For all those 505 Gibbs shooters out there...
Where to for reloading dies and what is the best brass to use? Norma now load the 505 but don't list brass??????

Hi fordnutter,

I just picked up a .505 Gibbs, and love it! Much easier on the shoulder than I thought it would be.

As to ammo and reloading: it took me a bit to locate a few boxes of ammo [20 rnds from Superior, 10rnds from A-Square] so that I could have some brass shot through my rifle. It has been a good method as I now know what stout hunting rounds feel like! I bought a set of dies through the free classifieds, so keep you eyes peeled and sooner than later you'll find a kindred soul who's moving on [typically going larger!]. Comonants are everywhere, look at Woodleigh for hunting bullets --there's actually quite a few very good bullet makers making .505 bullets.

FWIW, the brass on the A-Square stuff is stamped A-Square, the Superior ammunition loads use Jamison brass.

Good luck, and welcome to the fun of the Gibbs!

I'd try Neil at custom brass and bullets he is a AR member and has helped me before. I think he has some brass aval.

www.custombrassandbullets.com

I second or third the Jamison brass ... and find some RCBS dies. That combination works in a CZ 550 .505 Gibbs.

Nickudu says the Horneber brass is as good as it gets.

He, heh, only 24 more posts to 10,000.

Norma will introduce .505 Gibbs brass hopefully before the end of this year, available in the US sometime in 2008.

Myself I have started a .505 Gibbs project

So tell the uninformed what action that is, and about the pot belly floor plate.

quote:

Originally posted by husky:

I see by checking the properties of the image that this is tagged as a "Vector 98 Magnum" action.

Was this originally set up with a box width suitable for the .505 Gibbs? Or will it be too skinny like the CZ 550 sheetmetal box, and thus require modification?

It is a Vector 98 Magnum action.

It will be just as skinny as an original Gibbs

Hey Guys,
Found the 505 die listing on The RCBS website. They list JGS or CIP dies...CIP is the industry standard right? What is JGS?
Ok so Jamieson brass is the go or norma if I can get it.
I found that MT Baldy bullets have some 600gr cast items that should be good for plinking. Should be easier on the pocket than those lovely Woodleigh items.
Any body have some nice low powered practise loads to start with before building up to full house stuff that they can recommend?

For starting loads (plinking) there are a variety of hard cast bullets on Midway @450 -500 gr; I paper patch them and shoot them @ 1500 fps using 70 gr RL15; i use packing foam (from barnes bullet boxes) cut to .50 diameter with a sawn off 505 shell as an over the powder wad. This is a must, for safety's sake. Dont use kapok, the dang thing flies all over the place after a shot, grass looks like a snowstorm hit it after a session.

Nick caicos has RL15 loads on this site for 505, and if you need more, PM me and I will send you some of mine.
the 505 case is so large, the slower burning powders dont really get used up in a 22 inch barrel; I used IMR 7828 (140 gr with 600 gr woodleigh) and got 2400 fps, no pressure signs. the muzzle flash is spectacular, though! brought grins to the faces of my african trackers! But for me, that load is a maximum hunting load, as the recoil level slows down my recovey time. Also, I get better penetration with Woodleigh 600 gr softpoints at 2100 than 2400; the woodleighs are a little soft for my taste. Barnes now has .505 TSX, havent tried them yet. For solids, use the incomparable GS Custom 500 gr for ASTOUNDING penetration; and I mean, astounding (will traverse 8 ft of elephant and on a buff shot up the arse, bullet exited the neck after smashing several vertebrae)
You didnt mention which rifle you bought, but if a CZ 550, have it rebedded and several crossbolts installed; recoil will crack the stock otherwise.
I use jamison or horneber brass, avaialble at www.grafs.com or midway. jamison is the least expensive, and lasts for ever as the 505 functions at low pressures. Midway custom ordered my 505 RCBS dies, work great!
Good Luck and good hunting!

quote:

Originally posted by fordnutter:
Hey Guys,
Found the 505 die listing on The RCBS website. They list JGS or CIP dies...CIP is the industry standard right? What is JGS?
Ok so Jamieson brass is the go or norma if I can get it.
I found that MT Baldy bullets have some 600gr cast items that should be good for plinking. Should be easier on the pocket than those lovely Woodleigh items.
Any body have some nice low powered practise loads to start with before building up to full house stuff that they can recommend?

Indlova, thanks for that great info! I'm new to the Gibbs, but not big bores, I'll pm you for load info on plinking rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by husky:
It is a Vector 98 Magnum action.

It will be just as skinny as an original Gibbs

And that is a .700" bolt diameter, right?
It seems Gibbs violated the Mauser Cosine Law of box sizing to build .505 Gibbs rifles with skinny boxes more appropriately sized (in width)to fit a .404 Jeffery case head.

These boxes are actually too small for even a .416 Rigby case head.

Ah, well, that's life, and people make do.

quote:

Originally posted by fordnutter:
Hey Guys,
Found the 505 die listing on The RCBS website. They list JGS or CIP dies...CIP is the industry standard right? What is JGS?

JGS refers to the reamer maker.
They cataloged several different versions of reamers for the .505 Gibbs and .510/.505 Gibbs, and I have puzzled over the reamer drawings wondering why all the different versions have evolved through the dark ages.

You definitely want to to stick to the CIP specs listed in the May 15, 2002 latest revision:

The shoulder semi-angle on the brass cartridge is 1/2 of 75-degrees 9' 51", or about 37.5-degrees per side (37-degrees 34' 55").

The chamber throat is merely a 1-degree 00' 11" leade.

Right I'm going to go find some CIP spec RCBS dies then.
Reloader 15 looks like an excellant choice of powder for the gibbs. I can start with Indlow's 500gr bullet with 70gr RL15 with packer to start then built up to Nicks full house 600gr bullet with 120gr RL15 loads. Sounds like a great way to become acustomed to both the rifle & recoil.

fordnutter,

I shot one quite a bit last year, whilst waiting for a decent deal on a 505 to show up here. Got TWO! in a week. I shot a lot of 600gr GC cast bullets with 140gr of WC860 or 125gr of RE-25. The WC-860 is a surplus mil-spec powder that is about $8.00 per pound in 8lb jugs. Good thing, as I feel like I could just use an ice cream scoop and save weighing it out.

Good Luck!

Rich
DRSS

quote:

Originally posted by fordnutter:
Right I'm going to go find some CIP spec RCBS dies then.
Reloader 15 looks like an excellant choice of powder for the gibbs. I can start with Indlow's 500gr bullet with 70gr RL15 with packer to start then built up to Nicks full house 600gr bullet with 120gr RL15 loads. Sounds like a great way to become acustomed to both the rifle & recoil.

Fordnutter, I know there are handloads out there for the .505 Gibbs using Reloder 15. However, while RL 15 is an excellent choice in the .500 Jeffery, I am not conviced that it is the best powder for the Gibbs. You may wish to consider something slower so it will fill the case a bit better and avoid the necessity of using a "filler" of some type.

Dave

...what's the problem with utilizing a filler??

quote:

Originally posted by tsibindi:
...what's the problem with utilizing a filler??

None whatsoever other than the hassle!

The best case for R-15 is with full power loads where the smaller charge reaches full velocity with slightly less gas and hence less recoil. It mattered to Nick because he built a light-for-caliber rifle.

You'll probably get mixed reactions to this but i have had good luck with CH4D dies and IIRC they are about $100 less than RCBS ($165.00 retail).

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:
The best case for R-15 is with full power loads where the smaller charge reaches full velocity with slightly less gas and hence less recoil. It mattered to Nick because he built a light-for-caliber rifle.

You'll probably get mixed reactions to this but i have had good luck with CH4D dies and IIRC they are about $100 less than RCBS ($165.00 retail).

Trigger, While I might be wrong, I would bet that using IMR or H4831, RL22 or 25 wouldn't make that much difference in the recoil. If you can give me the bullet weight and charge weight for one of those powders, I will punch it into my recoil calculator.

Dave

I just load R-15 and 5010 for cast bullets. But if you go into Quickload, 111 grains of R-15, 131 grains of R-19, 138 grains of R-22 and 140 grains of R-25 all have similar pressures if that helps.

Trigger, you are correct. It does make a bit of difference.

Assuming a 10 lb. rifle and a 525 grain bullet, the 111 grains of RL 15 would generate 86 lbs of recoil: the 131 grains of RL 19 would generate 95 lbs of recoil; and, the 138 grains of RL 22 would generate 98 lbs of recoil. In my .500 Jeffery, 110 grains of RL 15 and a 535 grain bullet at 2400 fps generates 96 lbs of recoil.

Dave

FYI, I just posted this in Classified, in case you're interested.

SUPERIOR AMMUNITION .505 Gibbs ammo – one sealed box of 20 and a broken box of 15. The cartridges are custom loaded in Jamison brass with 525-grain Woodleigh softpoints at 2300 fps. All 35 rounds for $450 shipped.

IM or email interboat@aol.com

quote:

Originally posted by Dave Bush:

In my .500 Jeffery, 110 grains of RL 15 and a 535 grain bullet at 2400 fps generates 96 lbs of recoil.

Dave

That sure illustrates the difference case volume can make in pressure and velocity.