got a chance to get a mark x in 458 only been fired once. are they a good action to start with for custom? I think i can get it cheap. can it be brought up to a 458 lott? whats a good deal?
dean

I have seen them done, and no problems as far as I know off,,The Interarms is very good steel and like the FN they are openned up in front, which is supposed to be taboo, but I have never heard of a interarms rifle blowing up, Holland did it, WR did it and many Mausers are done in that fashion, so I think it is mostly therory that the practice is unsafe...I do feel it is pushing the string with very high intensity rounds such as the 7 STW etc. but with 375, 458 etc. they have prover safe over the years...

Furthermore I would not open a M-98 or std. FN in the front anymore than necessary, do that work in the back of the action..The Interarms has allready been lenthened in front, sooo anymore openning should be in the rear.

I personally would not hesitate to shoot an opened up 458 in an interarms gun...

The Mark X action, if it is one of the Whitworth express rifles, is a duplicate of the FN action,except the trigger safety, and is a full length 375 H&H action. They handle the 458 Lott without any major problem. Just a little feeding polish, and a 375H&H length magazine box! I'm not sure about the 458 in the interarms ALASKAN model, it may not be open at the bottom, but it is no problem to open it to match the Whitworth MK-X!


[ 04-27-2003, 21:29: Message edited by: MacD37 ]

All of the Interarms Mark X receivers were made in Yugoslavia on FN commercial style machinery. They are of the standard length 98 pattern. Quality varies from year to year, so each action must be inspected individually. The Whitworth series were finished in England and tend to look nicer. Others can be very rough.

If yours is a .458, it should still have most of the metal up front. A competent smith will be able to remove the rest from the rear. This same action is used for their .375 H&H, except that a good deal of metal has already been removed up front.

I'll go with Ray on this one. My .300 H&H is built on the standard length Mark X action. The gun smith opened it up to accept the H&H. I have shot nothing but handloads in it and it is over 20 years old now. I have never noticed a problem with it

Tonto,
Have your smith check the action length. If, as I suspect, the .458 is built on the same action as the .375 then it is an easy conversion. The barrels on the Whitworths were hammer-forged rifling and seem to be exceptinally fast. My .375 gets over 2700 fps with loads the manuals say shouldn't go over 2650. I suspect that you will have a very easy time, at moderate pressure, getting the .450 NE ballistics that have stood the test of time and dangerous game for over a hundred years. Go buy a pith helmet.

Looked at the rifle its the English one. Just like brand new. Been shot very little. Is it worth $500.
Dean

No. It is actually worth from $600 to $700. I will graciously give you the asking price and a $50 finders fee.
Actually you should purchase and shoot the heck out of it and then convert it to the Lott. You will love the Mark X Whitworth. I have the 375 with a 1x4 Leupold on it and shoot it first every time I take out the big bores for practice.
Good find.
Frank

Should be no problem to make a Lott out of this. I'm with Ray on opening Mausers up in the back as much as possible. However, I've opened them in the front also and they did just fine. There is alot of Lore out there that's just plain BS.-Rob

Kurt C has the scoop.

Both ...

1) the complete .458 Win Mag Whitworth Express Rifle (it's purty)

and

2) the plain Mark X barreled action in .458 Win Mag that the Yugoslavian factory put on the market (Brownells, etc.)

... are not opened up on the bottom of the action as the .375 H&H Whitworth Express Rifle is, judging by those I have and have seen.

I have 1) and 2) above, and 4 other Mark X rifles, one of them in fact the .375 H&H Whitworth Express Rifle, and yes it HAS been opened up to the front.

You can do most of your opening of the .458 WinMag action to the rear with that rifle, and it would make an excellent .458 Lott, with some gunsmithing, though Ray could probably do it in a few minutes using only his thumbnail.

I was hooked on Interarms Mark X's before I came to know the BRNO's and now CZ's. The Mark X is petite compared to the CZ 550 Magnum.

[ 04-28-2003, 11:10: Message edited by: DaggaRon ]

I looked in some books and it looks just like the alaskan only it doesnt say alaskan on it just " mark x Manchester England " It doesnt have the barrel ring and has a montey carlo stock. Does that mean anything?
It is a nicely finished weapon "kinda slim" probaly kicks worse than my ruger #1 in 458 lott. but looks like it would make a nice start to a project. I just dont want to start out my rifle paying too much for a piece of junk. I can get it for $150 to $200 less than I can get a CZ550. So if its a good start I have $200 more to invest in goodies for her. Thanks
Dean

The rifles were made over about a 20 year period and the exact specs changed several times. Stock style, sights, etc. will vary from year to year. The ones assembled in England tend to be better finished than ones assembled wholly in Yugoslavia.

FWIW, I've got a late production Whitworth 458, and the action has not been opened up in front.

If you get it, I'd recommend you Steel-Bed the receiver and the secondary recoil lug before you put too many rounds through it. Mine split the stock through the wrist after no more than 3 or 400 rounds.

Cannon

I've got the Alaskan in 375 and it's a damn fine rifle. The magazine box is open at the bottom, and should work for you.

When you all say opened in the front do you mean metal removed from the rear of the lug?

Mike

Yes.
Opening the front means that if you extend the front of the magazine, you naturally have to remove the same amount from the lower lug support (feed ramp).
Opening in the rear means extending the rear of the box either by removing metal from the original or replacing it with a different style. Then you only have to adjust the bolt stop and ejector.

The 458 uses the standard reciever with the rails slightly wider, along with the magnum bolt face.

Regarding new triggerguards, both Blackburn, and myself move the rear wall of the box back as far as possible. This requires about .040" removed from the bolt stop to increase travel to match up with the new rear wall of the guard. Then you can open the front up. Also we make the width the proper .990 at the rear so they stack properly.

The mag box is too short, without better metal, other than that, it's a pretty decent place to start.

If you want a dirt cheap lott, start with a cz in458...

500 is a great price... i don't think it's worth 600, though... sorry... they AREN'T cz 550s, the wood AINT nice, and 600 is only 30 bucks less than what you can get a cz550 for...

jeffe

Thanks KurtC

I guess I've read too many warnings against this practice in the Kuhnhaeusen manual..

So how much can you remove "normally" on one of these things?

Mike