Hunting & Fishing Savage 458 SOCOM bolt gun draws first blood.

[Wicked Weapons]

Just got back from a week in the Canadian bush on a Black Bear hunt. Drove up from OH with 9 guys and met another 3 in camp. In total, 7 bears were killed and another 2 guys had opportunities but didn't connect. Our bears averaged 130 to 160 and the largest went 245lbs. Outfitter indicated anything over 200 in that area was great, over 300 was really fantastic - with 130lbs being average size. The conditions this year were dry/rough so bears were hitting the baits hard and they were much leaner than in years previous. Weather was perfect, 45 at night and 60-70 during the day.some Got my bear late on day 3 and spent a few days fishing in ponds that may never have seen a plastic worm.

We hunted over bait from fixed, portable and ground stands in a mix of Provincial and private land in and around Golden Lake, Ontario. Nine bow hunters and 3 rifles in the bunch; two 45-70 Marlin 1895 Guide Gun's and my Savage bolt in 458 Socom. Both big-bores connected for quick clean kills. The 45-70 shot clean through with a 300gr C/T at 1900fps. I used the Barnes 300gr TAC-TX going a bit over 2000. Very happy with the bullet and rifle's performance. My shot was from atop a 35ft rock cliff at about 45yds. Bear traveled less than 30 yards before piling up. Both lungs pierced and the top half of the heart torn off. Bullet exited the ribs then the off side shoulder then hit a flat rock that held the cover on the bait barrel. I actually recovered the bullet sitting right in the dirt. A few petals were sheared off by the rock but it looked like perfect expansion otherwise.

 

[Wicked Weapons]

A few more pics:

 

[5spd]

Great hunt IMO.
I like your shorty Savage also.
Any magazine feeding issues or are you single loading?

 

[Wicked Weapons]

The barrel is only +16" with 3/4-28 muzzle threads. Canada has an 18" barrel requirement, so I perm. attached the brake to get the barrel up to length. Rifle started out as a 308 varmint. The standard center-feed magazines won't work, but will function great as a single shot follower. The WSSM/WSM mags will feed if you can find them.

 

[GlockBlock]

.300 BLK is the oompa loompa of the rifle world.

 

[VoxPatriam]

Effin crap that's a big ass round. Nice bear!

 

[mzvarner]

Nice job, what was the weight retention of that bullet?

 

[Wicked Weapons]

Nice job, what was the weight retention of that bullet?

Slug now weighs 267gr. The bullet only lost 12% - after going thru the bear and then hitting rock. Actually, some of that weight loss would have been the plastic tip insert, so it's likely over 90% retention.

I'm a Barnes fanboy. I shoot them exclusively when hunting. I use 4 different calibers in at least a dozen different shapes/weights.

 

[mzvarner]

Slug now weighs 267gr. The bullet only lost 12% - after going thru the bear and then hitting rock. Actually, some of that weight loss would have been the plastic tip insert, so it's likely over 90% retention.

I'm a Barnes fanboy. I shoot them exclusively when hunting. I use 4 different calibers in at least a dozen different shapes/weights.

That seems to be the common theme with Barnes. Lots of people say they kill things dead, and quick. This is my second hunting season and I am using a 270 with 140gr TSX because of all the reviews. Anyways, Nice lob on the hunt. Sounds like a great time with excellent results.

 

[T J]

That lil' Savage is a kick ass idea! I hadn't thought about that before. How does she shoot accuracy wise?


Congrats on a clean kill BTW.


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[Wicked Weapons]

It's a drill. This is a 5 shot group at 100, prone off bipod. I don't have to dial or hold for wind!

 

[T J]

Goddamn... That is a hell of a lot more accurate than I thought it would be! I may have to build one of those myself!


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[Anvil_X]

It's a drill. This is a 5 shot group at 100, prone off bipod. I don't have to dial or hold for wind!

Neat, dude. I'm really curious, out of all the new "Thumper" cartridges, what led you to choose the 458 SOCOM? I'm sure you have an awesome story about that.

 

[Wicked Weapons]

Goddamn... That is a hell of a lot more accurate than I thought it would be! I may have to build one of those myself!

My results may not be typical? The fat stubby barrel is stiff, that's gotta' help. There's VERY limited load data for this cartridge, and lots of combinations yet to explore. QuickLoad is your friend here. I got lucky early in the load development process with this particular barrel and load. There's still likely years of work to do still as it isn't super popular and there's almost no industry support. SAAMI approval would help but who knows if or when.



That's why I got into the SOSOM. There's a so much it will do. From a 300gr plinker at 1200fps to a 405gr jacketed hunter at 1650fps or a 500gr Lee cast boolit and then there's a 582gr Lehigh turned brass load at 1040fps for the Savage with a suppressor. It's very nearly a 45-70 but without the rim, and it fits in both an AR and bolt gun.

It doesn't interest me so much in an AR, although I've built them. But in a bolt gun - it's got massive potential as a long range suppressed sub-sonic killer, it's almost in a class by itself.

1. It headspaces on a shoulder, not the case mouth.
2. There's readily available dies and brass you don't have to form yourself.
3. The HUGE selection of bullets, from 250 to 700gr in jackets, cast and lathe turned solids, aluminum too.
4. No excess case capacity, so no fillers or position sensitive issues with small charges
5. SBR length short barrels don't result in lost velocity, all the powder is burned in about 12" or so.
6. Uses standard .473" bolt face
7. Easy to change Savage barrels make it 'Lego' like construction with a few simple tools
8. Barrel blanks come in many twist options to match the wide variety of bullets

Oh, PM me about Savage barrels if you're interested.

 

[T J]

It looks like a fun little rig, might have to fiddle some to get it to feed from a mag though. PM sent.



t

 

[jasonfaz]

That round will do it to it. Got an Elk last year with the 300 gr wide nose TSX. Bad boy still weighed in at 292.4 grns, expanded to 1.28" in diameter, and all petals were intact. Passed completely through a 527 lb cow elk and buried itself 8" into the ground. Aint bad from a 11.5" pipe!

 

[Anvil_X]

You've made me want to get one. that sounds like a helluva lot of fun