Does anybody have any pet loading data or shooting stories regarding both the .500-3" & .500-3 1/4" BPE's? I have one of each and am trying to work up some good safe loads that are not in the "Cartridges of the World" or "Shooting the British Double Rifle". I have a selection of bullet moulds, both paper patched and grooved that are from 380 gr's to 500 gr's. So far I've only used a 420 grain bullet loaded with a duplex black powder load and another with 52 grains of Accurate #5744. Both fired at point of aim at 50 yards but the #5744 load was shooting a bit more apart indicating that it needed a bit more powder to help it regulate. Any other loads out there for heavier bullets?

I would love to take one of these doubles on an African hunt with a heavier bullet load, say 460-500 grains and see how effective that combination really is. Over the years I've hunted lots of game and I quickly discovered that ballistic tables and numbers don't tell you the whole story. I think this round might be more effective then given credit for.

Any opinions out there from actual experience from these or very similar rounds, say .50 cal throwing a 400-500 grain bullet at 1700-1900 fps? What did you use and how effective was it against what size game?

RichieRich,
Get in contact with the Big Game Rifle Club, they advertise in the back of the Shooters Journal or turn up to a shoot at the Little River range. Someone there will be able to help or put you onto a member that shoots one.
Good luck...
Con

G'day Con,

Thanks for the reply. I have a few friends who are members and they pointed me to Graham Wright's book "Shooting the British Double Rifle" which I found very helpful. I was just hoping to hear from other people who worked up other pet loads that they wished to share. By the way, I have tried a few of the loads in his book, but I found that they were much more powerful then listed with my batch of powder. Pressures still seemed okay though... Maybe it's just the difference when compaired with modern lower yielding black powder. It did have more punch then the BP load though...

I thought about buying an H&H 500 BPE a few years ago for $3500 but decided against it for several reasons. Primarily I wanted a double that can handle dangerous game. The 500 BPE rifles are not strong enough to shoot 570 grains at 2150 fps. At their standard loading, which is about 440 grains at 1800 fps, a 500 BPE looks a lot like a 45-70 with less sectional density. I am sure you can kill a buffalo with it, but due to penetration issues, I would not select it.

However, it should be a fine pig and elk gun.