.458 Lott too much for North American Big game?

Mcameron said:

therefore i dont necessarily need the "most efficient".......and i would rather have something that adds to the experience of hunting...i would like to start gearing my hunting more towards the "hemmingway aesthetic"....fine wood big booming rifles, whiskey around a fire at camp.....gentleman's hunting.

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Then buy the best rifle(s) you can afford in calibers that floats your boat. Maybe something in the stile of a Rigby or Mauser or Heym or.... One or two rifles of real quality for you and the next generation or two. You won't regret it.

The only thing I could possibly think of that would justify the use of a 458 is a Democrat! If you hand load and just want to have the fun of shooting something with four times the killing power that you actually need, go for it. I'm certain that it will make a great varmint rifle.

When I varmit hunt with the 375 I look at like this if I miss they have a new choice in holes to run down.
Shawn

Mcameron said:

yeah.... i think a lot of it has to due with my approach to hunting recently...

i realized i dont hunt because i "Need" to.....i hunt because i enjoy it....and im out there more for the memories than i am for an actual animal

therefore i dont necessarily need the "most efficient".......and i would rather have something that adds to the experience of hunting...i would like to start gearing my hunting more towards the "hemmingway aesthetic"....fine wood big booming rifles, whiskey around a fire at camp.....gentleman's hunting.

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sounds like what you really need/want is a double rifle! a double gun in a classic NE cartridge will inspire visions of the great white hunters who roamed Africa long before the continent was ever mapped.

-matt

matt85 said:

sounds like what you really need/want is a double rifle! a double gun in a classic NE cartridge will inspire visions of the great white hunters who roamed Africa long before the continent was ever mapped.

-matt

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Or, if you are poor like me, a nice falling block single shot in a classic NE cartridge.

You can load it down to 45/70 levels and all the way up to Lott sledgehammer.

A 350gr soft at 2700 is great coyote medicine Would also do justice on rock chucks and prairie dogs.

Make sure that the rifle fits you, when you get above 50 or so ftlbs of recoil fit will either help mitigate felt recoil or amplify it.

Get what ever bog bore you want and have fun.

I am no help to you. I use a Blaser in 416 Remington for crows, woodchucks, and squirrels (good practice for real hunting).
I've also been married twice, so I am removed form logical thought.

What bullet would you recommend for grey squirrels, I want something that will expand and at the same time provide adequate penetration. Let me know if you can use this bullet for a Texas heart shot.

Michael Dean said:

What bullet would you recommend for grey squirrels, I want something that will expand and at the same time provide adequate penetration. Let me know if you can use this bullet for a Texas heart shot.

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Any premium bonded bullet will work for first shot but fill the magazine with solids for the Texas heart shoot and charge situations.
Shawn

so confession time.....i WAS going to buy a .458......until i made the mistake of browsing the local gun shop and found a Winchester M70 in .375HH for too good of a price to pass up....so needless to say i have a new M70, haha

meaning the 458 will likely happen sometime early next year.

Mcameron said:

so confession time.....i WAS going to buy a .458......until i made the mistake of browsing the local gun shop and found a Winchester M70 in .375HH for too good of a price to pass up....so needless to say i have a new M70, haha

meaning the 458 will likely happen sometime early next year.

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Not the worst thing in world! Happy shooting!

tarbe said:

The nice thing about the various 458 calibers is there are a host of 4570 bullets that are perfectly suitable for loading down to 4570 velocities for medium game in North America

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Mcameron said:

so confession time.....i WAS going to buy a .458......until i made the mistake of browsing the local gun shop and found a Winchester M70 in .375HH for too good of a price to pass up....so needless to say i have a new M70, haha

meaning the 458 will likely happen sometime early next year.

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As tarbe mentioned, the .458 Lott can be loaded down to 45/70 levels. Your choice of .375 H&H is also a good one, for much the same reason. There is a wide selection of bullets for both diameters, allowing for a surprising amount of versatility, especially if you load lead bullets. The .375 H&H responds well to being loaded down to 38-55 power levels. I used just such a load to drop a whitetail at close range. The doe dropped in her tracks and the only meat lost was that blown out of the caliber diameter hole. The bullet was not recovered, but it didn't look like it expanded. It didn't need to, either.

The Lyman manual has reduced loads for the 375 H&H. Though it does not have data for the .458 Lott, it does have reduced data for the .458 Win Mag, which should still give you a good place to start.