I bought a reamer (should have rented) and hand reamed it out in about 15 minutes. No big deal. Actually rounded up a slightly oblong chamber! The bigger deal is the rail widening, of which there is no return if you get carried away. I also had to grind down the ramp some to get it to feed.

With Lott's available now, why bother?

Ray,

Thanks for the "magazine length vs. chamber/throat/freebore" tip. It makes perfect sense and very straight forward, just never really considered that angle as I'm used to dealing with "factory settings"! Thanks for following up on the thread.

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Will,

In answer to your question "why bother".... I am one of those strange individuals that actually LIKES the Lux/hogback stocks --- I've shouldered the new CZ American Safari and it does not fit me as well and it feels very "thick" and bulky --- they are really good looking though, I will give them that. Unfortunately CZ doesn't make the Lott in the European version so if I wanted "my" stock type, then it was going to be a conversion right from the get go and I wouldn't consider a 458WinMag any other way. Thanks for the reminder about the "irretrivable step" regarding the rails and the ramp.



BTW, Will I saw your 458 Lott for sale some months ago and before I could respond it was gone --- that struck me as a very fair deal.

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In general:

This is the second used CZ I've picked up and then "worked over" to get it to where I want it. I do most the work myself and enjoy the task (it doesn't really take that much) and one REALLY get to know ones rifle that way. These will be very much "working rifles" and I don't want to sweat it too much if they get scratched up or dinged --- if you hunt hard it tends to happen. I am figuring I will have two very workable CZ DG rifles (a 416 Rigby and a 458 Lott) for the cost of one new Ruger. That just kind of floats my boat.



EKM

Yeah, I gave that Lott away. Another one of my shrewd business dealings.

If I might suggest a better plan: Keep the 458 the way it is or sell it. Buy a 458 Lott and a hogback stock. New stocks are about $200 from CZ. I just sold an American mag stock for $150 and a hogback non-mag for $70 (more shrewd business deals!). It will then be an "almost" break even deal.

I was plenty nervous when I was widening the rails. It worked out fine but it is a dangerous move! When I saw the new Lotts, the rails were spitting images of the ones I wound up with...dumbass luck!

I would be careful of the hogbacks, as they are very abusive to me, with a lot of muzzle flip. If you buy an American first then you can get a better idea of the differences by shooting 458 WM's in both of them. The American stocks are bulky but I would rather spend the money getting it slimmed down and re-checkered than settling for a hogback!