While prairie dog hunting yesterday with 500 grains I had a chance to shoot his 500 Nitro Hambrush [sp?] double rifle and a Ryan Breeding 505 Gibbs bolt.

His 500 double is a very nice liiking rifle and it fits me pretty good.
It also shoot spot on. My first two shots from about 12 yards hit a 2"x2" black square.
Recoil is not painful to your face, shoulder or hand. It does push you back pretty good.

It is a very nice double.

The Ryan Breeding 505 Gibbs bolt rifle is BIG, HUGE, MASSIVE. It looks to be put together very well, stock and metal is first rate. The action is Granite Mountain, and very smooth. The sights are very good a wide V and a post with a hood that locks in place either over the sight or out of the way in front of it.
While massive it handles and balances very well.
WE were shooting 600 grain bullets [500 grains will have to give us the load and velocity].
Recoil was not painful to the shoulder, face or hand. The 505 seemed to hit the shoulder a little harder than the 500 double, but was not painful in any way.

However... Both of these rifles have recoil in the class that Ray Atkinson has described as "You must get ready for it".
You cannot be off balance or in a bad position when you touch one off.
They push you back hard and far.

In addition to these 2 rifles I have shot a 500 Jeffery bolt and 2 other 500 Nitro Doubles. All these 500's have similar recoil levels.

Recovery time is longer than rifles in the 450/470 class.
I do not find them painful, but you must be ready for it.



Personally I would never want a bolt rifle larger than a 458 Lott, that should not be a suprise as most of you know I am a confirmed double rifle guy.

After shooting 3 different 500's and using my 450 No2 on 2 buff and 4 elephants, as well as some plains game I realize it is the perfect double rifle for me. I have even abandoned my quest for a 577Nitro.
At least I think I have... I need to shoot one first.

In closing, let me say the Hambrush and the Ryan Breeding are both fine rifles.

I think that 500 is the same gun that was owned by a gent here in San Antonio. It was a very nice rifle and a good shooter. I just did not like the beavertail forarm on it, but nothing a little bit of stocking cant handle. Good report.

505ED

This double does not have a big beavertail for end. I have seen some Hambrush doubles that did.
I do not care for a beavertail fore end, especially a big one. This 500 handled very nice.
A lot of non British double rifles feel klunky, 2x4ish, and have a "dead" feel to them.

Not this one.

I think 500grn bought it at cabelas? Maybe its a different gun?

Whose Breeding rifle was it?

It is Ryan's own .505 rifle. It is based on a GMA magnum mauser with a 0.750" bolt body diameter to handle the large Gibbs rim. Magazine box is a custom made drop belly style that holds 4 + 1 Gibbs rounds. Sights are extremely sturdy and well-executed. Not at all like the flimsy ones found on most rifles. The stock is English properly laid out through the magazine and grip with lots of black lines. LOP is 14.25". The action, safety and trigger are extremely smooth. The stock geometry spreads the recoil out and keeps stock from hitting my face. Pushing 600 grain Woodleigh solids at 2250 fps, the recoil is a shove, but not painful. Muzzle rise is low to moderate. I would say low considering the amount of power being unleashed. Ryan's own load for the rifle is a 600 grain bullet at 2500 fps. Balance of the rifle is excellent, making offhand shooting very accurate. Metal finish is black teflon. This is a best quality rifle with a working finish. Metalwork and wood are superior to numerous specimens that I have seen produced recently by some of the big name British houses.

The Hambrusch was from Cabela's last year and came with both righ handed and left handed buttstocks. Cabelas said that the owner was right handed and his son was left handed, so they got two stocks. The rifle is about a pound lighter than my Searcy (10 pounds instead of 11) and the stock has a different shape. Although the cast off is not quite perfect for me, it is easy to compensate and the rifle is easy to shoot. Recoil with the .500 Hambrush is faster than the .505 Gibbs, but not as deep a shove. The .500 is about 2 pound lighter than the .505 (10 pounds versus 12). The action on the Hambrush (boxlock with Greener cross bolt) is still a bit stiff because it has not been fired a lot. I understand it made one trip to Africa before I purchased it, but overall condition is 98%. The Hambrusch is a very good rifle, but it does not qualify as a best quality rifle. New price for a similar rifle is US$29,500, so best quality is not to be expected.

The prarie dog hunting was pretty good, but we had 30 m.p.h. winds all day, making hitting the dogs beyond 200 yards a bit challenging.

Dan,

Would you be kind enough to compare from a user stand point your two .500 D/R's.

ss,

I have shot 9 elephant and 3 buffalo with my Searcy, but only paper with my Hambrusch. I have put about 500 rounds through my Searcy but only about 40 or 50 rounds through my Hambrusch. Therefore I don't feel like I could make a fair comparison at this point.

Dan:

Any chance you can post of photo of your Breeding? The photos on his website are truly amazing!

i cant wait to get mine but mine will be a synthetic stock. instead of the wood.

so ryan sold you his owen personal rifle........when did you pick it up.....

you got any hunts coming up i havnt talked to you in a while.....

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
It is Ryan's own .505 rifle.

i.e., not mine.

sorry i thought you bought it........didnt know he loans em out.

He does not, as a general rule.

so when you going to buy one.........it only amatter of time.....lol

quote:

The prarie dog hunting was pretty good, but we had 30 m.p.h. winds all day, making hitting the dogs beyond 200 yards a bit challenging.

Holy Crap! You guys were willing to try 200 yard shots with a double and a 505. I've been working my ass off to keep on a 10 inch taget plate at 100. Too Bold.

Thank you for the interesting information, very thourough and I do enjoy reading about the big bores. I enjoy shooting the big guys but a 600 grainer at 2500 fps would qualify for brutal for me. This is a special rifle so maybe it just handles the recoil better making it more of a shove instead of being hit by a 2x4.
Frank

I shot a 500 NE merkel, which was a bit too short for me... 570gr at 2100.. .it kicked the SNOT out of me...

right behind it, shooting the 550 express (we didn't ahve the 505, 510 wellls, ot 500jeffe out that day) the recoil was about the same level, but the gun fit me... and it was another 130gr in bullet weight and 60FPS faster, in the same weight rifle.

What I would like to do is to get a bubba shoot off...
550 mag, 550 express, 505 gibbs, 510 wells, 500 jeffe, and 500 NE, and compare felt recoil....

I think i'll ask for these guys to be present on the next bubba shoot!!

jeffe

Well jeffe, they have all been here at one time or another. Just get Harry, Forrest, and Mike to bring their .50+'s and you bring your two. I'll "watch" Hope Mike brings a few extra rounds 500NE. I need another go with that little brut.

Hog Killer

quote:

Originally posted by Frank Martinez:

quote:

The prarie dog hunting was pretty good, but we had 30 m.p.h. winds all day, making hitting the dogs beyond 200 yards a bit challenging.

Holy Crap! You guys were willing to try 200 yard shots with a double and a 505.

We limited our PD shooting to .223's and handguns.