.458 Lott too much for North American Big game?

[dchamp]

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.

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.

 

[Michael Dean]

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.

 

[Shawn.54]

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

 

[matt85]

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.

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

 

[tarbe]

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

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

 

[AZDAVE]

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.

 

[MartyJ]

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.

 

[Michael Dean]

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.

 

[Shawn.54]

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.

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

 

[Mcameron]

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.

 

[Scrumbag]

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.

Not the worst thing in world! Happy shooting!

 

[benchracer]

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

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.

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.

 

[mgstucson]

I know this is a really old thread, but I can't resist. Don't consider the Lott overkill for deer, just consider the deer micro target pachyderm practice with a venison bonus prize for excellent elephant rifle marksmanship.

 

[Luvthunt]

Good fun reading that old thread! TY

 

[hoytcanon]

It is not too much... I have used my Ruger M77 RSM Lott on deer and bears with good results and minimal meat damage, just load the right bullet to the right speed.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Yes, way too much. If you haven't shot one, you should before committing to purchase. Even my PH who shoots one as backup for dangerous game hates the recoil. But you do what you gotta do when African dangerous game is on the menu. For most North American animals and the way they are hunted, a rifle that's easier to carry with more range is more desirable.

 

[ldmay375]

I would use my 458 Lott and or 458 Winchester on North American type game. At 250 yards with today's bullets, I would not feel disadvantaged on anything whitetail size and up. As a "woods" hunter 250 yards is going to be an extremely rare long shot for me on moose or anything else.

@michael458 helped my tremendously on 458 Lott & Winchester loads, suitable for both North American type game and larger. Heck, more than helped, he did the pressure and penetration tests. Today's 350-400 grain'ish bullets can fill multiple roles. I think the weight reduction helps a bit on the recoil.

If I could pause from using my 416 Ruger, I would definitely use one of my 458's. As to trajectory/ballistics the 416's with 350 TTSX and 325 CEB Maximus are not shabby at 2500 fps. I feel the 416 Ruger & Remington are easy to shoot from non-perfect field positions, at these velocities. The Lott, I have not shot for about a year. So will not comment on that, until I refresh my shoulder memory with the 400's.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Times have certainly changed I guess. When I was a young man in Montana, anyone hunting elk with a 458 Lott would have been laughed at. Like my classmate's dad hunting whitetails with 300 Weatherby. That guy had a bad case of little man's disease. I was just a "normal" person hunting everything with a 30-06 ... in grizzly country.

 

[ldmay375]

Yep, you will find laughers, in and about anything. I believe, hunt with and shoot what you enjoy. Obviously proven, most any caliber and cartridge works on anything. I have not shot anything yet, that I thought - I wished that I used a smaller caliber or cartridge.

I think I have at least 6ea 30-06's so I could use one of those also.

 

[hoytcanon]

Times have certainly changed I guess. When I was a young man in Montana, anyone hunting elk with a 458 Lott would have been laughed at. Like my classmate's dad hunting whitetails with 300 Weatherby. That guy had a bad case of little man's disease. I was just a "normal" person hunting everything with a 30-06 ... in grizzly country.

Or maybe some people just like to shoot big bore rifles... the opposite of "little man's disease" is the "recoil phobia." Lott's of "pooh-poohing" goes on from the recoil terrified when they mock folks using big bores on medium game... but why not? There are plenty of circumstances where it is highly desirable, particularly for those that actually eat their game. I would rather shoot a fat 2 year old buck with a Lott using a 500 grain load over a .270 with a 130 grain load... I guarantee it will put more meat in your freezer and leave less jelly in the bush for coyotes.