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Well, after a great deal of praying for Ruger to come out with a short heavy barrel woodswalking 45-70 #1 carbine, I got impatient and had my own made... and it turned out great! I started with a Red recoil pad .458 Win Mag that was in mint condition. Then had the barrel chopped to 18.5" with NECG Masterpiece banded front sight with interchangable blades ( lots of options... Red high viz, gold & silver beads, night sights, a gold partridge blades of various heights). The smith said it was the largest dia. banded sight NECG offered. NECG Masterpiece adjustable rear sight cut to a British V shape with a white line added to complete the express sight set-up. Recrowned & blued the barrel, and contoured the original sight rib, so it looks part of the rifle, but there is just enough to mount a micro red dot. Last was upgrading the recoil pad to a Kick_EZZ Magnum which really take the bite out of this rifle! So far I have shot 458 Win Mag Factory 500 gr's, and some handloads using 350 gr. Hornady round nose at 2100 fps (these were easy to shoot and should handle everything I want to hunt). I also have some CPB bullets & Trail Boss powder that should make for some easy plinking loads. All in all, I couldn't be happier. I still don't see why Ruger won't make this gun? Its shorter than my Marlin Guide Gun, and points as natural as a Red Lable, and looks tuff as nails!
I don't have a way to post pics, but if someone was willing to post them for me I could send some their way.

looking foward to seeing some pics

What percentage of your hearing have you lost so far. . .?

I always use muffs at the range, so the blast doesn't bother me. But I notice other shooter around me tend to pack up there gear pretty fast! Seriously, noise is the main reason I didn't have a brake put on it. I would rather the blast move away from me, rather than be directed to my side. When handloading is an option I would rather reduce my loads to help with recoil & noise. This gun was built geared toward a 45-70 rather than a Win Mag. I know Im never going to make it to africa, but black bear over bait is right up my alley.

Here's 240gr&up's short cannon....




Looks like a Thumper that's for sure!!! I'll post more pics after some better weather comes along!

Stump,
Thanks for posting my pics. I need to take some outdoor pics in better lighting. That a Marlin Guide Gun with an 18" barrel for compairison.

Greetings,

Nice looking gun

Mike

There's nothing like a short barreled .458 Whinny. Mine's at 16 1/2". Usual loads are 300gr jacketed over 55-73gr's 4198. Now that they banned 50 BMG's at the range people look forward to something that wakes them up.
Have fun.

_________________
PRACTICE = Doing something correct repeatedly. First you learn to do it correctly and then you practice.

I picked up a few years back from a gun shop a Ruger No.1 in 458 that they drilled the break in the barrel ( Very professional ) & Reblued the barrel. Very comfortable to shoot but, as stated above very noisey. It has very nice wood on it! Some day I will find a stock barrel & maybe replace it.

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Steve

GUN COLLECTORS......Stewards of America's Firearms Heritage!

Living in the Middle of the Rocky Mountains!
God Bless Our Troops, Especially Our Snipers!

I really like mine at the full 24" for the weight, but that cannon of yours has promise. It looks like it would be right a home in a howdah on the back of an elephant. Just in case the tiger gets up there with you...

captainkirk

Please post pics all you guys of these short barreled monster's!

Which NECG front did you go with? (There are numerous)
With the new sight and shorter barrel- were you pretty close to point of aim?

Shooter,
The front sight currently has the smallest bead at the shortest height,
maybe .276??? and it's dead-on at 50 yards with 350 gr RN @ 2100 fps. When I use cast/ trailboss loads I will switch to a larger dia. Hi Viz a little taller. Also note, Im using a NECG adjustable rear sight, not the stock ruger.

Would the stock ruger rear work with that front

I doubt it. The NECG rear sight is much lower.