.458 Lott
Encyclopedia
The .458 Lott is a .458 caliber belted hunting cartridge
designed as a replacement for the less powerful .458 Winchester Magnum
. It is based on the full length .375 H&H Magnum
blown out
and shortened to 2.8 inches (7.1 cm). The cartridge is designed for the purpose of hunting African dangerous game.
The .458 Lott was designed in response to perceived inadequacies and problems encountered with the .458 Winchester Magnum. While the cartridge was slow to gain popularity at first, it is now becoming the standard by which dangerous game cartridges are judged. The cartridge provides a distinct step up in performance over the .458 Winchester Magnum. A-Square
, Česká Zbrojovka/Brno
, Hornady
and Ruger have been instrumental in the cartridge rise in popularity.
s that were considered the standard rifle type for dangerous game hunting in Africa. The .458 Winchester Magnum promised to emulate the performance of the .450 Nitro Express
in a cartridge designed for a standard length bolt action rifle. However, it soon became apparent that the .458 Winchester Magnum was not performing as anticipated. Several factors contributing to its less than stellar performance in Africa: clumping of its compressed powder
charge and use in 20 – barrel rifles.
Jack Lott, a big game hunter and a noted writer, had an adverse encounter in Mozambique
in 1959 with an African Cape buffalo in which he sustained injuries. He had been hunting with the then new .458 Winchester Magnum. This experience convinced him that a more powerful cartridge than the .458 Winchester Magnum was required when hunting dangerous game. After the encounter he began a search for a big bore cartridge which would suit his needs perfectly.
Not finding a cartridge that would fit his needs, he designed a cartridge which he felt would meet his requirements in a dangerous game cartridge. Jack Lott's original drawings of the cartridge were done on a napkin at a diner. The first cases for the new rifle cartridge were fireformed from .375 H&H Magnum brass into a chamber by using .458 caliber (11.6 mm) bullets which had their bases re-sized 0.375 inches (9.5 mm) so as to fit in the mouth of the .375 H&H Magnum. This method of fireforming left the newly formed cases slightly shorter than the parent cases. The resulting cartridge is named the .458 Lott in his honor. A similar method was used by David Miller and Curt Crum to create cases for their early custom .458 Lott rifles. The creation of the cases began with the casting of a 0.458 in (11.6 mm) bullet with a 0.375 in (9.5 mm) shank and which weighed around 260 gr. This bullet was seated on a .375 H&H Magnum case containing 30 gr of Hercules 2400 powder with some polyester material used as a wadding to hold the powder charge against the primer. This set-up was then fire-formed in rifle with a .458 Lott chamber. The fire-formed cases were then run through a .458 Winchester Magnum full length re-sizing die with a set off of 0.125 in (3.2 mm). Once this was accomplished cases were trimmed to 2.79 in (70.9 mm) tumbled clean. Unfortunately for Miller and Crum, this method of fire-forming of brass lead to severe gas cutting into the neck area of the .458 Lott fire-forming rifle after only 200 rounds.
In 1989 A-Square
became the first company to offer the .458 Lott as a commercial cartridge. At present, the 465 gr Triad (Monolithic Solid, Dead Tough and the Lion Load) for the .458 Lott cartridge is available from the company. A-Square also championed the successful SAAMI
standardization of the .458 Lott cartridge which took place in 1995. They currently offer the A-Square Hannibal and Caesar rifles chambered for this cartridge.
The .458 Lott was standardized by SAAMI in 1995 based on specification provided by Arthur Alphin and A-Square LLC. According to Arthur Alphin, the cartridge length was standardized at 2.8 inches (71.1 mm) and the chamber length at 2.81 inches (71.4 mm) because there were many converted rifles in the field that were chambered for the original Jack Lott length. The specifications published by SAAMI reflect this fact.
The specifications for the .458 Lott call for a cartridge which gradually tapers. However, A-Square and few other ammunition manufacturers provide a ghost shoulder for the cartridge which was not included in the specification as standardized by SAAMI. Arthur Alphin chose not to include the ghost shoulder to remain true to Jack Lott's wishes and to honor his memory. The ghost shoulder serves to provide better retention of the bullet in the case under recoil. Like A-Square .458 Lott cartridges, Barnes .458 Lott brass bears a ghost shoulder for this very same reason.
SAAMI recommends a 6 grove rifling contour with each grove being 0.15 inch (0.381 cm) wide. Distance between lands is 0.45 inches (1.1 cm) and between groves is 0.458 inches (1.2 cm). Recommended rifling twist is between 1:10 to 1:20. Most rifle manufacturers use 1:14 or 1:16 twist rates.
Since Lott was an influential big-game hunter and writer the cartridge gained some attention with professional hunters in Africa. The .458 Lott was soon commercialized by A-Square
as a proprietary cartridge. CZ
chambered the cartridge in their BRNO ZKK 602 rifles based on the Magnum Mauser action. However, the Lott remained fairly obscure at least in the United States until Ruger
offered the cartridge in their Ruger M77RSM Mk II rifles to the American public in 2002. Since then there has been a slow but steady movement away from the .458 Winchester Magnum towards the .458 Lott among professional hunters heading to Africa.
The .458 Winchester Magnum is ubiquitous in Africa. While one might not be able to easily find ammunition for the big Weatherby or the Nitro Express cartridges, due to its popularity one would be able to find .458 Winchester Magnum cartridges. In an emergency, the .458 Winchester Magnum can be fired in the chamber of a .458 Lott.
which could fire a 500 gr bullet at 2150 feet per second (655.3 m/s).
On the other hand, the .458 Lott is designed to provide about 200–300 ft/s (61–91.4 m/s) more velocity than the .458 Winchester Magnum. The performance goal does not just match but exceeds the original performance specifications of the .458 Winchester Magnum. The cartridge is capable of firing a 500 gr bullet at 2300 feet per second (701 m/s) from a 23 inches (584.2 mm) barrel such as the Ruger M77. This capability easily exceeded the performance that was expected of the .450 Nitro Express and the .458 Winchester Magnum. The Lott cartridge was a distinct step up from the .458 Winchester Magnum and the .450 Nitro Express cartridges. The .458 Lott is also considered a better cartridge for dangerous game hunting that the .470 Nitro Express
when judged by its effects on big game.
Due to its development and purpose, the performance of the .458 Lott is often compared with that of the .458 Winchester Magnum. This is inevitable as the latter was the cartridge which the .458 Lott was designed to replace.
The .458 Lott is able to attain over 2300 feet per second (701 m/s) with a 500 gr jacketed bullet at safe pressure levels from a 23–24 in (584.2–609.6 mm) barrel. In comparison, many ammunition manufacturers load the .458 Winchester Magnum to velocities between 2050–1950 ft/s (624.8–594.4 m/s). Hornady's Superformance ammunition being an exception which uses powder blends which at present remain proprietary. The .458 Lott is capable of reaching a velocity of 2150 feet per second (655.3 m/s) with the 600 gr bullet which is greater than the velocity reached by Hornady's 500 gr Superformance .458 Winchester Magnum ammunition. With lighter bullets of 300 gr it is able to to achieve a velocity of about 2850 ft/s (868.7 m/s). These energy and velocity values provide the .458 Lott cartridge a gain of between 50–100 yd (45.7–91.4 m) over the .458 Winchester Magnum in distance. This performance increase provides better penetration and stopping power than the .458 Winchester Magnum against dangerous game.
However, the mono-metal bullets fall short of this velocity threshold due to the need to seat the bullets deeper owing to the length of the bullets and the need to stay within the maximum overall length specification of the cartridge. This is because the lower mono-metal bullets have a higher length to weight ratio than conventional bullets. Manufacturers such as A-Square have chosen to load slightly lighter bullets 465 gr instead of the 500 gr bullets.
The straight tapered case of the .458 Lott provides greater flexibility in reloading to lower velocities than bottlenecked cartridges. The ability to reload ammunition to lower velocities with lighter bullets can provide shooters with ammunition with less recoil than the full power .458 Lott ammunition. Nyati Inc., a big bore ammunition manufacturer, has taken advantage of this flexibility and offers ammunition featuring a 500 gr copper jacket bullet at 1100 feet per second (335.3 m/s). They also offer intermediate power ammunition for the .458 Lott as well.
Handloaders can take advantage of the wide range of bullet of useful weights are available in .45 caliber for the .458 Lott cartridge. Bullets ranging from 300 gr can be loaded for the Lott cartridge. This, together with the ability to load the cartridge to lower power levels, easily adds to the versatility of the .458 Lott. .458 Lott velocities range from 3000 ft/s (914.4 m/s) with the 300 gr bullet and 2150 ft/s (655.3 m/s) with the 600 gr bullet. Spitzer bullets with better ballistics such as the Barnes X or TSX bullet provides better down range performance over the more conventional .45 caliber (11.6 mm) bullets. The .458 Lott does well with hardcast lead bullets. With these bullets the Lott can be loaded to the power level of the original .45-70 Government cartridge. which was a 405 gr bullet at 1330 ft/s (405.4 m/s).
What the .458 Lott lacks in velocity and energy compared to the .450 Rigby or the .460 Weatherby Magnum, it more than makes up for by virtue of its versatility. Larger volume cases such as the .460 Weatherby Magnum do not do well with powder charges below the recommended minimums. This is due to the erratic ignition and hangfire issues experienced when large capacity cartridges are loaded with small powder charges. The Lott has no such issues and takes well to lower powder charges.
. Acceptable bullet weights for the .458 Lott range from 300 gr. The range of available bullets provides the flexibility to customize loads for specific game species.
Elephant require a bullet of a tough construction which will not deform easily. The bullet must be able to penetrate heavy bone and exit from all possible angles. These requirement reduce the useful choices to solid bullets. This is especially true if the classic brain shot is contemplated when hunting elephant where the bullet must penetrate through the honeycombed bone structure of the frontal area of the elephant's skull. Bullets which are chosen must have sectional densities of over .300 while a sectional densities of .330 are preferred so as to provide the necessary penetration on these, the largest of the terrestrial mammals. Premium solid bullets from A-square, Barnes, Hornady, North Fork or Woodleigh weighting in the range of 450 gr are all capable of holding together without much deformation and penetrating to the brain. With lesser FMJ bullets only heart, lung or shoulder shots should be considered.
Cape buffalo and rhinoceros, though heavily boned and tough are mostly hunted with soft point bullets although FMJ and solid bullets are chosen by some hunters. Again as with elephants, premium bullets of a sturdy construction should be chosen. The bullet chosen must be able to break through bone and penetrate to the vitals. Soft points similar to the A-Square Dead Tough, Barnes TSX, Hornady DGX and the Woodleigh Weldcore Soft Nose are examples of these bullets. The .458 Lott has ample power to spare on these species.
While the .458 Lott is capable of taking lion and leopard, it is considered overly powerful for the big cats. Lighter, soft point bullets which rapidly expand or fragment at higher velocities are usually recommended for the big cats. A-Square Lion Load bullet or soft points manufactured for the .45-70 Government fills this niche for the .458 Lott.
The manufacture of spitzer style bullets in the .45 caliber has generally been a recent trend. These bullets provide better ballistic coefficients than the more common round nose or flat nosed bullets available in this caliber. The better ballistic coefficients translate to better longer range performance. Loaded with lighter bullets with better ballistic coefficients at higher velocities the .458 Lott can be used as a medium range plains game rifle cartridge.
In North America it would make a fine big bear and bison rifle. However apart from these species, North American big game does not require cartridges similar to the .458 Lott. Those who reload ammunition are able to take advantage of the .458 Lott's performance flexiblity to tailor their ammunition to the species of game they wish to hunt.
The Mauser style action has long been favored by African hunters. It is considered a highly reliable action for its ability function dependently under adverse and stressful conditions. CZ, Kimber, Mauser, Rigby and Ruger, all turn out Mauser action type rifles in this cartridge. CZ’s Brno ZKK602 was one of the first rifles manufactured which was chambered for the .458 Lott. CZ currently produces the CZ 550 American Magnum rifle in that chambering. The Kimber Caprivi, Rigby African Express and the Ruger M77 MkII Magnum are also manufactured in the .458 Lott cartridge. Mauser makes .458 Lott rifles in several models in their M 98 and M 03 Rifle lines.
Non-Mauser action rifles for the .458 Lott are produced by A-Square, Blaser and Weatherby. A-Squares Hannibal and Caesar rifles built on Enfield P14 actions. Blaser manufactures the Blaser R8 Safari PH and Safari Luxus rifle models in the .458 Lott. Weatherby offers the .458 Lott cartridge in Mark V Deluxe and also through their custom shop. Ruger chambers the .458 Lott in the Ruger No. 1 Tropical Rifle. Several other manufacturers also offer rifles chambered in the cartridge as a regular or custom offering.
An advantage that the .458 Lott offers over voluminous cartridge such as the .450 Rigby, .460 Weatherby or the .505 Gibbs is that it can be easily adopted in rifles actions which are regularly manufactured with little or no modification of the bolt face. For this reason, it is a much more economical alternative to cartridges which need larger actions types and larger bolt faces. The cartridge’s popularity is due in large part to the affordable rifles and the number of readily available rifles which are chamber for the cartridge.
Due to the popularity of the .458 Lott cartridge as a hunting cartridge there are several sources of ammunition. A-Square, Double Tap, Federal, Hornady, Norma are among several manufacturers of .458 Lott ammunition. Most ammunition manufactured for the cartridge is loaded with a 500 gr bullet at 2300 ft/s (701 m/s) which has become the industry standard for the cartridge.
This is particularly true in many African nations. In South African, where the local Denel Somchem powders are readily available, none of the powders have the capability of launching a 500 gr bullet at 2300 ft/s (701 m/s). This led to the creation of a new cartridge named the .458 Express by its designer Dr. Koos Badenhorst. The new design uses a 3 inches (76.2 mm) cartridge made from basic .458 brass based on the .375 H&H Magnum casehead. This case provided the capacity necessary using Somchem powders such as S321 and S335 to drive the 500 gr to 2300 ft/s (701 m/s).
Cartridge (firearms)
A cartridge, also called a round, packages the bullet, gunpowder and primer into a single metallic case precisely made to fit the firing chamber of a firearm. The primer is a small charge of impact-sensitive chemical that may be located at the center of the case head or at its rim . Electrically...
designed as a replacement for the less powerful .458 Winchester Magnum
.458 Winchester Magnum
The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, dangerous game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle. It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express...
. It is based on the full length .375 H&H Magnum
.375 H&H Magnum
The .375 Holland & Holland Magnum is a powerful rifle round and one of the best-known and most popular medium-bore cartridges in the world. The .375 H&H was only the second cartridge ever to feature a belt, now common among magnum rounds. A popular misconception is that the belt is for headspace,...
blown out
Wildcat cartridge
A wildcat cartridge, or wildcat, is a custom cartridge for which ammunition and firearms are not mass produced. These cartridges are often created in order to optimize a certain performance characteristic of an existing commercial cartridge.Developing and using wildcat cartridges does not...
and shortened to 2.8 inches (7.1 cm). The cartridge is designed for the purpose of hunting African dangerous game.
The .458 Lott was designed in response to perceived inadequacies and problems encountered with the .458 Winchester Magnum. While the cartridge was slow to gain popularity at first, it is now becoming the standard by which dangerous game cartridges are judged. The cartridge provides a distinct step up in performance over the .458 Winchester Magnum. A-Square
A-Square
A-SQUARE COMPANY, LLC is a manufacturer of rifles, ammunition and bullets based in Chamberlain, South Dakota in the United States. The company is one of 19 that are members of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer's Institution. The company's focus is on its firearms for hunting large...
, Česká Zbrojovka/Brno
Česká Zbrojovka
Česká Zbrojovka may refer to one of the following Czech firearms makers:* Česká Zbrojovka Strakonice* Česká Zbrojovka Uherský Brod* Česká Zbrojovka firearms...
, Hornady
Hornady
Hornady Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of ammunition and handloading components, based in Grand Island, Nebraska.The company was founded by Joyce Hornady in 1949 and is currently run by his son Steve Hornady who took over after his father's death in a plane crash in 1981.Hornady...
and Ruger have been instrumental in the cartridge rise in popularity.
Cartridge History
The .458 Winchester Magnum was put into production in 1956 and was an immediate commercial success. It was a more economical alternative to the English double rifleDouble rifle
A double-barreled rifle or double rifle is a type of sporting rifle with two barrels instead of one, available in eitherside-by-side or over-and-under barrel configurations. Double rifles are one of the family of combination guns...
s that were considered the standard rifle type for dangerous game hunting in Africa. The .458 Winchester Magnum promised to emulate the performance of the .450 Nitro Express
.450 Nitro Express
.450 Nitro Express designed for the purpose of hunting large game such as elephant. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in single shot and double express rifles for hunting at the Tropics or hot climates in general and is a cartridge associated with the Golden Age of African safaris and...
in a cartridge designed for a standard length bolt action rifle. However, it soon became apparent that the .458 Winchester Magnum was not performing as anticipated. Several factors contributing to its less than stellar performance in Africa: clumping of its compressed powder
Smokeless powder
Smokeless powder is the name given to a number of propellants used in firearms and artillery which produce negligible smoke when fired, unlike the older gunpowder which they replaced...
charge and use in 20 – barrel rifles.
Jack Lott, a big game hunter and a noted writer, had an adverse encounter in Mozambique
Mozambique
Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...
in 1959 with an African Cape buffalo in which he sustained injuries. He had been hunting with the then new .458 Winchester Magnum. This experience convinced him that a more powerful cartridge than the .458 Winchester Magnum was required when hunting dangerous game. After the encounter he began a search for a big bore cartridge which would suit his needs perfectly.
Not finding a cartridge that would fit his needs, he designed a cartridge which he felt would meet his requirements in a dangerous game cartridge. Jack Lott's original drawings of the cartridge were done on a napkin at a diner. The first cases for the new rifle cartridge were fireformed from .375 H&H Magnum brass into a chamber by using .458 caliber (11.6 mm) bullets which had their bases re-sized 0.375 inches (9.5 mm) so as to fit in the mouth of the .375 H&H Magnum. This method of fireforming left the newly formed cases slightly shorter than the parent cases. The resulting cartridge is named the .458 Lott in his honor. A similar method was used by David Miller and Curt Crum to create cases for their early custom .458 Lott rifles. The creation of the cases began with the casting of a 0.458 in (11.6 mm) bullet with a 0.375 in (9.5 mm) shank and which weighed around 260 gr. This bullet was seated on a .375 H&H Magnum case containing 30 gr of Hercules 2400 powder with some polyester material used as a wadding to hold the powder charge against the primer. This set-up was then fire-formed in rifle with a .458 Lott chamber. The fire-formed cases were then run through a .458 Winchester Magnum full length re-sizing die with a set off of 0.125 in (3.2 mm). Once this was accomplished cases were trimmed to 2.79 in (70.9 mm) tumbled clean. Unfortunately for Miller and Crum, this method of fire-forming of brass lead to severe gas cutting into the neck area of the .458 Lott fire-forming rifle after only 200 rounds.
In 1989 A-Square
A-Square
A-SQUARE COMPANY, LLC is a manufacturer of rifles, ammunition and bullets based in Chamberlain, South Dakota in the United States. The company is one of 19 that are members of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer's Institution. The company's focus is on its firearms for hunting large...
became the first company to offer the .458 Lott as a commercial cartridge. At present, the 465 gr Triad (Monolithic Solid, Dead Tough and the Lion Load) for the .458 Lott cartridge is available from the company. A-Square also championed the successful SAAMI
Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute
The Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturers' Institute is an association of American firearms and ammunition manufacturers...
standardization of the .458 Lott cartridge which took place in 1995. They currently offer the A-Square Hannibal and Caesar rifles chambered for this cartridge.
Design & Specifications
The objective behind the design of the .458 Lott was provide a greater case capacity over the .458 Winchester Magnum so as to provide better performance and less compression of the powder charge. The .458 Lott achieved both these objectives by its lengthened cartridge. Furthermore, as the Lott cartridge is in essence a lengthened .458 Winchester Magnum, converting a .458 Winchester Magnum to .458 Lott involves in many cases a simple re-boring of the chamber and if required, a lengthening of the magazine.The .458 Lott was standardized by SAAMI in 1995 based on specification provided by Arthur Alphin and A-Square LLC. According to Arthur Alphin, the cartridge length was standardized at 2.8 inches (71.1 mm) and the chamber length at 2.81 inches (71.4 mm) because there were many converted rifles in the field that were chambered for the original Jack Lott length. The specifications published by SAAMI reflect this fact.
The specifications for the .458 Lott call for a cartridge which gradually tapers. However, A-Square and few other ammunition manufacturers provide a ghost shoulder for the cartridge which was not included in the specification as standardized by SAAMI. Arthur Alphin chose not to include the ghost shoulder to remain true to Jack Lott's wishes and to honor his memory. The ghost shoulder serves to provide better retention of the bullet in the case under recoil. Like A-Square .458 Lott cartridges, Barnes .458 Lott brass bears a ghost shoulder for this very same reason.
- SAAMI compliant .458 Lott cartridge schematic: All dimensions in inches [millimeters].
SAAMI recommends a 6 grove rifling contour with each grove being 0.15 inch (0.381 cm) wide. Distance between lands is 0.45 inches (1.1 cm) and between groves is 0.458 inches (1.2 cm). Recommended rifling twist is between 1:10 to 1:20. Most rifle manufacturers use 1:14 or 1:16 twist rates.
Since Lott was an influential big-game hunter and writer the cartridge gained some attention with professional hunters in Africa. The .458 Lott was soon commercialized by A-Square
A-Square
A-SQUARE COMPANY, LLC is a manufacturer of rifles, ammunition and bullets based in Chamberlain, South Dakota in the United States. The company is one of 19 that are members of the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturer's Institution. The company's focus is on its firearms for hunting large...
as a proprietary cartridge. CZ
Ceská Zbrojovka Uhersky Brod
Česká zbrojovka a.s. Uherský Brod is a Czech firearms manufacturer.-History:CZUB was established in 1936 as a branch of the Česká zbrojovka armament firm in the small Moravian town of Uherský Brod in Czechoslovakia, now in the Czech Republic....
chambered the cartridge in their BRNO ZKK 602 rifles based on the Magnum Mauser action. However, the Lott remained fairly obscure at least in the United States until Ruger
Sturm, Ruger
Sturm, Ruger & Company, Incorporated is a Southport, Connecticut-based firearm manufacturing company, better known by the shortened name Ruger. Sturm, Ruger produces bolt-action, semi-automatic, full-automatic, and single-shot rifles, shotguns, semi-automatic pistols, and single- and double-action...
offered the cartridge in their Ruger M77RSM Mk II rifles to the American public in 2002. Since then there has been a slow but steady movement away from the .458 Winchester Magnum towards the .458 Lott among professional hunters heading to Africa.
The .458 Winchester Magnum is ubiquitous in Africa. While one might not be able to easily find ammunition for the big Weatherby or the Nitro Express cartridges, due to its popularity one would be able to find .458 Winchester Magnum cartridges. In an emergency, the .458 Winchester Magnum can be fired in the chamber of a .458 Lott.
Performance
By 1970 Winchester was forced to deal with the clumping of the compressed powder charge which had been resulting in improper ignition and poor performance. Winchester's remedy was to lessen the compression of the powder column. The result was a .458 Winchester Magnum that was now attaining only about 1950 feet per second (594.4 m/s). This was 200 ft/s (61 m/s) below what Winchester's original design specifications intended. The .458 Winchester Magnum was originally supposed to duplicate the performance of the .450 Nitro Express.450 Nitro Express
.450 Nitro Express designed for the purpose of hunting large game such as elephant. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in single shot and double express rifles for hunting at the Tropics or hot climates in general and is a cartridge associated with the Golden Age of African safaris and...
which could fire a 500 gr bullet at 2150 feet per second (655.3 m/s).
On the other hand, the .458 Lott is designed to provide about 200–300 ft/s (61–91.4 m/s) more velocity than the .458 Winchester Magnum. The performance goal does not just match but exceeds the original performance specifications of the .458 Winchester Magnum. The cartridge is capable of firing a 500 gr bullet at 2300 feet per second (701 m/s) from a 23 inches (584.2 mm) barrel such as the Ruger M77. This capability easily exceeded the performance that was expected of the .450 Nitro Express and the .458 Winchester Magnum. The Lott cartridge was a distinct step up from the .458 Winchester Magnum and the .450 Nitro Express cartridges. The .458 Lott is also considered a better cartridge for dangerous game hunting that the .470 Nitro Express
.470 Nitro Express
The .470 Nitro Express is a cartridge developed in England for very large or dangerous game hunting. This cartridge is used almost exclusively in single shot and double express rifles for hunting in the tropics or hot climate...
when judged by its effects on big game.
Due to its development and purpose, the performance of the .458 Lott is often compared with that of the .458 Winchester Magnum. This is inevitable as the latter was the cartridge which the .458 Lott was designed to replace.
| Cartridge | Criteria | Muzzle | 50 yards (45.7 m) | 100 yards (91.4 m) | 150 yards (137.2 m) | 200 yards (182.9 m) | 250 yards (228.6 m) | 300 yards (274.3 m) |
| .458 Winchester Magnum .458 Winchester Magnum The .458 Winchester Magnum is a belted, straight-taper cased, dangerous game rifle cartridge. It was introduced commercially in 1956 by Winchester and first chambered in the Winchester Model 70 African rifle. It was designed to compete against the .450 Nitro Express and the .470 Nitro Express... Hornady 500 gr DGS |
Velocity | 2140 ft/s (652.3 m/s) | 2007 ft/s (611.7 m/s) | 1879 ft/s (572.7 m/s) | 1757 ft/s (535.5 m/s) | 1641 ft/s (500.2 m/s) | 1531 ft/s (466.6 m/s) | 1429 ft/s (435.6 m/s) |
| Energy | 5084 ft·lbf (6,893 J) | 4472 ft·lbf (6,063.2 J) | 3921 ft·lbf (5,316.2 J) | 3428 ft·lbf (4,647.7 J) | 2990 ft·lbf (4,053.9 J) | 2603 ft·lbf (3,529.2 J) | 2267 ft·lbf (3,073.6 J) | |
| .458 Lott Hornady 500 gr DGS | Velocity | 2300 ft/s (701 m/s) | 2162 ft/s (659 m/s) | 2029 ft/s (618.4 m/s) | 1900 ft/s (579.1 m/s) | 1777 ft/s (541.6 m/s) | 1660 ft/s (506 m/s) | 1549 ft/s (472.1 m/s) |
| Energy | 5873 ft·lbf (7,962.7 J) | 5190 ft·lbf (7,036.7 J) | 4568 ft·lbf (6,193.4 J) | 4007 ft·lbf (5,432.8 J) | 3505 ft·lbf (4,752.1 J) | 3058 ft·lbf (4,146.1 J) | 2663 ft·lbf (3,610.5 J) | |
| Values courtesy of the Hornady Ballistic Calculator For the purposes of this comparison barrel a barrel length of 24 in (609.6 mm) is used. | ||||||||
The .458 Lott is able to attain over 2300 feet per second (701 m/s) with a 500 gr jacketed bullet at safe pressure levels from a 23–24 in (584.2–609.6 mm) barrel. In comparison, many ammunition manufacturers load the .458 Winchester Magnum to velocities between 2050–1950 ft/s (624.8–594.4 m/s). Hornady's Superformance ammunition being an exception which uses powder blends which at present remain proprietary. The .458 Lott is capable of reaching a velocity of 2150 feet per second (655.3 m/s) with the 600 gr bullet which is greater than the velocity reached by Hornady's 500 gr Superformance .458 Winchester Magnum ammunition. With lighter bullets of 300 gr it is able to to achieve a velocity of about 2850 ft/s (868.7 m/s). These energy and velocity values provide the .458 Lott cartridge a gain of between 50–100 yd (45.7–91.4 m) over the .458 Winchester Magnum in distance. This performance increase provides better penetration and stopping power than the .458 Winchester Magnum against dangerous game.
However, the mono-metal bullets fall short of this velocity threshold due to the need to seat the bullets deeper owing to the length of the bullets and the need to stay within the maximum overall length specification of the cartridge. This is because the lower mono-metal bullets have a higher length to weight ratio than conventional bullets. Manufacturers such as A-Square have chosen to load slightly lighter bullets 465 gr instead of the 500 gr bullets.
The straight tapered case of the .458 Lott provides greater flexibility in reloading to lower velocities than bottlenecked cartridges. The ability to reload ammunition to lower velocities with lighter bullets can provide shooters with ammunition with less recoil than the full power .458 Lott ammunition. Nyati Inc., a big bore ammunition manufacturer, has taken advantage of this flexibility and offers ammunition featuring a 500 gr copper jacket bullet at 1100 feet per second (335.3 m/s). They also offer intermediate power ammunition for the .458 Lott as well.
Handloaders can take advantage of the wide range of bullet of useful weights are available in .45 caliber for the .458 Lott cartridge. Bullets ranging from 300 gr can be loaded for the Lott cartridge. This, together with the ability to load the cartridge to lower power levels, easily adds to the versatility of the .458 Lott. .458 Lott velocities range from 3000 ft/s (914.4 m/s) with the 300 gr bullet and 2150 ft/s (655.3 m/s) with the 600 gr bullet. Spitzer bullets with better ballistics such as the Barnes X or TSX bullet provides better down range performance over the more conventional .45 caliber (11.6 mm) bullets. The .458 Lott does well with hardcast lead bullets. With these bullets the Lott can be loaded to the power level of the original .45-70 Government cartridge. which was a 405 gr bullet at 1330 ft/s (405.4 m/s).
What the .458 Lott lacks in velocity and energy compared to the .450 Rigby or the .460 Weatherby Magnum, it more than makes up for by virtue of its versatility. Larger volume cases such as the .460 Weatherby Magnum do not do well with powder charges below the recommended minimums. This is due to the erratic ignition and hangfire issues experienced when large capacity cartridges are loaded with small powder charges. The Lott has no such issues and takes well to lower powder charges.
Sporting Usage
The .458 Lott was designed to be an African dangerous game rifle cartridge particularly for use against heavy, thick skinned dangerous game such as elephant, Cape buffalo and rhinoceros. It is considered an ideal cartridge for hunting African dangerous game and is capable of taking game from elephant to the duikerDuiker
A duiker is any of about 21 small to medium-sized antelope species from the subfamily Cephalophinae native to Sub-Saharan Africa.Duikers are shy and elusive creatures with a fondness for dense cover; most are forest dwellers and even the species living in more open areas are quick to disappear...
. Acceptable bullet weights for the .458 Lott range from 300 gr. The range of available bullets provides the flexibility to customize loads for specific game species.
Elephant require a bullet of a tough construction which will not deform easily. The bullet must be able to penetrate heavy bone and exit from all possible angles. These requirement reduce the useful choices to solid bullets. This is especially true if the classic brain shot is contemplated when hunting elephant where the bullet must penetrate through the honeycombed bone structure of the frontal area of the elephant's skull. Bullets which are chosen must have sectional densities of over .300 while a sectional densities of .330 are preferred so as to provide the necessary penetration on these, the largest of the terrestrial mammals. Premium solid bullets from A-square, Barnes, Hornady, North Fork or Woodleigh weighting in the range of 450 gr are all capable of holding together without much deformation and penetrating to the brain. With lesser FMJ bullets only heart, lung or shoulder shots should be considered.
Cape buffalo and rhinoceros, though heavily boned and tough are mostly hunted with soft point bullets although FMJ and solid bullets are chosen by some hunters. Again as with elephants, premium bullets of a sturdy construction should be chosen. The bullet chosen must be able to break through bone and penetrate to the vitals. Soft points similar to the A-Square Dead Tough, Barnes TSX, Hornady DGX and the Woodleigh Weldcore Soft Nose are examples of these bullets. The .458 Lott has ample power to spare on these species.
While the .458 Lott is capable of taking lion and leopard, it is considered overly powerful for the big cats. Lighter, soft point bullets which rapidly expand or fragment at higher velocities are usually recommended for the big cats. A-Square Lion Load bullet or soft points manufactured for the .45-70 Government fills this niche for the .458 Lott.
The manufacture of spitzer style bullets in the .45 caliber has generally been a recent trend. These bullets provide better ballistic coefficients than the more common round nose or flat nosed bullets available in this caliber. The better ballistic coefficients translate to better longer range performance. Loaded with lighter bullets with better ballistic coefficients at higher velocities the .458 Lott can be used as a medium range plains game rifle cartridge.
In North America it would make a fine big bear and bison rifle. However apart from these species, North American big game does not require cartridges similar to the .458 Lott. Those who reload ammunition are able to take advantage of the .458 Lott's performance flexiblity to tailor their ammunition to the species of game they wish to hunt.
Rifles and Ammunition
Since there are several rifle actions manufactured that are capable of handling the full length magnum cartridges such as the .375 H&H Magnum, it is not surprising that the .458 Lott has been chambered in several rifles. The .458 Lott cartridge’s maximum overall length is only 0.3 in (7.6 mm) longer than the standard length magnum cartridge like the 7mm Remington Magnum and the .300 Winchester Magnum. For this reason several rifles which were formerly chambered for cartridge like the .375 H&H Magnum and the .458 Winchester Magnum were easily converted to the .458 Lott early on when .458 Lott rifles were only available as a custom offering. These conversions required no more than a re-boring or a re-barreling and perhaps a magazine extension if required.The Mauser style action has long been favored by African hunters. It is considered a highly reliable action for its ability function dependently under adverse and stressful conditions. CZ, Kimber, Mauser, Rigby and Ruger, all turn out Mauser action type rifles in this cartridge. CZ’s Brno ZKK602 was one of the first rifles manufactured which was chambered for the .458 Lott. CZ currently produces the CZ 550 American Magnum rifle in that chambering. The Kimber Caprivi, Rigby African Express and the Ruger M77 MkII Magnum are also manufactured in the .458 Lott cartridge. Mauser makes .458 Lott rifles in several models in their M 98 and M 03 Rifle lines.
Non-Mauser action rifles for the .458 Lott are produced by A-Square, Blaser and Weatherby. A-Squares Hannibal and Caesar rifles built on Enfield P14 actions. Blaser manufactures the Blaser R8 Safari PH and Safari Luxus rifle models in the .458 Lott. Weatherby offers the .458 Lott cartridge in Mark V Deluxe and also through their custom shop. Ruger chambers the .458 Lott in the Ruger No. 1 Tropical Rifle. Several other manufacturers also offer rifles chambered in the cartridge as a regular or custom offering.
An advantage that the .458 Lott offers over voluminous cartridge such as the .450 Rigby, .460 Weatherby or the .505 Gibbs is that it can be easily adopted in rifles actions which are regularly manufactured with little or no modification of the bolt face. For this reason, it is a much more economical alternative to cartridges which need larger actions types and larger bolt faces. The cartridge’s popularity is due in large part to the affordable rifles and the number of readily available rifles which are chamber for the cartridge.
Due to the popularity of the .458 Lott cartridge as a hunting cartridge there are several sources of ammunition. A-Square, Double Tap, Federal, Hornady, Norma are among several manufacturers of .458 Lott ammunition. Most ammunition manufactured for the cartridge is loaded with a 500 gr bullet at 2300 ft/s (701 m/s) which has become the industry standard for the cartridge.
| Ammunition | Bullet | Muzzle Velocity | Muzzle Energy | MPBR/Zero |
| Double Tap | 350 gr TSX | 2875 ft/s (876.3 m/s) | 6426 ft·lbf (8,712.5 J) | 266 yd (243.2 m)/227 yd (207.6 m) |
| Double Tap | 500 gr Weldcore JSP | 2350 ft/s (716.3 m/s) | 6133 ft·lbf (8,315.2 J) | 226 yd (206.7 m)/193 yd (176.5 m) |
| Double Tap | 550 gr Weldcore JSP | 2195 ft/s (669 m/s) | 5913 ft·lbf (8,017 J) | 215 yd (196.6 m)/283 yd (258.8 m) |
| Federal P458LT1 | 500 gr TBCC | 2300 ft/s (701 m/s) | 5873 ft·lbf (7,962.7 J) | 224 yd (204.8 m)/191 yd (174.7 m) |
| Federal P458LT2 | 500 gr TBSS | 2300 ft/s (701 m/s) | 5873 ft·lbf (7,962.7 J) | 223 yd (203.9 m)/190 yd (173.7 m) |
| Federal P458LA | 500 gr TSX | 2280 ft/s (694.9 m/s) | 5771 ft·lbf (7,824.4 J) | 227 yd (207.6 m)/193 yd (176.5 m) |
| Federal P458LG | 500 gr BBS | 2300 ft/s (701 m/s) | 5873 ft·lbf (7,962.7 J) | 228 yd (208.5 m)/194 yd (177.4 m) |
| Hornady 8262 | 500 gr DGS | 2300 ft/s (701 m/s) | 5873 ft·lbf (7,962.7 J) | 220 yd (201.2 m)/188 yd (171.9 m) |
| Hornady 82613 | 500 gr DGX | 2300 ft/s (701 m/s) | 5873 ft·lbf (7,962.7 J) | 220 yd (201.2 m)/188 yd (171.9 m) |
| Norma 11115 | 500 gr RN | 2100 ft/s (640.1 m/s) | 4897 ft·lbf (6,639.4 J) | 206 yd (188.4 m)/176 yd (160.9 m) |
| Norma 11116 | 500 gr FMJ | 2100 ft/s (640.1 m/s) | 4897 ft·lbf (6,639.4 J) | 206 yd (188.4 m)/176 yd (160.9 m) |
| Values courtesy of the respective manufacturer MPBR/Zero values courtesy of Big Game Info. | ||||
Criticism
There has been some criticism of the cartridge for its inability to reach the so-called magical 2300–2400 ft/s (701–731.5 m/s) velocity (with some powders) some hunters believe is required for maximum penetration on dangerous game, the end result is that no scientific proof has been made on this subject, and it is likely accepted because of the older bullets that will not retain their weight at high velocity. This is a particular concern outside North America where only particular lines of cartridge powders are available, sometimes of local manufacture. While the Lott achieves this velocity, the powders used may not be available in most locals.This is particularly true in many African nations. In South African, where the local Denel Somchem powders are readily available, none of the powders have the capability of launching a 500 gr bullet at 2300 ft/s (701 m/s). This led to the creation of a new cartridge named the .458 Express by its designer Dr. Koos Badenhorst. The new design uses a 3 inches (76.2 mm) cartridge made from basic .458 brass based on the .375 H&H Magnum casehead. This case provided the capacity necessary using Somchem powders such as S321 and S335 to drive the 500 gr to 2300 ft/s (701 m/s).