.458 SOCOM

Well, I messed up my back a few weeks ago doing firewood and was seeing the chiropractor every few days this past week.  Still had a little pinch but felt way better.  Decided to get back at it yesterday and cut and loaded 5 cart loads, transported them to the splitter area and stacked them up ready to start splitting.  Threw the back out again.  So, since I am not totally laid up and can walk and sit, I am going to the range in a bit to shoot that 405 cast load again and see what it does on a nice clean cardboard target.  Will be a short session.

That 405 cast load is a no-go.  A real sprayer.  I was fooled last time out by old bullet holes in the board when I was missing the paper.  The last group from two weeks ago that I thought looked like a sideways strike just may have been.  still not confirmed but today this load was miserable.  So bad that I shot a known 2-3" load and it shot to point of aim with a "normal" size group.  Not sure what to do to make the big lead bullets shoot.  Still got over 200 of 'em.  Hmmmmmmm.

So the back is almost better but scared to try it out on some hard work at the wood pile.  Good news is that I now think I have just about everything I need to work with the SOCOM for a long time.  Well stocked on bullets:  300 rem HP's, 300 Horn HP's, 250 Horn monoflex, 325 FTX and 405 Lead powder coated FP.  For powder, well stocked on lil'gun, IMR4198, H110, Accurate 5744.  Primers:  Was lucky to have a bunch before election/pandemic.  Had stocked up for my .45 ACP reloading when I acquired my 1911 a few years ago.

My biggest problem is finding reliable load data.  There is so much available on lil'gun as it seems to be a major go-to powder and you can corroborate many sources and feel confident about solid starting and max loads.  But other powders are spotty and the sources iffy.  

I am leaning on the 250 mono's so far and 33 gr lil'gun.  Most consistent groups so far and a seemingly perfect whitetail bullet and over 2000 fps.  Next most consistent is the Rem 300's with 31 gr lil'gun.  The 325 FTX's and 29gr lil'gun have never been crazy good but will always stay inside 3".  For a 100-150 yd woods gun I am OK with that.   Have not hurled the Horn 300 HP's yet and cannot get anything going with the 405 lead bullets.

I am basically a mono bullet guy when it comes to deer and meat I, or others, will chew on.  Have cut my gums numerous times on jacket fragments and chomped on pieces of lead to.  Not pleasant and the pieces even made it thru a grinder.

Like almost every gun I have owned and played with, I get a little crazy about having "enough" stuff to practice with, hunt with, etc.  I worry about future availability or a component change or discontinuation.  I end up with way too much stuff and settle in to one or two combo's and having lot's of leftovers that sit around and never get used.  Anyone else do that?

Yes.  One good thing is that we all shoot .458 bullets in our .50 cal ML's.  They will be used and bartered.

Joel,

Mono flex's have been very available as of the last few months.  Midsouth has them and Midway have them last I looked.  They are a buck-a-pop but if they are "the" bullet, I have no problem making that investment.  Never really saw them much under $45 for 50.  Last I saw it was like $56 for 50.  I would like to try the Barnes 300 TTSX but keep telling myself that if the 250 mono's work great, why even bother?  Same exact type of performance with a little more speed for some hydraulic fluid displacement.

I did use the H110 with the 250's and got two groups at 100 yds that were vertically strung.  Not a huge sample and they were still good enough groups to hunt with.  2-3".  However, vertical groups to me with a gun with this trajectory make me wonder if the lowest shot ends up the one that I shoot at a deer with at 150-200 yds and miss or wound something.  I like clusters or horizontal groups.

Last weekend showed a buddy how to reload. We were working on 458 SOCOM loads using 325 FTX’s. H-110 wasn’t impressive. H-4227 showed some promise on upper end loads. IMR 4227 had the best accuracy. We didn’t get to max load but the hotter it got the tighter the groups got. Using a 2x magnifier and red dot he got a 3/4” group at 50yards.

I have not looked into 4227’s ability to to push the Monoflex. He wanted to start shooting his 458 again and bought a reloading set up. He bought FTX bullets. I brought 500 primers and some powder.

His 14 year old daughter decided she wanted to deer hunt last year. I set her up with a 300 BLACKOUT pistol. She got her deer and the shooting community got 3 shooters. Dad went out and bought a 458 AR pistol and a 300 pistol. The son enjoys reloading and shooting but has no interest in shooting animals. Dad is becoming an advocate for AR’s. They have gone from not sure why anyone would want one to the adaptive best choice.

Lot's of things happening right now.  Bow season opens tomorrow.  I got 3 weeks vaca sprinkled throughout the next 2 months.  I bought an e-bike to get closer to many of our stands.  I ripped the rim off a .458 SOCOM case because I forgot to lube it.  Stuck the case in my die  A smart guy at work in our shop got it out with no damage.  Gotta still re-zero my .458 since remounting the scope.  Got all my wood done.  20 face cords.  All put away.  Log pile GONE.  Hurt my back again pressure washing my deck standing in bad position for 5 hrs.  Deer season is here.  Spent last 8 Sundays working on stands.  Trimming lanes yada yada.  It's TIME to hunt and shoot guns at the range between bow hunts.  Time for some reloading, hanging out at camp, smoking meat, having fish fry, being with the best of friends often.  Hunting more stands than previously able to due to the ebike.  Take some load of the old legs.

What is better then the beginning of fall in the north east?  Cool temps, beautiful foliage, deer moving, being in stands, being with friends, shooting guns and sharing stories.  Threat of snow in the next 3-4 weeks.  Let's do this!  Glad to be alive and inhaling air.  Thankful for many things.