Here's a little fun one. .500 Nitro work

WB
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 10:55 (3019 days ago)

I have some examples of a special heavy bullet that was intended for the likes of .500 LB and Maximum. A bit to much for me, but the .500 Nitro is another kettle of fish. This would be a lighter bullet for that application, in place of a nominal 570 gr. slug.

The bullet has no gas check so it must rely on the alloy alone to take the rifling and not fail. A hardened check would add to this greatly. But as long as I maintain a gentle pressure curve it will be fine. I have a Trail Boss load that does great but I wanted a bit more close to actual full power practice. The will require the slowest and most bulky powder I can find the the very voluminous straight walled .500 NE.

Luckily I have some. So slow the case can be overfilled and still not have high pressure. The only trick is to use the hottest primer I can manage to ignite as much of the stuff to prevent unburned granules in the bore. I love Federal #215 LR primers for this. Anyone else use others? I found some of that 5744 powder but I've never used it, not sure if it would give much higher velocity than Trail Boss though.

I've had great luck in .458 Win. Mag. along these lines.

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I've used 5744 and SR4759 in those big cases...

Huey
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 11:02 (3019 days ago) @ WB

Works great.

Will certainly provide more power than Trail Boss.

All my years I never saw 5744 locally.

WB
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 11:35 (3019 days ago) @ Huey

Until this past year. I think it must be an omen, I'll try some. I'd like to see around 2000 fps with no leading.

5744 was the powder of choice for the 586 GNR and 610 GNR

Gary Reeder
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 12:32 (3019 days ago) @ WB

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I'll see if I can find some data.

WB
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 13:04 (3019 days ago) @ Gary Reeder

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500 Data

Alcorn
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 13:20 (3019 days ago) @ WB

loadate.com lists 500 Nitro, but none of those powers. They are all full power loads.

the 500 Nitro was not meant to be a light load target round

Gary Reeder
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 13:33 (3019 days ago) @ Alcorn

it is a hunting round, pure and simple. It is a dangerous game round, no more, no less. I imagine Trail Boss is the only light load you are going to find with today's powders.

A pretty serious one at that! J.A. Hunter's excellent book

WB
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 17:38 (3019 days ago) @ Gary Reeder

"Hunter" chronicles his experiences. He carried a .500 Double for serious situations and is one of the most referenced users of the .500 NE. It's a great read if you have never given it a look.

If I keep up pace I may be in the running for the most .500 NE shots in Arkansas! lol Not sure if a loose noodle is worth that tittle. I sure miss my .470 NE barrel I sold to sponsor a HHC trip.

J. A. Hunter

Alcorn
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 17:44 (3019 days ago) @ WB

"Hunter" My favorite hunting book of all time. Reread The chapter on Elephants, 15 Elephants in 17 min.

both of J.A. Hunter's books are good. Hunter's Tracks

Gary Reeder
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 18:14 (3019 days ago) @ WB

and Hunter are both very good books for those interested in African hunting. My favorite is John "Pondoro" Taylor. His 2 books, Last of the Ivory Hunters and African Rifles and Cartridges are my favorites. He doesn't just tell stories of his hunts but goes over the rifles and cartridges used on various African game and goes into the power factors needed for each game encountered, that being the TKO of each cartridge. It is a much better way of looking at the power of a cartridge than the energy figures we are fed endlessly here in the states and which don't mean a thing. Taylor spent 3 or 4 years at a time on safari hunting elephant for the ivory and only came into civilization when he needed to sell the ivory.

A lot of folks like Ruark and he is good. But to me he spends too much time talking about sitting around the campfire drinking scotch and how his wife managed to shampoo her hair while on safari. I would rather him spend those many paragraphs going over the animals and guns of Africa.

In fact, now that I think about it, I am going to have to scrounge up copies of both of Taylor's books. I have a real bad habit of loaning books to friends and forgetting whom I lent them to. I just looked on my book shelf and both are missing in action. I vaguely remember loaning them to someone before the 2017 hunt in Africa. No big deal. I'll find another copy of each.

I use 5744 in my Savage 10MLll smokeless muzzleloader

Darryl T.
[subject]
Sunday, June 03, 2018, 12:16 (3019 days ago) @ WB

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