Hello Saeed and others, I was planning to make up two DG rifles for two PH pals in South African.

They hunt a lot of buffalo and we were looking at the 550 Express. But there might be too many issues with making that cartridge feed. I'm not sure yet.

My question is:
How is the 500 AR working out as a DG rifle/cartridge. ( I can see that the cartridge has plenty of power.)
-Does it feed well in that standard length action?
-Who is good at making the barrelled action for it?
-Dies?

Any suggestions that you all have is much appreciated. Brian

I have dies, i think two sets left

Feeding really depends on the gunsmith - McGowen does chambering, feeding, and even finishing - i trust them

Several folks have used for DG, and had great results -

the 550 express is also an excellent cartridge.. well, I am biased, as i built and shot the first ones of both .. the 500 AccRel is easier to feed ...

i do suggest something like a ruger 77mkii as a platform

jeffe

I'll PM you for one of the dies.

Brian,

Quality Cartridge made a run of new 500 brass last fall. There is probably some of it around, either at Quality Cartridge or elsewhere. Now would be a good time to get set up with a great DG round.

As for feeding, the Ruger 77 Hawkeye has worked great, despite the 3.4" magazine.
Flat-Nose solids required a little dremel work on the ramp. The idea is to put a bevel on the front and sides.
McGowen did an excellent job of chambering the barrel. Twice for me. The first was with a 1.25" freebore, the second was with a second reamer with 0.255" freebore. It is the last barrel that I currently use. Accuracy is sub-MOA, and McGowen also put the "CZ" recoil-lug knuckle on the underside of the barrel. McGowen is highly recommended. They did the chamber, modified the bolt for .590"case heads and touched up the rails and follower to make sure everything worked as planned.

Here is a nice target, 100 yards, 3-shot .45":


And a picture of a round next to my wife's 375Ruger, 450gn GSC:


What to do about FlatNose Solids?
The picture below has a bright bevel on the left rampthat shows what feeds the CEB smoothly:

(Light on the right is the flashlight.)

As for power and velocity, the round duplicates the 500 Jeffery in a smaller rifle package.
Personally, I like a fast bullet for all-around use, so I have settled on the 450grain GSC HV mono-copper hollow point at 2600fps and the tipped 360gn CEB Raptor at 2825 fps.
The cartridge safely does more, should one desire. I never saw a pressure sign in all sorts of loads and bullet sizes up to 7000ftlbs and a little over, e.g. the 450gn at 2665fps in a 22"barrel.

Thank you both for the genuine help. Excellent advice as well, for the flat nose solids. ( I use only flat nose for solids in my limited experience of 9 buffalo.)

Again, all your information is greatly appreciated and will make a big difference to me as I move forward.

Brian

quote:

I have dies, i think two sets left

Feeding really depends on the gunsmith - McGowen does chambering, feeding, and even finishing - i trust them

Several folks have used for DG, and had great results -

the 550 express is also an excellent cartridge.. well, I am biased, as i built and shot the first ones of both .. the 500 AccRel is easier to feed ...

i do suggest something like a ruger 77mkii as a platform

jeffe

Thanks Jeffe, Do you mean that you have dies for the 500 AR or the 500 AR Nyati ? Thanks, Brian

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:

quote:

I have dies, i think two sets left
jeffe

Thanks Jeffe, Do you mean that you have dies for the 500 AR or the 500 AR Nyati ? Thanks, Brian

These are identical - let's just say, as far as the reamers go, the Nyati supersedes the original

Jeff, on Ammoguide the show a sharper shoulder for the 500AR as opposed to the 500AR Nyati.

Brian

quote:

Originally posted by Brian Canada:
Jeff, on Ammoguide the show a sharper shoulder for the 500AR as opposed to the 500AR Nyati.

Brian

AmmoGuide has 20 and 21 degrees listed for the two. That is some kind of computer glitch or else a typo. As Jeffe says, they are the same. The brass and chamber are supposed to be identical. The only difference in the Nyati reamer was a shorter parallel freebore.

Here is a picture of the Nyati reamer from Dave Manson. "Ward" is CapoWard here on AR. The shoulder is 20 degrees, not 21 as listed on AmmoGuide.



Finally, to reiterate Jeffe's comment,
the cases and the sizing dies are identical. It is the same case and sizing die, whether AR or AR Nyati.

416Tanzan, Thanks, I didn't know that. Brian