WHAT'S THE SMALLEST OR BIGGEST ANIMAL YOU'VE TAKEN WITH YOUR

[Thebear_78]

Nice thing about starting at .458 you don't need that much more. I think it would do fine at those speeds


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[SJB358]

Nice thing about starting at .458 you don't need that much more. I think it would do fine at those speeds


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Agree with this. 350’s at 2200 would be a handful. I’d be okay with that Bullet at 1800-2000 as well. Nothing is going far with a 1/2” hole drilled through the good parts.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Nice thing about starting at .458 you don't need that much more. I think it would do fine at those speeds


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Agree with this. 350’s at 2200 would be a handful. I’d be okay with that Bullet at 1800-2000 as well. Nothing is going far with a 1/2” hole drilled through the good parts.

That's what I'm hoping that they'd be DRT, or just walk a few yards, then give up the ghost.
But the more I look at the 300 gr Speer, the more I like it.

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[ShadeTree]

I am using Montana Bullet Company 350 grain cast bullets in mine over, 51 gr. of 3031. I use it around my place for culling large ground squirrels. It's tremendously devastating out to 20-25 yards. All hit have been clean 1 shot kills.

Chuckling here. :mrgreen:

 

[NYDAN]

I've heard that the .45-70 makes the deer roll from being hit. I want to witness that.

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I hunt with the 450 Marlin. Two years ago I shot a doe with the Hornady 350 gr. interlock FN and it knocked her sideways right off her feet. She crawled a little ways before expiring. Last year I shot a BIG whitetail buck with the same bullet. In one continuous motion, his back legs went down, his front legs went down, his head went down, he rolled over and never moved again. The bullet hit the scapula going in. That spread out the shock and broke three ribs on the entrance. It broke on rib on the exit.

It is a great fun rifle and I love the Hornady 350 FN bullets in it.

Dan

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

I've heard that the .45-70 makes the deer roll from being hit. I want to witness that.

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I hunt with the 450 Marlin. Two years ago I shot a doe with the Hornady 350 gr. interlock FN and it knocked her sideways right off her feet. She crawled a little ways before expiring. Last year I shot a BIG whitetail buck with the same bullet. In one continuous motion, his back legs went down, his front legs went down, his head went down, he rolled over and never moved again. The bullet hit the scapula going in. That spread out the shock and broke three ribs on the entrance. It broke on rib on the exit.

It is a great fun rifle and I love the Hornady 350 FN bullets in it.

Dan

Outstanding!
Do you know at what velocity you have your 350gr FN going at, if I may ask?

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[NYDAN]

Outstanding!
Do you know at what velocity you have your 350gr FN going at, if I may ask?

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2050 fps. The same as I get with the original Hornady loading with the 350 gr. Interlock FN. My reloads and the original 350 gr. factory loads are interchangeable. However, that factory loading is not longer available. Only the 325 FTX is available from the factory now. There is a significant difference in the construction of the bullets. The interlock ring is located in a different place on the two bullets. I posted photos in the .458 bullet test section.

Dan

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

That's pretty speedy for a 350 gr bullet.
It sounds like it hits like a freight train.
Thank you for sharing, I greatly appreciate it.
Always love to hear how game reacts to such loads from an oldie but goodie.
Could you up the velocity if you wanted to, or are you satisfied with the results?
I was just wondering, because a friend of mine said I could get that 350 gr cooking up to 2200 fps.
Not sure if I want to do that.
Sounds like 2050 fps works just fine.

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[SJB358]

It’d be a good ride with 350’s at 2200 in a Marlin.

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

It’d be a good ride with 350’s at 2200 in a Marlin.

For a mule kick you mean?!? LOL

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[NYDAN]

That's pretty speedy for a 350 gr bullet.
It sounds like it hits like a freight train.
Thank you for sharing, I greatly appreciate it.
Always love to hear how game reacts to such loads from an oldie but goodie.
Could you up the velocity if you wanted to, or are you satisfied with the results?
I was just wondering, because a friend of mine said I could get that 350 gr cooking up to 2200 fps.
Not sure if I want to do that.
Sounds like 2050 fps works just fine.

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Hornady rated the original 350 gr. FN factory load at 2100 fps. Those factory loads shot at 2050 fps in my rifle. I don't have my reloading notebook or manuals with me right now so I am not sure what they say I might have loaded to. But, I figured that once I reached the velocity I obtained with the factory loads that I had reached the pressures of the factory loads and I stopped there.

I believe I remember reading in this forum that although the 450 Marlin is factory loaded to higher pressures than the factory loaded 45-70 gov't. that the 45-70 has more case capacity and can actually be loaded to a higher velocity than the 450 Marlin. So, maybe the 45-70 can be loaded to 2200 fps. Since I don't have my reference materials with me I can't verify.

However, as Dr. Mike wrote in one of his posts in reply to one of my posts, "Dan, you DON'T need high velocity in a .458 bullet to achieve a high shock value". Based on my observations with these bullets, he is absolutely correct.

Even if I could load the 450 Marlin faster, I have no desire to. It does everything I want at 2050 fps and is interchangeable with the factory ammo I have. If I want to shoot faster I will load lighter bullets like the 300 gr. Speer or the 300 gr. NBT. I have loaded those bullets and like them but have not shot anything with them. I have shot a deer with the 325 gr. FTX. I works too, but I just prefer the 350. I believe JD338 highly recommends the 300 BT's for deer.

These big bore lever guns are a riot to shoot. My son shot a watermelon at 50 yards with my 450 Marlin. The watermelon turned into a pink cloud. There was nothing bigger than 3" left of it. Pieces of rind came back toward us about 20 yards. It was sitting on a 5 gallon plastic pail like you get roofing tar in. The pail broke into 5 pieces.

Have fun!

Dan

Dan

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

I doubt if I would be able to get 2200 fps out of mine since its a 22 inch barrel. More likely mid 2100's, if that.
My friend has a Marlin 1895 Cowboy with a 26 inch barrel, and it's able to burn all the powder and use its energy by the time it exits at around 2200 fps for him.

I think 2050 fps is good enough. That's what the 325 gr FTX supposedly exits, but getting the 350 gr FN to do that is outstanding.

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[Dwh7271]

I've run the 300 Speer, 325 FTX and 350 Kodiak in mine. All with either H4198 or RL7. They all work, just some better than others. In my home state we're restricted to straight wall catridges so the 45-70 and 444 get the nod.
FWIW, on 2 deer the FTX was a savage bullet insofar as meat damage and did its job but did not blow through. 1 at 70ish yards the second at 110. Both right behind the front leg. Both bullets in fragments internally even though not shot through the actual shoulder.
The Speer accounted for one as has the Kodiak and both left two holes. :grin:
I'm hunting the Kodiak this year in the 45-70 and a 280 AFrame in the 444.
Haven't tried it on those vicious ground squirrels yet. Probably need a stouter bullet to put one down. :lol:

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Gotta love the bullets that go in and come out on the other side! And literally levels it prey while doing so!

I'm thinking you might need an extremely hard cast lead bullet or an fmj for those "killer" ground squirrels that are plaguing the NW states! They sound like hard ones to put down! LOL

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[Gunner46]

Not the proudest moment of my hunting career, but I neatly took the head of a fluffy bunny with a 180gr out of my 44 Mag at a whopping 7 yds.

Hey! Say what you will, I was the only guy in camp to come back with meat for dinner and nobody turned down their portion !

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Not the proudest moment of my hunting career, but I neatly took the head of a fluffy bunny with a 180gr out of my 44 Mag at a whopping 7 yds.

Hey! Say what you will, I was the only guy in camp to come back with meat for dinner and nobody turned down their portion !

No judgement from me! A man has to eat.
That's all I'm saying.

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