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Carefully consider chamber length for the 458 Lott. Standard is for 2.80" brass, and will actually chamber about a 2.82" or 2.83" case, depending on the reamer maker. However, there is a good bit of 2.85" Lott brass and loaded commercial cartridges floating around, and much commercial Lott brass in Africa is 2.85" length. Whoops, will not chamber in a standard "American" Lott chamber. If your rifle will see international use, have a reamer ground so the chamber will accept 2.85" cases (My Lott reamer has a 2.860" case length.) I have some Lott brass that measures 2.85" to 2.855".

A note on using "Basic Brass" for the Lott: some has a thick neck and will not chamber in a standard Lott chamber. And some thick necked brass that will chamber will result in dangerous over pressures. When assembling loads for the Lott, be sure to measure the neck diameter with a bullet seated in the case, and compare with your chamber dimensions.

A good item to make with the chamber reamer is to take a short length of 458 barrel and chamber it with the reamer that you chamber the rifle barrel with. Now you have a nice gauge to check loaded cartridges. I make them so the end of the case is flush when the cartridge is seated. Makes a nice GO/NOGO gauge for checking the ammo to be sure it will chamber.

That gives me another reason not to want a 458 Lott. Thanks John for the info!

Thanks for the info John. I have heard that most modern Lott reamers actually ream a 2.85" chamber, like the Watts. I think the Ackley is a better round, and my gunsmith has an Ackley reamer, but I wanted something with easily available brass, with the proper headstamp. The Win mag compatibility is a non-issue for me, I would never do it unless I had to.

I am correct about the Lott reamers? Or should I be looking for just a Watts?

Todd

The Lott is a fine cartridge if the gunbuilder knows what is up with the chamber dimensions. SAAMI standard is the short version, so before you obtain a reamer have the reamer maker send a drawing for you to edit. Re the thick neck issue, this is not a problem if you buy properly headstamped brass. There were several discussions on Lott case length last year, do a search, I think in the big bore forum, might be in the Africa forum or the Gunsmith forum. Several of the African hunters measured their ammo and posted the case lengths, looks like you need a chamber for 2.85" cases if you ever have to use ammo obtained in Africa. But, it is a good idea to build all Lotts for the longer case length, as some time in the future the rifle may find its way into Africa and be required to use locally obtained ammo.

It is a good idea to have the reamer drawing anyway, regardless of the cartridge you are chambering for. This way you can be sure of what you have. When I buy a new reamer, I have the reamer maker send me a drawing first, so I can check it and make any changes before the reamer is ground. Just because a reamer is SAAMI does not mean it is correct!!!!! And the gauge I mentioned above is a good idea for any DGR rifle, so you can check all your ammo without having to run it in the chamber. I would carry a gauge in the rifle case, so if one has to obtain local ammo, it is real quick to check if the cartridges will chamber. If you make one, be sure to engrave the cartridge info and the rifle serial number on the gauge.

[ 01-31-2003, 19:24: Message edited by: John Ricks ]