This is an interesting discussion, lots of good info.

How much do you fellows reckon rifles in the heavier calibers should weigh? Or what is too much for lugging around after elephant or buff? My .450 Dakota in a McMillan synthetic stock with scope and rings, and loaded with three down comes in at 11 3/4 lbs and I'm considering pulling out the mercury tubes to lighten it up some.

Andy

Weight is as much a personal preference as caliber, recoil, etc. For me, the 7 lb. levergun with 500 grain .50 caliber bullets at 1950 was about as much recoil as you want and more than most would care for. It didn't hurt but it wasn't a lot of fun. On the other hand, the Ruger Lott at about 11 lbs was more weight than I needed to shoot the Lott well.

I think a 9-10 lb. Lott would be good for my tastes. An 10-11 lb. 500 would be about right. For me, your gun would shoot well but be a bit heavy and it sounds like you are saying the same thing.

quote:

Originally posted by Showbart:
Dan, Why not the 500 AHR? Alot of good thought went into it.

"The 500 AHR is similar to the 500 Jeffery, but has a longer neck, 25 degree shoulder and larger rim. The rim is thick and fits the claw extractor with precision. The overall pressure of this cartridge is kept low. The ballistic performance is greater than the 505 Gibbs."

I don't know if they feed properly now, but they didn't in the past because the mag box was the wrong geometry. And the only brass is made by Bertram. A 500 A2 is a better option IMO because they generally feed well out of a 416 Rigby box and the brass (460 Wby) is high quality Norma.

550 magnum home page


http://members.aol.com/goldcoins1/myhomepage/

Another straight case in a DG bolt gun. I like a shoulder to lean on.

Howdy,
Just got back from shooting the .505 Gibbs I told you about. Recoil is not a problem. Not much difference than my .458 Lott. Extremely loud. Bolt is a little stick on the first 25% of the forward stroke. All else seems capable of expected performance in good hands. In fact I told my brother I would give up my .458 for a .505 if I could find a LH model.

Thanks for the report. That's what I expected to hear on the recoil. How was the feeding and who made the rifle? Approximate weight?

I have been talking to one of the forum members who has a LH Gibbs by Ryan Breeding.