I have a #1 tropical in .458 Lott. I have been shooting it for about a year now and am pretty used to the recoil. I load Hornady 500 softs at 2206 fps. I recently bought a box of .458 Win. 510 gr. softs at a gun show. When I shot one I was surprised that the recoil was much sharper than my Lott loads. I did not chrono the Win. loads but they shouldn't be anywere near Lott. could it be a differance in powders burn rate? I am using 79 gr.of h335

Why could the win mag be no where near the Lott at 2200fps? Granted, the load would be near or at the top. The Lott could achieve 2200 at relatively low pressure while the win mag would be pushed to the top of its ability there by creating a much more pronounced recoil curve. Load the Lott to 2350fps and then compare the recoil of the two rounds.

+1 to that Joe

Good qusetion,Stubert! I was convinced my Win mag kicked more than my Lott until I continued to shoot them and realized that it wasn't so.If you fire a few rounds from one rifle,some shots will kick you harder than others,but they will all be loaded the same.Then there are days that you will feel that a rifle kicked harder beacause you are simply tired that day or it's cold outside and you have less blood circulation to the further parts of the body.I am sure,after a bunch of shooting,you'll really notice the difference and see that the Lott kicks harder.

A 450 A Frame in the WM at 2200 does pound you a good bit, much worse than stock Norma 500 grain loads. Lion medicine, I believe.

A faster powder can deliver a quicker jab. Might be the case in this instance.

It may be the Stocks. My lott doesn't kick bad at all thats at 2350fps 500gr bullet. I have a Lamanated stock on my 458 Lott and it fits real well. I've shot a 458 Win that kicked a lot more than my lott before.

I believe Stubert is firing both of these loads in the same rifle.

Could you be holding the Lott tighter in expectation of more recoil?

Have only owned 2 458 Win Mags but felt they were the most punishing rifles I have ever shot.
Have no idea why as both were customs and stocked by me to fit me. I built them a couple of years apart and after the second one I just figured the 458 was just too much of a good thing as I am very sensistive to recoil in any case. And I DON'T subscribe to the 'you can get used to it' theory espoused by many. I've been shooting for well over 60 years and it still hurts when it hurts,period.

quote:

Originally posted by stubert:
I have a #1 tropical in .458 Lott. I have been shooting it for about a year now and am pretty used to the recoil. I load Hornady 500 softs at 2206 fps. I recently bought a box of .458 Win. 510 gr. softs at a gun show. When I shot one I was surprised that the recoil was much sharper than my Lott loads. I did not chrono the Win. loads but they shouldn't be anywere near Lott. could it be a differance in powders burn rate? I am using 79 gr.of h335

What's your number one weigh? I've said long and hard that the reason many rounds have a rep for recoil is cheap, big 3 powders poorly suited for the intended purpose. You'll have to let us know...

The advantage of a bigger case is equal velocity, with slower powder, and recoil spread out.

Stock fit or weight.

The internal ballistics of the two loads might make a difference, but I think Boom Stick might be closer to the real answer. The last batch of 510 grain Winchester loads I had (recent silver box) was solidly above 2000fps with some up around 2100. Thats not wimpy stuff. All you hear these days about the 458 win is how wimpy it is, especially compared to the Lott. In reality they are both in the same ball park and are both seriously hard kickers. It could be that you were expecting a more significant difference and you let your guard down, just a little bit, and you got hit harder. I'll bet that after a while you do find that the factory 458s do have slightly less recoil than your Lott reloads.

I was shooting them in the same rifle, The gun is a stock #1 laminated, stainless with a limsaver pad. 9.5 lbs? Yes, the Lott does kick a little, and I expect it, so I am inclined to think that maybe it WAS me relaxing a bit. I still have most of the box of Win mags left so now I have an excuse to shoot more.
Thanks, Stu

Guys the reason the .458 win mag kicks harder is its been loaded to higher pressures than your Lott. A steep rising pressure curve will be perceived as kicking very hard independent of the ultimate velocity achieved. Some of the .458 win high performance loads from federal and others are probably pushing 63Kpsi with proprietary powders. Its not just ME velocity and bullet weight but also how you get there.-Rob

Chrono both rounds.. Ive found that the freebore of the .458 win mag ammo in the lott chamber can increase velocity 100-150 fps from book velocities in the loads i chronographed.. The lyman book said the load would be 1900 fps, the chrono said 2147. It booted me like a tough guy should.. I will not load it up more even tho the primers showed absolutly no pressure problems.. dave