Barnes .458 spire point for single shot 45-70

[bstenson]

Does anybody have any experience with this bullet good or bad. I am considering using it in a Browing high wall.

[Larry Gibson]

Does anybody have any experience with this bullet good or bad. I am considering using it in a Browing high wall.

I've experience with it out of a Siamese Mauser but I probably push it harder than you'll want to?

Larry Gibson

[bstenson]

I intend to work up a load starting at 52 grains of reloader 7 and experiment up to 56 grains if I can take it. I currently shoot the Hornady 350grn round nose with 52 grains. I am putting a Lupold 3 x 9 x 40 (got a steal of a deal that I could not pass up. Brand new for $200.00.) on my Highwall this week. I hope to find the most accurate load after I get it sighted in. My eyes are getting so that I can't shoot the kind of groups that I would like with irons.

[Larry Gibson]

I intend to work up a load starting at 52 grains of reloader 7 and experiment up to 56 grains if I can take it. I currently shoot the Hornady 350grn round nose with 52 grains. I am putting a Lupold 3 x 9 x 40 (got a steal of a deal that I could not pass up. Brand new for $200.00.) on my Highwall this week. I hope to find the most accurate load after I get it sighted in. My eyes are getting so that I can't shoot the kind of groups that I would like with irons.

I'm assuming you've a new Browning HW, so it will take the loads.  I also use RL7 for my loads with the Barnes 400 SP.  You are a tudge under what my "starting loads" were.  My hunting load runs at 2300 fps out of the 24" barrel.  Recoil with the 8 1/2 lb rifle is fierce off the bench.  I have shot 3 elk with it but did not recover any bullets.  All three elk were injured and were dispatched (I was a LEO in NE Oregon at the time) from about 50 yards.  Two were neck/shoulder shots and one was raking form the neck/shoulder out throught the rear of the rib cage.  From the exit wounds bullet expansion was excellent.  As these are made with 45-70 velocities in mind they should perform very well with muzzle velocity in the 1800-1900 fps range. That's very doable with your Browning if you are up to it.  Don't be bashfull, use a shoulder pad (PAST) when testing off a bench and zeroing. Then switch to sitting and off hand for practice as felt recoil will be much less as you will roll with the "punch".  I practice using 400 gr cast bullets at 1580 fps shooting 10-15 per session then switch to some 1800 fps 500 gr cast loads (both aren't to shabby for hunting either) for a couple more sessions.  Then when shooting the heavy barnes load I manage 8 -10 shots off hand or sitting without discomfort.  They are a hoot to shoot but the truth be known I shoot a lot of pleasant 275 gr (cast) bullets at 1050 fps for plinking and fun. With the high end loads youi are getting into some serious recoil. My rifle has a Leupold 2.5X compact on it with very generous eye relief.  Make sure your scope is mounted well forward so you don't get "scope eye". Also make sure the screws for the bases are tight and Loctited in.  I put a strip of double sided sticky scotch tape on the inside of the rings to prevent scope slippage. Let us know how you do.

Larry Gibson

[bstenson]

I've had my highwall four about 5 years and you are right even the load I am shooting now is pretty tough off the bench. I have a magnum PAST pad that I am going to try. I have been shooting it with irons but have had to pass on three deer because of low light conditions where I could not see well enough to shoot with irons.

[Redhawk1]

I have used the Barnes X 400 gr. spire point  in my Ruger #1 in 45-70 and they worked great.

[Golsovia]

If you're talking about the the Originals you may want to be aware that they work a lot like other cup and core bullets. IOW, when the going gets really tough, they split. That isn't necessarily a horrible thing, but for the money they cost, I'd prefer to have better constructed bullets.