Soliciting Thoughts On The 458 Lott

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
My son Stuart has been talking up & considering buying a 458 Lott.
I looked at it briefly years ago, but though the 450 Ackley was better & so wanted to build one but haven't yet.
I understand the 458 Lott is a factory loaded round now( it was a wild cat back when I 1st looked at it). I also understand there are factory rifles chambered for it now.
SO WHAT DO YOU'LL THINK?

[Lloyd Smale]

shot kelly brosts 458 lott encore pistol and it was a ball!!

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
A PISTOL IN 458 LOTT!!!!
I was thinking of making a rifle on the Encore, but a pistol would probibly be too much for me.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Was looking at store bought ammo prices in the caballas cateloge. GOOD GRIEF, BOY I'M GLADE I'M A WILDCATTER & A HANDLOARED!

[Four Fingers of Death]

I read an article in a magazine about a convention / seminar for African PHs. One oint that came out of the seminar was that the Lott was prefered over the 458Win Mag, but invariably had feeding problems. Was it Lott that convereted the Browning Auto Rifle in 338 to 458Win Mag? He said it worked a treat, but would FTF every now and then, not very often, but enough to not take it out on dangerous game hunts. Now a 416Taylor might feed in it. If you are going to be hunting elk, or punching paper this would not be a problem, but if you are going to hunt stuff that bites, scratches or stomps, feeding is of vital interest to you. Mick.

[waksupi]

Depends on who builds your Lott. We do quite a few of them, and we test them fast and slow, doing our best to make them jam, or fail to feed. Bolt manipulation must be good, with either loaded or empty rounds. Like any other thing, tune them properly, and they are going to work.

One thing that has puzzled me, is the people who buy the dangerous game rifles, and then want a scope on them. If you are far enough away to need a scope, the critter is no longer dangerous game!

[PatMarlin]

I know an owner of a gunshop I go to, who hunts Africa every year. He had his Lott built on an M1917 enfield action, and could use anything he wants, but that's it. AND No scope!

[Bullshop]

Waksupi
When you say we who do you mean? Do you do custom gun work?
I am asking because I am searching for somone to do one for me. I have a p17 Enfield/Winchester I was hoping to have done into a 510 Wells. Looks like so far that a 50 cal is going to be more challenging than a 45 so I have considerd something like a Lott. What ya say?
BIC/BS

[HTRN]

Bullshop, if you're going to do a Weatherby based wildcat, Why not a .550 RNS Magnum? bigger hole in the pipe, and heavier bullets(common bullet weight is 700 grns).

Here's a photo of a 715grn plain base .550 next to a 405grn .458:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid107/p5415ff3b09b872a3a22755afc2a5440c/f96330e3.jpg

There is also an "express" version of the same cartridge, only 2.65" long cases. You can see it in comparison to a .376 Steyr and a .458 Winchester.
http://www.weaponsmith.com/images/550-376-458.JPG

Or if you're willing to spend money for expensive brass, a .600 Overkill might work. How does 900grn bullets at 2400FPS grab ya?:mrgreen:


HTRN

[waksupi]

Waksupi
When you say we who do you mean? Do you do custom gun work?
I am asking because I am searching for somone to do one for me. I have a p17 Enfield/Winchester I was hoping to have done into a 510 Wells. Looks like so far that a 50 cal is going to be more challenging than a 45 so I have considerd something like a Lott. What ya say?
BIC/BS

Bullshop, I work for http://serengetirifles.com/
We do quite a few dangerous game rifles, and could do the job for you, I am sure.

[Bullshop]

HTRN
Well Sir I have never heard of the #'s you mention here. I would like to stay with a standerd .510" so I can use the molds I have although you have got my heart aflutter! Who do you get to create such a beast?

Waksupi
Is there any way to get a ball park estimate for the work I will want done? I checked out Wild West Guns and thier prices seem awfully high. I am looking at gun smith pricing from E.R. Shaw and they are far more reasonable for similer work. I am affraid you are going to tell me that if I have to ask I cant afford it.
BIC/BS

[waksupi]

HTRN
Well Sir I have never heard of the #'s you mention here. I would like to stay with a standerd .510" so I can use the molds I have although you have got my heart aflutter! Who do you get to create such a beast?

Waksupi
Is there any way to get a ball park estimate for the work I will want done? I checked out Wild West Guns and thier prices seem awfully high. I am looking at gun smith pricing from E.R. Shaw and they are far more reasonable for similer work. I am affraid you are going to tell me that if I have to ask I cant afford it.
BIC/BS

Well, you kind of hit it on the head. The rifles are expensive, and if we do pattern work, it gets higher. Call the office tomorrow, and talk to KC, or Larry about what you would want done. 406-756-2399.
You might go with Dennis Olson, as I'm sure he can do the work. He doesn't give it away either, though.

[Bass Ackward]

HTRN
Well Sir I have never heard of the #'s you mention here. I would like to stay with a standerd .510" so I can use the molds I have although you have got my heart aflutter! Who do you get to create such a beast?

Waksupi
Is there any way to get a ball park estimate for the work I will want done? I checked out Wild West Guns and thier prices seem awfully high. I am looking at gun smith pricing from E.R. Shaw and they are far more reasonable for similer work. I am affraid you are going to tell me that if I have to ask I cant afford it.
BIC/BS


Dan,

Not to try and take business away from Ric, but if price is a concern. I would recommend these guys.

http://itdcustomgun.com/

[Bucks Owin]

Considering the sterling performance that the .458 Win has turned in over the past 50 years, I have to wonder why something "more" is even needed....

Jim Carmichel has killed hundreds of elephants in "control" work with one and has no complaints as far as I know....(And this included getting into the middle of the herd and firing round after round in a hot rifle...)

He has also said that with the faster .460 WBY, an elephant is vulnerable to body shots from any angle...(!!!)

I think that if I were fortunate enough to be able to "play" in Africa, one of Ronnie Barrett's .scoped .50 BMG rifles would be a fun "long range" elephant thumper! (Also the ultimate 1,000+ yd varmint rifle...:D) Alas, since so many criminals have used the .50 BMG here in Kalifornia, owning one is a hassle now...:roll:

One thing for sure, I wouldn't even consider any cartridge that had any tendency whatsoever to fail to feed or extract on the "dark continent"....

Dennis

Of course there's always the .700 NE for those that can manage it....:roll:

BTW Pat, I've listened to plenty of tales from Mssr. Jones too. I carry a little salt with me when I go there now... ;)

[HTRN]

HTRN
Well Sir I have never heard of the #'s you mention here. I would like to stay with a standerd .510" so I can use the molds I have although you have got my heart aflutter! Who do you get to create such a beast?

Believe it or not, the .550 RNS Magnum is the "poor man's thumper"(well compared to some of the other real Pacy stompers). It was designed to fit in a CZ 550 Safari Action, and uses .460 Weatherby brass(ideally you should use either Weatherby Cylindrical or proper headstamped brass - Quality Cartridge sells them). The express version can use the blown out .460 brass because it has to be trimmed back anyway.

AHR (http://www.hunting-rifles.com/S550DGR.htm) sells .550's on the CZ action.

Here's the .550 Magnum home page (http://hometown.aol.com/goldcoins1/myhomepage/index.html). It details sources for smiths, brass, barrels bullets, etc.

The idea behind it was simple: use the largest COMMON brass available, and blow it out straight(instead of working around existing bore sizes, they came up with a new one to maximize the case capacity), thus they came up with the .550 RNS.

You should really go over to Accuratereloadings Big Bore forum - the "regulars"(IE loonies :mrgreen: ) there dreamed up alot of the Exotics there, including this one. They can point you in the right direction.

The short answer is: Whoever can build a .510 Wells/.500 Asquare, can build one of these - JGS sells the reamer(in fact, before .550magnum.com disappeared from the net, they had a copy of reamer print for this cartridge from JGS).

If you already have molds, you might wanna stick with the .510 bore size(you might also consider having it long throated so you can shoot .50BMG bullets), and several companies, make some heavyweight molds for the .510 bore size(notably Victory (http://www.victorymolds.com/510-750.jpg) and Paul Jones (http://www.pauljonesmolds.com/50_caliber.htm).)


HTRN

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Lots of interesting comments, but lets get back to the 458 LOTT, ok.
I'm thinking of putting one one a ENCORE as a custom heavy barrel w/ a muzzle brake. OR IS THAT JUST TOO CRAZY?

[klausg]

BOOM BOOM-
In an effort to get this back on track I'll give you my opinion(s). First, I'm a big fan of the .375 H&H so I don't consider myself eminiently qualified to talk about .458's of any variety. The .375 H&H will do just about everything I want to do, to include if I'm ever lucky enough to make it to Africa. My first concern would be the Encore itself, and whether it's strong enough; I don't know as I've never even handled one. My second concern with the Encore is that it doesn't weigh all that much, and I hate muzzle brakes.

All this being said, if I were to get a .458, I would buy the Lott.

-Klaus

[Four Fingers of Death]

Go down to the local boxing gym, they will punch your lights out and give you concussion for free! :-D Mick.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Well I have shot a 458 w. mag a few times. & agree it is plenty powerfull/impressive.
I have also shot a 375 improved, it is plenty powerfull/impressive as well as flatter.
BOTH ARE NOT SOMTHING I WOULD WANT TO SHOOT 50 CONSECATIVE ROUNDS OUT OF.
I was just wondering about the 458 Lott as my son seems to a have talked himself into getting one. 1 set of dies you know.
I had even thought of loading it down to the level of my 45 ML, to afford cheap CLEANER practice. The ML takes a lot of effort/ time to shoot.
Also it would never replace BABY as my favorite rifle, that 7MM/06 is just fun.

[BOOM BOOM]

HI,
Unfourtunatly there are no boxing clubs here abouts, but at 56yrs. old I still go to the local collage( B.Y.U.) to "play w/ the kids". I teach thier karate & Jujitsu clubs.
Have been doing it (as the instructor ) since 1971.
I did shoot a .71 cal that bloodied both lips & my nose on the 1st shot though.