458 SOCOM advice

[PushPuller]

Hey everybody, hope everyone's Christmas was great. Mine sure was when I was gifted a complete upper in 458 SOCOM. Unfortunately until that moment I never once put much more thought into 458 than acknowledging its existence. which leads me into my question. Is there anything fellow 458 SOCOM owners can give me advice on as begin to build the rest of the rifle?

 

[50 shooter]

Yeah, build your own lower, it's very easy to do and all the info you need is available at your fingertips.

You don't need anything special, just build a lower that you like and put a decent stock on it. If you're allergic to recoil, you might want to put a stock on that you can add a recoil pad to.

Also, one of the most important things to use is a good magazine. Doesn't have to be anything special, just make sure that the follower moves without any binding or other weird issues. You also don't need a special follower, a standard one works fine.

If you reload, buy some 458 dies and reload for it as it's not cheap to feed. Plus you can use powder coated lead bullets to help keep your costs down also.

I had a thread in the gear and accessories forum but for some reason I cant link it. It's on page 2 currently, I started it asking about optics for the 458 Socom. That and did an AAR after hitting the range the first time out with it. Incase you want to look it up and see some pics, optics...

 

[stagpanther]

Congrats on your choice of the 458 socom, which given the facts that it has a bit of a shoulder and can fire both rifle and pistol style bullets that are available for it it's a mystery to me why people choose the 450 bushmaster over it (unless maybe they live in one of those weirdo straightwall hunting restriction states). I personally feel it is worth it--expensive as it is--to invest in tromix's modified Lancer single-stack magazines because they will increase the reliability of proper feeding of all style bullets including blunt nose pistol ones. I have a pet load using Lehigh Defense extreme penetrators which shoot very well out of my 458 socom (and, not coincidentally, out of a 45-70 as well). Be prepared for a "startling" big boom when you fire it, getting a good brake for the muzzle will help overcome that and the recoil to help you get nice groups with it. As for the lower nothing special is needed, though you may want to consider something like a kinetic energy buffer and a bit of good padding for the butt of the stock, the energy generated by a stout load is comparable to a moderate 45-70 load. I found it makes a difference if I'm out testing 35 cartridges of hand-loads.

 

[Sequins]

I might be alone is characterizing the 458 as surprisingly soft shooting. I expected as others have posted to be shocked, but it's less than 308 for sure. I enjoyed shooting it. Great round to reload.

 

[FrankenMauser]

Cheap multi-position, adjustable stock receiver extensions (buffer tubes) may tear out. Recoil is enough to destroy Chinesium.

But quality parts generally last.

You will, however, note that most experienced .458 SOCOM owners use fixed stocks on their lowers.
I believe the reasonings are thricefold:
1. Fewer things to go wrong (in general - not just .458 SOCOM specific). And they'll stand up to the recoil better.

2. Longer length of pull. Have you ever taken a charging handle up the nose? Now add .458 SOCOM recoil to that same concept. The cartridge is not punishing in my opinion, but a charging handle up the nose with it is notably less enjoyable than with .223/5.56.

3. No beard hair removal. Beard hairs getting pulled by adjustable stocks with .223/5.56 is annoying. Beard hairs do not get pulled by .458 SOCOM. They get yanked clean out. Fixed stocks, 98% of the time, eliminate that problem.

Otherwise...
Have at it.
I enjoyed running a red dot on mine, but did experiment with scoping it, as well.
Iron sights and/or red dot are my preference for the cartridge. But scopes work, too.

 

[red caddy]

I bought a SOTA arms upper and set it on an Anderson lower, I worked the factory trigger to 3 Lbs. crisp, . 030" travel, comfortable with a trigger shoe. easy peasy. I clean and lube the mag's with dry PTFE spray, never had a problem.

The SOTA arms upper came with a very effective brake. (I liked it so much, I bought one for my Savage 458 bolt gun build.) That'll learn ya about recoil with 525 grain cast lead bullets) One shot, without the brake was a real eye opener.

I started out with a box of factory 300 grain jacketed hollow points. The cost alone sent me to my loading bench. My all around load is the jacketed 405's over a stout charge of 4198 @ about 1500 FPS.

I keep a magazine full of High Zoot 525 grainer's in my pocket for really big (400 +) hogs and the occasional rampaging '58 Buick. or escaping Piper Cub.) Yer never alone in the swamp...

Haven't had any problems with the Anderson stock/buffer tube and adjustable stock, although I did add a limb saver shotgun recoil pad to ease the knurling on my T shirt. (more than likely, good parts and the brake)

Don't know what else to say about recoil, I shoot a lot of the big Africans, I'm really OK with the 305-405 grain stuff, (less bite than a .308/.270,/25-'06) But I will say that the 525's are rowdy, 'specially in the bolt gun.

Hair pulls are another matter, a piece of clear packing tape is the best fix I've found.

RED