Author Topic: using 458 lott on whitetails? (Read 3273 times)

tree rat · « **on:** April 19, 2003, 10:49:57 AM »

I know this will sound crazy to some, but I have wanted a ruger #1 tropical in stainless steal since I new they were making them. I like recoil! and want it chambered in something not commonly seen in my area. I want to know if the 458 lott can be loaded with a 300 grain bullet and used for deer? ( kind of like a 45-70 on steroids) am I crazy? I will never go to africa and do not need such a gun, just want it, and if I buy it I will need to use it for deer to justify buying it. is it true you can use 458 win mag in a 458 lott, like 45 colt in 454 casull? I know a 45-70 would work great, but I like to be different!

talon · « **Reply #1 on:** April 19, 2003, 03:33:50 PM »

Yes. There was a 300 grain load in one of the references (Barnes) the folks on this board refered me to. I bet that Elmer Kieth would have likes to hear that someone wants to drop a whitetail with one of these cannons. To use Win mag brass it's best to load with 500 grain bullets so that the bullet is in the slightly longer throat of the Lott modification. Smaller bullets will have to jump the freebore and that could lead to small difficulties. If you have a single shot .458 Win Mag it's real easy to have a smith lengthen the chamber to Lott Specs. Actually, the only reason I had it done was to attain the ADVERTISED capability of the Win Mag. It's real easy to form your own shells using .375 H&H brass and a little powder and cornmeal, and a little work with a shell trimmer.

Lawdog · « **Reply #2 on:** April 20, 2003, 10:22:19 AM »

tree rat,

Hey, don't feel strange, I built a .450 Marlin on a Ruger No.1 action and it works great. Kind of a modern day buffalo gun. to add to what talon has said yes Barnes makes their X bullets in grains from 300 to 500 in 50 grain increments. I use them in both of my .450 Marlin's(I have a second one on a M70 action that worked great in Alaska this last fall). Also Hornady makes a 350 grain RN that works well and is cheaper than the Barnes. I plan on using these same bullets in my .450 Rigby just to see how they work. The two loads I took with me to Alaska were the 350 gr. and the 450 gr. Barnes X. Used the 350 gr. for one shot kills on moose, caribou and black bear and my brother-in-law use the 450 gr. for his brown bear. Oh, one last thing I believe that now Ruger is chambering their No.1 along with their M77 Magnum for the Lott cartridge. Lawdog

Joe4d · « **Reply #3 on:** April 22, 2003, 09:02:45 AM »

Check out the standard 405 gr Remington or Winchester. These bullets were made to work on deer at old trapdoor 45/70 velocities 1600-1800. But your still gonna get a heck of a hole. Maybe try a 500 grain Hardcast should killem really dead without quartering them in the process.

Clif4570 · « **Reply #4 on:** May 24, 2003, 03:02:41 AM »

Hey Tree Rat - I would rather see folks shoot deer with a 458 than those that swear a 223 is a great deer cartridge. At least you KNOW that the 458 will do the job. Besides, it sounds like fun, I use my 4570 almost all the time and never had ANYTHING get away or that didn't drop almost instantly

Double D · « **Reply #5 on:** May 24, 2003, 04:38:25 AM »

I use the 300 gr. barnes in my .404 Express, it's a .416 cal wildcat made by Fred Barnes back in the 50's. It's a great whitetail gun. Make them sick real quick. They don't run away. Well one walkd about 50 yards, dropping great bloody chunks of his liver in the snow before he fell over. Left a blood trail a "visually challenged person" could follow.

I think the rifle was originally throated for long bullets, but with the longer length of those monolith bullets, I had no problems.

Lawdog · « **Reply #6 on:** May 24, 2003, 11:18:58 AM »

Clif4570,

Quote

I would rather see folks shoot deer with a 458 than those that swear a 223 is a great deer cartridge.

AMEN to that brother. Lawdog

jpuke · « **Reply #7 on:** May 27, 2003, 04:31:55 AM »

It's good to know that I'm not the only one with the crazy idea that I need a big bore just so I can say I HAVE one. I've been looking at getting a 458 Win mag so I can duplicate old buffalo gun loads with heavy paper patched bullets even though I'll probably never see anything bigger than a whitetail. I just like the idea casting a big slug for a straight case and knowing that if I want to stoke up the charge I can stop an elephant or remove a stump from my front yard. Keep up the craziness!

Paul H · « **Reply #8 on:** May 27, 2003, 06:46:21 AM »

While I never used my 458 lott on whitetails, I did enjoy shooting 350 gr bullets at 2400-2500 fps using RL-7. The loads were very accurate and much milder on the sholder then the 500 gr loads. The 350 gr bullets will effectively take any NA animals.

Lloyd Smale · « **Reply #9 on:** June 17, 2003, 12:03:10 PM »

try a 405 hardcast at about 1800fps it will kill anything!!!!

45colt · « **Reply #10 on:** June 30, 2003, 02:00:35 PM »

I have a Ruger #1 that I had rechamberd for 450 Watts, I have used a 300gr X bullet in it for deer. They work very well, the recoil is tolerable :wink: .

jdt48653 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 19, 2003, 03:56:59 PM »

thanks a (lott) you guys.my shoulders aching and i havent even shoot!!

jdt48653 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 19, 2003, 03:59:31 PM »

yes im a swede by gosh!

choppa · « **Reply #13 on:** September 21, 2003, 12:34:03 PM »

The only thing you might have to watch is the 300 gn pill might not stabilize properly, and accuracy might no be very good, I have ordered a #1 Ruger in 458 lott and plan on doing the same thing, I have to wait 6mths for it to come from the States and its costing me $1500, cant wait!

alan in ga · « **Reply #14 on:** September 28, 2003, 07:27:42 AM »

Used a Ruger 77 in 458 Win mag. The 300s act like varmint bullets and did not exit. Lots of bloodshot meat from shoulder area. Now have built a 458 x 2" American and use on whitetails. The 350s are probably the best,,but the 400/405 grainers are thin jacketed and supposedly will do well on whitetails, too. They are made for slow 45/70 rifles and will expand on deer,,and some feel do NOT penetrate too well on elk because of thin jackets.
Fun with the big holes.

Zachary · « **Reply #15 on:** October 01, 2003, 05:38:20 AM »

Wow, I thought that using my .375H&H on hogs would be out of place. I sure am glad to hear that I'm not the only one in the group that likes big guns just to be on the safe side.

Now I feel that my .375H&H is undergunned for hog hunting.

Zachary

Dand · « **Reply #16 on:** October 01, 2003, 08:33:25 AM »

lots of folks use heavy rifles for deer (Sitka black tails) on Kodiak because of the bears that may come along to share your dinner. .300 mags, .338s, .375s, and no doubt a number of .458s. Heck the deer rarely exceed 200 lbs but those brownies can get pretty demanding at times. One can feel pretty puny holding a .243 when such company comes along.

dave hall · « **Reply #17 on:** November 07, 2003, 08:29:40 PM »

IH GUYS,
Me add my friend both catch slack from our friends,about using BIG BORES on WHITETAIL. I used 45-70 #1-s for 2 yrs.,but this year I using my .44 SBH. I wanted my #1-h in 405 for this year ,but no one has any. I called RUGER they are going to put out more this month.My friend is getting one in the 458 win.We hunt in red brush and swamp mostly.The big bores come in handy.looks like we'll get them for next year.
I CAN'T WAIT TO SMACK SOMETHING WITH IT. :twisted:

340wby · « **Reply #18 on:** November 14, 2003, 02:10:57 PM »

I have owned several 458 win mags,most handle the 420grain-550grain cast gas checked bullets extremely well provided they are correctly sized and lubed and driven to at least 1600fps-1800fps, the heavier bullets don,t always stabilize well at lower velocities.
those cast gas checked bullet have proved to work very well on deer and hogs,the powder choice can be critical, win 748 H- 4198 RL-7 and IMR-3031 IMR 4064 have proved to work well.
bullets normally punch thru of course but that does not mean that the animals don,t drop on the spot.

http://www.neihandtools.com/catalog/frame.html

these worked well

http://www.leeprecision.com/catalog/browse.cgi?1048375825.1905=bullmol2.html

Super Rat · « **Reply #19 on:** November 18, 2003, 02:52:54 PM »

Regardless of the name on the cartridge case, taylor your bullet and velocity to the deer.

The 350 grain Hornady at 1700-1800fps would work good. If you use the 400 grain Speer, I'd keep it under 1700, maybe right at 1600fps. It can blow up at close range at "magnum" velocities.

Any cast bullet would work good around 1600fps, or even a little slower. Be sure to keep them in the shoulder area, and use a flat point bullet.

gohip2000 · « **Reply #20 on:** October 21, 2005, 01:23:11 PM »

hmm, I'm trying to decide between the 375 H&H and the 458 lott for my next rifle. it would be interesting to shoot a 500 gr hollow point(if they made them) at 2300 FPS at a deer and see what happens. maybe all that would be left is the neck, head and rear half of the body? Every one says the recoil is a lot for the lott, but I have no problem carying heavy rifles. I know I would like the 375 H&H, but the Lott is just itching at me

ogo · « **Reply #21 on:** October 23, 2005, 03:46:33 PM »

Thank's guy's, this will prove to my wife that I am normal,LOL. I have been using my 458 win mag on whitetail's for year's .I use 300gr JHP rem bulk bullet's, Work's well. I also have taken a few with 500gr cast bullet's********ogo

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #22 on:** October 24, 2005, 07:42:33 AM »

Quote from: Clif4570

Hey Tree Rat - I would rather see folks shoot deer with a 458 than those that swear a 223 is a great deer cartridge. At least you KNOW that the 458 will do the job. Besides, it sounds like fun, I use my 4570 almost all the time and never had ANYTHING get away or that didn't drop almost instantly

I could not agree more.

glock29 · « **Reply #23 on:** October 24, 2005, 08:52:45 AM »

I purchased a CZ550 Safari Magnum in 458 Lott last year, fully intending to use it as a "Deer" gun.
This year will be the first year I will actually use it for Deer....I am going to use the "full-load" Hornady 500 Grain Soft-Point.
This will completely penetrate the deer NO MATTER WHAT THE SHOT ANGLE....no need to pick your spot carefully here !
I also have worked up some Hornady Soft-Point RN 350 gr loads (at 2600+ fps) also, but I will use the full-load just to say I did.
For my second Deer, If I get lucky enough, I will use my 350gr 45-70 King-Kong Loads at 2300+ fps from my Handi-Rifle.
Either Load will work wonders on Michigan whitetails.

Lawdog · « **Reply #24 on:** October 25, 2005, 09:41:36 AM »

alex_sharp_shooter,

Quote

why would you use so much gun

[/b]

On deer size critters big bores like the .458 Lott do a lot less meat damage than many smaller calibers. Those big heavy bullets dont open up very much on deer. I shot a nice Mule Deer buck last year with my .450 Marlin shooting 450 gr. Barnes TSX bullets. The exit wound was a bit over 1. I have seen exit wounds from smaller caliber cartridges using Barnes bullets that were over three times the size. :eek: But the real answer to your question is, for me anyway, that shooting Big Bore rifles is just plain a lot of fun. :biggun: And why we use them on deer is, because we can. :yeah: Besides you can never tell when a T-Rex is going to wander into your back yard, eat your Great Dane and wash it down with a drink from your pool. :-D Lawdog

Redhawk1 · « **Reply #25 on:** October 25, 2005, 10:44:16 AM »

I guess you got excited and did a double tap there Lawdog. :-D :-D

Lawdog · « **Reply #26 on:** October 26, 2005, 09:33:04 AM »

Quote from: alex_sharp_shooter

But if you shoot a deer in the vitals thare is no meat in the rib cage. The only way to ruin any meat is if you spine him and hit the back straps

In your opinion. Actually my family enjoys Bar-B-Queuing venison ribs accompanied with sweet corn on the cob, home made potato salad, fresh garden salad and apple pie topped with home made ice cream every chance we get. Doesnt get any better than that. Lawdog

Graybeard · « **Reply #27 on:** October 26, 2005, 01:06:50 PM »

alex_sharp_shooter, I've asked you via PM to get a valid e-mail address on file and yet you've taken no action. I'm asking you here one last time. You have an invalid e-mail address on file and the e-mails you ask for as notice of new PMs and/or topics you're watching are bouncing as a result.

Here is what I get:

Quote

fathead502003@yahoo.com
(reason: 554 delivery error: dd Sorry your message to fathead502003@yahoo.com cannot be delivered. This account has been disabled or discontinued [#102]. - mta196.mail.scd.yahoo.com)