Yes, I am the idiot that did it first. Finally after 3 years of trying to license a .550 Magnum in Africa it’s done and the rifle is now doing what it was design to do… crumple the big stuff as a back up calibre and happily I can confirm that it works very well indeed!

To begin with, my license only came through towards the end of the hunting season, but this still gave me the opportunity to test it out on two rhinos, two elephant and one buffalo.
I had only one day to work a load out for it before the first hunt and what I came up with is 115gr of S335 (South African) and Fed 215 primer with the 700gr bullet travelling at 2240fts. I used Quality Cartridge cases, 700gr Barnes solids and 700gr Alaska Bullet Works Heavy jacket bonded core softs. Lehigh Design 650gr hollow points and GS custom 700gr flat nose solids and C-H Tool & Die reloading dies. All but the GS were supplied by Neal Sherley.

My gun was custom made by Kevin Haley of Bloemfontein Custom Rifles and he did a great job. It weighs in at 11.4 lbs loaded with one mercury reducer and is very easy to shoot. My apprentice Danie Robberts…. Swears his .458 Lott with no reducer kicks a lot more than the .550. At Johan Calitz Sable Camp Mozambique, the young lady running the camp had a shot and immediately asked if she can have another. I had to hide it from Edwin Young the PH there otherwise I would have had no more ammo left by the time the safari was finished. So far everybody who has shot it has said it’s an amazing to shoot with great accuracy.

The first animal to fall to the .550 was a rhino; it wasn’t too difficult for me to convince the two clients to use the .550. The first was shot at 20 meters and dropped with the first shot and a second bullet to make sure was also fired into the shoulder. The first GS solid went right through and the second went through the spine on the point of the shoulder and ended under the skin on the other side. The most impressive thing to mention here is the amount of blood that was lying around the rhino. The second rhino was shot on the point of the shoulder, facing us at a bit of an angle and again the GS flat nosed monolithic solid was used. That bullet was found under the skin on the butt. Full length penetration on a rhino!
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The third animal was an Elephant bull in Mozambique. Here my client used a .375 and I backed him with the .550 with again the GS flat nosed monolithic solids. It was a frontal brain shot at about 30 yards that failed and I immediately put a shot into his shoulder as he started to turn. He only went 80 yards before going down, the client used the .550 to finish him off. The shoulder shot did not exit but again the amount of blood that was lying around the elephant was unreal. About 3x4 yards and one to two inches deep.

The next was another elephant shot at about 20 yards. The clients 450-400 just missed the brain on a side brain shot. My first shot went on the right shoulder and the second on the left side entering in the stomach to get it to the chest. My third shot broke the spine and the client finished it off. I used Barnes 700gr flat nose solids here and none of the bullets were recovered but did not exit either.

The last was a buffalo in a bamboo forest that was facing us at about 50 yards and with the shot from the client using a .375 the bull immediately charged. We both shot again and at 12 yards he turned and only made another 5 yards before collapsing. I was using the GS solids here and again the amount of blood around the bull was amazing.
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My conclusion is that the Barnes solids work well but the GS solids are my favourite. Penetration is on par with my .458 Lott but it is still a bit early and I would like to do a lot more testing with hopefully more time to recover bullets as not once this year did I have time to actually dig for bullets. A 700gr Alaskan soft bullet was fired into the buffalo at 12 yards for testing and ended up under the skin on the other side and weigh 406gr. The Lehigh 650gr hollow soft just whistled through. From the exit wound it is clear that it did open up but must have broken some of the petals off. I will have to do some more testing on them but will not hesitate to use either of them on buffalo or lion.

I have to admit that I was a bit worried about my recovery time but it seems to me I am not much slower with the .550 than my 8.5 pound Lott. And then some stuff that came up around the hunting fire. Edwin saying:” What is that sound? …… O it is Jason dragging his gun!” and “Jason at least you do not need to worry about wasps making nests in you’re barrel, but do be careful of swallows!” And my reply was,” Edwin can I borrow your rifle?.......... I left my cleaning rod at home”

And finely after been asked by the only critic PH if I can at least shoot that THING straight “I do not really know as I normally keep my eyes close for a couple of seconds before and after each shot!.....”

Great reporting -- and Pictures--

Poor Edwin - He's just trying to over-compensate!

Great report, rifle, trophies, etc. Can't think of a more appropriate action platform than a vintage ZKK.

Jason,

Hello mate and welcome to the foum!

Your top 3 pics aren't showing....... did you copy the entire piece of code?

You can alter your post by clicking on the edit icon at the bottom right of your post.

for those of you who don't know Jason, I've known him since he was a teenager and he's a red hot and very experienced PH, as straight as a die a true gentleman and a good friend!

Oh and his wife Michelle is a wonderful lady who also happens to cook like an angel!

Steve thanks for that.

Jason

Excellent Report! Great Looking rifle, and it most certainly appears that the bullets are doing what they are supposed to be doing!

I am sure your lehigh bullet opened. I am very very familiar with these bullets. I am also sure you lost petals/blades, and that is a GOOD Thing. Did you test this on a downed buffalo correct? Not standing live? Next time, test it on a live buffalo, and you will notice the trauma inflicted with this bullet very easily. When those petals shear, penetration increases dramatically. It did a lot more than just whistle through, I promise! Next time you try and get some Lehighs--get the hollow points in brass. When you get a chance, visit the terminal thread here on big bores, and see some of those results. We have been discussing them and testing again.



Again, congrats, looks like a great system.


Michael

Very nice! Sweet looking rifle as well.
Well done.

Michael
Yes it was on a downed buffalo as I normaly carry solids incase of a problem with elephants. But I am very interested in the Lehigh bullets and will defenitaly convince my next client to use the .550 with one of them on buffalo. The problem was that I only got 10 for testing but will definately get more in the States this year.

Were you able to bring those tuches from the Elephant home. I'm going to Africa to go elephant hunting myself. I am going to use my 458 Lott.

Jason

I have and have used a lot of Davids bullets, through JD at SSK, which builds all my rifles. Tune in to the Terminal Performance thread, right now just below this thread here on Big Bores. You will see a lot about how these bullets work and operate.

Last year I was in Australia, the first outing for my 500 MDM. I was using a 470 gr Lehigh HP Copper at 2450 fps, backed with a 510 gr copper solid. Of 13 buffalo shot, every single one hit the dirt, where it stood. Only 1 big prime bull was able to recover and get back up, he did not get far, maybe 20 yds before I had two solids in him, and he was down for the count. The solids were not needed, but always pay the insurance eh!

Very few of these bullets were recovered, most of the time total penetration. I recovered two that had sheared perfectly, and one that had not. The one that had not sheared had 6 big blades attached and peeled back, this buff was shot long range at 80 yds and velocity had dropped to the point the petals did not shear. Regardless, dead buffalo.

The brass hollow points perform a little different than the copper. The brass is more brittle, and the blades shear off consistently and move away from center in a star pattern. See this now on page 103 of terminals. The copper always shears within the wound cavity, and now I know why.

This week we tested a copper HP that had a shallow hollow point, .350 deep. The other bullet had a .500 deep cavity. The .350 HP sheared it's petals exactly like a brass bullet, in a star pattern, and away from center. The longer petals on the .500 deep HP try to hold onto the bullet longer, and shear inside the wound cavity. While this causes great trauma to target, I suspect strongly that the 6 blades that shear off and move away from center of wound cavity do extra damage outside the wound channel, and at the same time transmits great trauma to the target. These petals or blades do not shear at contact, they are inside the body cavity when they shear, sending petals, blades in all directions tearing at organ tissues as they penetrate. The surprising part of all of this is that those little blades tend to penetrate much further than I thought they would be capable of, doing far more damage to internals than I would have considered.

The Lehigh bullet cavity is deeper than .350. Of course if David was directed to do so, he could do the copper HPs with the more shallow cavity. I am waiting right now on 500 of the 470 .500s in Brass. These will be buffalo slammers, no doubt.

Michael

Michael.

It all makes a lot more sense now. Will definately keep you updated on the results. OO and by the way we did fire one into a rhino and it also went right through.

Jason

jro45.

All these elephant were hunted by my clients. The tusks will be shiped in this month to South Africa and from there to their final destination. As far as I know it is only the USA that wont import ivory from Mozambique. But not for long as John Jackson is doing a grand job at getting it sorted.

Jason.

And good luck. The .458 Lott is a great choice and up to now I only used one with absolute great results.

Nice looking shooting stick!

Ed

Guys,

One thing I forgot to mention about Jason is that the bloke an absolute elephant magnet........ I'm buggered if I know how he does it but if there's a single elephant in a hundred mile radius, he'll find it and almost be able to kick it in the arse.

Fantastic report!

welcome Jason
watch out for the trolls

Jason,

Excellent post and a fine looking rifle. I am curious though, on an animal as seldom hunted nowadays as a rhino, wouldn't the client want to bring his own rifle?

Jason

You got to stop shootin those wimpy loads. At a local gathering I shot a 10 lb 550/505 mag with 750 grs at 2300+. You know it when it goes off, I don't think anything could stand up to the muzzel blast even if you missed. Thanks for a great report.


Great looking stopper, You will never need a full house load, but it would be interesting to see what one would do.


It was all the gun I could stand!


JD
JD

Great story involving the 550. I have one that was built by Scherz and got all my components from Neal. Its an impressive round and very easy to load for and shoot. Congratulations on a very successful hunt! Shayne

Jason

It was worth the wait to read your post and thanks for letting us know how it did. I didn't work the numbers but you had to be close to 8,000 ft/lbs of energy and still shootable

Keep us updated

Maybe I will order some more bullets from Dave

Neal

Neal, at least I owe it to you … if you want any of these pictures for your own records, feel free to let me know. Will be in contact soon to order more brass and bullets

JD, I hunt dangerous game all the time but you big bore boys rally scare the hell out of me! 750gr at 2500+ and all you mention is the muzzle blast! Haha! The first time I shot my .550 was before the mercury etc and only weighed 10lbs … on top of it Kevin gave me full loads (still don’t know what velocity) It was a life changing experience! But will defiantly work up to full loads in the future … that’s why I got the gun.

Sevens . . . don’t really know myself, but guess not all hunters are like you and I when it comes to rifles and hunting. For some a rifle is just a tool. Just this year I had visiting sportsman using my rifles on 2 rhino, 2 lion, 3 buffalo and 3 elephant, and most were very serious hunters. Two of these guys are completely in love with my 375.

Jason

quote:

It was a life changing experience!

It's a handfull!

Great report.

Keith

JD

That was not the 550 Mag based on the weatherby case it had to be the one based on the Gibbs case. 700gr at 2300fps is a top but safe load and it has 8,200 or so ft/lbs of energy.

Jason that load should be fine.

@ RNS...Yes it was the 550 Mag based on the Weatherby case. I think the loads we were shooting were more like 700gr at 2300. It is a handful to shoot!

@ Jason...Get a 600 Overkill and use the 550Mag to swab the barrel! Nice shooting with your 550Mag! I wish Harry's weighed a bit more. You might want to experiment with Aluminum bullets. I hear they can obtain incredulous speeds, but are only good for 200yds or so.

Andy

Just another reply from Edwin." I will hide this internet link from my poor rifle, poor thing, at least you can saw its barrel into chunks if you ever run out of bullets for the .550 ;-). You should maybe mention that you can clean it with 28 Gauge shotgun cleaning kit, O and that tequila tastes good out of the shells.

I'm not sure if tequila tastes good out of anything does it?

Actually, I do remember being introduced to a properly made margharita or three that wasn't too bad.

Jason,

I take it you still have that old double?

Also, please do let me know when the doves are in and I'll try and get down to show you how to miss 'em with style! ............. if I can ever get my hands on that 2 1/2 inch ammo I've been waiting for!

JD,
Harry's max loads are 700 at just at over over 2300

Thats a fine looking rifle. Did you have any trouble getting those trophys home?
See I am not going to hunt Elephant if I can't bring home the horns.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
JD,
Harry's max loads are 700 at just at over over 2300

In that case I don't wan't anything faster.

Any screw up at all by the shooter it could be dangerous. The LOP was a little short for me and my thumb caught my cheek, had a little bruse, I am real glad it did not catch my nose.

It was still fun. 3 shoot was my limit.

JD

Good work and well done all around.

Jason, how long is the barrel on your rifle?

Yes Steve I do still have my double but just do not have the time to hunt with it. Hopefully this season coming I will take it to Mozambique and shoot maybe a old dugga bull with it.

Doves normally fly from Feb-May. Will keep you updated as the buddy clan want to do another guinea and dove shoot. You do know we have a tradition were we at the end of each guinea shoot drink a tot of Mampoer (South African Moonshine) out of our empty shells? I think that might be the reason for your 2.5 Inc shells and not the normal one!

And my barrel for the .550 is 21inces.

If anybody wondered my rifles do have names.
.458 Lott – Bertha. ( named by an apprentice)
12g shotgun – Betsie (actually a pig gun and is full and extra full, and a real guinea getter with about 1000 + guineas between clients and myself.)
.550 Magnum – Started as Godzilla but was chanced to Grizelda. As she is just to sexy for such a harsh name.

I can now finely say my Rifle has sex appeal!

Come Steve I doe know that when you are alone with your .500 she is called by a name.

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
JD,
Harry's max loads are 700 at just at over over 2300

Well, not exactly. After the shoot I was re-organizing stuff and the jacketed bullets I brought were some 800 gr AB bonded soft point Neal sent me a while back. Based on my experiences with 700s at 2340, I'd say they were still running a bit over 2200.

I'm in the process of adding another couple of pounds to my 550 Magnum. I weighed it and 10 ain't enough. I think 12.5-13 (loaded) is about right. I'll clock the 800s on the chrono after I get the weight up!

Nice rifle, Jason and a great post! My rifle doen't have a name yet but now I'm inspired. I have let so many people shoot it that had zero big bore experience that it has been dropped a bunch; more times than Madonna. So that's her name. Appropriate since it's such a bitch to shoot....or maybe Rosie since it's fat, ugly and loud.

quote:

Originally posted by tiggertate:

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
JD,
Harry's max loads are 700 at just at over over 2300

Well, not exactly. After the shoot I was re-organizing stuff and the jacketed bullets I brought were some 800 gr AB bonded soft point Neal sent me a while back. Based on my experiences with 700s at 2340, I'd say they were still running a bit over 2200.

I'm in the process of adding another couple of pounds to my 550 Magnum. I weighed it and 10 ain't enough. I think 12.5-13 (loaded) is about right. I'll clock the 800s on the chrono after I get the weight up!

Nice rifle, Jason and a great post! My rifle doen't have a name yet but now I'm inspired. I have let so many people shoot it that had zero big bore experience that it has been dropped a bunch; more times than Madonna. So that's her name. Appropriate since it's such a bitch to shoot....or maybe Rosie since it's fat, ugly and loud.

Thanks for clearing that up ( I was feeling a little wimpy) and letting me shoot your rifle.

I know your loads were a lot sharper than Issy's when I shot his THAT one time.

Your rifle would not been bad if my thumb had not caught my cheek two of the 3 times I shot it, LOP was a little short for me. I would full lenght bed it with devcon steel and add some relief behind that tang.

Its a very nice shoulder cannon

Thanks again.

JD

Jason,

My old Jeep has a name but I'm afraid I don't name my rifles..... but FWIW, I'm sure you'll remember Temba the tall tracker at KLs place that died of the slim disease? - He always used to call it by the Zulu word for thunder but I can't for the life of me remember the word....... Might be tumeh or toomah ? (Sp?)

I think he was also the one who gave me my Zulu name of M'fesharne.

All a long time ago now.

Hahahahaha I don't think that buffalo charged he ran for cover in the hole infront of the .550's barrel!!!!

Wonderful Post!!!

Steve, I believe it is DUMA,and I think totally and utterly appropriate

Great looking rifle and a DREAM buff bull! I absolutely love the drop.

Thanks for posting these.

quote:

Originally posted by Jason van Aarde:
Steve, I believe it is DUMA,and I think totally and utterly appropriate

Yup. That's it! Thanks for reminding me!