Hey Guys,

Just ordered the dies, and Hornady brass from Midway for the .458 Lott, and I am waiting on the reamer to convert my .458 Win Brno 602 over to the Lott. Hopefully I can get a little better feeding with this cartridge, as my .458 rounds occasionally get a little off canter going into the bore and I get a jam. Anyway, I routinely shoot 400 grain Barnes X bullets at over 2400 fps with the stock 25" barrel, using 76 grains of AA 2015. I am wondering if anyone has tried any loads with the Accurate Arms powder for the longer Lott? The stuff performs so well in the short .458 Win, that I wonder if I am going to get any real performance increase out of the Lott with the light 400 gr. bullets? I would really like to know what kind of performance everyone is getting with 400-450 gr. X bullets, and any powder info is certainly appreciated. I am just really curious if anyone has tinkered with the AA powders. Anyway I also occasionally load the Barnes Original 600 gr. bullets, and would be curious to know if anyone has any real world data from the Lott with these heavyweights?

Thanks guys for all the help.

Your welcome.

Tony I have never loaded for the lot, but if you do a search in the African, Big Bore, and Reloading forms you should find a "LOTT" of load info. [sorry for the pun could not resist ]
I am assuming you live in WV and guide in AK, do you operate out of Dillingham?

N E 450 No2,

I do live in WV, and I have only been through Dillingham once, on the way to King Salmon. I hunt the Chugach and Talkeetna Mountains for sheep, and the central Alaska Peninsula for big brownies.

Tony- the following are some good loads in the Lott. Have info on the 600 gr also but can't find it right now. I am going to do some load development this weekend on the Lott and the 416 rem mag. If I find anything exciting on the Lott I will let you know. Usual caveat on the following loads( you may want to start a little lower in your rifle and might consider a little free bore)

300 gr rem hollow point - 100 gr 2230 with a WLRM primer drives it at 2800 fps. Not a good load for penetration on game but puts a hell of a dent in a 5/8" steel plate.

300 gr cast lead gas check bullet, 59 gr 3031 with a WLRM.

500 gr Hornady encapsulated, 82 gr 4320 WLRM

500 gr cast lead gas check, 55 gr 3031 WLRM

[ 07-09-2003, 03:13: Message edited by: Cherokee Ed ]

I have loaded a good deal for the 458 Lott...Several of the Lotts I built liked 83 to 85 grs. of IMR-4320 and that is the only powder that I could get 2350 FPS with a 500 gr. bullet.

The NO. 135, May-June, 1991 issue of Rifle magazine has an article by G. Sitton, that is a very good article on loading for the Lott..

Tony, I have an excellent load--and I haven't seen anyone else post it either. It's 83 gr. of VV540 in BeLL brass with a Federal 215 primer, all behind a big Woodleigh 500 grainer, solid or Weldcore soft, with a heavy crimp, obviously. It delivers between 2,150 and 2,200 out of my 24 inch barrelled custom CZ 550 Magnum (it's an AHR Safari 550 DGR model). I have found it to be a very powerful and accurate load in my rifle.