Guys, looks like i ordered a .500 from Ed Plummer at AHR.What a nice man to do busines with Anyway,who among you can provide a more or less comprehensive list of manufacturers of .510 hunting quality bullets in the 570-600 gr range? I'm new to the .500 club , although i owned a 500a2 briefly.
Thanks for your help in advance.

Bob

Dude, post a picture of it. That's an 04-05 project for me if I could find another Ruger 77 to send to AHR for the conversion. I don't want to change by going to another rifle at this point as I own several Ruger 77's and I like the same gun in all the different calibers so I know where all the controls are at. I am sure the CZ's are very nice when properly set up.

Bob,

My personal preference is for Woodleigh. Have used their 535 and 570 grain soft point bullets on several hunts with complete satisfaction. However, at a muzzle velocity ~ 2500 fps the bullets are at their limits at hunting ranges of only 100 yards or less. Therefore, I have recently made the switch to their 600gr Protected Point and will hopefully get to try it out next season! IMHO, the search stops here at Woodleigh.

Barnes makes a 570 gr X bullet, but I am not a X bullet fan. IMHO, they act too much like a solid and not enough like a soft point. Hawk also offers .51" bullets from 300 to 700 grains, although I have no personal experience with them so I don't know how good a bullet they are. I believe A Square is back in business and is selling .51" bullets. A Square's Dead Tough soft point has a solid/good reputation. The last jacketed bullet source I can think of is Kodiak, but the last time I checked with them they were only making 300, 450, and 500 gr pills for lever gun applications (it has been a long time though so this may have changed).

You can get cast bullets from Beartooth and I believe a few other custom cast bullet manufacturers.

Of course you can always get surplus 50 BMG bullets and cut the points off and load them base forward (ergo backwards). Not sure what weights are achievable with this method though.

Hope you enjoy your 500 AHR, and welcome to the 500+ club!

Scott

Woodleigh, Bridger and Impala bullets seem to all be excellent bullets..I know the Bridger bullets are as I shot a lot of Buffalo with them this year, but in 416 and .375 caliber, not 510.....also used the new heavy Woodleighs and was impressed...

Kodiak in Alaska is making some great bullets and ASquare has the Dead Tough bullets...All of them are excellent in the .510 caliber I believe...

Bob,

I would suggest getting some Bridger .510 flat nose solids and using them for all of your hunting. The flat noses create excellent cavitation and bleeding in game, with unsurpassed penetration. For light game you can use cast bullets, and those are cheap!

Be cautious of the Woodleigh soft point on heavy game because it was intended for 500 NE velocities. You will likely see gross over-expansion with a Woodleigh in 500 A2. Same for Hawk and Kodiak bullets (I think Kodiaks are for the 50-110).

Don't forget the Barnes X bullet and their originals. I've used a lot of the 450 gr. SP Barnes in the .50 AK with good results, and while the 570 gr. X is a bit too big for hunting use out my pistol (can't get enough speed for expansion-1600 fps), in a rifle it would be great. I shoot a lot of X bullets in calibers from 25-458 and have gotten excellent results in all.

I have never had a .510" Woodleigh soft point fail on heavy game. I have only shot buffalo and bison with them, however. I shoot the 535gr @ 2570 fps, the 570gr @ 2520 fps, and will be shooting the 600 PP @ 2460 fps. You are correct; however, when you stated that expansion is dramatic, it is! These bullets typically expand to 2.5 - 3 times diameter, but they stick together at the same time. That is why, in my opinion, they are such good killers, these bullets transmit roughly 8000 ftlbs of kinetic energy, in my case, to the target and in a hurry! Wound channels are very large, typically over 4" in diameter, and bleed-out, if required, is quick.

Is Bridger making bullets? Last time I heard this wasn't the case. I have shot some flat nose hard casts, and was not overly impressed with their tissue trauma generation. It may have been on par with a Barnes 'X' bullet, but it was far short of the Woodleigh loads I normally shoot. If ele, hippo, or rhino were on the menu I would favor the flat point solid, though.

Bigbore,
You comments regarding Kodiak are in-line with what they told me.

Scott

Even though the Woodleigh expand greatly the 535gr was originally designed for the 500 Jeffrey, per their literature. The 570 Woodleigh was designed for the 570 NE, per their literature. The new 600 gr that ScottS is going to start using is designed for the Jeffrey type velocities. I would be very interested to see how they turn out for you Scott.
Steve