Rifle build by concensus

1899 said:
The .500 AHR takes care of the rebated rim issue - although it is not a "classic". Of course the .500 A-Square takes care of the rebated rim issue and the brass availability/cost issue as well, but it has a belt (not that it bothers me).
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I'm reassessing belts after dealing with a recalcitrant 7mmWby this fall.

500 AHR.....Can they export the brass or does it fall into that 50 cal foolishness?
 
BigUglyMan said:
I'm reassessing belts after dealing with a recalcitrant 7mmWby this fall.

500 AHR.....Can they export the brass or does it fall into that 50 cal foolishness?
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I don't know. Has anyone done a .500-.416 Rigby? You'd think the shoulder would be ok for headspacing. That way you could have a .500 A-Square without the belt.

Did you post the issues with your 7mm Wby? I am thinking of having one of my 7mm RMs rechambered.
 
1899 said:
I don't know. Has anyone done a .500-.416 Rigby? You'd think the shoulder would be ok for headspacing. That way you could have a .500 A-Square without the belt.

Did you post the issues with your 7mm Wby? I am thinking of having one of my 7mm RMs rechambered.
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I think it's a mag-spring issue rather than anything else. On recoil the cartridges in the mag would shift and the belt would fall behind the case head of the shell underneath it. When you tried to cycle the bolt the nose of the bullet (Ballistic Tips) would catch in the front of the mag and not ride up enough to allow the shell to slide free of the feed rails, effectively locking the action. I think that a fresh spring would solve the problem, or a change to a shorter/blunter bullet.
 
1899 said:
I don't know. Has anyone done a .500-.416 Rigby? You'd think the shoulder would be ok for headspacing. That way you could have a .500 A-Square without the belt.

Negative on that, just checked dimensions and there is only.050-.055 from OD neck to base dia, not enough for taper and shoulder and be 100% reliable IMHO.
The A Square only has .012 taper and only.030 shoulder (.015 actually) not enough for my liking on either count, even old PO liked .010 taper per case inch.

I designed a 475 on a shortened Rigby (2.75") and spun out a model on the lathe. It looks good and definately has enough shoulder @ 30 deg.
Wouldn't want to increase bullet dia above that on this case, though.


The 404 jeffrey imp 30 deg interests me (RUM?) but would like to then use bullets in the 430-460 gn range, to up the SD and run about 2400-2500 fps.
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I've got a 500 A-Square. It's cool; though I'm really curious about the .585 caliber. Not sure if they'll fit in a 602 action, tho. The 577 Tyrannosaur and/or the 585 Nyati come to mind here.

Possibly a 550 Magnum, if the 585 thing doesnt pan out.

Either way, all my interests are outside of your specifications. How about one of the Accuratereloading wildcats? http://www.weaponsmith.com/AR-rounds1.html
 
C-FMBI - interestingly the OD neck-base measurement is almost identical to the .475 B&M (shortened RUM case); the OD neck is .501" and the base is .550" with shoulder at .536". The same fellow that designed the B&M line came up with the .500 MDM, which is a necked up .375 RUM - OD neck .524", shoulder .536" base .545".

I'm not saying it is perfect or will work flawlessly, but it seems to have undergone quite a bit of testing.

At any rate, it is an interesting problem to have!

Edit to add: Here is a blog from an Alaskan fellow who opened up the .416 Rigby to .505 and called it the .505 Burns. It is a good read:
http://pistolsmith.########.com/2010/07/505-burns.html

He is getting 2363fps with a 525gr bullet and 100gr of H4895 and 2210fps with a 600gr and 86gr of H4895 - both velocities out of a 24" barrel.


The newer version of the .500/.416 Rigby is called the .500 Mbogo.
 
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1899 said:
C-FMBI - interestingly the OD neck-base measurement is almost identical to the .475 B&M (shortened RUM case); the OD neck is .501" and the base is .550" with shoulder at .536". The same fellow that designed the B&M line came up with the .500 MDM, which is a necked up .375 RUM - OD neck .524", shoulder .536" base .545".

I'm not saying it is perfect or will work flawlessly, but it seems to have undergone quite a bit of testing.

At any rate, it is an interesting problem to have!

Edit to add: Here is a blog from an Alaskan fellow who opened up the .416 Rigby to .505 and called it the .505 Burns. It is a good read:
http://pistolsmith.########.com/
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Wow those are some interesting numbers and tiny shoulders and straight cases.

.009 case taper over 2.5" of case? HMMMMMMMMM.
 
BigUglyMan said:
Six thou of shoulder isn't much shoulder. And the bullets are .500" not .501" unless I missed something somewhere. (for the 500 MDM, that is)
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The .501" was a spec for the .475 version's neck OD.

Here is a drawing of the .500 Van Horn Express, which is basically a shortened .416 Rigby (actually a .460 Wby with the belt turned):
500VanHornjpg.jpg
 
A .500 Jeffery would indeed be cool, but it would be cooler if you stamped it 12.7x70 Schuler. From a practical standpoint, my choice would be a .404J
 
I looked at and handled a 9.3-416 Rigby two days ago. It looks like an amazing cartridge, and the fellow who built it has loaded 320 gr bullets with an aluminum spitzer tip to over 3000 fps!

Either that or a 585 Nyati, and you know the fellow who has the reamer. :)

Ted
 
Bullets of .458 caliber are easier to get in greater variety than larger ones; if that matters, given your experience and resources it might not. But I would go with a .375 Ultra opened up to .458, similar to the older .460 G&A from the 1970s, but with slightly more capacity due to the shorter neck of the Ultra. This thing will drive a 500 at 2400 from a short 21", although most African rifles tend to be longer. The old .460 G&A load was 90 grs of 4064 under a 500 gr Hornady IIRC. The Brno 602 action is a natural for it, and mine feeds the .375 Ultra very well.
 
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