Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 500 Jeffery Conversion

I agree with Ray. Shooting the .505 and bigger rifles has only made me better with smaller rifles.
Rodney.

You like 500Jeffery, this one is made by a gunsmith friend in France "� la Jeffery" british style on a Mauser action. It's regulated for factory cartridges. It's a no thrill rifle, made on command, for a guy who has already lot of african rifles and used to fire them, hunting the Dark Continent.
Your conversion is really nice too and your handloads look great.

from France, regards
Dominique

Very cool rifle Dominique!

Regards,

Chuck

Hi all, my converted 500 Jeffery came in today. Harlan sent my NECG rear sight in a baggie, must be a problem with it, otherwise it looks awesome. So I need a rear sight put on and get some ammunition loaded as soon as my press is ready. It weighs 11lbs empty but the balance is much better so it actually feels lighter and points better ...



Regards,

Chuck

Outstanding and welcome to the "50" and over club. Very pleased about your new arrival.
Rodney.

Thanks Rodney!

Chuck

The rifle is back in it's new identity (500 Jeffery), it hasn't changed color, my photography skills are zero. The barrel contour and the hole in the business end are definitely bigger!
Range report to follow in a few weeks.






Chuck

Hey, Gang I just jumped on to this thread. I have decided to go a different direction. I purchased a 375 H&H RSM after the 1st shot I knew that this was a total waste of a grand old rifle. I sent it off to Jim Dubell and there its been for the last 2 years but I'm told it's almost ready to go. He rebored the factory quarter rib barrel to keep the look. I have a MRC PH Action on order if I want to build a 58cal ugly stick dinosaur killer. I followed the idea of those RSM 505 Gibbs conversions that Les Bowen was doing a few years back. Jim didn't like the extractor being cut back to accomidate the 505 case. We originally were going to go with 3 rounds down but had to settle on 2. I believe I'm getting 2 8oz recoil reducers one front one back. As far as recoil haven't shot it yet so no comments. But, my 458 Lott RSM is ok after 20 rounds I can tell that I've been to the range. I still believe than my 9.3 Ashley (9.3 RUM wildcat) Is the most hard recoiling rifle I own. 250grn 9.3mm running out at 3000fps giving 5200Ft-Lb's of recoil in a Rem 700 SPS factory rifle at 7.75 lbs with scope and all. That rifle just thumps in a mean way. I'd shoot the Lott 5 times for one 9.3 trigger pull. Thanks for starting the thread. It's good to know I'm not the only crazy one out there.

Brad

That's a fine lookin' rig Chuck.

not if you are the dog
Randy

Well guys, I had to send the rifle back for a few tweaks (feeding and extracting). It's back now, feeds and extracts everything I can throw into it (Woodleigh softs, Barnes TSX, Barnes Banded Solids), a new rear sight is on too. I'm off to the range Friday, will file a range report with pics!

Chuck

I like the 500 Jeffery cartridge. I had always used my 416 Rigby or Remington for everything, especially culling bison, or backing up people who showed up at a friend's ranch for pasture "shoots" for 800 to 1,200 pounds on the hoof (figure 2/3 of that as usable meat and bone - some people had "buffler" rugs from the hide). Anyway, with the 416s, I had to hit the brain stem to get a bang flop. The same sport who had just shanked the shot by using his uncle Ernie's 300 Weatherby Magnum, would absolutely throw a s#%* fit if I damaged even one gram of meat.

Anyway, I borrowed a 500 Jeffery for my last few back-up assignments (the guys who chose to hunt animals turned out on the 6,500 acres of deeded ground were on their own).

I was using 535-grain soft points. The animals went down about the same as with the 416s, but every time it looked like they had been smacked down to the earth by a force MUCH greater than gravity. Also, the head felt like a bag of jelly with pieces of bone mixed in.

My only recommendation is to shoot the rifle as if you way 115 pounds. Hold it tight to your shoulder and roll back and a bit sideways. Then it is easy to retrace that arc to get back on target. I am no fan of muzzle recoil reducing devices, but this rifle makes a case for Magna-Porting, just in the area of getting you back down on target quicker.

One small last thought. Starting with a .375 H&H is nice because the gunsmith can open the bolt face just enough for the 500 Jeffery cartridge base. My CZ 550 in 416 Rigby has a slightly too generous bolt face diameter. I had to tighten up the extractor a smidgen to get it to hold cases (full or empty) straight and tight.

Oops, on last thought; Duane Weibe sells the correct bottom metal for a project like this. It makes the feeding adjustments so much easier.

Thanks for reading this.

Hi Baba Charlie, glad you had a blast shooting a 500 Jeffery and thanks for your advice.

As an update, I had Wayne at AHR polish the feed ramp and rails of my 500 Jeffery a bit, then Kevin Weaver machined me a new follower which finally did the trick. My 500 Jeffery functions flawlessly. My max load is a 570 TSX, Jamison cases, Federal 215 primers 105g H4895 for 2410 fps. 103g H4895 gives me 2350 fps and seems to recoil a lot less so that's what I generally shoot these days. Both loads shoot sub MOA. I have somewhere between 300 and 400 rounds through it only a few of those (less than 50) have been reduced power loads. Looking forward to taking it Africa in a few years.

I ended up taking a synthetic / coated stainless Rem XCR II in 375 Weatherby on my brown bear hunt. My booking agent, Mark Young, recommended against taking a walnut / blued rife to Alaska (as well as many campfire members) and he was right. My rifle just sat out in the zodiac getting rained on for at least 8 hours per day. It worked fine, but I would've liked that 500 Jeffery in my hands when we were following the blood trail in the willows. Come to think of it, even though we found my bear 30 yards down the trail dead, I don't think it would've made it that far had I hit it with my 500 Jeffery. Those bears look a whole lot bigger at 13 yards.

Thanks for your post.

Lmao