OK, so a while back I acquired an A-Square Hannibal. These rifles are produced by A-square from M-1917 actions, and are chambered in most cartridges up to the 577 Tyrannosaur. This is an African dangerous game gun.
Mine is in 500 A-Square. The workmanship on this rifle is remarkable. The metal is finished in some sort of matte finish, looks like maybe gunkote. The gun has three massive recoil lugs, and is bedded into the stock along its full length
The stock itself is a work of art, and is quite substantial, and has two metal crosspieces to re-inforce it. Between those and the full length bedding, this stock won't crack. The footprint is very wide on your shoulder, which makes it somewhat less of a traumatic event to pull the trigger.
The trigger is a Timney trigger, set at about 4 lbs. The rifle retains the M1917's ####-on-close functionality, and has been tuned & timed to provide a VERY smooth operation. It retains the original p14 safety, which is excellent, and as you can see, the dog-leg bolt handle has been replaced by an extra long straight handle.
As you'd expect from a DG rifle, it feeds flawlessly. It holds 3 rounds in the mag and one in the chamber.
On top is a Leupold LER 2x scope in QR rings. Remove the scope (which takes about 2 seconds), and there is an excellent express-style open sight, graduated at 100,200 and 300 yards, regulated for the 600 grain RN at ~2450 fps.
It's got a 24" barrel, and weight around 14.5 lbs altogether. There are no mercury tubes or weights added to the stock, and no wussy brake or porting.
The rifle came with 4 boxes of brass, which is headstamped '460 weatherby.' The brass is necked up to .510, and is fireformed to an 'improved' configuration with a shorter neck, steeper shoulder and slightly less taper after the first firing.
Dies came from ch4d, and only took about a week and a half to come in after I called and ordered them. CH had dies IN STOCK, and at less than half the price dies from the RCBS custom shop - never mind the 6 month turnaround for custom dies.
I loaded up a handful of the 600 grain monolithic solids over 107 and 117 grains of 4064 (a-square's max load), as well as a few hard cast lead bullets from MT Chambers. These were cast as 685 grain, but as they're a high-tin alloy, they only weighed in at 600 grains. I loaded these up at 85, 90 and 95 grains of 4064. At 95 grains, I did start to get a little leading near the muzzle. No attempt was made to find the most accurate load, and I didn't have my chrony with me.
A 600 grain A-square monolithic brass solid.
Loaded 500 next to a 458 win mag, a 45-70 and a 30-06
Recoil, as you might imagine, was brisk. Along with my crony, I'd left my PAST pad at home. Firing a full house load was akin to getting punched in the shoulder. By a brontosaurus. OK, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, recoil wasn't THAT bad, though I found it's best to clench your jaw otherwise you might chip a tooth or bite your tongue.
A few shots with this cannon brought some curious shooters over from the other range to see what the hell was making all the racket. A shooter with a 300 win mag and a BOSS didn't even do THAT.
The first time I had this gun to the range, I managed to nail the 18" gong at the 200 yard range. There was absolutely no doubt on anyone's mind whatsoever that the gong had been hit; a 50lb chunk of metal MOVES when hit by this thing. It moves so good it breaks the ropes hanging it up
Mine is in 500 A-Square. The workmanship on this rifle is remarkable. The metal is finished in some sort of matte finish, looks like maybe gunkote. The gun has three massive recoil lugs, and is bedded into the stock along its full length
The stock itself is a work of art, and is quite substantial, and has two metal crosspieces to re-inforce it. Between those and the full length bedding, this stock won't crack. The footprint is very wide on your shoulder, which makes it somewhat less of a traumatic event to pull the trigger.
The trigger is a Timney trigger, set at about 4 lbs. The rifle retains the M1917's ####-on-close functionality, and has been tuned & timed to provide a VERY smooth operation. It retains the original p14 safety, which is excellent, and as you can see, the dog-leg bolt handle has been replaced by an extra long straight handle.
As you'd expect from a DG rifle, it feeds flawlessly. It holds 3 rounds in the mag and one in the chamber.
On top is a Leupold LER 2x scope in QR rings. Remove the scope (which takes about 2 seconds), and there is an excellent express-style open sight, graduated at 100,200 and 300 yards, regulated for the 600 grain RN at ~2450 fps.
It's got a 24" barrel, and weight around 14.5 lbs altogether. There are no mercury tubes or weights added to the stock, and no wussy brake or porting.
The rifle came with 4 boxes of brass, which is headstamped '460 weatherby.' The brass is necked up to .510, and is fireformed to an 'improved' configuration with a shorter neck, steeper shoulder and slightly less taper after the first firing.
Dies came from ch4d, and only took about a week and a half to come in after I called and ordered them. CH had dies IN STOCK, and at less than half the price dies from the RCBS custom shop - never mind the 6 month turnaround for custom dies.
I loaded up a handful of the 600 grain monolithic solids over 107 and 117 grains of 4064 (a-square's max load), as well as a few hard cast lead bullets from MT Chambers. These were cast as 685 grain, but as they're a high-tin alloy, they only weighed in at 600 grains. I loaded these up at 85, 90 and 95 grains of 4064. At 95 grains, I did start to get a little leading near the muzzle. No attempt was made to find the most accurate load, and I didn't have my chrony with me.
A 600 grain A-square monolithic brass solid.
Loaded 500 next to a 458 win mag, a 45-70 and a 30-06
Recoil, as you might imagine, was brisk. Along with my crony, I'd left my PAST pad at home. Firing a full house load was akin to getting punched in the shoulder. By a brontosaurus. OK, so that's a bit of an exaggeration, recoil wasn't THAT bad, though I found it's best to clench your jaw otherwise you might chip a tooth or bite your tongue.
A few shots with this cannon brought some curious shooters over from the other range to see what the hell was making all the racket. A shooter with a 300 win mag and a BOSS didn't even do THAT.
The first time I had this gun to the range, I managed to nail the 18" gong at the 200 yard range. There was absolutely no doubt on anyone's mind whatsoever that the gong had been hit; a 50lb chunk of metal MOVES when hit by this thing. It moves so good it breaks the ropes hanging it up
Last edited:
