Who, if anyone, offers factory ammo in .505 Gibbs, .500 Jeffrey, .585 Nyati, and similar cartidges? Also, reloading components & dies? I find some in Midway, who else?
Thanks in advance.
Jason

JT
Contact www.huntingtons.com for reloading supplies that Midway does not carry.
For the loaded ammo contact www.superiorammo.com
I have shot their ammo in all 3 of my doubles and it is excellent. They are good people too.

Thanks for the input. Think I've found the rifle builder, trying to decide on a cartridge. Just looking at availability.
Jason

Another custom ammo maker is safariarms.com

They will work up a load for your rifle if you want.

505 Gibbs and 500 Jeff may be purchased from the Westley Richards and Holland & Holland outlets in the USA.

BUT BUT BUT, there are about 6 different shoulder designations for 500 Jeff, and if the factory ammo was not made to the same specification as your rifle, it will not work.

500,
Thanks for the info. I am shying away from the Jeffery due to the rebated rim & some of the problems I've heard about that. This is something to consider. Availability of ammo & components is a factor in my cartridge choice, obviously.
Jason

Jason,

Superior lists all three of those calibers on their web sight. You should give them a call. I've used their ammo in my .416 Rem with success and they are reasonably priced.

Whitworth

Howdy,
CH4d for dies.. about 1/2 the price of anywhere else.

if you are going to build a huge monster, I would suggest the 550 magnum or 550 express, or, slightly smaller, the 510 wells/500 s2... the brass is DRASTICALLY cheaper.

for .510 and .505 bullets, woodleigh is actually cheaper than hawk, from midway....

all of these 4 use modified weatherby 460 brass.

jeffe

Thanks to all for the info.

"if you are going to build a huge monster, I would suggest the 550 magnum or 550 express, or, slightly smaller, the 510 wells/500 s2... the brass is DRASTICALLY cheaper."

500 s2 - I assume you mean 500 a2? Am considering it. Is that the same as the Wells?
550 magnum - Not sure I'm familiar with it.

Also considering the .500 AHR, .577 T-Rex, and after a few pm's from Rob, his .600. I'll welcome ANY input on any of those.

Thanks again,
Jason

JT
Is this rifle going to be a TOY or an actual DG rifle you will hunt with? If it is an actual "hunting" rifle I would take in consideration rifle weight/recoil, vs bullet weight and velocity.

The 550 Magnum is the 460 Wby necked all the way out. Like a fat 458 Lott. The 550 Express is a creation of jeffeossos and is a shortened version. Like a fat 458 Winchester

I have ordered the barrel, sights and dies for the 550. If you do a search on this forum there are some threads with heaps of information on it. The 550 would have to be the most practical of the real big bangers.

Mike

A toy that I hope to hunt with. Plan to try Africa one day, always wanted to. Practicality, as well as availability of ammo & components leans me toward the .505 or .500 A2 or AHR. I'd say the Gibbs is probably the front runner. I would love to launch 750 & 900 grainers, and I don't think a slight increase in rifle weight would be too much of a problem (former competitive powerlifter), but I haven't made up my mind yet.
That's why I appreciate the advice.
Jason

If you want something practical, get a 500 A2 and have it long-throated to accept 50 BMG bullets which are way cheap in the surplus market. The 500 A2 has the advantage of using Norma brass (460 wby necked up). The brass will cost you only 35-40% what 505 Gibbs brass costs. Plus there are periodic shortages of Gibbs and Jeffery brass. The 510 Wells is ballistically identical to the 500 A2, but has slightly different shoulder placement and angle.



My personal choice would be the 550 magnum if you were to build it on a cz550 or Granite Mountain Action, or a 500 Express if you were to build it on a mauser 98 or model 70. It also uses 460 wby brass, but shoots a .550 diameter bullet, thereby maximizing your bullet diameter and hence maximizing the SPLAT! effect.



Iowned and hunted with a .585 nyati and have another one in progress. It is a fine cartridge, but there are periodic brass shortages and brass quality problems (Bertram). Bullets are available but expensive. Recoil is rather fierce, but if you drop it under 2200 fps it is not too bad. The major problem with the 585 nyati and the 505 Gibbs is that the rim diameter is really pusing the limits of a .700" bolt diameter (found on model 98's, etc.), so those cartridges are best built on an expensive action like the Granite Mountain Arms action with a .750" bolt. If you prefer to build the rifle on a military mauser action ($100) or a Win model 70 ($600) or even a CZ550 ($650) then going with one of the cartridges based on the Weatherby case is probably a better couse of action.



I would also recommend considering the .600 Overkill which pushes a 900 grain bullet at 2400 fps and can be built on a cz550 action for a total cost of about $3K.



Also, if you are not already a reloader, then this is a good time to start because factory ammo for big bores is just plain expensive.

500,
If I do go with AHR, it will be a GMA action, as I am left handed. Not sure what the final cost of the rifle would be there, but in a .500 or larger round, I don't know of anything less expensive other than maybe an A2 Ceasar. Don't know what they go for these days, need to contact them. How are their rifles? Heard mostly good about them.

I do reload, assembling the ammo won't be a problem. I have been researching all of the sites suggested so far, Hungtington has most of the dies and brass for the .505 and .585 Nyati. I know .500 A2 & .577 T-Rex brass available at A2, but high if I remember. The .550 sounds like a decent choice. What are the ballistics on it?

I am considering the Overkill, have swapped a few pm's with Rob about it. Definitely an interesting choice, but I have little information on it, other than searching past threads.
I may not be gunsmith enough to iron out kinks associated with a new round. Also don't know what my recoil tolerance is, other than my Ruger #1 .458 Win gives me very little problems.

What type rifle is your Nyati?

Thanks again,
Jason

JT, my first was a model 70 stainless and my second is an Olympic Ultramag (0.720 bolt). Both fall at the lower end of the cost spectrum.

You may want to consider Ryan Breeding (www.rbbigbores.com) for building the rifle as he is a Granite Mountain Arms action specialist and produces a world class product with a color case hardened action for around $10K. Ryan can also make it a 5 shot and get it feed perfectly.

500,
If you don't mind me asking, who built the 2 Nyati's.
Jason

pm sent

JT:

Cabelas is listing a left handed A2 Caeser rifle in .495 for sale. Thought you might be imterested.
www.cabelas.com Look under "gun library" then "fine rifles"

RCG