By Chris Boon

The fire glowed red and cracked sparks, just as easily as the two of us cracked cans. The hunter’s camp was set and the heated discussion glowed just as red too. Sambar deer created the most interesting topic when it comes to what caliber is best and what the projectile should do. No doubt many campfires have seen the flames of this topic. The talk went late into the night, imagine if you could have it all; “the perfect sambar round”.

“All” what you may wonder?

1.    Large entry wound and wound channel
2.    Full penetration and exit wound from most shot presentations
3.    Massive energy release for “hydrostatic shock” and trauma
4.    Compact bush rifle
5.    Comfortable “felt” recoil
6.    Short action if follow up shot is ever required
7.    Medium to high velocity
8.    Large bullet range from manufacturers, in both designs and weights

Wonder what that leaves you with?

It left me thinking………why don’t I try and build something? I have never done any wildcatting the most I have done is a small bit of reloading. The next week at work I sat down and penned a small sketch on paper. I have always loved the .375 bore however when researching projectiles I found that there was a limited range available. I wasn’t going to go smaller, so I settled on the .458 bore. This because of the 45-70 through to the 460 Weatherby in cartridges there were bullet weights from 250gn through to 500+ gns in all manner of designs from spitzers, hollow points, bonded, solids, partition even X bullets. So it was 458 caliber by elimination.

The existing problem with the powerful cartridges already in 458 cal was that they are all built on long actions. Legally the cartridge had to be 2” in length for use in Victoria; I had a few base cases to choose from, 416 Rigby, 460Weatherby even the 458win trimmed back to 2” was an option. Yet if this wildcat was going to be successful in my opinion it would also have to equal the famous cartridge already in 458, the infamous 458winmag. I was at the time hunting with a 300WSM, which gave me an idea, why not see what the WSM case necked up to 458win held in case capacity.

I searched the internet for answers and came across a site www.ammoguide.com this site had a cartridge creator (CAD) where you could put in the case dimensions and it would give you certain answers. Whilst in the process of mentally configuring a new round I also searched for magazine articles for what would be required to “build” a gun. I started with a list, barrel, action, stock, reamer and dies to start, then the most important thing; a gunsmith to assemble the puzzle?
Searching I found a company in the US that builds custom reamers; I made a call and discussed it with David Kiff one of the main engineers at Pacific Tool and Gauge. He mentioned that he could do a basic 458WSM reamer and he could produce one rather quickly. I asked to think it over as I wasn’t sure that I wanted a WSM though I did want the short case, in CAD the case wasn’t holding enough water to make it “potent” enough.

Put simply I changed a few dimensions and came up with a “wildcat on a wildcat”. Instead on the standard case taper I made it less, now a 1 in 6/7 thou. I moved the shoulder forward so the neck was the same length as the 300WSM and at the same time I put a 40d shoulder to help solve any headspacing issues. This new case held the same or similar amount of water as the 458win and was much shorter. Calling David back in Oregon I advised him a fax was on its way with the new dimensions and to see if he could email me a reamer diagram.

Whilst this was going on I looked high and low for a gunsmith willing to take on the job, and was competent with wildcats. The name David Kerr in Melbourne kept popping up, so I called him up an arranged a meeting to discuss my plans. I needed an expert’s opinion on type of action, barrel and stock. David is a true gent and after many discussions we (read he) decided that a CRF action in 308 would be ideal since I could not afford a WSM action and a Tobler barrel with a 1-14 twist, profile etc would be my discretion. Calling around I found Victorian Arms had a BRNO 601 in 308 that was not fully functional and they were willing to sell it as an action only, bargain!

Meanwhile David Kiffs email came through and he asked what I wanted to call this new wildcat, in the beginning I had tabled it the “45 Velvet Sledgehammer”, however I decided to name it after the type of country it would be used in, so it became known as the 458 ALPINE. David finalized the sketch and the reamer went into production, I asked him who he thought could make the dies straight from the sketch, straight up he said Hornady. He was willing to do me a big favor and send the reamer sketch to Hornady and their Custom Die team would contact me direct.

A few weeks past and Lonnie Hummel from Hornady contacted me; I explained that I could not send him once fired cases as the first rifle had yet to be built. This was a small dilemma however, and Lonnie would build the dies from the reamer sketch. I told him to satisfy my curiosity and label the dies the 458 Alpine, he was more than happy to oblige. Everything was coming together, I ordered the Barrel from Robert Tobbler, no 8 profile (almost no taper) fluted stainless. It almost had to be stainless due to the conditions the gun would be subjected to!

I ordered a stock from overseas in grey laminate and it arrive promptly and all parts were put into cases and sent to David Kerrs, now the hardest part; the wait…….it was nearly two years before I heard about those pieces again, David had spent an inordinate amount of time getting the huge barrel to fit into the action. He advised me that he was going to get Geoff Slee to assemble the barreled action into the stock as the dimensions didn’t look quite right. He was right, and about 2 weeks later Geoff called and said the stock I had ordered was too thin in the fore-end and he was going to assemble me another….so the wait continued. The lows of building your own gun almost from scratch!

It wasn’t until March 2007 that I got the call to pick up my new toy 3 years in the making! This was the part I was dreading would it work, would I find someone with enough information regarding powders and weights etc to help me load my fire forming rounds and then my decent hunting loads? It was time to speak to some of the boys at the range and see what they knew……they knew one thing, “speak to Fudgy, here’s his card” was the reply I got multiple times!

Greg Fuge AKA Fudgy was a top bloke and straight up from the onset was intent on making the best loads and then the most accurate loads he could with my barrel, for me I wanted hunting loads, to him it was about putting all the shots in the same hole……basically we got the same compromised result in different ways LOL. He did say I was crazy creating a 45/70 on steroids I left the Norma brass, Remington/Hornady/Nosler projies and Hornady dies with him; he was going to look up some powders and primers and start the initial loads. I am so happy with his work that I still get him to load the rounds today!

So twice a week I went over to Fudgy’s while we pondered over fire forming loads and primers, all the time he was running the barrel in one shot clean, overnight soak, the full deal. It was paying off, we were increasing the powder charges by half a grain every two shots to get the cases to expand fully. The barrel was lapping in and opening up and the chamber showed it was absolutely spot on, not even a 10 thou out in anyway. Which also showed on the paper the fire forming loads were turning out nice 1 ½ inch groups while the full power loads were doing the same exactly 5” higher…..this is what the gun was designed for and we hadn’t even done proper load tailoring. (See table for velocities of MKII)

The scope was a high power 6-24 Alpen and on the guns maiden trip out for a sambar, a ½ grown one stood still long enough for a head shot to be taken, not really a test of the caliber but it sure worked, spinning the animal 45degrees! As always there was no felt recoil, however the man with the loudest gun in the valley wins and I think I won that day? This gun being a prototype I came to some conclusions, one this was an unreal cartridge “Sambar specific” if you like, yet the gun weighed in at 5.5kg loaded and wasn’t suited for the Alpine country I planned to hunt.

Well it was after this that I decided another 458 Alpine should be built; MKII. This one not a test gun but a serious hiking and sporting rifle! I have handled many different types of rifles in my time previously working in a gun shop and one make and model sticks in my mind as being the best “field” rifle design, the Browning Stainless Stalker A-bolt II. We all know the features that make it so damn practical, but for a re-barreling and re-chambering job, they are magazine is easy to alter for round feeding, recoil lug easy to strengthen and glass in, plus synthetic stock is so easy to mill out as well as fit a quality recoil pad. Since David Kerr had retired he suggested I approach Shane Clancy of Clancy’s Gunsmithing if I wanted the best combination of hunting an accuracy in a sporting gun. Shane like David and Fudgy was joy to deal with and he said “yup no probs send me the gun, once fired cases and the reamer…..it’ll take 3 months”. Once you’ve done something before, the second time is so much quicker!!!

So a quick call around and I had myself a brand new Stainless A-bolt in 325wsm and that same day it left with the bits to Clancy’s, he ordered a special 1.14 twist MAB stainless profile No7. Shane also being of the younger generation, took photo’s of the guns progress and built the gun “they way I would if it was my own gun” which is always comforting. Things like “truing” the action, matching the bead blasting and lapping the barrel weren’t asked for but done as a matter of course, though you will always get what you pay for. Three months later Shane called MKII is ready anything else you’d like done, I replied bead blast the chrome off the bolt and stamp it, make sure you stamp it CLANCY as well. It arrived within the week; the smile on my face couldn’t be sawn off.

Loaded and scoped this little beauty weighed 8lb on the knocker and balanced on the front action screw. When the mates came over for a look, the first thing they say is why the varmint barrel, after holding it the look at the muzzle and say “that isn’t a varmint barrel that is a wombat hole!” Due to the cartridges being blown out I can hold three in the browning magazine but only two with the bolt closed over, so it is a 2+1 not that any Sambar should need a second shot. I mounted a Pentax 3-9 SL with 4 1/2” of eye relief, I didn’t want to get bitten and the Pachmeyer decelerator pad Shane had installed was a perfect fit, a set of Talley QD mounts and rings rounded the rifle perfectly.

Fudgy, ran a few patches down the barrel and commented that we would need to drop the loads back a touch because this barrel was tight. I nodded, Shane had said the same. So the fire forming loads were knocked up with Hornady 300gn JHP and off we went. Well there was no recoil that is for sure, even on video I hardly move. The first shot at 50m was out so I wound the turrets to the shot and proceeded to shoot at the 100yd targets, as you can see the results were pretty amazing. This is how my brother Andrew called it, “Bang, yep just a touch to the left of bullseye, Bang, nope think you’ve missed, Bang, nope can’t see it; best we check the target”, you can imagine our surprise when we reached the targets to find one ragged hole! Now we had a super accurate round even if it was a fire forming load; it was time to go test this MKII and see what it could do.

On the third trip out with the new gun, I knew it was time to pull the trigger, the freezer was running low I had been taking a few new hunters out and helping them succeed, rather than pulling the trigger myself. The unlucky test animal was a full grown Sambar hind, one of two that had slunk out from the wattle filled gully. She was 7/8ths facing away, taking a deep breath I let out and put pressure on the trigger, it broke, she jumped, tail in the air and ran off. I pulled the range finder from my pocket….268yds….umm that is pushing it but a good test. I walked down to the spot where the shot was taken, and met Greg Benton my hunting partner for the day. He called a hit and said she fell down just over the rise, we followed up the marks and yep he was right, dead. I do not know the science that killed this deer, but the bullet sure made a mess and no significant part of the projectile had entered the chest. The jacket was found on and around the entry hole and the core was found on the same side where it had broken the front leg. The entry hole was huge in comparison to the usual pin prick. What it showed was that the cartridge sure was capable. The true test of a round and projectile is in the most adverse conditions, and in this case the 458 Alpine had performed very well!

I have tested this cartridge with light and heavy bullets and although not designed for heavy bullets it still seems to shoot them at speeds close to the ol’ 458winmag. (See table) This cartridge is really sambar specific, and the 300-400gn pills are its niche (exceeding the 458winmag), where it can dump a lot of energy and create large wound channels with multiple shrapnel wounds hopefully dumping the sambar on the spot, thus creating the ultimate Sambar Stopper. The 458 Alpine and the Browning are a winning combination, they do everything expected. The round does what it was designed to do and is my sambar cartridge and rifle combo; it will be found at my side from the 7yd to the 300yd shot, I know I can reliably take any Sambar, even with less than optimal shot presentations. Now I Climbing the heights of the Alpine – The highs and lows of wildcattingstill enjoy the campfires glow, and argue over the best Sambar caliber; however grinning knowingly that I got it covered!


Even though it took almost 4 years, the author would like to thank the following:

*Gunsmith - David Kerr
*Clancy’s Gunsmithing
*Pacific Tool & Gauge’s – David Kiff
*Tobbler Barrels
*Hornady’s - Lonnie Hummel
*Geoff Slee Stocks
*Greg Fuge Gunsmithing and Load Development