just wanting to know if anyone out there has an opinion on the 400gr speer fnsp. i plan to load them in a 458 lott for use on buff,horse,donkey and pigs here in australia. how soft are they? will they break up at close range etc any info at all would be greatly appreciated.

Sav,

I have used them a fair bit and they open up violently on smaller stuff at 45/70 speeds so at lott speeds they will be hopeless. I have also tried them in my lott and could not get an exit on grassy's at 150 or so yards the bullet split in two. I would suggest the woodleigh 400 gr protected point if your set on a 400 gr bullet or even better just load the 500 gr woodleigh soft it shoots well in my cz lott.

thanks for the advice mate, i will give the 500gn woodlieghs a go

Since you are from the Land Down Under, Woodleighs are probably even cheaper than Hornadys, but I have used the 350 grain Hornady RN at speeds from 1900fps [45/70] to 2330fps [450 No2] with great results on deer and wild pigs.
The Speer is a MUCH softer bullet, I have used it in the 45/70 on deer. I would not want to drive it over 1800 fps and expect deep penetration.
On buff I would stick to 500 gr Woodleigh Softs and solids.

Even Speer considers them soft. Speer recommends their 350-grain bullet for .45/70 users who are pursuing big bears. I don't know if these are tough enough for the Lott velocities, but the 400-grain flatnoes isn't. I use it with 53 grains of IMR 3031 in the .45/70, but just for thin-skinned game like deer & caribou. The old 405-grain Remington bullet seems a lot tougher than the Speer!

The toughest and best bullet for the 45-70, 45-90 etc. is the 350 gr. RN Hornady..it works well but not in a Lott....

None of the bullets made for the old Winchesters work in the 458 Win. or the 458 Lott on big stuff like buffalo IMO..stick with the wonderfull Woodleighs in soft and solid and you will never go wrong.

I reckon "for the 45/70" the toughest bullet would be woodleigh 405 gr 45/70 bullet. Woodleigh specifically make a bullet for the 45/70 and it is a real gem.

The norfolks look great but as usual none of the good stuff gets down to us at Oz

That is why we are woodleigh crazy !!

Last December I contacted Hornady and Remington regarding their respective 405g. fpsp for Bison. Both said that these particular bullets were intended for deer and bear (Black bear) and did not think they were suited to Elk or Bison. I ended up with a Barnes 350 "X" (the one designed for .458 Win) which does very well out of a Browning 1885 45-70 or Ruger #1 45-70. So, you can probalby lump Hornady and Remington 405g. bullets in with Speer as a marginal bullet for anything larger than deer.

Per Randy Brooks, the 350 "X" is good in a heavily loaded 45-70, just make sure there is nothing on the other side of the Bison that you don't want to kill. Three shots through the heart/lung area and no recovered bullest is what I experienced.

I and an 1100 lbs moose disagree. The 405 grain Remington JSP is more than adequate for anything in North America except the brown bears. It has a harder core than the Speer, and while the jacket is thin, it is assisted in clinging to the core by a swaged step below the nose and two cannulures. I shot a front quartering moose at 125 yards with the 405 grain Remington JSP driven 1950 fps in my Marlin 1895 where it smashed the front shoulder, penetrated another 30 inches or so and exited leaving a 2" hole (with or without the jacket I don't know). The moose took several steps away from the water and collapsed. However, I would expect the Remington would also become a bomb even at 2400 fps let alone what you could push it in a Lott. In addition, Hornady does not make a 405 grain bullet so I wonder who you talked to at Hornady. They do make a 300 grain hollow point (certainly a deer and black bear bullet) and two 350 grainers, a flat and a round nose, either of which are stout enough for all North American game, again except perhaps the brown bears. Hornady also makes two 500 grain .458" bullets, a round nose now as an Interbond and a round nose full metal jacket.

If you find a good guy who can take care of North Fork in AUS I may be able to help you with export of North Forks.

I have arranged for the only export they (North Fork) have done and will continue to do so.

If you know someone who would be interested you can have him send me an e-mail.

Jackfish, you are rightregarding Hornady. I checked my records. The second bullet manufacturer I contacted was in fact Speer re: their 400 g. bullet.

Glad you had good luck with the moose.

I am only relating what the companies (Remington and Speer) told me. No disrespect intended, but that's the information that they provided me, and I accepted it as their expert advice.