I have a couple 45-70 lever guns sitting in the safe, what would be involved with punching one out to a .458 Lott for a winter project? ....Other than replacing my shoulder blade after shooting that little lite weight!

"Replacing your shoulder blade" and picking the remains of the action out of your forehead.

You can shoot 45-70 or 45-90 in this rifle and the top 45-90 loads are up in the .458 Win Mag power.
Mine has been to Africa and taken Elephant, cape buff, leopard, etc. Our ele load was a 450 grain North Fork solid at 2150 fps MV and that also shoots through Cape Buff and American Bison.

It is much easier and safer than just extending the chamber of a 45-70. The latter can be done IF the rifle is up to the job. Here is anexample of one that was capable of being upgraded - my 45-90 DR with 26 inch barrels; it does kick a bit more than the .45-70, but that was to be expected.

A very bad idea; the Lott operates at far higher pressure than your lever actions were made for. And the bolt face and extractor and magazine cut off would need reducing in size even if you did it. You didn't say what make of 45-70 you have but it doesn't matter. No gunsmith will do it anyway.

Some factory loads by Buffalo Bore, Double tap, or Grizzly will get you pretty close with your standard chamber, provided it's a modern firearm.

Just the thought of a lever in 458 Lott? makes me want to run away & hide

Id bet my ass and half of Georgia its good for one shot!

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Id bet my ass and half of Georgia its good for one shot!

Ray,
You really know how to place your bets

Good one Ray!
I have a POS 45-70 Remington Spartan sxs I bought new 10 years ago or so.Shot it about 10 times cleaned it and put it in the safe along side a like 30-06 an still wonder why I ever bought either to begin with, that may be a little (and I stress little) better choice to make into a 45-90 for shooting fun.

Ray: I did not know you owned half of Georgia.. cheers my friend Luke

The Browning BLR would be my choice to transform into a 458 Win and if you read RIPs thread on the 458 Win you might want to go that route. Also some variant of the 348 necked to 458 out of the browning 71 would pack a whallop. I would rather a single shot Farquharson 450 Nitro express falling block.

quote:

Originally posted by 2th doc:
I have a POS 45-70 Remington Spartan sxs I bought new 10 years ago or so.Shot it about 10 times cleaned it and put it in the safe along side a like 30-06 an still wonder why I ever bought either to begin with, that may be a little (and I stress little) better choice to make into a 45-90 for shooting fun.

Regardless of what you rechamber to, in that rifle you will still need to keep pressures below 28K psi.

quote:

Originally posted by JFE:

quote:

Originally posted by 2th doc:
I have a POS 45-70 Remington Spartan sxs I bought new 10 years ago or so.Shot it about 10 times cleaned it and put it in the safe along side a like 30-06 an still wonder why I ever bought either to begin with, that may be a little (and I stress little) better choice to make into a 45-90 for shooting fun.

Regardless of what you rechamber to, in that rifle
you will still need to keep pressures below 28K
psi.

This!

quote:

Originally posted by boom stick:
The Browning BLR would be my choice to transform into a 458 Win and if you read RIPs thread on the 458 Win you might want to go that route. Also some variant of the 348 necked to 458 out of the browning 71 would pack a whallop. I would rather a single shot Farquharson 450 Nitro express falling block.

The easy .458 on a .348 case is the 450 alaskan. Actually in an 1886 or 71 the recoil is not much more than a hot loaded 45/70. The Winchesters are pretty heavy lever guns depending on barrel length and profile.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by boom stick:
The Browning BLR would be my choice to transform into a 458 Win and if you read RIPs thread on the 458 Win you might want to go that route. Also some variant of the 348 necked to 458 out of the browning 71 would pack a whallop. I would rather a single shot Farquharson 450 Nitro express falling block.[/QUOTE

About 40 years ago I saw a Browning BAR (sporting rifle) that had been converted to a .458 Winchester magnum. It was pictured on the cover of gun magazine article (maybe it was GUNS).

I can't picture any lever action rifle that would handle the .458 Lott. From many perspectives. Just from a feeding perspective, certainly no tubular magazine lever rifles would work. Maybe the long action BLR would handle the .458 Winchester Magnum, but surely not the .458 Lott. I once owned a .450 Watts built on a BRNO 602 action - the .450 Watts is essentially the .458 Lott.

quote:

R

The Lott cartridge is also rimless, and most of the
strong Winchester/Browning /Marlin rifles already chambered in the rimmed 45-70.

Speaking from having two versions of the 450 Alaskan, you are better off with the rimmed 450/348
or the Ackley version of same. The PO Ackley version is a warm cartridge requiring a beefier
magazine attachment to the barrel.

It tailgates the same 458 400 gr bullet t0
2200 FPS or a 500 gr bullet to around 2000 FPS.
Recoil is noticeable.

For these rimmed wildcats, make sure you have the best riflesmith.

Cliff La Bounty, Redmond, or Harry McGowen used to do these conversions with custom barrels.
PO Ackley said the Fuller or Alaskan versions were better than his. An honest assessment.
Good bullets are out there. Dies from RCBS
are available, but they are now $$$$.

Bad news pard, RCBS no longer makes custom dies or so Im told, apparently C&H does and they own the market..

quote:

Originally posted by Bitterroot:
"Replacing your shoulder blade" and picking the remains of the action out of your forehead.

lol! and that's from the developer of the 600 Overkill!

quote:

lol! and that's from the developer of the 600 Overkill!

Regards,

Chuck

And don't forget his 700 AHR! :-)

A Browning BLR is very light for a 458 Lott it would add new meaning to the word "kick". Desperately needs a recoil reducer in the butt and a muzzle brake for those of us that have exhausted our testosterone levels.

What "bear rifle" wildcat dreamers, who have'nt hunted bear-fail to realize is that most bears require two (2) shots. If you can't manage 2 aimed shots inside 25 ft or yards, go back to another cartridge idea that really works, Like a 45-70, 45-90 or 450 Alaskan. (The bear may try to even the score while the muzzle is in the air on a 458 Lott. The lott is really an African cartridge for a bolt action rifle.) Ray is right.

PS- Lt Col Patterson killed the two maneless lions on the Mombassa railway-that is REAL Africa, not Hollywood. Every phoney movie has a plan until it gets hit by the real facts and history. BS is still elephant dung or rhino sheet.