I just recieved my new to me 458 lott barreled action from John Ricks last night. I'd sent him a Ruger #1-H 458 win mag take off barrel and a VZ-24 action to bring together as a 458 Lott.

He cut approximately 2" off the barrel to remove the rear 1/4 rib holes that are drilled deeply into the barrel. Then threaded and indexed the barrel and chambered as a lott, and opened up the bolt and extractor.

Turns out a Williams wgos 1" rear sight will match Rugers hole spacing for the front of the 1/4 rib, so thats the sight I'll start out with.

With the thick Ruger barrel the gun ballances well, a bit barrel heavy, and enough weight to soak up the Lott's recoil. Looks pretty slick with the barrel band front sight and sling swivel. I still need to work out the mag and feed rails, and to get the bolt where it belongs.

Pics? :-)

Red

Good for you Paul!

Now he has more time to devote to my 404 Jeffery! LOL!

Yo! Rusty, correct!

Anyway, Paul's rifle is an inexpensive way to get into a Lott, provided one is willing to do the magazine, rail, feeding, and bolt handle work as Paul is doing.

All I did was to install the Ruger No. 1 barrel on the M98 and open up the bolt face, and run the 458 Lott reamer into the barrel.

Makes for a nice looking barreled action and the weight is correct for the Lott recoil.

This is a good way to make a 458 of any type on a M98 action, or a M70, or a Montana M99. You have the front sight ramp and the barrel band swivel already installed.

As the M70 and the M99 are the same threads as the No. 1, you only have to take a small portion of the rear of the barrel off to get rid of the No. 1 extractor cut, recut the shoulder and recut the threads and mill in an extractor slot if a M70. This way, you can still use the rib with just a little shortening.

Just find a take off No. 1 Ruger barrel and start making chips! I have a new unfired take off No. 1 barrel in 458, just waiting for the next victim action to be selected.

Paul,
Glad it turned out so well, for I have discussed a similar project with my local gunsmith.

I have a Ruger No.1 416 Rigby take-off barrel that will have 2.5" cut off of its breech. That gets into the neck portion of the 416 Rigby chamber and still leaves enough shank portion of the fat barrel to rethread for a Ruger 77 MKII or FN Mauser. It will become a 21.5" barreled 416 Taylor, but shortening the barrel will help the balance. Maybe some lead in the butt too.

That barrel knocked a deer down at 343 yards as a Rigby. The action became a 510 JAB(500A2). Hopefully the barrel will be as accurate as a Taylor.