Phil,

I was doing summer/winter cleaning this weekend (stash summer stuff and dig out the pack boots) and came across the Handloader issue that had your atricle about the 505 Gibbs. Have you used it for hunting/backup since the article, or gone back to your old faithful 458 win mag?

I carried the rifle a couple of seasons and only had to shoot one bear. It was a genuine, for real, charge from a large wounded boar that started from twenty-five or thirty yards and ended at ten. Each time I solidly planted a 535 grain Woodleigh bullets (at a measured 2150fps) it was like dropping a crane on the bear but he still managed to get back up and keep coming even after the first two hits.
I was not impressed with the performance of the Woodleighs -- they held togeather fairly well but virtually turned inside out and did not give the penetration I had hoped for.
One bear does not prove much but I did feel the 505 and the woodleigh bullets definately slowed the big boar a bit more than my 458 but my 500 grain Hornady RN bullets also put big bears down right now and if I have to shoot at an escaping one they will punch nearly clear thru a big bear from end to end. I did not get that impression from the Woodleigh bullets.
So, to answer your question, I have not carried the Gibbs in the past four years but if Lynn Thompson, from Cold Steel, ever books the spear hunt with me he keeps talking about I intend to carry the 505 again. I have also worked up a load using the 570 grain Barnes X bullet at 2050fps and I'll wager it will shoot clear thru the biggest bear in Alaska.

Phil,

Thanks for the reply. The article you wrote on your 505 is one of my favorite articles in Handloader, and that issue in paticular with the postscript article on Howard Johnson and his 450 and 50 Alaskans makes it a wonderful issue.

If I ever finish my 500 Jeffrey, I plan to load it with the 570 gr X bullets, at a nominal 2200 fps. I'd likely use it more for moose than the great bears, but no doubt it is enough gun

Phil I reckon the woodleigh 600 gr protected point bulletmight have given the kind of penetration you where after, the 525gr .505 woodleigh's have an sd of .294 V's .366 for the 600 gr variety, and you could drive them at the same speed from that big case to I reckon.

I load the Woodleigh .510 dia 535 gr bullet in my rifle as it was built with a 510 bore rather than a traditional .505 bore and I doubt low sectional density was the problem as the bullets expanded so much they literally turned inside out. In my experience, as well as others I have talked to, Woodleigh soft nosed bullets are built for, and provide, rather rapid expansion. the three bullets I recovered did manage to kill the bear and did hold togeather but I personally prefer more reliable penetration.