I'm having a 458 Lott made up right now and am gearing up to reload for it. I will be using this rifle for alaskan big game hunting, moose and bears mainly. Unless Maggie gets out and goes on the rampage I don't think I really need a 500gr bullet so I was thinking about a good 350-400gr load. I also thought the lighter bullets might hold a little better trajectory out to 300 yards. I have looked at a couple bullets in this range and was looking for some feedback on them.

Some of the bullets I have looked at are.
Speer 350gr Hot core
Barnes 350gr X
Swift 400gr SP
Northfork 400gr sp
Woodleigh 400gr PP
Barnes 400gr X

I'm especially interested in the Woodleigh. Thanks for you input.

I really like the Barnes TSX 450gr. But if you are dead set on a 400 gr bullet and you want good flight characteristics there is no doubt that the Barnes is the cleanest bullet for long range shooting.

Is there really a need for anything heavier than the 350 gr X bullet? Assuming it will shoot decently in your rifle, of course.

Both my 458 lotts were pleasant to shoot and accurate with 350 gr speers and hornadies loaded over RL-7 for 2400-2500 fps. I never got a chance to take any game with them, but friends who have taken moose with such loads said they are very effective.

I honestly can't see any reason for bullets heavier than 400 gr up here, you gain a good deal of shootability with the lighter recoil, and with a 400 gr X, I doubt you'll be able to keep it in any animal from any angle.

the 350 or 400 x or tsx is great You should try the new 250 gr xfp loaded down for deer size stuff lotts of fun

The 350 X shot very well out of my 460 at 2850 fps. Should work good in the Lott.

450 A-frames at 2400fps good for these sitka deer.

I have had great results with 350 grain Barns X with a charge of Reloader 7 behind it.

I have had the very best accuracy with 450 grain North Forks being pushed with H4895. This load shoots one hole!

I am taking my Lott on my first plains game hunt next July. I am still working out the loads to see if I will decide on the 450 NF soft or the 350 Barns X

Safe hunting
Will

I can't find any data for 400 gr bullet anywhere? Anyone have any good 400gr bullet data. Mainly interested in the 400 swift and 400 woodleigh.

....Bear78 ....?????Did you get a load worked up with the 400 gr bullets ...???

Surestrike,

How did you get the case expanded deep enough so you could seat the 450 TSX's without distorting the case when you try to seat the bullet because I can not do it.

what kind of dies are you using snowwolf. I had a heck of a time with a set of hornady new demension dies, finally sent them back, it was under sizing the cases and then distorting case when loading a bullet in it, I have as of RCBS that are working fine now.

First I tried Hornadys, then Reddings. I have not yet tried RCSB. I dont think the problem is with the die seating the bullets. The problem is caused by the shank of the Barnes 450 gr X bullet being .8 inch long. None of the expanding dies I have used with go this deep into the case. The expander on my Redding dies is only .5 inch long.
The reason I now think it has nothig to do with the seating die is I can seat non x bullets such as Swifts without causing case distortion.

Bear, Have you tried loading up the 450 X bullets yet?

I have a box of 450gr X bullets but haven't tried loading them yet. They are a good looking bullet but I have been concentrating on lighter bullets 350-400gr. Have you tried the 350gr TSX it should be a great alaska bullet. Also what swift were you loading and how did it work out.

The Swifts were 450 grains. They seasted just fine but I never had a chance to shoot them.
My Lott is built on a MRC and a McMillan stock. The MRC seems to be fine although 3 down is a tight fit. The McMillan had to be returned for the second time because of faulty factory inletting and finish.
McMillan, to there credit, offered to bed the rifle and repaint it for free, including paying the shipping charges to them and back to me for the stock and the barreled action. I just returned it to them a couple of weeks ago so I doubt I will get it back for at least another month or so.
But, try seating those 450 X bullets and reporting back here if the cases will feed well after you do. I am curious if anyone else who actually reloaded them have the same problems as I did.
I am like you though and consider the perfect Alaskan Lott bullet to be 350-400 grains.

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
Surestrike,

How did you get the case expanded deep enough so you could seat the 450 TSX's without distorting the case when you try to seat the bullet because I can not do it.

Snowwolfe,

I just set my redding expander die a bit deeper than usual and I lube the inside of the case with Hornandy one shot. I haven't had any case distortion problems at all.