Does anyone know what the load is for the Hornady .458 Lott factory solids and softs? Obviously, the bullets are 500 grain Hornady's but I am curious if anyone knows what the powder they use is and what charge they use. Want to come up with a load that duplicates the factory load as closely as possible. Thanks.

I haven't shot any factory ammo in my Lott but using Hornady components and Varget powder I managed to get a bit better velocity than Hornady claims with no pressure signs.

Interestingly enough Midway now shows the Hornady 500gr softpoint load as "Discontinued by Factory" ? ? Midway Hornady Lott listing
Maybe they're changing the recipe...

Closest home cooked loads to match the Hornady Factory loads:

(recipe requires Hornady .458 Lott brass and F-215 primer)

500 gr soft:
RL-15 84.0 grains
or
Varget Extreme 85.0 grains

500 gr solid:
RL-15 83.0 grains
or
Varget 84.0 grains

Maybe the "discontinued by the factory" indicates that Hornady is going to try and address the concerns that are being increasingly expressed about the poor performance of the interbonds on thick skinned game in Africa. Interesting.

Ok guys what kind of velocity are you getting out of these loads?
Can the lott do 2400fps with 500gr pills????
thanks

Hi PRDATOR,
500-grainers at 2200 to 2250 fps is what I aim for in a 25" barreled .458 Lott, and that is all that the Hornady factory loads will do in my experience with a CZ 550 Magnum.

Hornady claims 500-grainers at 2300 fps with unspecified barrel length. That is optimistic.

Prdator,

I managed a bit over 2,300 with 84.0 grains of Varget from my 24" barreled Parker Hale, but you have to heavily compress that load. I've dropped back to 82.0 grains for 2,250 fps and that seems to put the rifle and my shoulder in better harmony.

Remember that these loads were safe in my rifle but you'd have to be crazy to use load data obtained from some putz on the Internet (who has a tag line involving tequila) without doing you own load development!!

I hope the "discontinued" notice is an indication Hornady is re-designing their soft point for thick-skinned dangerous game. Accuracy of their current load is excellent and POI between their softs and solids is identical. Sadly however, the softs do not hold together when inside m'bogo.

Before I left for Tanzania last September, Steve johnson with Hornady assured me the Hornady Interbonds were good for cape buffalo and I had nothing to worry about. Granted, I killed buffs using that load, but both softs were sent straight through the hearts broadside (no heavy bone encountered) and followed with multiple solids to the shoulder. The recovered interbonds were about 50% of original weight with fragments scattered in the tissues. I truly doubt the Interbonds would have penetrated to the vitals if they would have struck heavy bone.
If given the choice of exclusively using Hornady ammo in my Lott for cape buff, knowing what I know now, I would load all solids.

I likeee 84 gr IMR4320 behind 500 gr Woodleigh soft.

What is Norbert's N540 load?

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
I likeee 84 gr IMR4320 behind 500 gr Woodleigh soft.

What is Norbert's N540 load?

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Something is wrong with their loads. There is no reason to not get 2350 fps with a 500 grain bullet using IMR4320.

is that the load you get 2350 with, dan? knowing the lott and how it interacts with quickload, that "says" 2347 at 69kPSI... both of which, with quickload and the lott, tend to be 5-7% overstated, or 2250 at best.

Perhaps you were unclear on the discussion, H O R N A D Y loads, which, would of course, mean hornady bullets.

What twist do you get your 2350 with?

Serious question.
jeffe