.458 Express

Last updated
.458 Express
TypeHunting
Place of origin South Africa
Production history
DesignerProfessor Koos Badenhorst
Specifications
Case typeStraight wall, belted
Bullet diameter.458 in (11.6 mm)
Overall length2.99 in (76 mm)
Case capacity111  gr H2O (7.2 cm3)

The .458 Express is a .458 diameter (caliber) cartridge developed in South Africa. It is also referred to as the .458 3-inch.

Contents

Other .458 cartridges are the very popular .458 Lott, .458 Winchester Magnum and 450 Watts. Weatherby made the .460 Weatherby which is still one of the fastest commercial cartridges available on the market in this category.

This unique cartridge originated in Africa, accommodating harsh African conditions, and less efficient South African rifle powders. It has a broad spectrum of reloading options and is capable of long-range, flat trajectory shooting, or close-up Big Five hunting shots, using the heaviest of bullets available in this caliber.

Development

A range of .458 caliber cartridges have been developed since the 1950s; the .458 Express being developed in 2000 . The .458 Express is developed in South Africa by Professor Koos Badenhorst of Haenertsburg in the Limpopo province of South Africa.

Technical information

The case

The .458 Express uses a straight wall belted case as seen in the .458 Winchester Magnum (458 Win Mag). The case length is 2.99 inches (76 mm) compared to the 2.50 inches (64 mm) of the .458 Winchester Magnum and the 2.80-inch (71 mm) case of the .458 Lott. See "Cartridges of the World - 10th Edition"

Case Capacity

The volume of water contained in a .458 Express case is 111 grains compared to the 103 grains of the .458 Lott and 92 grains of water in the .458 Winchester Magnum case.

Caliber

.458 diameter bullets are used in the .458 Express. The .458 Express is described by K Robertson in "Africa's Most Dangerous". He is also the author of "The Perfect Shot".

Permission

All rights for publication was obtained from Prof. Koos Badenhorst as the developer and architect of the .458 Express.

The .458 Express Story

ISBN   978-0-620-42754-8 Author: Werner Booysen. In this book the history of the .458 Express, development of the caliber and other interesting information are discussed.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.460 Weatherby Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .460 Weatherby Magnum is a belted, bottlenecked rifle cartridge, developed by Roy Weatherby in 1957. The cartridge is based on the .378 Weatherby Magnum necked up to accept the .458-inch (11.6 mm) bullet. The original .378 Weatherby Magnum parent case was inspired by the .416 Rigby. The .460 Weatherby Magnum was designed as an African dangerous game rifle cartridge for the hunting of heavy, thick skinned dangerous game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.270 Winchester</span> Rifle cartridge

The .270 Winchester is a rifle cartridge developed by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1923 and it was unveiled in 1925 as a chambering for their bolt-action Model 54 to become arguably the flattest shooting cartridge of its day, only competing with the .300 Holland & Holland Magnum, also introduced in the same year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.25-06 Remington</span> US hunting rifle cartridge

Considered by many as the most balanced of the "quarter bores" for hunting medium-sized game, the .25-06 Remington remained in obscurity as a wildcat cartridge for nearly half a century before being standardized by Remington in 1969.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.45-70</span> Rifle cartridge designed by the U.S. Army

The .45-70, also known as the .45-70 Government, .45-70 Springfield, and .45-2110" Sharps, is a .45 caliber rifle cartridge originally holding 70 grains of black powder that was developed at the U.S. Army's Springfield Armory for use in the Springfield Model 1873. It was a replacement for the stop-gap .50-70 Government cartridge, which had been adopted in 1866, one year after the end of the American Civil War, and is known by collectors as the "Trapdoor Springfield".

The .470 Capstick is a rifle cartridge created by Col. Arthur B Alphin from A-Square in 1990, named after writer and hunter Peter Hathaway Capstick. It is based on a .375 H&H Magnum case blown out and necked to accept a .475 inch (12 mm) bullet. With 500 grain bullets, it can achieve 2400 feet per second (730 m/s) muzzle velocity from a 26" barrel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.458 Winchester Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, Big Five game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle. It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express cartridges used in big bore British double rifles. The .458 Winchester Magnum remains one of the most popular large game cartridges, and most major ammunition manufacturers offer a selection of .458 ammunition.

The .416 Rigby is a rifle cartridge designed in 1911 by London based gunmaker John Rigby & Company, for hunting dangerous game. It is the first cartridge to use a bullet of .416 inch diameter. The rifles, as built by John Rigby & Co., were initially made up on the Magnum Mauser 98 action, although in later years, some were made on standard length actions, a perfect example being the rifle used by legendary professional hunter Harry Selby. Other famous users of the cartridge were Commander David Enderby Blunt, John Taylor, and Jack O'Connor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.257 Weatherby Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .257 Weatherby Magnum is a .257 caliber (6.53 mm) belted bottlenecked cartridge. It is one of the original standard length magnums developed by shortening the .375 H&H Magnum case to approx. 2.5 in (64 mm). Of the cartridges developed by Roy Weatherby, the .257 Weatherby Magnum was known to have been his favorite, and the cartridge currently ranks third in Weatherby cartridge sales, after the .30-378 Weatherby Magnum and the .300 Weatherby Magnum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.375 H&H Magnum</span> British rifle cartridge

The .375 H&H Magnum, also known as .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, is a medium-bore rifle cartridge introduced in 1912 by London based gunmaker Holland & Holland. The .375 H&H cartridge featured a belt to ensure the correct headspace, which otherwise might be unreliable, given the narrow shoulder of the cartridge case. The cartridge was designed to use cordite which was made in long strands – hence the tapered shape of the case, which, as a beneficial side effect also helped in smooth chambering and extraction from a rifle's breech.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.300 Winchester Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .300 Winchester Magnum is a belted, bottlenecked Magnum rifle cartridge that was introduced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963. The .300 Winchester Magnum is a magnum cartridge designed to fit in a standard rifle action. It is based on the .375 H&H Magnum, which has been blown out, shortened, and necked down to accept a .30 caliber (7.62 mm) bullet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.338 Winchester Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .338 Winchester Magnum is a .338 in (8.6 mm) caliber, belted, rimless, bottlenecked cartridge introduced in 1958 by Winchester Repeating Arms. It is based on the blown-out, shortened .375 H&H Magnum. The .338 in (8.6 mm) is the caliber at which medium-bore cartridges are considered to begin. The .338 Winchester Magnum is the first choice among professional brown bear guides in Alaska to back up clients where a powerful stopping caliber is required on charging bears. It is also the most popular medium-bore cartridge in North America and has the most widely available choice in rifles among medium bore rifles. The action length is the same as a .30-06, and most major rifle manufacturers in the United States chamber rifles for the cartridge including the semi-automatic Browning BAR Mk II Safari, making it a very powerful combination against charging dangerous game. The cartridge was intended for larger North American big-game species and has found use as for the hunting of thin-skinned African plains-game species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.30-378 Weatherby Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .30-378 Weatherby Magnum is a .30 caliber, belted, bottle-necked rifle cartridge. The cartridge was developed in response to a US Army military contract in 1959. While still unreleased to the public, the cartridge went on to set world records for accuracy including the first ten 10X in 1,000 yards (910 m) benchrest shooting. It is currently the highest velocity .30 caliber factory ammunition available.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">7mm Remington Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The 7mm Remington Magnum rifle cartridge was introduced as a commercially available round in 1962, along with the new Remington Model 700 bolt-action rifle. It is a member of the belted magnum family that is directly derived from the venerable .375 H&H Magnum. The original purpose of the belted magnum concept taken from the .300 H&H Magnum and .375 H&H Magnum, was to provide precise headspace control, since the sloping shoulders, while easing cartridge extraction, were unsuitable for this purpose. Improved cartridge extraction reliability is desirable while hunting dangerous game, in particular when a fast follow-up shot is required. The 7mm Remington Magnum is based on the commercial .264 Winchester Magnum, .338 Winchester Magnum, and .458 Winchester Magnum, which were based on the same belted .300 H&H Magnum and .375 H&H Magnum cases, trimmed to nearly the same length as the .270 Weatherby Magnum.

The .300 Remington Ultra Magnum, also known as the .300 Ultra Mag, 7.62×72mm or .300 RUM, is a 7.62 mm rifle cartridge introduced by Remington Arms in 1999. The .300 Remington Ultra Magnum is one of the largest commercially available .30 caliber magnums currently being produced. It is a beltless, rebated rim cartridge, capable of handling all large North American game, as well as long-range shooting. Among commercially produced .30-caliber rifle chamberings, the .300 Remington Ultra Magnum is second only to the .30-378 Weatherby Magnum in cartridge-case capacity.

The .264 Winchester Magnum is a belted, bottlenecked rifle cartridge. Except for the .244 H&H Magnum and .257 Weatherby Magnum, it is the smallest caliber factory cartridge derived from the 2.85 in (72 mm) Holland & Holland belted magnum case. It was introduced in the late 1950s and early 1960s with the .338 Winchester Magnum and the .458 Winchester Magnum as one of a family of short-cased 2.5 in (64 mm) belted magnum cartridges developed by Winchester based on the .375 Holland & Holland parent case. It was officially introduced to the public by Winchester in 1959. After many years of dwindling use it began enjoying a mild resurgence in popularity in the mid-2000s among long range rifle enthusiasts and reloaders due to the high ballistic coefficient of the heavier 6.5mm bullets and increasing popularity of cartridges such as 6.5mm Creedmoor, .260 Remington, 6.5 Grendel, benchrest and wildcat cartridges in 6.5mm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.458 SOCOM</span> Rifle cartridge

The .458 SOCOM (11.63×40mm) is a moderately large round designed to work in an AR-15 platform. This is achieved by installing a 458 bolt and barrel. The 300-grain (19 g) round offers a supersonic muzzle velocity of 1,900 ft/s (580 m/s) and 2,405 ft⋅lbf (3,261 J), similar to a light .45-70 but with a much smaller case.

.22 caliber, or 5.6 mm caliber, refers to a common firearms bore diameter of 0.22 inch (5.6 mm).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.416 Remington Magnum</span> Rifle cartridge

The .416 Remington Magnum is a .416 caliber (10.57 mm) cartridge of belted bottlenecked design. The cartridge was intended as a dangerous game hunting cartridge and released to the public in 1989. The cartridge uses the case of the 8 mm Remington Magnum as a parent cartridge. When the cartridge was released in 1988, author Frank C. Barnes considered the .416 Remington Magnum to be the "most outstanding factory cartridge introduced in decades".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">.458 Lott</span> Cartridge

The .458 Lott is a .458 caliber rifle cartridge designed for the purpose of hunting large, thick-skinned dangerous game animals in Africa. It is based on the full length .375 H&H Magnum case blown out and shortened to 2.800 inches (71.1 mm).

The .450 Rigby is a rifle cartridge designed in 1994 by John Rigby & Co. for the hunting of large, thick-skinned dangerous game animals in Africa. The cartridge is based on the .416 Rigby necked up to accept a .458 in (11.6 mm) bullet and is intended for use in magazine rifles. The cartridge should not be confused with .450 Nitro Express which was introduced by Rigby in 1898, and is a rimmed cartridge intended for use in double rifles.