Reloading 458 Lott with 450 watts dies

19 May 2010, 11:02

When I purchased my Lott it came with a set of dies. I never really paid attention to the dies until recently. The dies are 450 Watts. I know the two rounds are almost identicle. Can they be used to reload the Lott? Anything special I need to know if I can use them? Finally what is the difference between the two rounds?
Thanks

19 May 2010, 16:00

jeffeosso

the watts dies should not crimp the lott, other than that, will work

opinions vary band of bubbas and STC hunting Club

Information on Ammoguide about
the416AR, 458AR, 470AR, 500AR
What is an AR round? Case Drawings 416-458-470AR and 500AR.
476AR,
http://www.weaponsmith.com

19 May 2010, 19:29

RIP

And the reason for what Jeff says is the only difference in the cartridges: brass case max length

450 Watts: 2.850" (it came first)
.458 Lott: 2.800"

19 May 2010, 22:03

anonymousbob

The plot thikens. Well not really. I hit up the guy I bought the rifle from, and asked about the dies. He said the dies came with the gun when he got it and believes he was told that the gun was reemed to accept the 450 watts. I then was looking over some of the reloading notes from the original owner and he had written down " 450 Watts 350 Grain with 72 Grain 4895" next to some of the other reloading info. The gun also came with 50 or so "Standard Cases" with no markings on them. I can not find any information on the Watts. I am guessing it is a slightly longer Lott. Is there an advantage to the Watts? Is it worth more research? I am sure somebody around here can school me on the subject?
Thanks

20 May 2010, 02:51

RIP

IMHO, it is a good thing to chamber your Lott with a Watts reamer and just call it a Lott for headstamp availability purposes.
A lot of shooters do this just for the extra wiggle room.

If you simply fireform a .375 H&H case of 2.85" length in a .458 Lott or Watts, you will shorten the case to about 2.80" when you blow it out.

If you use Hornady H&H Basic Cylindrical brass, you can have the 2.85" Watts/Lott by sizing and trimming.

.458 Lott trim-to-length is 2.790"
450 Watts trim-to-length is 2.840".

If you got a rifle chambered with a 450 Watts reamer, you have done well, even if it says ".458 Lott" on the barrel.
No harm using 2.800" brass in a 2.850" chamber.

I have been meaning to rechamber my CZ Lott to Watts chamber.
The Ruger No.1 Lott got rechambered to 450 NE already.
A plain vanilla .458 Lott is just kind of boring, a big bore.

20 May 2010, 03:42

BigFiveJack

quote:
Originally posted by RIP:
IMHO, it is a good thing to chamber your Lott with a Watts reamer and just call it a Lott for headstamp availability purposes.
A lot of shooters do this just for the extra wiggle room.

If you simply fireform a .375 H&H case of 2.85" length in a .458 Lott or Watts, you will shorten the case to about 2.80" when you blow it out.

If you use Hornady H&H Basic Cylindrical brass, you can have the 2.85" Watts/Lott by sizing and trimming.

.458 Lott trim-to-length is 2.790"
450 Watts trim-to-length is 2.840".

If you got a rifle chambered with a 450 Watts reamer, you have done well, even if it says ".458 Lott" on the barrel.
No harm using 2.800" brass in a 2.850" chamber.

I have been meaning to rechamber my CZ Lott to Watts chamber.
The Ruger No.1 Lott got rechambered to 450 NE already.
A plain vanilla .458 Lott is just kind of boring, a big bore.

Good post!

20 May 2010, 08:58

anonymousbob

Thanks I really appresiate the help. I confirmed it is 450 watts. Now i just got to find some good reloading data. Somehow it is cooler now
Bob

20 May 2010, 23:47

RIP

Any .458 WinMag crimper die will work.
Lee Factory Crimp die is available off the shelf and is a good addition to any die set of the 450Watts/.458Lott ilk.
Use .458 Lott data in the 450 Watts, and you have a little extra room for powder.
Lower pressure or higher velocity ... like peppering the fly poop though ... since the difference is so miniscule: 0.050" case length

JackPhantomHuckleberryHoundDog, RIP