Soon, game wardens, wildlife managers, and professional hunters switched to the .458 Winchester Magnum as their duty rifle.

Due to clumping of the powder charge and the erratic burn characteristics associated with such loads, performance of the cartridge came into question.

While Winchester addressed this issue, the stigma remained, and the cartridge's performance on dangerous game was suspect.

Current performance standards for the cartridge allow it to launch a 500 gr (32 g) bullet at a velocity of about 2,150 ft/s (660 m/s) through a 24 in (610 mm) barrel.

The .458 Winchester Magnum loaded with the 500 gr (32 g) solid bullet provides adequate penetration for dangerous game up to and including elephant.

[5] Due to the cartridge's relatively short case and powder column, longer bullets and those with a lower weight to length ratio—such as mono-metal bullets like the A-Square Monolithic Solid and the Barnes Banded Solids—may take up valuable powder space and lead to lower velocities and reduced performance.

The exceptional sectional density of the 500 gr (32 g) bullet combined with a muzzle velocity of between 1,950–2,250 ft/s (590–690 m/s) provides the cartridge adequate penetration on these dangerous game species.

The combination of these factors helped the .458 Winchester Magnum become the most popular dangerous game cartridge on the African continent.

However, bullet selection is important for these felids as they are not considered thick skinned species with the largest of the lions weighing under 500 lb (230 kg).

A few guides in Alaska and Canada carry rifles chambered in this cartridge to provide a defense against these largest bear species for themselves and their clients.

Hornady offers what they call a "heavy magnum" loading that features a 500 gr (32 g) bullet with a velocity of approx 2,260 ft/s (690 m/s).

Numerous companies offer rifles in this caliber, including the Winchester Model 70, which was used by Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry.

For many decades the .458 has been the most popular rifle cartridge of professional hunters who pursue heavy dangerous game in Africa because of its performance, price, and availability.

In time, however, the compressed powder charge "caked," causing erratic burn and poor performance levels.

Shorter barrels, as expected, produced reduced performance levels due to lower attainable velocities.