It only took about 6 weeks to get a response from the inital email.
Manson Precision Reamers must be really busy with a backlog, or they had a nice vaction.

I sent Dave a drawing of my ideas of max brass specs and a drawing of my throat specs and here is what I got back.



Looks nice.

The McGowen .408 No. 6 sporter barrel I have will work wonders on a Ruger No. 1, for balance,
and ought to be a slam dunk easy switch from .416 Ruger to 400 Bateleur, stainless laminate, using factory barrel fittings.
No C.O.L. limits with any of the existing .408 Chey-Tac bullets.
But will a .408/.338 Lapua Magnum be able to move the long-nosed, 370-400-grain bullets fast enough?
There is always the possibility of shorter bullets.

A .408/350-grainer would be ideal for a bolt action.
A lighter No. 4 sporter ought to balance well on a bolt action.
I just need to decide between an M70 Winchester or a CZ 550 Magnum.
Then I need another barrel, if I ever decide!

Or I could just use some of those cast lead bullets meant for the 40-65 Winchester,
load that Ruger No. 1 with black powder,
use a blow tube between shots to keep the BP fouling soft ...
A Sharps 1874 wannabe.

Yep looks good Ron!

400 Bateleur reamer delivered to me from Manson on 08/28/2014.
Dave Manson has dug out from whatever he was under, maybe he hired some help?

40-14, Forty-Fourteen coming up.

Dave is busy...... But for us, worth the wait and is responsible for all the B&Ms... A few months
ago I had him and Brian start working on the 458 EX B&M.... Still not done yet, best of my knowledge, but I am in no big rush...... Still have plenty to do........

M

Michael,

Quick question, 458 EX B&M vs 458 B&M EX? In the past you've tagged the designator following the B&M, any reason for the change?

Also regarding the 500 B&M; is it also properly the 500 EX B&M or the 500 B&M EX? Or does the 'EX' designator only relate to the .458 caliber?

Thanks,

Ron,

I'm warming up to the 2.710" chamber length for the Bateleurs. I think it's a good choice.

I may have my .423 reamer recut; it uses the same BF to shoulder as your 400 Bateleur, just a 35-degree shoulder angle - so no need to set the barrel back with a quality gunsmith working the reamer which'd only recut the shoulder angle from 35 to 20 degrees and lengthening the neck and freebore areas. The standard 338 LM gauges would work as well.

Yep, will have to ponder that...

quote:

Originally posted by capoward:
Michael,

Quick question, 458 EX B&M vs 458 B&M EX? In the past you've tagged the designator following the B&M, any reason for the change?

Also regarding the 500 B&M; is it also properly the 500 EX B&M or the 500 B&M EX? Or does the 'EX' designator only relate to the .458 caliber?

Thanks,

Jim

Its been so long now when we sent info to Dave I forgot whether its 458 B&M EX or EX B&M ????? No reason for a change, if there was a change, more likely my memory... LOL..... 500 B&M is just that, nothing more, but I now have 5 sets of dies that are 500 B&M, but Hornady just called them 50 B&M, because they called the 50 B&M the 50 B&M Long... LOL......... Hell I don't know now, I am confused.....

M

Michael,

Confused isn't always good, but it's always interesting! LOL...

quote:

Originally posted by capoward:
Michael,

Confused isn't always good, but it's always interesting! LOL...

I am following you guys on the EX-es, I get it ... I think I get it ...

Every wildcat cartridge ought to have more than one name just to keep things confusing, er, uh, interesting.

40-07: .395 Tatanka (.395/.416 Rigby-20-degree-shoulder of 2007)
50-08: 500 Mbogo (.510/470 Mbogo-3-Inch of 2008)
49-10: 12.7x68mm Magnum (.500/.338 Lapua Magnum Improved of 2010)
50-12: 500 Bateleur (.510/.338 Lapua Magnum Improved of 2012)
40-14: 400 Bateleur (.408/.338 Lapua Magnum of 2014)

I have more, but I am getting too interested or confused to continue ...

Jim,
You will not go wrong changing that shoulder from 35 degrees to 20 degrees on your .423, like on the .338 Lapua Magnum.
Also with all the stubby .423-caliber bullets meant for the 404 Jeffery, a 2.710" chamber length works great,
translating to a nice round number for brass max, 2.700", trim to 2.690".
A little extra throat allows you to seat those bullets out to fill the box.

Ron,

My .423 feeds just fine at 3.583" COAL so no need to use those stubby Jeffery nose profile bullets; standard nose profile bullets work just fine. And yes going to the standard 20 degree LM shoulder can only feed better.