Browning A-bolt 2 in 458 Lott? Anyone done it?

[kfreeze]

Hi, I'm thinking that I would like to rebarrel a browning A-bolt from 375 H&H to 458 Lott. Has anyone done it? I'm left handed and really like the 60° bolt and safety location on the browning a-bolts. Looking to see if there were any feeding or reliability issues as this will be used for cape buffalo. Any real world experience out there?

Thanks,

Kyle

 

[Sarg]

Hi Kyle, I Really like the Browning A Bolts, lots of great features for a PG or standard hunting rifle (except so so trigger) I have a few of them & Sako 75-85s .

I to was going to rebarrel a magnum action to .458Win, looked into it a lot way back.

They have super fine barrel/action threads & sometimes these gall when taking the barrel off, so much a lot of Smiths who have done them won’t do them again !

I think a big part of the reason you don’t see a lot of custom or rebarrels on these.

Another more obvious thing is the push feed action, no matter how you feel on these yourself, if you put a large amount of money into one you will be unlikely to get it back on selling it.

If you would like a Left Hook for your DG rifle & don’t mind a Winchester M70 (post 92) which is a great rifle, finding one of these could be a great option to rebarrel ?

 

[kfreeze]

Hi Kyle, I Really like the Browning A Bolts, lots of great features for a PG or standard hunting rifle (except so so trigger) I have a few of them & Sako 75-85s .

I to was going to rebarrel a magnum action to .458Win, looked into it a lot way back.

They have super fine barrel/action threads & sometimes these gall when taking the barrel off, so much a lot of Smiths who have done them won’t do them again !

I think a big part of the reason you don’t see a lot of custom or rebarrels on these.

Another more obvious thing is the push feed action, no matter how you feel on these yourself, if you put a large amount of money into one you will be unlikely to get it back on selling it.

If you would like a Left Hook for your DG rifle & don’t mind a Winchester M70 (post 92) which is a great rifle, finding one of these could be a great option to rebarrel ?

Thanks, I found a guy that does rebarrels on browning abolts all of the time and he said its no big deal. Another friend did one and said it wasn't a big deal either. That's what got me thinking that I would like to use one. I will be running it with a something like a nightforce 1-8x, so I really like the 60° bolt for running with a scope. The push feed did make me think a little bit, but I've never had one not feed good that was a problem related to the action and not a magazine or feed rail issue. I was thinking of using an abolt or getting a a terminus action. Thinking the abolt would be an easier way to go since I don't need to have the most accuracy as possible in that. Just reliability.

 

[Altitude sickness]

A lot of DG has been killed and stopped by PH’s carrying push feed rifles. Some prefer them because when you need just one more round quickly, you can throw it in and close it. instead of having to push it all the way down into the magazine then close it.

If you lined up 1000 dangerous game hunters there are perhaps 900 things they do wrong or don’t prepare for that are more likely to get them injured or killed then if the rifle is CRF or not.

Also, many bolt faces have been ground away and modified. Where very little is containing or controlling the cartridge anyway.

There are a dozen things more important to have nailed down by the human carrying the rifle than the rifle construction.

 

[WI-2021]

My shoulder hurts just thinking about it. I once had a Stainless Stalker in 30-06 and found its recoil surprisingly unpleasant. Between the stock design and poor recoil pad it hit way harder than a 30-06 should, at least to me. I wasn't a big fan of the magazine design, and the trigger was mediocre. I did like the 60 degree bolt and safety location, but would have preferred having the option to open the bolt with the rifle on safe. It was accurate and reliable.

If you like the rifle I don't see a great reason not to rebarrel, but I'd probably go with one of the custom Remclone actions first. It will likely cost more, but there are many more options available too. Several of them offer 75 degree bolts now, along with Terminus and Curtis with 60 degree. I have a few Pure Precision actions and like them. Defiance has some 75 degree options now too. I have a Rebel with a three-position safety that I really like, but mine is a 90 degree bolt. Impact precision has the 75 degree option too, but I have no experience with their actions. I've had no scope clearance issues with my Pure Precisions.

I had a .375 Ruger put together using a Pure Precision Summit ($700 Black Friday sale), a B&C stock, and a McGowan prefit. After adding a Triggertech Primary, BDL bottom metal, mag, etc. I was about $1900 into parts. That action is long enough for a .458 Lott. If you decide to go this route, I made a thread about it with more info.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/building-a-rifle-on-a-tight-budget.88242/

 

[kfreeze]

My shoulder hurts just thinking about it. I once had a Stainless Stalker in 30-06 and found its recoil surprisingly unpleasant. Between the stock design and poor recoil pad it hit way harder than a 30-06 should, at least to me. I wasn't a big fan of the magazine design, and the trigger was mediocre. I did like the 60 degree bolt and safety location, but would have preferred having the option to open the bolt with the rifle on safe. It was accurate and reliable.

If you like the rifle I don't see a great reason not to rebarrel, but I'd probably go with one of the custom Remclone actions first. It will likely cost more, but there are many more options available too. Several of them offer 75 degree bolts now, along with Terminus and Curtis with 60 degree. I have a few Pure Precision actions and like them. Defiance has some 75 degree options now too. I have a Rebel with a three-position safety that I really like, but mine is a 90 degree bolt. Impact precision has the 75 degree option too, but I have no experience with their actions. I've had no scope clearance issues with my Pure Precisions.

I had a .375 Ruger put together using a Pure Precision Summit ($700 Black Friday sale), a B&C stock, and a McGowan prefit. After adding a Triggertech Primary, BDL bottom metal, mag, etc. I was about $1900 into parts. That action is long enough for a .458 Lott. If you decide to go this route, I made a thread about it with more info.

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/building-a-rifle-on-a-tight-budget.88242/

I agree on the recoil, but with a limbsaver pad to replace the factory, no worse than anything else to me. I happen to have a McMillian stock for an abolt already. And the trigger adjists down to 2.5 lbs which I like for hunting. I really like the safety location on the browning rifles a lot better. I can run them faster and more comfortably than a 700 style safety. Maybe just because I've used one to do most of my hinting for the last 20 yrs. Haha

 

[WI-2021]

I agree on the recoil, but with a limbsaver pad to replace the factory, no worse than anything else to me. I happen to have a McMillian stock for an abolt already. And the trigger adjists down to 2.5 lbs which I like for hunting. I really like the safety location on the browning rifles a lot better. I can run them faster and more comfortably than a 700 style safety. Maybe just because I've used one to do most of my hinting for the last 20 yrs. Haha

Sounds like the decision is made for you then! The McMillan stock should hopefully help with recoil too. I should have mentioned it in my post, but I'm left-handed. That affliction reduces the already small aftermarket for A-Bolts to nothing, so a replacement stock wasn't an option for me short of true custom work.

Since you like the rifle now, I would imagine you'll also like the final result. Please follow-up on the results of the project.

 

[kfreeze]

You totally understand the frustration then. Haha! I just want to make sure I'm going to get great feeding from the larger diameter bullets, but a gentleman over on long range hunting siad that shouldn't be hard to get working great if it's an issue. Now to find my donor rifle...

 

[camperx]

I've had two 458 Lotts, picked up one built on a model 1917 enfield at an Anchorage pawn shop, repaired the stock and loaded for it, sold it, then had a second one built. What's wonderful about the Lott is it can be downloaded to 45 colt pistol levels, any level of 45-70, 458 win mag and full patch lott levels. I beg to differ with Murphy about the velocity level with 500 gr loads, as I consider 2300 fps a reasonable max velocity, and 2350 pushing it, but achievable with longer barrels, 2400 IMHO is way too hot.