Chickens & Eggs
For years, custom gunsmiths reamed out the chambers of .458 Win. Mag. rifles to accommodate the Lott, and D'Arcy Echols & Co. and A-Square both built factory rifles in it—the latter advertised and introduced .458 Lott ammunition to the Sporting Arms and Ammunition Manufacturing Institute (SAAMI) as well before A-Square closed its doors. You could also order a Model 70 Custom Safari Express or African Express in the Lott, but the $3,000 to $4,500 or so price tag still put them in custom gun realm. Until a major rifle maker and a major ammunition maker combined to bring the Lott to the masses as a factory proposition, the Lott continued as a wildcat.

When it came to introducing the .458 Lott, Steve Hornady basically said to Bill Ruger, Jr., "Well, if you do the rifle, we'll do the cartridges," and Bill Ruger, Jr., essentially replied with the same sentiment: "We'll do the rifle, if you do the ammunition." It was that simple, except for the engineering, obviously, but the deal was done, and the Lott would no longer suffer ignominy as a mere wildcat.

Ruger had expressed interest in the .458 Lott as early as 2000, and a more "American" looking line of "Large-Action" rifles, based on the Magnum, without the barrel rib and fore-end cap was almost introduced in 2000-2001 in 7 mm STW, .338 Rem. Ultra Mag, .375 H&H, .416 Rigby and .458 Lott. These rifles were far from handsome and never reached the market. The only remnants of Ruger's first introduction of the .458 Lott are a few prototypes and a four-page sales flier.

The February 2002 Ruger and Hornady introduction pulled Jacque Lott's legacy out of the wildcat category and made it a legitimate factory proposition. Hornady took over SAAMI standardization of the cartridge from A-Square, and Ruger announced two rifles chambered for it at the same time. Ruger offers both its single-shot No. 1 Tropical and the bolt-action Magnum in the Lott. Weatherby followed suit by bringing out the cartridge in its Dangerous Game Rifle in October 2002.

Not A Casual Endeavor
After shooting about 60 rounds with the rifle over the course of a week to zero it from the bench and then practice shooting from field positions and off of my Stoney Point Professional shooting sticks so I'd have some muscle memory and know what to expect, I'll admit it hurt. I'm not particularly recoil sensitive, but the .458 Lott, except for the most masochistic of us, is not a recreational cartridge suitable for an afternoon of causal plinking off the bench. It is task-specific cartridge, and that purpose is knocking down and keeping down the biggest and most dangerous creatures on earth. From the bench, even with a PAST pad and a shooting jacket on, it's nothing short of brutal. Off-hand and leaning into it, it's not too bad, and I was able to put three shots within an 8" circle at 50 yds. in 5.1 seconds. After that 60 rounds of .458 Lott, I vowed to shoot it only twice more in Alaska—once to check my zero upon arrival and once to drop a bear in its tracks. At least I got the first part right.

After I returned from Alaska—and after my colleague Abe Walsh used the rifle in Africa to take a big Cape Buffalo—the rifle was fired at 100 yds. for accuracy and velocity with the two factory Lott loads as well as Federal's Premium Safari 500-gr. Solid loading and the above-mentioned Hornady .458 Win. Mag. Heavy Magnum using a Zero Coil device from the bench. After shooting 80 or so more rounds of Lott, the Federal .458 Win. Mag. loads seemed mild in comparison.

A Native Word For "No Bears Until May"
For the field test of the Ruger Magnum and .458 Lott cartridge, my friend Cameron Hopkins, former editor of American Handunner and now a vice president with Surefire flashlights, headed out to Jim Harrower's excellent Stoney River Lodge in the Alaska Range mountains in pursuit of bear. It depends on whether you follow Safari Club or Boone & Crockett as to whether to call the bears where Harrower guides big grizzleys or small browns; regardless they are still big bears. On arrival, as promised, I shot the gun again to check my zero.

Cameron, who's a bit shorter than I, but not at all recoil shy, stepped up, leaned in and touched it off. He was wearing thin glove liners to keep the chill off, and his strong hand literally came right off the wrist in recoil. Then Cameron's guide Arno, a German who is living his dream hunting, trapping and guiding in the Alaskan wilderness stepped up, leaned in and fired. It rocked him back, and he said in one of the most poignant examples of Teutonic understatement, "This is very powerful." Odds are his loose fillings agreed.

For the hunt, I was paired with Mark Bressler, who has guided in Montana or Alaska for most of his life.

After nine days in a small tent in temperatures ranging from -10 F to 50 F, I decided he's as agreeable a guy as you will ever hunt with. Mark and I hunted hard day in, day out, covering a lot of ground and glassing the valley along the way. We covered between six and 10 miles a day, moving up and down the Mekans river valley. By day six, I asked Mark if knew what "Mekans" meant in the native language. He replied in the negative. I suggested that it means, "No bears until May." As we were hunting the first half of April, it didn't bode well. While hunting, I carried that rifle up mountains (to likely-looking, but unsuccessful spots) through icy glacial streams and up and down the rough country of the Mekans valley.

All told, thanks to the Uncle Mike s Sidekick sling—which has just the right amount of bounce and rigidity—carrying that 10 1/2-lb. rifle wasn't so bad. The gun balances well in the hands and comes up fast. Mind you, if I has known there weren't going to be any bears, I likely would have carried a lighter rifle. Before going, I coated all the metal work with MetalSeal and applied a couple of coats of Birchwood-Casey's stock seal to all the internal and external surfaces of the stock. Taking a wood-stocked gun to a place where it rains for weeks at a time is asking for trouble if it's not sealed. Thankfully, the snow, fog and driving rain wasn't as bad as some Alaska trips I've taken. I loaded two of the 500-gr. soft-points, backed up by a 500-gr. FMJ as the last round in the magazine, thinking, if needed, the last round's superior penetration would solve any possible trouble I'd run into. As the point of impact for both loadings was identical out to 100 yds., no separate zero was required. I zeroed the rifle to be 1" high at 50 yds. and dead on at 100 yds. Again, it didn't matter to the nocturnal bears.

Many hunts end that way, and it's no fault of the guide, hunter or outfitter. As a matter of fact, I'll be taking the Ruger Magnum in .458 Lott back to the Stoney River Lodge and the Mekans next fall. Just as I did this spring, I have complete confidence in the rifle and cartridge's ability to stop a big bear dead, literally, in its tracks. As promised after zeroing the gun in, the rifle and I need to fire that second shot in Alaska. There's still some unfinished "business."