Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa CZ 458 ?

My CZ550 in 458Lott handled all loads well and I have a new extra trigger as I replaced mine with aftermarket and an Ed Lapour safety.

To All,

As an "off the wall" suggestion for a STOPPER rifle & that is suitable for anything that is currently alive on Planet Earth, you may want to consider a Model 760 Remington pump-rifle converted by JES in .400 Brown-Whelen Improved.
(I just bought a .30-06 Model 760 with badly pitted barrel, that I bought for "peanuts", that soon will be headed to Jessie to be rebored/rechambered to ..400B-WI. = The .400 is CHEAP to load, as it's .30-06 based & will do 400 grain JSP/solids in .411" at up to 2350FPS, using the same bullets as the "old-school" .405 WCF)
The .400B-WI is the "ballistic twin" of the .404 Jeffery & several other "African calibers".

Maximum killing power & EFFICIENCY in a .30-06-based case is the ,400B-WI's forte. Also, it "pushes" rather than "kicks your head off".
(Consider also the quick 2D,3RD,4TH or even the 10TH shots, with an "extended magazine", too.)

yours, satx

One nice thing about the CZ .458 Winchester: The magazine box is longer than a Model 70. That means that you can hand load banded bullets (Barnes TSX) with the crimp at one of the more rearward bands. This gives you a greater case capacity than otherwise, eliminating the advantage of the Lott. The 458 throat is very long, BTW.

With the Model 70, you can do that trick only with shorter bullets. I have loaded the Barnes 350 grain TSX to 2700 fps, with no signs of pressure at all. That makes it sort of a 30-06 on steroids, 3000 foot pounds of energy at 300 yards. I think that would stop a bear.

I would not fool with the Lott. With equal pressures, you only get about 70 fps over the Winchester.

Don't believe all the voodoo about the .458 Winchester having too little case capacity, or compressed powders. With AA2230 it's easy to get 2200 fps with 500 grain bullets without the Barnes groove trick.

If it were me, though, I'd pick a .375 H&H. While I've never hunted brown bear, I've killed a handful of heavier animals with both the .375 and .458. They seemed about the same and the .375 is better for longer ranges. I used 300 grain North fork soft points in the .375. Two I recovered from a Cape buffalo were perfectly mushroomed and weighed in excess of 290 grains. For the .458, I prefer the 450 grain Barnes TSX at 2200 because of lower recoil than a 500 grain bullet.

NO, I have not shot one. I just go by what my buddy that is in on killing probably 5-7 of them a year tells me.

Appreciate all the input though! 458 is where my mind is.

Some folks are a bit sensitive to recoil too it seems, I don't enjoy it but certainly can deal with it. I've shot the 458 Win enough to know it recoils less than a 378 wtby, which is the only round I"ve said I"d never own...

I won't be shooting long range on a bear. Well if I do, it would be with my 50. LOL

http://www.gunsinternational.com/gu...-win-mag-bolt-rifle.cfm?gun_id=100907165


Just get this.

A 458 Lott without a brake is about the same as a 378 Weatherby without a brake.

What you really need is a 460 Weatherby.

A 460 Weatherby Magnum Off The Bench

You can load a Model 70 .458 with 500gn TSX's to 3.552" over 72gn of AA2230 for just over 2100fps in a standard 22 inch barrel.
If you like that performance, you can get a spare bolt stop for a few bucks and grind it short so that the bolt will withdraw to accommodate a full 3.6" OAL and fit an inexpensive .375 magazine box.

Although the leade is long in the .458, bullets do tend to like a jump for best accuracy which is why so many 350 and 400 grain bullets are so accurate in this chambering. There are handloaders that seat these bullets out to the longer OAL in the CZ and BRNO rifles, that is not new, but one thing that is often missing from the comparison of the CZ and the Model 70 is handling characteristics. The CZ is a terrific buy if you like it and the magazine capacity is a "warm and fuzzy" if you believe you "need" it. After using and handling both on many occasions, I went for the Model 70 for which I have had quite a few as I type this, Whenever I let one go, I regret it and start shopping again. Never felt like that with the CZ and I have had the opportunity to buy them for half what the public pays. Personnel preference? Certainly, but that is a road we all must travel.

The animals most hunters use these rifles on are not feeling very well once hit properly. "Stopping Rifle" is a good and very accurate phrase for this cartridge. A .458 is the ultimate sedative.
John

Those .460 Loads are light. Full power loads behave differently from what is indicated in this video.
John

Jeff,

Just a comment on the CZ 550 factory set triggers. Have used both the factory triggers and Timneys with no problem, either in African dust or Alaskan wet. But with the factory trigger I do what somebody else already mentioned, adjust so the set feature goes away. This is really simple, as I recall just adjusting the primary pull to around 3 pounds. Have been using both my 9.3x62 and .416 Rigby CZ's that way for 15 years now with zero problems.

I also much prefer the CZ safety to either Model 70 or Ruger Hawkeye safeties.