To make a long story short: this Hannibal has been incummunicado since I found a small crack in the stock. I spent plenty of time repairing it with help from the likes of: J. Belk, R. Atkinson, C. Worthing and many others. With a gallery of such luminaries "looking on" I knew I couldn't go wrong. (hey...that rhymes!)

I drove down to Napakiak which is around 18 miles south of Bethel, the river is frozen and very smooth. The wife wanted to visit with her mom and I wanted to shoot this rifle.
In the front yard is a large peice of log about four feet long and ~20-22 inches on the small end and easily >24 inches on the large end. Solidly frozen spruce. It is around -11 F. or -21 C.
"Recruited" two nephews and wrestled this into the back of the truck, drove back towards Bethel a mile or so and dropped it on the river. Stood it up and focused the lights of the truck on it. Yes it is blacker than a well-diggers ass outside.

Used 575 grain Linotype alloy NEI gas checked bullets. Kind of pointy.

BY THE WAY: I also was able to test the magnum F990 recoil pad 470Mbogo is always gushing about...it does work!!

BOOM! 105 grains of IMR-4320 sends this chunk of lead into and right through the peice of tree. Puff of snow dust on the front and I see chips of wood matter flying from the rear. BOOM! These bullets are simply blowing right through this frozen wood. More of the same and my floorplate drops into the snow. Ok I can deal with that. Nephews yelling at me to shoot once more (yeah...they're not dealing with the recoil). I chamber and pull the trigger. Nothing. I open the bolt and yes there is a cartridge in there. Try it again, nothing. OK, I can deal with this too.

Floorplate dropped since I forgot to put in the spring that puts pressure on the button release. I lost it too. I will use a piece of rubber to hold it closed for now until I can get a proper spring. Canjar trigger set screw was loose, to be expected after all the putting on and off I did to make this work. Teething.

Nephews VERY impressed with the penetration. Told them so.

Boys it does feel good to have that slightly sore shoulder and to smell the exhaust from a shoulder cannon again. Ahhhh...I need to do this tomorrow too...

[ 01-04-2003, 12:12: Message edited by: Roger Rothschild ]

Congratulations!

That Triple Magnum pad is a keeper, eh? I put one on a Ruger #1 in .458 Win and it nearly took all the fun out of it. Of course, I doubt that .500 would be much fun without it!

Take care and enjoy your toy, you sick puppy

Sounds awsome Rodger !! Big Bores are simply the best, I want to get out and shoot my .585 again after reading this, these big borees really let you know your alive

Roger,
Sounds like a fun time.. Richard's 577 does the same thing to trees with lead bullets. I think I can hear the linotype actually laughing when it hits them...

Tell us (me) about your cast bullets? Can I buy 100 or so from you? I'll be needing some for my 500 j...

hmm, the f990 really worked? I guess I'll need to order one, fit it, and try it head to head with my beloved kickeez. 470 is usually right about those... Does it come with NO white line?

jeffe

Couldn't help but be reminded of the great "45/70 Buffalo hunt debate" some people have no idea what these heavy hard cast bullets can do.

Hi Roger,
Glad to hear your having so much fun. Big Bores are just plain good fun. I'm really glad that you like the pad. They are a great alternative to a muzzle brake. Have fun with that big stick.

470 Mbogo

Thank you, thank you...I'll be here all week...

I am in SUCH a good mood. It has stopped blizzarding which means I am going to get on the river again after my coffee and a shower.

I fixed the floorplate thing. I found a length of 2" O.D. (~50mm) sandblasting hose and cut a small square plug out of it. I then trimmed it so a little "stalk" fits perfectly into the screwhole in the triggerguard with the rest fitting nicely and tightly where it should, reassembled and I am in business. I will bring the assembly with me next time I go to Fairbanks for a proper spring.
Tightened the set screw holding the trigger on and am ready to go now.

Jeff, let me look around and see how many I have, I think I could let go 100 of these. The postage is going to hurt though.
Uh...no the F990 is not available in blackline, but since everyone here are so nice to me I will tell you how I got a blackline from Pachmeyr. You spend .85 cents (wherever you are on this rock) for a fine point Sharpie. These are the ubiquitous black "Magic Markers" found all over lab benches in The Better Laboritory's. Before you have coffee in the morning (you need to be steady), lay your prized posession on your bed and ever so carefully use the Sharpie to "black out" the white line on the Pachmeyr recoil pad. You will need to make three passes before you can't see any white. That's it! I posted this in the gunsmithing section but no-one bit to ask me how I was the only person in the Universe who had managed to purchase a blackline Pachmeyr F990!!

470Mbogo, I was a little sceptical since I had been brainwashed into the sorbothane thing, problem is the sorbothane gets hard as a rock when it gets cold. The F990 also allows some movement which is why I will test it with a mercury recoil reducer I have laying around. I will shoot with and without the reducer to see what I think. These loads are making (I am guessing) 2300fps? So I need to fire with some full on loads before I make up my mind. The bite is definitely not there though. If I lived where it was really warm I might use the sorbothane pads still.
I will try this test: my professor has a super-cold freezer in his lab, it is set at -70C! I will freeze the sorbothane pad that came off the rifle and using a new drill bit, excise some sorbothane to make a repro F990 but from the solid pad. I'll see how it works.

Well time to get going...

[ 01-04-2003, 23:01: Message edited by: Roger Rothschild ]

Hey Roger,
I figured out the Sharpie trick all by myself.

Your 500 A-Square is the ultimate punishment on the shoulder that I would wish to contend with and still have a portable rifle. It is also as powerful on the muzzle end as anyone could ever need for any hunting situation.

The GSC FN 570 grainers would be a great companion bullet to your 575 grain cast loads, as well as the 570 grain Barnes XLC's.