To The Group

I posted this question on the big bore group and got some great ideas. I was wondering if anyone has sucessfully rebored or reworked a big ruger into a larger caliber. I was considering going to a 470 Capstick. I also was wondering what modicifcation could be done on my current .534 bolt face to support a larger caliber or would I need to get a 416 rigby bolt?
Any help would be great.

Thanks

Brad

no boltface mods needed...both .532"

railwork, call pacnor for barrel, get a smith to do feeding and strengthen for more recoil.

Thanks for the info. What I really wanted to know is if I wanted to goto a 470 Mbogo or 500 A-Square class of cartridge on the ruger platform what would I need to change in regards to the bolt. I really want to keep the 1/4 rib look so I might try to rebore 1st before I'd rebarrel.

Thanks Again

Brad

470mbogo did a ruger 416rigby to 470 mbogo .. see www.470mbogo.com..
the price of opening the blt face is generally pretty small compared to the price of the other work.

there is some risk (percentage undefinable for me) of the barrel boring not working out.

The 470 capstck is a great round, the 470mbogo is better, no doubt...

you COULD rebarrel to a 510wellls, and then "play" with the next concept for the original barrel.

jeffe

Jeffe:

Thanks for the reply. Your the guy I was hoping to bounce this idea off. I just spoke with Jim Dubell and he willing to take on the project. He just wants to look at my rifle first before he is willing to rebore it bigger. Ultimately I would like a true big bore ie. a 470Mbogo, 500 A-square, 505 Gibbs... I just don't know whats possible given the starting point with my 375 rifle. I know anything is possible I want affordable also. What do you think about making the Ruger BIG? Any thoughts before I set off on this journey into the unknown.

Thanks

Brad

Brad
I, and some others, find the RSMs to be "heavy" barreled.. they use teh same profile for the 375, 416, and 458... there were soem made all the way to 505 gibbs.

I can probably (find) you a 470 mbogo reamer for dubell to use. If it was a rebarrel, I would go to the 500a2/510wells and be done with it... but a rebore to .475 would go all the way to the 470 mbogo. You will need the 416 rigby follower and mag box, which you can get from brownells for under 30 bucks. this will make feeding easier.

if you have decided on the .475, just go with the mbogo. Email 470mbogo and talk with him about a brass order.. i KNOW he has some on hand... and ch4d for dies. I don't like their shell holders, in the least. get a pair of rcbs shellholders.

So, if it were mine, i would be torn between the 470 mbogo and the 500xweatherby brass... i Don't BELIEVE you could go all the way to 550 on that barrel, but others might have different opinions.

Email 470mbogo.. he went through this twice,,,


I faced nearly teh exact same issue, just before the 470 AR was designed.. I hunt with Dave (and other bigbore nuts) and we talked about this.. I was facing a 416 rigby RSM that I wanted a 470 on... and so now I have a ruger mkII in 470 AR, as it worked out.

While Jim has it, you could ask him about adding 3/16 to the safety's length of "flag". (the operating arm).. would make it nearly perfect.

jeffe

Jeffe:

Thanks again for the input. I am on the waiting list for a montanna 1999 PH Action which I may use to build a 500 A-square. My shoting buddy raised some concern about the ruger wood stock being able to handle the 500A2 class reciol without splitting. He suggested that I go with something with less HP in the RSM and build my dinosaur gun on the PH action and with a much more heavily re-inforced stock. Thats why I may ultimately go with a 470 Mbogo or a 505 Gibbs in the ruger. This would give me a fun big bore to shoot now and allow me to work up to a 500 A2 once I get the PH gun together. My goal is to preserve the ruger look in a true big bore without breaking the piggy bank to do it. I am not sure if this all makes sense or not? I just really like the look and feel of the factory RSM I just wish they built them in a larger african calibers like CZ has done with their 550 safari rifles.

Thanks Again

Brad

Brad,
Good on you!! I don't believe the PH or the RSM will handle recoil any better or worse, given the same amount of gunsmithing effort.

either way, a big bore needs crossbolts and a pin down the wrist.

jeffe

Jeffe:

Accurate inovations makes a wood stock with an aluminum bedding block and a titanium pistol grip stock pin. It was my friends thought that we would build our 500A2's using this technology to minimize the chance of stock failure. As I stated earlier I just want to rework the ruger into a bigger boomer that you can't buy off the shelf, otherwise I would just sell the H&H and get a Lott. I just built a 9.3 wildcat on a 700 SPS action which spits out 250grn Nosler BTs at +3150fps in a 7.75lb rifle including scope. est 5450 FP of muzzel energy (70lbs of recoil 23FPS recoil velocity). I love recoil and want more than my 375H&H can dish out as well as build an african class rifle to hunt with. I like the thought of shooting an african classic big bore. Hence all this busyness.

Thanks

Brad