Anyone have 458 Lott cartridges or cases made in South Africa? I am interested in the case length as I will be building several rifles that will go to Africa. SAAMI standard is 2.80 inches, but I had my reamer ground for 2.85 inches case length as I have been told long cases exist in SA.

John...just looked at your web-site and see you went to Auburn. I was down in Alabama a few years ago hunting deer and the wife of the owner of the property was about the biggest "Bama" fan I've ever seen....photos of Bear Bryant all over the place. Being a multiple graduate of Penn State I took a lot of grief about football but the funniest thing I've ever seen was a small bow saw hanging in the bunkhouse....instead of a saw blade it had a link of chain between the ends of the bows. When I ask what it was I was told it was an "Auburn chain saw".

Ah, you saw the improved version! (Pun intended)

Living in the Pacific NW, when folks ask me where I went to school for the M.E. skin, I reply that my school is in L.A. They always bite and ask "Where in Los Angeles?" My answer is nope, you are wrong, it's Lower Alabama.

Bear Bryant never lost a game, but he ran out of time on a few occasions.

John, if you can be patient I will take a vernier up to Pietersburg and measure one of Ken Stewart's cases, they are for sale in a shop there. Offhand I would venture they are made from already drawn but un-necked 375H+H brass made by PMP, so they would be the same length as fireformed 375's.

Pete.

John, it makes little difference, as long as they are long enough. Since the Lott is a handload proposition anyway, the cases have to be trimmed anyway to square up the case mouth.

Pete,
The case most are made from here are the 45 belted basic cases made by NORMA, and must be trimmed back for the first loading, as a standard chamber would be proper!

John,
I have a 458 Lott and have cases from both PMP and OPM which are drawn by PMP and finished by OPM. I also have MAST cases from USA.
The dimensions are as follows:
PMP---72.25mm
OPM---71.00mm
MAST---71.00mm
Sorry I do not have the measurements in inches.

Hope this helps.

Regards
Selwyn
Maclaren Safaris
www.maclaren.co.za

Mac, I have built several Lotts and have seen cases from 2.76" to 2.85", hence my question. My hunch tells me to chamber at 2.85" and take care of everything.

All this is a mute point for a U.S. hunter that rolls his own. But for a gent or a PH in Africa, that relies on whatever shows up, chamber length is very critical. I have formed Lott brass from practically everything, and have had some old A-Square brass that was 2.83" to 2.85"

Pete, thanks for the effort, I remain interrested in what you find.

Selwyn, the conversion is 25.4mm equals one inch. So the 72.25mm is 2.845" and the 71mm is 2.795". Again, a 2.85" chamber is required for the "International Rifle", especially one that resides in Africa.

Hi John,

I bought 200 Lott cases from PMP, only work I did on the cases before loading up was to run them through case trimmer to square them off, trimmed primer pockets and deburred flash holes.

The PMP cases are a little longer than others I have seen, but I'll have to haul out my reloading files to give you exact case lengths, plus measure some new cases. I'll do this tonight when I back home and post detail later.

PS - my BRNO 602 458 was reamed out by Kevan Healy of Bloemfontein Custom using a "long reamer" which gives me a bit more freedom and flexibility in case choice.

Regards

[ 08-22-2002, 20:38: Message edited by: Peter V ]

Hi John,

I have just measured a handfull of my PMP cases (unfired / as purchased)- they average out at 72.30 mm, records show case length of 72mm used for reloads (after trimming).

Records from Smithy show that my Lott chamber is 2,85 inches.

Hope this helps

Peter, thanks again!

American reamer grinders and SAAMI specs call for 2.80 inch cases. In my opnion this is unsatisfactory for rifles destined for Africa. I had my Lott reamer ground to accept 2.85 cases. Think I will remind my reamer grinder to note his records for future reamer sales.

[ 08-25-2002, 06:38: Message edited by: John Ricks ]

John,

I am back in San Diego from our visit, and my mail box had the July, 2002 issue of Man/Magnum. In the Cartridge of the Month they present the .458 Lott.

Koos Barnard reports that the RSA locally made cases are PMP .375 H&H basic brass that comes off the production line at a "tad longer than 71.12 mm".

That would make the basic cases a tad longer than 2.80". Koos also says forming to Lott will shorten the brass by about 1 mm. He says locally chambered rifles will accept longer brass, so it is not a problem.

It sounds like your reamer is cheap insurence.

jim dodd