Used my 458 socom for deer this year

[Gatorhunter1313]

I hunt on our property in central Georgia every year. This year I decided to use my 458 socom. I have a lot of bullet choices for my 458 but I found a really accurate load for beartooth bullets 350gr cast. I decided to use this load and see how it worked. I was in my blind early but it was a super quiet morning. Around 9am I had a doe walk out and mill around for a while. After a few minutes she bolted into the woods. That’s when a nice 6 point stepped out at about 75 yards. He walked toward me and turned to walk into the woods. That’s when I took the shot. He bucked and ran into the woods. I waited a bit then when I’m after him. He made it about 20 yards and fell. I hit both lungs but missed his heart. The damage was amazing. No shock he didn’t go far. Second picture is entrance and 3rd is exit

[koger]

Good job on the shot placement, and great bullet performance. What was the FPS of the load. Would like to see some pics of the cartridge. Thanks for sharing.

[Daekar]

I'll second the request for FPS and pics!

[fastdadio]

That chest cavity pic looks to have some major spinal damage. I'm surprised he went 20 yard. Good eatin right up to the hole....

[Gatorhunter1313]

Just checked my shooting log. These averaged 1590 for 5 shots.

[Gatorhunter1313]

292633

[Gatorhunter1313]

292634

[Gatorhunter1313]

They are beartooth 350gr gas checked. I would take a picture of the whole bullet but all I have left is what’s loaded there. I was going to order more but I w that beartooth’s site is down. I hope it’s just a glitch and not something worse. I love their cast bullets. My next hunt in December will be with their 525gr pile drivers. I have a few boxes of those and loaded up 50 of them.

[missionary5155]

Well done and Congratulations !
Good read and great photos ! Thank you.
No doubt a 350 chugging along at near 1600 fps will do the job. Train car loads of northern corn crunchers fell to all sorts of caliber .45 rifles for 50-60 years before near all were eaten in the early 1930s. Heavy flat nose cast will always do in bean eaters.

[Gatorhunter1313]

Well done and Congratulations !
Good read and great photos ! Thank you.
No doubt a 350 chugging along at near 1600 fps will do the job. Train car loads of northern corn crunchers fell to all sorts of caliber .45 rifles for 50-60 years before near all were eaten in the early 1930s. Heavy flat nose cast will always do in bean eaters.

I have a few rifles I’m going to try hunting with. I have a lot of molds and a lot of calibers that should work good with cast bullets. My next rifle is going to be my 357 Rossi with a 200gr cast

[RugerFan]

Very nice! I haven taken 2 deer this year with my 458 SOCOM and cast. Thumps them good.


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[Gatorhunter1313]

Very nice! I haven taken 2 deer this year with my 458 SOCOM and cast. Thumps them good.


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What bullet did you use?

[RugerFan]

What bullet did you use?

RCBS 45-300-FN (Lyman #2 alloy) with 33 grains of IMR 4227 gives me 1,683 FPS.

[Gatorhunter1313]

RCBS 45-300-FN (Lyman #2 alloy) with 33 grains of IMR 4227 gives me 1,683 FPS.

That will sure do the trick. I need to shoot my 525gr pile drivers a little more. Try to test them at different ranges. I have a spot on our hunting property where any shot will be under 75 yards. I want to see what that big hunk of lead does

[RugerFan]

That will sure do the trick. I need to shoot my 525gr pile drivers a little more. Try to test them at different ranges. I have a spot on our hunting property where any shot will be under 75 yards. I want to see what that big hunk of lead does

I also have some RCBS 45-500-FN and NOE 460-530-FN I need to try out. Would make good sub-sonic rounds.

[skeettx]

Well done
Well done
Thank you for sharing
It sure did get the job done
Mike

[Gatorhunter1313]

I also have some RCBS 45-500-FN and NOE 460-530-FN I need to try out. Would make good sub-sonic rounds.

I know my 525gr pile drivers from beartooth are super accurate. I love shooting those. They hit like a sledge hammer

[TyGuy]

I really want to build a .458 but just can’t seem to convince myself to make it happen. I even have an upper in need of a barrel but every time I think about the cost of brass and how much lead it would spit with each trigger pull I cringe… not to mention tooling up for ANOTHER caliber I don’t cast or load for. I’ve talking myself out of it for the better part of a decade but I think it’s only a matter of time before the bug latches on.

[TyGuy]

Gator, what stock do you have on your rifle? I’ve read that some stocks struggle with the recoil of the .458.

[BJK]

Congrats! The proper bullet placed properly gets the job done.

[todd9.3x57]

congrats!!!!!!!

[Gatorhunter1313]

I really want to build a .458 but just can’t seem to convince myself to make it happen. I even have an upper in need of a barrel but every time I think about the cost of brass and how much lead it would spit with each trigger pull I cringe… not to mention tooling up for ANOTHER caliber I don’t cast or load for. I’ve talking myself out of it for the better part of a decade but I think it’s only a matter of time before the bug latches on.


I will tell you, it’s my all time favorite gun to shoot. It was expensive getting started but it’s so worth it

[Gatorhunter1313]

Gator, what stock do you have on your rifle? I’ve read that some stocks struggle with the recoil of the .458.

It’s a magpul MOE in grey. Holds up well. Has held up to over 200 rounds so far if I had to guess

[Gatorhunter1313]

Congrats! The proper bullet placed properly gets the job done.

Thank you. Wasn’t a perfect shot but it did some serious damage

[Gatorhunter1313]

congrats!!!!!!!

Thank you

[JohnH]

I see you used one of them new fangled assault rifles. Don't you know that no one uses those for hunting? :kidding:

[Gatorhunter1313]

I see you used one of them new fangled assault rifles. Don't you know that no one uses those for hunting? :kidding:

I wasn’t hunting…. I was at war with the deer lol

[gumbo333]

It's all plastic and aluminum, little steel. Maybe ok for paint balls. I put together a Socum several years ago. It had a bigger thump than I liked plus decent boolits were hard to find. Sold it and switched to a 452 bushy. Still plenty of gun for short yardage and components were much easier and less $ to find . But you can't get quite as heavy a boolit if that's what you want. Both are sure fun.

[Gatorhunter1313]

It's all plastic and aluminum, little steel. Maybe ok for paint balls. I put together a Socum several years ago. It had a bigger thump than I liked plus decent boolits were hard to find. Sold it and switched to a 452 bushy. Still plenty of gun for short yardage and components were much easier and less $ to find . But you can't get quite as heavy a boolit if that's what you want. Both are sure fun.

I got lucky and got in early. I have a lot of brass and I have a good selection of bullets. I have found a few that work well and bought a ton of them when I was able. I use a 300gr hollow point a lot. I bought 2000 of those a while back