.458 Lott whats your opinion

[Harrison E]

i was wondering what people think of the cartridge also recommendations on rifles to purchase in the caliber .458 Lott
thanks

 

[matt85]

in my opinion this is the best choice of the .458" cartridges for a bolt action rifle.

-matt

 

[peras]

Easy to find ammo in Africa and you can even use 458 win mag ammo if needed. This is a very popular calibre amongst professional hunters.

 

[PaulT]

Harrison,
the .458 Lott is undoubtedly one of the very best off the shelf big bore cartridges of modern times and one of my personal favorites.

I carried a Lott as my primary means of back-up on well over 100 buffalo hunts here in Australia and was called upon to use it for various reasons a number of times, including a number of determined charges in poor conditions on irate buffalo and feral bulls and in every instance the Lott sorted the mess out with very little fuss.

Loaded with good quality projectiles the Lott would be my choice for the hunter who wants an effective big bore cartridge that is very accessible, easy to load and does the job without any fan-fare.

It can take some getting use to if you are not accustomed to stout recoil, but nothing some proper technique, good stock design and familiarity wont fix.

Still to this day a .458 Lott graces my gun cabinet and it always will !

Best of luck in finding "your" big bore.

Paul.

 

[Kano]

in my opinion this is the best choice of the .458" cartridges for a bolt action rifle.

-matt

+1

The most sensible choice in the .450+ calibers for someone living in Africa: you can squeeze all the performance you'll ever need out of it, factory ammo available from several manufacturers, headstamped brass available, you can fire .458WM so you'll always find some ammo somewhere, case size allows greater magazine capacity than Rigby/Weatherby big bores.

A winner.

 

[ActionBob]

If you are going to buy and use a big bore bolt gun larger than 416, go with the Lott and nothing larger. More power and flexibility than a 458 WM and you just don't hear of the feeding problems that some of the 500 class cartridges have. Cannot think of a situation where you need more stopping power or bigger bullets than this 458. And you probably cannot beat it in the big bore class for ammo availability.

Not sure what gun to recommend but I would love to have one in a Kimber. The CZ seems to be the go to for reasonable cost and durability.... If it is tuned in right. They have a lot of configurations in the 458 Lott.

 

[TokkieM]

If you get a CZ, you will have to have work done, not just a polish. Great caliber in a bolt gun.

 

[Royal27]

I love my Lott so far (haven't hunted it yet, other than whitetail). As others have said though, it has some very positive things but it:

1. Can use 458 WM in a pinch, some rifles feed wm well and some don't though
2. bigger case and can be loaded at various levels vs. wm
3. Hits really hard
4. I find the recoil to be very manageable

P.S. you might want to use the search function too and find out more as it appears youre looking at most of the popular cartridges. There is a lot of info already here on the forum.

 

[ActionBob]

Decide if you want a double or a bolt gun to narrow your search down. If you want really heavy hitting stopper in a bolt, and want to keep your life simple, get the 458 Lott! If you want a very efficient caliber that has great ballistics and hits very hard, 416 Rem Mag. (or for even more modern and the same ballistics, 416 Ruger) If you want something really Classic, 416 Rigby. If you want the insanely biggest you can get and are not concerned about ammo and even working out all sorts of finicky little problems, look at the 500 and up stuff.

If you want a double, that is a bit of a different road but go down that one if it is what you want.

Once you decide on a caliber, I would be interested in seeing the debate on different brands/models of guns in that caliber.

 

[Velo Dog]

It is just about the only cartridge developed during the past 60 or 70 years that makes any sense to me.

I like it so much that I had a custom rifle built for me in .458 Lott (CZ 550 magnum action).

At full pressure, the Lott kicks a bit more than I can stand so, I load mine down to a little over 2100 fps and therefore, it is not so brutal, and yet as such it still matches the old tried and true .450 NE ballistics.

If you only have one heavy caliber rifle for elephant, buffalo, hippo and cannot afford a well made double, then the .458 Lott is the best choice IMO.

 

[jpj3]

Hello Harrison,

Mine has worked well for kudu, zebra, gemsbok, giraffe and buffalo with 295 to 500 grain bullets. I am left handed so I had one made on a Weatherby action as I could not find a suitable LH Winchester/Mauser type action at the time and have been very happy with the caliber and the rifle!

Best,

jpj3

 

[Royal27]

Hello Harrison,

Mine has worked well for kudu, zebra, gemsbok, giraffe and buffalo with 295 to 500 grain bullets. I am left handed so I had one made on a Weatherby action as I could not find a suitable LH Winchester/Mauser type action at the time and have been very happy with the caliber and the rifle!

Best,

jpj3

Would love to see your left hand Lott! Here is mine. Lefties are hard to come by in the big boys.

 

[Grumulkin]

Velocity is WAY too high. Oh, I forgot, that's the 460 Weatherby in which velocity is so high something (I'm not sure what) is sure to happen.

Anyway, I like mine a lot (notice the pun); it's the CZ 550 Safari magnum.