I have probably asked this before; if so, either did nor understand the answer or forgot; so, I'll ask again. My rifles sleep in Dallas while I live on St. Thomas and I cannot measure the magazine. I have a pre64 Mod 70 in 458wm: does anyone know if the magazine box is long enough to accept the 458 lott and how is the barrel marked. Is it 458,or, 458 wm and how do you mark the barrel to reflect the change to 458 lott?

The 458 Win mag box you mention is long enough but it is the same box used in their 375 H&H. The problem is that the box narrows along the sides towards the front of the box. 375 cartridges work in it because they also narrow to the front and the 458 Win works because it ends before the box narrows too much. With the Lott they are wide enough at the front end to jamb in the narrow front portion of the box. The new Mod 70 box used for the Lott doesn't narrow down but it won't fit the Pre-64. To get them to work you have to seat the bullet in deeper than the normal crimp grove. Another option is to shorten the case by 1/10" to 2/10", depending on what your box needs. Then you can seat to the crimp grove. I used this option first but found that after the first 100 rounds the front of the mag box was bent up like a pretzel. Another problem with this method is that you can't use factory ammo. I then had a gunsmith make a box with less taper and the problem was solved.

But why in the world would you want to rechamber your Pre-64 458? They are now worth a small fortune and if you rechamber, it's value will drop by at least 50%. You could buy a Ruger RSM for that difference.

465H&H

well, I have had a lot of mod's done to the rifle by G&H, so, it has no collectors value

send the rifle, and a smallish check, to Jib Kobe or Dennis Olson and forget about it every having been a winmag

quote:

Originally posted by Bryan Chick:
I have probably asked this before; if so, either did nor understand the answer or forgot; so, I'll ask again. My rifles sleep in Dallas while I live on St. Thomas and I cannot measure the magazine. I have a pre64 Mod 70 in 458wm: does anyone know if the magazine box is long enough to accept the 458 lott and how is the barrel marked. Is it 458,or, 458 wm and how do you mark the barrel to reflect the change to 458 lott?

Why bother? If there's something you can't get done with a 500 grain bullet at 2200 from a winmag, you need a .500 Jeffery, not an extra 50-100 fps.