After my conversation this morning, I am posing a question to the forum members. How many of our members would be interested in cup point solids and flat nose solids from North Fork? If we can get up enough sold, a run of bullets for 500 Jeffery and 505 Gibbs could be made. I think that between 50 and 100 boxes total would qualify for getting the project going.

I would be interested.

Several weeks ago, Mike Brady quizzed me via email on what bullet weight I might be interested in for a "50 caliber" North Fork.

Thinking .500 A2 and .500 NE, even .500 Jeffery, I suggested that a 570 grainer would be my choice.

525 grain .505 would not be my choice.

535 grain .510 would not be my choice.

It seems to me that 570 grain .510 caliber would have the broadest appeal.

I never heard any reply from Mike since then.

He said he had gotten a lot of requests for 50's at the DSC.

His CP and FP would be perfect for double rifles, and I suspect .500 NE would be the biggie in the DSC crowd.

That means 570 grain .510 caliber. I would be interested in some of those. I ain't lookin' for no 50 caliber African Sheep Bullet.

The closest Kevin Robertson, DVM, aka Doctari, comes to bragging in all 268 pages of The PErfect Shot is when he puts a 525 grain Goodenel monolithic RN from his .505 Gibbs (2250 fps) through the humerous of a runing bull elephant that would not die. (Page 59-60).

Doctari is about as traditional and conservative as they come and if the .505 Gibbs makes a come back folks who shoot the .500 Nitro will still need a 570 grain to regulate their doubles. (Though I wonder if the 525 grain at same velocity would not work).

This is really an economic decision for Mike Brady.

In my experience folks want a traditional bullet weight even though the specific gravity of copper is 8.9 and various brass alloys 8.4 or so compared to 10-11 for lead or copper jacketed lead.

This means you end up with a very long and unstable bullet which is not compatible with a pee wee velocity and the old Black Powder twist rates of the nitro ctgs.

All I can say is shoot a 1-10 twist fellows.

And if I ever get seriously addicted to elephant hunting and wanted something more rather than lighter than my 450 Dalota I would shoot a 525 grain .505 rather than a 500 grain .458.

(Daktori got that right).

Andy

Andy,
I will soon have some .450 Dakota Varget loads for the 450 grain North Fork soft and solid to forward to you. I will be trying H4350 with the 500 grain Hornady Interbonds also, to see what shoots best in my Mauser 98 Magnum. It's a starting point.

I do have 10" twist barrels on both of my 500 A2's, the .510 JAB Dynamic Duo.

That twist will handle any .510 caliber bullet up to the 2.5" long 750 grain Hornady A-Max at 2150 fps. 1/2 MOA. Supersonic past 1000 yards. That adds some versatility to an elephant rifle.

The black tip AP's are accurate too, for even more versatility.

The slow twist crowd might want to rethink monometals.

I have already committed to Mike for 10 boxes of soft points and 5 boxes of cup points in .510". I hope they end up around 540 to 570 grains.
I think he will only offer the .505" in solids.
DaveC

i would definety be interested in the 570gr .510 cup points. would probably order 5 boxes to start with.

When I spoke with Mike yesterday, the issue is rod size and from one rod size he said he could make both .510 and .505 which really is good for both calibers. He also said that he would only like to produce the CPS and the FNS as the two mentioned calibers are for really big and tough big game and a soft would just cost more for a limited application. You could just buy Woodleigh's for the soft anyway for those that thought they needed one. I think he said that it would take 50 to 100 boxes of the bullets to get things started. I think this is a super deal as the boxes have 50 not 25 bullets/box and would be similarly priced to or a little more than the 458's. The real question is to settle on a bullet weight that would satisfy both camps.

I'm in for the 570 gr. for the .500 NE. I am an avid fan of Mike's bullets but have to wonder about regulation in my double since his bullets tend to be lighter. I'll try them even if they are lighter.

This is great news!

thanks,

Sam

I would like the .510 bullets to be 570 grains or they might not regulate in doubles.

I would settle for 570 in a flat nosed solid, but would prefer 600.

Come on Lb, your ruining my day, now I am considering a 500 Jefferys or a 505 Gibbs so I can play with these good bullets...

So I suppose its difficul to make a 500 Jefferys on a Mauser action as again, no one makes a proper box?? Maybe a CZ with a Brockman drop in is in order...

Ray, I got the goods today and all is well. Very nice rifle that Hoffman. I think I will replace the pad with one of the new red decelerators. Blackburn's make the proper box for the 500 Jeffery. I have on in the works by
Davenport. It should be here by summer. I am hoping to take it and a 404 Jeffery or perhaps the Hoffman if I can work it out. I should take at least one scope sighted rifle anyway so may take the 404 Jeffery and the 500. Thanks.