During the development, important features for the military, such as the penetration power of armor or a tracer, were not taken into account.

The cartridge was presented for the first time in February 2004 at the ShotShow-2004 in Las Vegas together with the Steyr HS .50.

The ammunition was developed for precision rifles for sport shooters, with the focus on the long range and bypassing the 12.7 × 99 mm NATO (.50 BMG) caliber, the use of which is prohibited in many European countries for non-official purposes.

The ballistic properties of the .460 Steyr and the 12.7 × 99 mm are largely similar.

[3] The ammunition is also comparable to other special cartridges such as the .408 Chey Tac or the .416 Barrett, which were also developed as special calibers for precision rifles in order to be able to work over long distances.