I would like your impressions on performance from those of you who have actually used the 505 Gibbs or 500 Jeffery on buffalo.

Is there a marked improvement in killing power over say a 458? Is there any truth to the "stopping" ability, or is it all hype?

Thanks in advance.

SRS

[ 07-27-2002, 21:20: Message edited by: SRS ]

They are absolutly the hammer of Thor. To answer your question, YES.

I don't use them anymore because they just kick beyond my comfort level but if I was young and didn't have bursitis from shooting such stuff then I would be using one or the other...As it stands today I use the 40 calibers. I am content with the 40's....

When it comes to knock'em in the dirt never doubt that the big dog sleeps on the poarch.

When I was in Zim the last time the owner of the safari company stopped in camp one day for lunch and to see how things were going.....we were talking about DGRs and he brought his out and ask if I wanted to shoot it...it was a Gibbs and I declined. After some kidding it was decided that I would shoot my .375 Lazzeroni Hellcat, my PH would shoot his .416 Rem and Sean (the boss) would shoot his .505 Gibbs into a medium-size tree. I wish I would have thought to take a photo but basically I drilled a hole slightly larger than .375 thru the tree...the .416 ditto but a bit more light was obvious....the .505 left a hole you could watch TV thru. Sean is about 5'9" tall and probably weighs about 190lbs and is built like a weight-lifting rubgy player. Recoil was significant but he handled it easily. His rifle was a well-done custom Mauser that must have weighed at least 12 pounds but it balanced like a fine shotgun...wouldn't care to carry it very far. Quite a wee weapon I would say.

I used my 505 Gibb custom rifle on and American bison with great results. I know you were referring to the African Variety, however, it was a one shot kill. It looked like the shots in movies where the animal is hit and goes immediately down like a sack of cement. .50 cal. in and fist out! In a too light rifle the rifle kills a both ends!
lb404