I am looking at dangerous game rifles. I have a Ruger M77 in a .458 Lott and a .416 Rigby. Would greatly appreciate opinons on which caliber would be the "best" for Cape Buffalo. Any help I can get would be appreciated.

Both provide "adequate" performance. The "best" of these rifles for Cape Buffalo is the one you shoot the best!

One measure of "best" might be how well you shoot rapid pairs ... a first aimed shot followed by a fast reload and the fastest aimed second shot you can do.

The Lott is the more simple of the two.The Lott is SERIOUS BUSINESS inside of 50yds with the 500gr bullet and 6000 ftlbs of energy.

They are both excellent rounds for hunting Cape buffalo.

If you shoot both equally well, a case could be made for the Lott's larger frontal diameter and heavier bullet giving it the edge.

George

one cost a little less to shoot the other other in most cases.

I shot three cape buffalo a year ago, two w/ .416 Rigby( both were one shot kills) killed one w/.458 lott that had to be shot 9 times(he was a little stirred up from the getgo. Dr. C

The .416 is capable of being a "one-gun" general battery like the .375. The .458 is a heavy DGR caliber. If only buff then .458.

They are both equally GREAT on buff. Here is what I like better about the RSM in the Lott, it's mag capacity is 4+1 and the 416 Rigby is 3+1. So when hunting buff I would opt for the 458 Lott.

Thanks for your help. If I would go with the 458 Lott, is the 500 gr. bullet the one to use?I have shot "paper" from off hand and sticks with 416 Rigby, and have had resonable groups at 100 yds. using a 1.5 to 5 Scope.

Yes, a good 500gr. bullet would be the one to use in the .458.

George

Ehg5640, well your choice of rifle just become clear to me with your ability to fire the 416 Rigby with scope as the first shot is critical. Unless you can do the same with the Lott I would use the Rigby. Rodney.

I shoot a 404jeffery w/ 380grNFs @ 2250fps. It hits buffalo hard, but if you can handle the 458lott (I could not), then it will be just that much better on buffalo.

I think the Rigby is a MUCH better choice than the Lott. It is clearly adequate for buffalo, has less recoil, a LOT less pressure, feeds like butter in most any gun, and can double as a plains game rifle if need be, especially with a 350 grain TSX. The Rigby may be THE BEST magazine cartridge for big game ever! The Lott is not even a close second.

just my opinion...
the 458 lott is a dgr, the 416 is a medium.
Both are lots of fun to shoot, both will kill anything on the other end..

and so will a 30-06

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:
I think the Rigby is a MUCH better choice than the Lott. It is clearly adequate for buffalo, has less recoil, a LOT less pressure, feeds like butter in most any gun, and can double as a plains game rifle if need be, especially with a 350 grain TSX. The Rigby may be THE BEST magazine cartridge for big game ever! The Lott is not even a close second.

Yep
The 416 Rigby does 500 grain bullets too @ 2350 Ft/sec..if it wants to.

jens poulsen:

Who makes 500 gr. bullets for the .416 Rigby? Are they avaiable in the States?

quote:

Originally posted by Ehg5640:
jens poulsen:

Who makes 500 gr. bullets for the .416 Rigby? Are they avaiable in the States?

Yep...Hawk bullets.

If an expensive trophy fee is on the line and/or my life, I wouldn't even consider Hawk bullets........but that's just me.

quote:

Originally posted by Ehg5640:
I am looking at dangerous game rifles. I have a Ruger M77 in a .458 Lott and a .416 Rigby. Would greatly appreciate opinons on which caliber would be the "best" for Cape Buffalo. Any help I can get would be appreciated.

Either will work, however, I have .458 Lott for sale in the classifieds that would fit your needs. It is priced under what you can buy a .416 Rigby for and it is a Winchester CRF.

Sorry for the shameless plug...

https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/2711043/m/176101259

I am a .416 fan, have been for years..I used the Lott a little when it first came out and its a great buffalo caliber, more the recoil was more than I wanted to deal with with full loads, and with reduced loads it was no better than a .416..Actually I have never been able to tell much difference in any of the big calibers until one gets to the 500s..The big 50s make them shudder, and obviously hit them harder, but I'm not sure they kill them any faster.

.. Remember the 458 Lott does amazingly great with a 350 gr TSX bullet also .And it will fly PLENTY flat for plains game to 300 yards . With a scope it is every bit as useful as the Rigby ... I don,t have a clue why people think the 458 needs a 500 gr bullet

458 Lott loaded with 450 Gr GS Custom FN Solids - Many PH's swear by this combination and it has the best straight line penetration of any of the solids in a lighter bullet.

Thank's for all of your help.

I have a .416 Rigby and a .458 Lott in the Ruger M77. Have taken them both to a rifle range, where I have tried to sighted them in at dead on at 100yds. No doubt, shooting them from a bench I begin to notice the recoil after 10 to 12 shots. Certainly not unbearable though. I have had Kick EZ recoil pads placed on both rifles. The .416 shoots the 400 gr Hornady RN in less than a 2 inch group consistently. The .450 Lott when loaded with a 500 gr Hornday RN can obtain similar results, 2 1/2 inch groups. However, when I switch to a 500 gr. Barnes bullet I do not obtain as consistant results. With out adjusting the scope the Barnes bullet is 5 to 6 inches high to the right and is a much larger group. Is this typical for the .458. All loads have been loaded to 2050 fps. Both guns have 1.5 to 5 Leupold scopes. Should I expect better results than this?

Ehg:

I might suggest that if you are going to shoot the Barnes bullet in your .458 Lott that you switch to the 450 grain bullet. The 500 grain Barnes TSX is really to long for the Lott or the .458 Win. Mag. They probably will not stabilize in your gun. To be honest, I think the TSX bullets are a poor choice in the Lott because of the limited case cpacity. You would be better off sticking with the 500 grain Hornaday, Woodleigh, or Swift. Save the TSX bullets for your .450 Rigby or Dakota when you trade that Lott off.

Dave

Dave

There is nothing out there that shows that the 500gr tsx is not stable in a Lott, 1-14 twist barrel.There is enough case capacity for the 500gr tsx in the Lott.Alot of people say that it does not stableize but I have NEVER seen something to convince me this is true.The 500gr TSX/Lott combo could be the best big bore performer.Especially within 50 yds.

The TSX has a big void on the certerline. Since most of its mass in on the outside it generally stabilizes like a much shorter solid.

Try the 550 gr Woodleigh in your four-five-eight. Sensational sectional density.

Ok.,... my two cents. I own a Ruger No 1 in 458 Lott. Best straight line performance from a bullet, the older Hornady 500gr FMJ. This bullet shot (at PBR) through 39.5 inches of pine tree (with and against the grain) Best 500-400 grain expanding bullet, the Original X-Bullet. (haven't tried any of the new versions, banded etc.)Best cheap plinker, 405gr Rem soft point.

On the other hand, my friends 416 Rem. was close on the depth and close on the size of his X bullets....just both less, and he ended up resizing 41 magnum handgun bullets just for cheap plinking. ( they do expand dramaticly though, 416 varmint bullet.)

I think I'd go for the bigger of the two. Cheaper practice and just a little more of the important stuff.

Again just my two cents.

Woodleigh make 450 gr softs and solids for the .416 Rigby

Either is more than adequate for buffalo.

I like bigger, however, as compared with smaller, and therefore of the two, I would opt for the .458 Lott.

I would say the 458 Lott. Bigger bullet and more power.

I have used the 416 Rigby Extensively and the Barnes Banded Solid in 400 grain/416 Rigby , is to me the most devastating Solid Bullet in terms of penetration and the damage We have seen it do to Elephant and Buffalo.It is a long bullet and in 400grain , it seems to stabilize much quicker and do incredible devastation in terms of deep deep penetration and setting up a destructive shock wave around it when the bands meet flesh/bone.Sighted 1 inch high at 100yds , at 2300fps it will kill any Buffalo out to 300YDS WITH ONLY ABOUT 3 AND 1/2 inches drop from the center.The 410 grain Woodleigh soft point is also an excellent bullet for Buffalo, the only problen is that at less than 80 yds broad side on any Buffalo , you are unlikely to recover either of these two bullets with the 416 Rigby .The Lott 458 is a great Cartridge also.Honestly I havent Shot it so I cannot comment on it.
I hope you find this helpful.
BABAODE

Hello, is a delight for me to read your comments. It was read to real experts in ballistics. I have spoken with a Spanish professional hunter, employed by Jack Rall (I think it is so called). He uses a 416 Rigby, however a colleague of his using a 458 Lott, said that strikes much more forcefulness animals like the elephant. Again thank the delight that my supposed to read your post.

Thank you and Happy New Year

Oscar.

quote:

Remember the 458 Lott does amazingly great with a 350 gr TSX bullet also .And it will fly PLENTY flat for plains game to 300 yards . With a scope it is every bit as useful as the Rigby ... I don,t have a clue why people think the 458 needs a 500 gr bullet

There was a great article last year in African Hunter by Don Heath on this subject. I use my lott for DG only, but I'd like to experiment with some lighter plains game loads.

Both are plenty powerful and will do the trick. I'd go with the .416 myself as the Lott is more than I can handle well in a repeatable fashion. Knowing what you can handle in the same fashion is half the battle.