Hey guys,
Has anyone thought or tried a .500 WSM ? Been thinking of a 150 yard or less bear gun. Also I was hoping the .500 diameter bullet would lessen any feeding problems.

What would you headspace off of?

Depending on whose dimensions you read, the WSM case is somewhere around .540-550" at the case head. Add .026" for the case walls to the .500" bullet dia, and you have .526" You'll want to taper the case some, and you're very marginal going from .550" at the case head to .526" at the mouth. So that leaves you with using a taper crimp as your headpsace, not a very good idea on a round that generates notable recoil.

If you want a round that has a shoulder to headspace off of, .475" is the end of the road for the WSM case. You either need a rim or a belt on that case to headspace as a 50 cal. If you want a short 50 cal, you need to step up to the 460 Wetherby case.

Thanks Paul. I had my doubts about this thing flying. I will think of .458 or .475.

quote:

Originally posted by 9.3nut:
Thanks Paul. I had my doubts about this thing flying. I will think of .458 or .475.

Check http://www.shortmags.org for information on wildcatting all of the Wsm's and Shamus.

You could always do a 50 Alaskan That's the 348 winchester blown out nearly straight, and taking the .510" bullets. It's the case that Winchester turned into a rimless one for their WSM line. With the rim on it, no headspace problem, and with an iron sighted lever gun, a very handy and powerful 150 yd bear gun. Here is some loading data http://www.leveractions.com/50alaskan_data.htm 450 gr @ 1900+ fps or 500 gr @ 1800 fps.

It's a pretty extensive gunsmithing project, so kinda spendy, but something I wouldn't mind having

[Even better go for the 50-110........better gain just rebarrel a cz .416 to .500 A2 weatherby .460 brass straightened out !!

I saw some photos of a .416 WSM & a .458 WSM. I am really liking the prospects of my .300 WSM. I got it custom made but am lacking a big bore and to be honest I feel inadequate without a bigbore.

well, if you are going to hack on it anyway....

assuming it to be a gun that you can open the boltface on....

if you want a 1/2 inch bore, you could always go with the 495 asquare... a 2.65 case, but it's based off the 460 weatherby casehead... but that's a 3.3inch oal...

about the biggest thing you could fit in it, more or less as is, is a 458 win... screw another barrel on, headspace, go shoot. i tried to form some 475/win... running a .475 expander into winmag cases... looked like crap... ch4d doesn't even have one listed.. i am sure it's been done, but it's u-g-l-y

the only thing about the 495 a2 is that it's only about 2 hours more work to make it a 550 express

jeffe