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458 Win Mag lever gun ?

H

hemiford

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 7, 2013
Messages
494
I know this is Long Range Hunting, but there's a lot of brain power on here.

Is there such a thing as a lever action 458 Win ? Anyone ever make one ?
 
Outside of the Ruger 1, which is a lever and falling block and came in 458 Win Mag, no one ever made one that I know of. However the 450 Marlin is pretty darn close to a 458. It is actually the 458 Win Mag case shortened to 2" and retains the belt. There have been lots of levers made in that cartridge. If you used a Winchester 1886 as the base, they came as the 50-110, and 45-90 WCF, you could probably chamber it to 458 Win. (They are still made and sold by Winchester in 45-90 WCF, which as a 2.4" case versus the 458 Win mag at 2.5") If you can find one, a modern 50-110, which was offered in the Browning 1886, 71 and Winchester 1886 made in Japan, until just a few years ago, with a smokeless barrel, is actually significantly more powerful than the 458 Win Mag.

450 Marlin vs 458 Win Mag

1733074986724.jpeg


The Browning BLR came out in 450 Marlin but I don't know if it has enough throw and mag to accept the full length 458 Win Mag.
 
Last edited:
Not exactly what you're asking, but I have a custom Ruger No.1 running smokeless jacketed 45-120. I have run cast and black powder for fun, but this thing gets up and boogies running smokeless.
My steel targets, not AR 500, get hammered by this thing at 200 metres. Far outweighs 45-70 rounds…

The 450 Marlin is probably the longest cartridge you can house in a regular lever action.
The Ruger No.1 or falling block made by the old Remington bought company which I forget their name, owned originally by Art Alpin do a nice falling block, Ron Spomer has one in 7x57.

Cheers.
 
Besides the mag box, the case belt is different on the .450 Marlin, so a BLR would have to be highly modified to accept the .458 Win Mag.
 
Hairtrigger said:
Yea, yesterday I shot my Marlin LEVER in 450 MARLIN
I cannot imagine a lightweight rifle in 458
Click to expand...
Good point.
I am a long time Marlin 1895 ,in .45/70 user going back 50+ years and I finally parted with the concept, as I have been also using the bolt action .458's, .416's and .460 Weatherby over the last 30 years or so and quite simply, they are better suited to managing the higher recoil levels.

When hunting potentially large or dangerous game, rifle fit becomes a major factor in handling and control which means accurate shot placement and repeat shots.

There is a big difference between feral control and taking something many times heavier and possibly dangerous. The levers have a legitimate place and cover a lot of hunting situations but I use that same hunting experience now days using the .458 in its place. So many more bullets and loads available and more comfortable rifle fit, at least for me.
 
Browning's BLR is available in long action, 300 Win Mag. That one provides the magnum bolt face and the required length to handle the 458 Win Mag. I don't know if the barrel steel is thick enough to be re-bored from .308 to .458 - so the conversion might require a new barrel.
1733152206339.png

I've shot a couple of 458 Win Mag bolt action Winchester Model 70's. Not sure I'd even want to shoot one in a lever action, the bolt action rifles recoiled quite enough for me.

Browning's 450 Marlin won't work. It's too short and the belt is different from that on belted magnums.

I don't know if Winchester's lever action 1895 could be re-worked for the 458 Win Mag or not. It's available in 30-06 and 405 Win, so it's long enough...
1733152273971.png

Regards, Guy
 
I know that there have been Browning BARs converted to 458, so I don't see any reason a BLR can't be converted. I know I've heard of it being done, I just don't have any specific examples.
 
Sergeant Stadanko said:
Besides the mag box, the case belt is different on the .450 Marlin, so a BLR would have to be highly modified to accept the .458 Win Mag.
Click to expand...
The parent case of the 450 Marlin is the 458 Win Mag and it was developed from the 458x2 case. The belt was modified slightly: it is the exact same diameter at .532 but is a hair wider, by .032 from head to front of belt than the 458 Win Mag. This was done to keep this cartridge from being able to be chambered in the smaller bores like 7 Rem Mag, 338 Win Mag, 375 H&H, rifles etc due to the obvious dangers of touching one of these off in a smaller bore rifle.
 
Guy,
These rifle designs are not universal and only find favour with some and not all riflemen.

I have reviewed the Browning lever and couldn't wait to return it as for me, it felt clumbsy, what Americans call "clunky". That's why I cited rifle "fit" a couple of times in my post. It was deliberate.

Sure, it was a well made, well finished rifle and all it was promoted to be but the longer actioned versions loose some of that handling magic that draws hunters towards lever action rifles in the first place.
 

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