My oldest boy, Hunter, and I are headed on a spring bear hunt in two weeks. Hunter really wants to be involved in the hunt, so after I told him I didn't have any ammo, as we had shot it all in practice and load testing, he said, "let's make some more".

I had developed a few test loads for the .458 Socom using different powders, bullets, primers, etc. and found an accurate load in the middle of the start/max load powder options, where I usually find them. Funny how that happens so often, regardless of the caliber.

He sized and primed all of the brass, with me right there, then I weighed every charge as he threw the powder. I showed him how to adjust the dies and then he seated every bullet and finally put a nice roll crimp on every round. Two steps, I know, when it could be done in one, but some teaching and learning was taking place.

Once we had loaded 50 rounds, he asked how much they would cost in the store. I said $80. He asked how much these cost us, I told him $52 the first time we load them, then $17 every time after that. I saw a light turn on, I believe.

Then we had to take care of the gun because the barrel is is white stainless steel. It wouldn't be good to have the flashy barrel sticking out of a ground blind, so after a half hour with some bow/gun tape and an exacto knife, we were done.



We are loaded for bear now!

Cool Andy,
You going on a guided hunt?

Nice. I should have read this before I emailed you. I look fwd to seeing the video.

Yep,

Taking Hunter on a guided hunt. 10 days and counting, as he reminded me today.

We went out tonight and made sure the rounds we loaded were as accurate as the load I developed earlier. They were, with two nice clover leaf patterns for me.

Hunter's best group was about 2.5" at 40 yards through my red dot scope with no magnification. Not stellar for an adult, but for an 11 year old who weighs in at about 70 pounds, I was pretty pleased. That is one of the things that is nice, living in the sticks, because in 5 minutes you can find a spot to shoot.

We went over a few pictures of Ursus Americanus, bear pics , and asked him where he would shoot. He was pretty good, but there were a few corrections. He's ready.

Got the vidoe camera ready, etc. Just gotta learn how to put a video on You-tube so that folks can see what we see. I am so illiterate on that matter.

I have a tag as well.

Who you using as guides Andy?

I've lost contact with Robbin, so I'm guessing my promised spring hunt is a no-go.

Bummer.

Tater. He did a great job for us last year.

I have a direct line to Robbin, so I ask him to get in touch with you. They have two crab boats now, so he and Rex will be busy, but he seems like he still wants to hunt some.

Thanks Andy!

Its too bad Hornady hasn't started selling the lever evolution bullets as components yet. I think they would work sweet loaded in the .458 SOCOM. I would like to load some .45-70 with a more aerodynamic projectile for my single shot. I have found a few but they are very heavy 400 - 500 grains. I would like them to be in the 300 - 375 grain range. I would also like to increase the pressure and velocity a little bit.

All I did was buy a box of their .45-70 loads, pull those bullets, then reload them into my cases. They shot okay, but their 300 gr JHP's shot the best.

Barne's 250 g TSX Copper hollow point (flat nose shape) shot great, but they don't feed well in my semi auto. I also got a box of Barne's 300 gr spire point (jsp) that I loaded up and they shot well, but those bullets were really designed for the .458 Win Mag, so I'm not sure how well they would open up at lower velocities aroun 2,000-2,200 FPS.

If your single shot is a Ruger No. 1, they have special load data that produce higher pressure and more FPS, upwards of 2,300 fps. If it is anything other than that, just stick with the regular loads. The Marlin' 1895 guide guns can also take the higher pressure loads.

I have seen the Ruger No. 1 loading information in the Barnes manual. I have a NEF SB2 Handi Rifle. I'm not sure how much I can increase velocity in this firearm. I think I would be fine somewhere in between standard velocities for the black powder equivalents and the Ruger No. 1 information.