end along with the grain to the area at the recoil lug at the front action ring. It's nothing but a finger nail edge of steel but the .458 American was not contained. Ruger sent me a new stock after I shipped the cracked one to them. I decided to use a synthetic stock, a Bell and Carlson I think from that point on.
I also fitted a barrel band sling stud, and used epoxy glue to help the screw mount to hold it in place.
This was a great project, and I've always wondered why more factory BOLT rifles were not offered in .450 Marlin, the twin round.

[Denver]

I have a 1909 Argentine Mauser action that I would use for a .458X2 if I can find a barrel. I called Midway about the A&B barrels they had listed in their catalog, but they're discontinued now according to their automated answering machine. Would like to find a Ruger barrel like the OP, but I seem to only find those deals when I'm not needing or looking for it.

[colonelsanders]

This part has by far been tbe most frustrating and slow part of the project. This also coincided with maximum cost as well as a lot of learning.

Lessons learned.

1) ruger quarter ribs are hardened steel and will ruin that $100 1-1/8" ball nose end mill aquired to reshape the quarter rib to barrel interface. As well as that outher good end mill cause maybe that new one wasn't properly hardened.

2) surface grinder mag chucks only work for restraining flat object and the jerry rigged feeler gaugers under one end only suceeded in making my quarter rib into a missile that subsequetly dissapeared into my back lawn, never to be seen again. This led to the purchase of a new quarter rib from ruger ($58) and a nice little 3" vise for the surface grinder ($95).

Now with all the tools in place i finally got the rib the way I want it.

The only other part left to scource is a nice gloss variable power leopold pistol scope..... I will just use open for now as my scope budget got all eaten up (see above). The bushnell mounted there is not right on the gun.

At this point only three things are left to do to test fire.

1) finish fitting the winchester three position bolt shroud, as the bolt needs al additional cut for this to work right.

2) glass bed the action.

3) drill and tap the front two quarter rib holes and attach the rib.

Slowly but surely the dream becomes reality.

[colonelsanders]

I managed to get the quarter rib drilled and tapped as well as drilling and reaming the recoil pin hole.

The quarter rib work is now complete.

[Bull Shoals]

When I had mine built on a Rem 600 mag action, my smith suggested a 2nd recoil lug under the barrel. Then he glass bedded both recoil lugs...never had a problem with any stock splitting. Stock was a Fagan plain walnut full length with steel endcap. Barrel was 20".

[cainttype]

Btt...

[colonelsanders]

bump, couldn't find it

[george.barnes.754]

I hate to revive an old thread but google brought me here and I am wanting to do something very similiar with an FN large ring action and a take off 1H 458 Win Mag barrel, just leaving it a 458 Win Mag. Did the Ruger threads clean up for your large ring or did you have to cut the shank off and start over?

Sent from my LG-K373 using Tapatalk

[Kestrel4k]

A little OT, but years ago I read an article (may still have it in my files), detailing a Win94AE conversion to .458x2.
Got it to function perfectly; the only issue is that the stock kept breaking at the wrist (ya think? :shock:), despite attempts to strengthen it.

[colonelsanders]

I wacked off about 6" of barrel cut a new thread.

Large ring Mauser threads are nominally 1.1"-12
Ruger No.1 threads are all nominally1.0"-16

You will need to whack the shank to fit the ruger barrel to a mauser action. This means completely redoing the sight rib, and you will likely end up with extra holes and timing issues.

You may be better served by buying an E.R.Shaw blank in the contour you desire as a short chambered blank. I have picked up 3 ruger 458 win mag barrels over the years and they all ran $100 bucks plus, and they pop up mighty infrequently.

Just my two cents........

[Texas by God]

458x2,, would that feed OK thru a Enfield P14 action?
Yes it will. I had ER Shaw rebarrel a P14 to .450 Marlin. Other than widening the action sidewalls beneath the rails no other modifications were needed. It is a fine rifle for whoever ended up with it.