Hi Guys:

Can a Ruger M77 458 Win Mag, Push Feed, be rechambered for the 458 Lott?

I know the barrel can be reamed out the extra .3 of an inch. But is the 458 Bolt action long enough to handle the Lott cartridge?

The Lott is basically the same lenght as a 375 H&H is it not? I don't think Ruger would have a different size bolt for the 458 & 375...???

I have the Ruger, an older one, in excellent condition. I thought it would be fun to try out the Lott...

You help would be appreciated...

Jim P.

I don't believe the magazine box is long enough.

Hello PAHunter,

I say go for it, rechamber ONLY and do nothing else (but see caveat at the end)....

The bolt and magazine are too short to feed the Lott cartridge from the magazine, so don't mess with that and you should be able to feed WMs from the magazine just like it does now.

The Lott would be a single shot only proposition, and you would most likely have to remove the bolt to eject a loaded Lott round, but hey, it should work! Then you put the WMs in the magazine for "back up" shots!

One caveat, I forget what kind of ejector (blade or plunger) that action has. I think it is a plunger type, which would work, but if is a blade type, you may not be able to eject a loaded Lott round even if you remove the bolt, because the rim might hang up on the ejector blade, and not let the nose of the bullet out of the ejection port.

Regards, Bill

What Bill M is trying hard not to say is, the pusfeed 458 Ruger 77 is simply too short, for a 375 H&H length cartridge, you would be better off leaving it 458 Win Mag, selling it and getting a CZ 550 458, and simply rechamber! The CZ is CRF as well!

I agree with MacD37- Get a CZ and have it properly rechambered. NOT BY HAND!-Rob

Rob, Mac,

Since you guys don't really want to answer his questions, I might as well join you and say "Sell the 458WM because the action is too short and buy the new M77 RSM in 458Lott". Then he won't have to do any rechambering.

But that's not what he asked, is it?

Regards, Bill

Thanks Bill M & Guys:

I kind of knew that the magazine would be short, but wasn't sure of the bolt lenght.

The gun is in excellent condition, and shoots sub 1 inch groups at 50 yards with open sights, and Remington Swift A Frame 450 grn factory ammo.

How much do you think I can get for this M77 Ruger 458 Mag..??? Again it is a push feed, not a CRF.....but in great shape.

I REALLY like the looks of the new Ruger 458 Lott.
But I bet they will be pricey.

Jim P.

Hello Jim,

That's a tough one. Ruger no longer chambers the M77 in 458WM, so there is nothing to compare it to. I'll take a wild guess, and say that it should be worth $500 minimum for the RS in excellent condition.

The retail price on the RSM in 458Lott is going to be right at $1700, so the "street price" should be $12-1300, but they probably won't hit the street for a while. Again, that is just a guess on my part.

I hope I didn't piss off Mac and Rob, just having a little fun. I have to agree with them that starting with a CZ550 Safari Magnum in 458Win Mag and rechambering to Lott would be a much cheaper route to the Lott.

If you're going to rechamber a 458, you also might want to take a look at the 450 Watts Magnum. You can also shoot Lott and WinMag in that one. Not sure how much extra effort would be required to get the Watts to feed out of the CZ550, though. The Lott would probably feed with little/no modification.

Also, there seems to be differences in the brass/chamber lengths on the Lott, the consensus seems to be that a 2.850" case/chamber length is preferred and should then handle all available Lott brass.

Regards, Bill

I have seen BRNO 602's rechambered from 458 WM to Lott that won't feed soft points properly. Some professional working of the ramp/rails might be the trick, so best to budget for that just in case.

PAHunter,

I'm glad I said "minimum". When I checked my old Bluebook last night, the 458s are bringing a little more than I thought. You can probably add $100 if it's the "RS Safari" and another $50 if it's the "RSC".

Regards, Bill

I have to bring this one out again and post some pictures. About a year ago, I picked up a Pre-War M70 long action( guy said it came off a .375 H&H and it had the long mag box for $400 along with a decent M70 stock for $75 at some gunshow. I bought a Pac-nor #5 contour barrel and a .450 Ackley reamer. It was a rainy weekend and I had the time so it kinda all came together. No action work was needed at all, the thing fed and ejected flawlessly and hit the magic 2400fps with a 500 gr bullet with definately better than minute of Buff accuracy. I'll bet my total investment was no more than $625.
If you hunt for the same parts you could get Pac-Nor to duplicate the machine work, fitting and chambering for probably $275-$350. Add $100 for blueing and your still under $1K.
Something to consider.-Rob

Thanks Mac, I value and respect your expertise and opinions too much to risk losing them! I've learned a lot from both you and RGB (and several others on this forum), and still have a long way to go....