458 Socom

[LouBoyd]

I've bought an 8" twist Pac-Nor barrel to make a bolt action specifically for shooting the 582 grain Lehigh solid. The McGyro program says 10" might work but I wanted to be safe. 8" should be stable even transsonic at the elevation I shoot (mile+) It will be on a Rem 700 Long action using a 458X2 American cartridge (sixth in the row shown above). I haven't finished it so I can't tell you whether it will even shoot.

I chose the 458x2 over the 458 Socom because it has a much higher pressure rating. I'm of the opinion (but no solid proof) that fast burning high pressure minimum volume loads (within reason) for subsonics give low muzzle pressure and (most important) the smallest velocity dispersion. I'll find out if that's true with this beast. It will be a 16" barrel (to be legal). 10" would be a bit better ballistically. I'll experiment with lubrication to minimize bore friction. That may or may not prove to give better velocity uniformity but I expect it will.

Practical use? None. I'm only interested in learning about ballistics.