.458 Lott
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Lemme Guess
I would(only) guess that you intend this weapon to be used as a large game killer in Africa. You need to mention with what bullet,although I would guess with the bullets of 500grs or so. Also what type of weapon is to be chopped. Do you hand load or will you be shooting factory stuff ??
I have a 458Lott chambered in a Ruger #1H but the bbl is stock. I have expieramented with various loads from between 300gr and the somewhat >500grainers.
Although I have no direct expierance with this I would guess that your bbl could come back to 21 inches and still obtain the velocities that you want with a bullet of 500grs.
There are guys hanging around here that have access to some of the more sophisticated ballistics programs that should be along to help with some "real" info. Standby. ----pruhdlr
I would(only) guess that you intend this weapon to be used as a large game killer in Africa. You need to mention with what bullet,although I would guess with the bullets of 500grs or so. Also what type of weapon is to be chopped. Do you hand load or will you be shooting factory stuff ??
I have a 458Lott chambered in a Ruger #1H but the bbl is stock. I have expieramented with various loads from between 300gr and the somewhat >500grainers.
Although I have no direct expierance with this I would guess that your bbl could come back to 21 inches and still obtain the velocities that you want with a bullet of 500grs.
There are guys hanging around here that have access to some of the more sophisticated ballistics programs that should be along to help with some "real" info. Standby. ----pruhdlr
How heavy a bullet? I get velocities in this neighborhood from my short barreled, 47-70 guide gun w/ 300 or 350 gr gullets.
Hi There
Thanks for the reply, i am a Zimbabwean Hunter Guide so yes will be using the rifle to stop big game. It is a Ruger M77 .458 Lott. I am working in some real thick bush and want the barrel as short as possible for manoverability. I never take a shot at more then 30m, mostly at around the 10-20m range. As far as what rounds i am using. At the moment i am using federal premium cape shok, trophy bonded sledgehammer solids but have also been using Hornady full metal jacket round nose both in 500GR.
Thanks for the reply, i am a Zimbabwean Hunter Guide so yes will be using the rifle to stop big game. It is a Ruger M77 .458 Lott. I am working in some real thick bush and want the barrel as short as possible for manoverability. I never take a shot at more then 30m, mostly at around the 10-20m range. As far as what rounds i am using. At the moment i am using federal premium cape shok, trophy bonded sledgehammer solids but have also been using Hornady full metal jacket round nose both in 500GR.
Call danie Joubert in Pretoria South Africa, he will most probably be able to advise. Tel Fax: 0027 12 807 4892
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I used Quickload, and got a 500gr, .458 Lott load up to 2300fps out of a 24" barrel, just like Hornady advertises. I dropped barrel length to 18" and it still shows 2199fps and 16" shows 2153. But the muzzle blast would be SEVERE. The Lott is straight walled, and runs on very fast powder like Reloader 7, so barrel length is not so critical to it's performance. Keep in mind this is just an estimation with a computer program, but it shouldn't be far off. I think with a 16" barrel, it should be easy to keep around 2000 fps.
Thank you Tang for that info, would you say that i could go to 20" then and be fine with that, that is the ideal length i would like as the area i guide hunts in i am often in very thick bush and following an angry wounded elephant in thick stuff with a long barrell is not enjoyable. Thanks again for you help. it is greatly appreciated.
His original post didn't include info on the bullet. Didn't you read that he edited his post? Didn't you read in my post asking the question that I copied his entire post and there was no mention of the bullet weight?
Does my post now meet your standards for intelligent posting?
Yours doesn't. Too quick to criticize and poor punctuation.
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A .458 Lott in a 20" would still out perform a .458 Win Mag from a 24".
Make the rifle like you want. Whatever the velocity is the rifle will still be effective if you have good bullets. The bullets are much more important than a 100 or so FPS
thanks for the reply, however i have to think about the velocity or i might aswell be using a .458 win mag. I am thinking i will go to 20" if you are firing a 500gr solid at less than 2000FPS it is not going to penetrate to the brain of some of the big bull elephant round my way
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The .458 Win is nothing to sneeze at. But just remember, if you have .458 Win performance in a compact, 20" barreled rifle, then you have a heckuva package.
Quickload estimates, a 20" barrel, with Reloader 7, pushing a 500gr Hornady to 2043 fps. The .458 Win needs a 25" barrel to match that estimate.
Otto Candice according to John Linebaugh has taken over a hundred bull Elelphant and Otto has got over 40" with a frontal brain shot useing a 475 Linebaugh revolver shooting the Trophy Bonded Sledge Hammer solids cut down to fit in the revolver wieghing 390 grains at 1400 FPS
Use flat point solids and you will not have a problem
Go here: http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/frm/f/4711043 Go into the thread on Terminal Performance, it is now 56 pages and the tresting of different calibers with solids is invaluable
Zim, I personally would not go any shorter than 21 inches! The muzzle blast is going to be a bunch with anything shorter and muzzle jump may too be more than you are wanting. I had my 26 inch barrel .470 - Capstick cut down to 23 inches and all is well.
You generally speaking lose around 35 feet per second for every inch you take off a barrel. I hope this helps you out a bit and all goes well with your finished product. I once saw a .458 Win mag taken down to 20 inches but that fellow never hunted big dangerous game. He instead hunted wild hogs in the thick stuff and anchored them with plenty to spare.
You generally speaking lose around 35 feet per second for every inch you take off a barrel. I hope this helps you out a bit and all goes well with your finished product. I once saw a .458 Win mag taken down to 20 inches but that fellow never hunted big dangerous game. He instead hunted wild hogs in the thick stuff and anchored them with plenty to spare.
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