Testing Feeding of Flat Nose Bullets in .458 Lott Legend Rifle

Here we have a short video of us testing the feeding of a .458 Lott Legend rifle using a mixture of flat nosed 500 gr. Barnes Banded Solids and the Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer solids.  We have found that these two bullets, with their wide flat meplats, are the ultimate test bullets for checking feeding in a dangerous game rifle.  In other words, if the rifle will feed a flat nosed solid when the bolt is worked as if your life depends on it, it will feed anything.

Obviously this is an extreme example as most mortals can't operate the bolt from the shoulder at this speed while actually firing and hitting the target.  However, we have found that most any bullet profile will feed ok when operated slowly, assuming the basics such as extractor tension, feed ramp shape and angle, and rail dimension are correct.  It is at extreme speed of operation that a rifle will most often choke, usually due to the bullet nose deflecting at an extreme angle and burying itself into the extractor cut of the cone breech. The flat nose solid exacerbates this situation.  Careful attention to the feed ramp shape and proper release timing will solve the problem.

*  Warning:  No animals were harmed in the filming of this video, only dummy rounds.