If you read my post on the CZ 458 Lott, then you know I now have two CZ 550 Safari Mag...one in 458 Lott the other in 458 win mag. I am definately keeping the Lott. I would appreciate your thoughts on what I should do with the win mag.

1) Keep as is (but upgrade the stock). I did receive in one upgrade stock...it is worth the cost..the stock is amazing in figure and color ..similar to JudgeG's 458 Lott.
2) Have barrel modified to 458 Lott.
3) Have it made over into a 404 Jeffery. This would be new Krieger Barrel, true up receiver and bolt faces and bolt lugs, lap lugs, barrel band swivel, fit extractor hook, sights, etc..bed stock and install cross bolts,etc. Extensive project but the end result should be a great 404.

I could just buy an action from CZ and another stock and have a 404 built ...I guess by using the 458 win mag...I would save about $1000. Why do I need two 458's??

Would the extra CZ 550 Safari Stock(American - Regular Walnut) and the 458 win. mag barrel be worth anything....I now have one extra stock and possibly a 458 win mag barrel if I do the conversion, if there is any interest...

Thanks in advance for you input...Best regards, JJS

Rebore/chamber to 470 Mbogo. You could still keep the Lott for the small stuff....

JJS,Would you mind giving me a owners veiw of the American stocked Lott and answer a few questions for me? Magazine capacity? Weight? And I know everyone is different, but felt recoil. I feel the standard Lott barrel might be too light and need to be replaced with a shorter heavier barrel. Is the comb low enough for open sight only use? Thanks for your help...450Dakota

Chop the barrel on the .458 win mag and make a "motorbike bigbore" and use it with woodleigh's 400 gr .458 protected point bullet

I just received my rifles yesterday evening and they are the first CZ's I purchased and the first CZ 550 Safari's I have seen. With that in mind..the information below is based on first impressions and CZ published information which I have yet to verify.

1)Magazine Capacity in the 458 (both Lott and Win. Mag) is 4, mag. capacity for 375 is 5, and 3 for 416 Rigby.

2) Published weight is 9.3 lbs

3) Felt recoil...Have not shot as of yet. I received in today a fancy stock replacement (which is fantasic looking) going to send out to be bed and cross bolts installed..then I plan on shooting.

4) The barrel did not seem to light to me..it seems fine...the length at 25" may be a tad long for a DGR..others on AR have more experience here..but I like the feel of the rifle.

I like the rifles, however, in addition to the stock work I plan on having the action smoothed and barrel band swivels installed and possibly trigger work or replacement.

You may want to make a separte post on the CZ Safari or do a search to see what the good and bad is.. Most everything I have seen is positive and for the money I think they would be tough to beat. I plan on purchasing another one but waiting to see what new calibers come out...Good luck JJS

5) The rifle is set-up for both open sight and scope use.

JD,

exactly !! Great for chaseing feral pigs on the bike with plenty of grunt, make use of that smaller case for slighlty lighter bullets and a shorter barrel !!

Maybe this is dumb, but why not rebarrel it in somthing easier to shoot 300H&H or 264 win. capt david

JS, I suggest that you become the charter member of the Accurate Reloading Rifle Library. You would donate that rifle to the AR library, and then any AR member could check it out for up to a 3 week safari, after which they would return it. Just like a library book. Ben Frankin did that with his books, forally starting our library system.

Mike built his 470 mbogo from a 459 602, and it was no big deal..

I'll give ya 100 for the stock(and sights) and barrel..

jeffe

Here's what I would do:

Idea #1 - Keep the .458WM as is, but scope it and load it with lighter bullets for lighter game. You might use a 350gr Barnes X or Northfork and push it to 2500fps. This could be used for deer, elk, kudu, eland, and such. It would also do for most bear hunting. The Lott could be kept unscoped to serve only as a serious dangerous game rifle. The advantage here is that both rifles would handle identically and could share most reloading components and reloading tools.

Idea #2 - Keep the .458WM as is, but set it up as a "cast bullet rifle". Practice would be very cheap with a gun that was nearly identical to your stopping rifle. This would also make a good deer rifle.

In the end, I don't see much that you gain by converting the .458 to .404 or .416 - unless you just want one - which is reason enough.

I agree with RangerBob I would kep the 458 as a Practice/plinking/North American hunting rifle. Also just in case your 458 Lott broke before a trip you would still have the 458 that you are very familar with.
Just use the 458 Lott for DG hunts.

Believe it or not, with proper loads the .458 Win. Mag. will still cleanly take all African dangerous game, and it's a whole lot easier to shoot well than the Lott. In many ways, with today's powders and projectiles, the .458 Win. Mag. is a much better and more effective cartridge than it ever was before, but it still suffers from it's earlier failures.

The old .458 Win. Mag. carries plenty of it's own 'tradition' - nearly fifty year's worth. No, it's not some old British cartidge, but who cares! At least it's AVAILABLE and chamber dimensions (thus ammunition and brass) is solidly standardized.

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Allen,

Well said Sir...

I'm working up loads for my two .458 Win Mag's right now and using RL7 I'm already at 2076 fps with no pressure signs at all using a 500gr Woodleigh PP. No compression of the powder so far at 64.0gr - the base of the bullet is just touching the powder charge but not compacted. I'll be inching it up and see how it groups along the way, but it looks like 2100-2150fps will be easily obtainable. I want to try a box of the 480gr Woodleigh RN and that should hit 2150 or even a tad more with no trouble.

I love my 1980 vintage M77 and it's standard-length action. It's slick as butter and feeds/ejects 100% with all bullets and loads tried. With the factory iron sights I'm nailing an 11"x14" steel plate from field positions at 200 yards easily. Don't plan on putting a scope on this one, but my No 1 wears a 2x7 Burris compact.