What is the difference .458 Win.Mag. & 458 Lott?

The LOTT is a 'Magnum Length' Magnum.
The Win.Mag. is a 'short' Magnum.

Is this an apt description of the difference between the two?
Also the reason that the Mauser magazine boxes must be 'widened'?

With all the information on this thread, I'm leaning towards spending the extra money on getting the Remington 798/ZASTAVA .458 Win.Mag. rifle re-worked and re-chambered to .458 LOTT.

I keep remembering the smile on my face when I held the Hornady .458 LOTT ammunition in my hands.
The CZ 550 American Safari was a nice rifle, but I'm more inclined to get the '798'.
The difference in co$t would allow me to build the 798 more to my taste with the parts and accessories plus the work involved and still end up spending about the same amount of money.
The only downside would be having 1 or 2 fewer cartridges in the magazine.

This is a great thread.

Whitworth's thread wherin he says he got 2,150 FPS with Hornady heavy mag loads in the 458 in a CZ rifle (with I think a 25 inch barrel) is very interesting to me as I use that ammo in my 458.

Hornady advertises something like 226o which is almost like their advertised 458 Lott velocity with the same bullet but they do not say how long the test barrel was.

I once followed up a wounded buffalo and when he stood up I shot him in the head at 10 yards with a 458 Hornady 500 grain heavy mag solid. It worked but the bullet stayed in the skull. I expected it to go crashing on through. The penetration was not what I wanted. I like it to keep going into the neck in case you go under the brain.

I was using a short barrelled 458. I though it was 21 inches long but in fact it may have been just 19 inches long. Because later when a client shot another buffalo I laid it across the horns of another buffalo thinking the barrel was 21 inches and they were two barrel lengths wide so I said "its a 42 incher" but when we got back to camp and measured it, it was only 38 inches wide.

Anyhow at 2,150 penetration ought to have be fine but my shot must have been under 2,000 FPS because penetration was not adequate in my opinion.

It looks to me like the 458 is only suitable for frontal shots on buffalo and elephant,with the Hornady heavy mag ammo, if the rifle has a 24 to 26 inch barrel, such as on the CZ.

I have read that you lose 30 fps per inch of barrel cut off. If a 25 inch CZ barrel give you 2,150 then a 19 inch barrel will give you 1970 which is not quite enough. I am going to put a longer barrel on my 458 and see what happens.


VBR,


Ted Gorsline

Ted, I had read all there was to read about those Heavy Mag loads, and was a bit surprised by Hornady's claims. I chronographed the WW 510 grain soft points first and they all ran under 2,000 fps (1960 - 1980 fps) -- again, through my CZ. The Heavy Mag ammo actually delivered what the win mag is supposed to be capable of delivering -- albeit through a 25-inch barrel. It definitely fell short of the Hornady Lott ammo.

For what it is worth, I have historically, over the course of 20 years, obtained 2040 feet per second (fps) from 458 Winchester 510 grain factory loads; the advertised velocity. Usually these loads also show minimal variation in velocity, with a spread of perhaps 10 fps over several rounds. Recently, the Hornady Heavy Magnum 500 grain Interbond loads showed 2,175 fps. This is from a Ruger M77 with a 24" Magna-ported barrel. The Heavy Magnum loads were also collected on a fairly cold day with temperatures in the mid 20's F.

Also for what is worth I have found that I can not duplicate the velocities reported in various reloading manuals for this rifle. Yesterday, for example, I noted that I was getting roughly 70 fps less velocity that what the Speer manual would have suggested what 500 grain bullets (2,050 versus 2120 fps). This has been the case with a range of bullet weights from 400 to 550 grain bullets.

From what you guys are saying it sure looks to me like the key to having the 458 become suitable for any game under all circumstances, and probably even better than a 470 Nitro, is having a 24 and preferably 26 inch barrel.

It looks like short barrels are a definite mistake except for side shots on buffalo, bears and cats etc. I know it works fine there.

Dangerous game is not shot a long ranges. Elephants under 50 yards, lions under 100, leopards under 60, and some time on a flood plain bufalo as far as 175 yards.

But if you sight a 458 in to shoot 3 inches high at 100 yards I assume it will hit about 3 inches low at 150 and you will be ready for any dangerous game. No need for anything else.

VBR,


Ted Gorsline



VBR,


Ted Gorsline

Ted, or just go with the Lott variant and you can have a shorter barrel if you want.........

A 21-22" 458 Lott will do 2250 w/ 500's no problemo.

Dear Paul H

Good idea!

VbR,

Ted gorsline