Pictures of my .505 rifle. Enjoy!

Mike Kizler did the metal work 10 years ago. I designed the .505, and had the reamers and dies made up back then. We built several of the 505s together at the time. This was the last one. I load on Dakoata 450 brass as it is much easier but .416 Rigby brass will work as well. 21" Pac-Nor .505 barrel, 8 groove, 1 in 16 twist, with integral quarter rib and 2nd barrel lug. One standing, one folding express sight, with a vertical gold line on the standing, barrel band front sight and sling swivel. All built on a CZ 550, .416 Rigby action. I had a straight bolt handle, Wisner 3 position Winchester style safety added and did the a AHR trigger myself. Factory drop box mag was extended slightly to take 4 rounds, for 4+1 fully loaded. Stock is now a factory laminate (new this week, after breaking a synthetic stock) that I am cutting down and refinishing. 2 exposed cross bolts and eventually 2 more hidden cross bolts with complete glass/steel bedding and pillars installed. 8.75" Rigby style, short forearm. Weight is 9lb 5oz, empty. Add 11 oz (525gr) or 12 oz (600gr) to that when loaded. Engraved maned lion on the trigger guard and the gold line on the express sight was done by Michael Gouse.

Built as a stopper not as a hunter....but would like to think it will work for either in the right circumstance. Huge bang for the buck and labor involved. Sights come up and the rifle handles like a fine shotgun.



416 Rigby on the left and a .505/416 loaded with 525gr Woodleighs on the right.

Looks like a very functional hunter to me.
A 505 Rigby.

Yep that was the idea. I was looking to mimic and hopefully better PH Gary Hoops' 510 Wells built on a Mauser. The big brother versions of Cooper's "Baby".

Only seen the one picture of Hoops' .510 but that rifle still looks very clean. Anyone know if he is still using it?

I like it very much. Impressive big hole.

Oscar.

RDB,

type 510KX into the search engine and let me know what you find.

Great minds DO think alike.

Rich
DRSS

Sounds like my 510 Makatak or Rips 500 Mbogo or...???... except .505" and 10 years ahead of me/us...YES...that Rigby case is impressive.

Right now I'm shooting 475 and 535 gr hard cast lead bullets. I've pushed 2800fs with the 535gr but I'm too much of a wuss nowdays for that so I dropped down to 475 gr at 2300fs. This old fatboy's body won't take the punishment any more.

Very nice shooter.

One of these days when I hit the lotto I will have a nice shooter...no more "ugly rifles" as Finn A used to say....hahahahahahaha...Right.

Luck

Nice Rifle! Looks like it would like to go out and play.

Rich, saw those. A writer asking me about my .50cal rifles recently brought me back to Saeed's writing and the new forum.

So I also understand how you might be a bit irrated with RIP. He makes it easy.

Quick google on "505 Burns" will give you actual chrono data from 2000/2001. First gun was done in '99. Project started, reamers made up, a couple of years before that.

Or this?

http://forums.accuratereloadin...=315105045#315105045

Like you I was just avoiding a belted case No clue anyone else had done it. But didn't figure I was the first to come to the same conclusions either. Sure would have saved some worry at the time if I had.

Funny, my idea came directly from the 510 Wells and Hoops' rifle and sounds like you had similar ideas.

Had not seen the John Buhmiller connection to the 416 case in his writings. Cool to see you had some experience with him and his own history with the Rigby case.

RDB,

one of the selling points was the ability to use 510 Wells dies.
It is a stone killer.

Rich
DRSS

Figure we ought to give Frank Wells some well deserved credit here.

".510 Wells

The 500 A-Square was designed by Art Alphin of the A-Square Company (www.a-squarecompany.com) for maximum penetration and shock power on dangerous game in 1976. Pushing a 600 grain bullet at 2400 f.p.s., the 500 A-Square is everything that a bolt gun afficianado could want. It uses a 460 Weatherby case necked up to .510" and slightly improved. The 510 Wells preceded the 500 A-Square by well over 20 years and was designed by Fred Wells of Phoenix, Arizona, 1954. Ballistics for the two cartridges are identical and selection of one over the other is merely a matter of personal preference. The 500 A-Square has a cartridge overall length of 3.75" and due to length will only fit into relatively large actions such as the CZ550. Some may be tempted to rebarrel a Weatherby Mark V or a Sako TRG to 500 A-Square thinking it a cheap and easy route to a big bore dangerous game rifle. Although the debate about controlled feed versus push feed actions is best left to another article, the author would not contemplate use of a Weatherby or Sako for this purpose. Factory rifles in 500 A-Square are available from the A-Square Company of Kentucky. B. Searcy & Co. offers bolt rifles in 510 Wells, as does Fred Wells (www.cutrifle.com/gunsmithing.html).

There are a couple of advantages that the 500 A-Square has over the 500 Jeffery, 505 Gibbs and 500 AHR. First, cheap, high quality brass in 460 Weatherby is available from Norma, and necking it up to .510" is a simple matter. In contrast, brass for the 505 Gibbs and 500 Jeffery can be very expensive and some of it can be of varying quality. Second, the 500 A-Square has a rim that fits easily onto a 0.700" bolt, making the use of expensive magnum mauser actions unnecessary. In fact, the 500 A-Square is one of the cheapest big bore rifles to build because a CZ550 in 416 Rigby can simply be rebarreled. Then the extractor needs to be tightened, and the rails opened very slightly. There are no simpler big bore conversions. Third, the 500 A-Square does not have a rebated rim, so there are no difficult feeding issues to contend with. Unless the reader insists on being a traditionalist, the 500 A-Square is probably the best choice in .50 caliber dangerous game calibers. Rifles for this cartridge should weigh at least 12 pounds."

Some how I missed that 12# minimum

And this of course giving credit where it is do.

"John Buhmiller built a 500/378Wbee first in 1956-57, and in 1959 or 1960 built several 45 and 475 and 50 caliber rifles using the 416 Rigby basic case.

I (Rich) visited John Buhmiller in his shop three or four times before his death. He initially built his big bores on Wbee brass, but due some "misunderstandings" he switched to the Rigby case very early on. That is a matter of record, not just my statements here. The fact that I owned a 450 based on the Rigby case built by Buhmiller is more convincing than your continued pravarication.

I (Rich) visited Ackley in Salt Lake a couple times as well, and his book listings of Buhmiller wildcats is based on visits and correspondence with Johm Buhmiller"