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Nice write upon the 505 Gibbs by Doctari here - the cow test is entertaining to say the least:

http://www.bigbore.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=27&Itemid=34

Great read! I think everone needs at least one true big bore before they give up the hunting fields!

Ed

The Gibbs does recoil more than a max loaded 458 Lott but I have never found myself unconscious with a deep sternal contusion amid a grassfire!

Excellent read.

Maybe I am just getting old, but that is just more recoil that want to contend with..I still like the .404 best, but have settled on the .416 Rem out of convienence and it sure works for me..and its light enough to pack all day. Guess I'm just a wuss these days.:)

Be aware that those big bores will make you suffer in you later years, I have bursitus in my neck and shoulders from nothing but plain old recoil according to the doc that hunts with me every year or so.

Maybe it was the fact that I'd already shot a 416 Rigby about 5 times already but a friend let me shoot his CZ in 505 after I'd watched him shoot about the same # of rounds. One thing I noticed was the cloud of smoke emerge from the muzzle break after each shot. Never seen that before but then I'd never imagined 123 grains of powder being burnt before.

I decided the off hand position was safest and cut one loose at a rock about a hundred yards off. NASTY, NASTY RECOIL FOR ME TO HANDLE MORE THAN ONCE. Yea, if pushed I suppose I could use a 505 Gibbs on safari or someplace else but I'd hate to shoot one more than a few times a day. I had a shooting coat on I might add that had about an inch of padding....something I wouldn't have on out hunting in the heat of Africa.

I don't know how the snipers shoot those 50s and take out other snipers. BTW, I just last night saw a video of some Canadian snipers shooting at close to a mile and a half....blowing a human body into little pieces.

You guys seen that video ? I'm told it's been around for awhile.

I think that video, if it's the one I'm thinking of, is BS.

Back to the Gibbs...I think if you had a good recoil pad and were shooting offhand (not sure who would shoot one any other way) you'd be plenty fine. I keep thinking that I need something of that ilk in case I go back for buffalo. Ok, ok...when I go back for buffalo!

Take heed: that Dr speaks the truth. Just had a 2nd cortisone
shot, 11 months apart, for bursitis in my left shoulder (I'm a
lefty), and my Dr. says the same thing. Will now have to under-
take a course of P. T. for several weeks, as my left shoulder is
starting to "freeze." He sez wear a PAST recoil shield plus any-
thing else you can cram up there without in effect giving you
such a long L.O.P. that you can't sight the weapon properly.

Fang,
Go to a lighter caliber, you'd be amazed how well a 375 kills everything in Africa year after year in our camp..the older I get the more I realize what a great caliber it really is..some show up with a recoil reducer and that is nothing more than a maidens caress...

All my Safari companies allow muzzle brakes btw, God gave'em finger to eat chicken and to plug up their ears with...:)

I went with the 375 H&H CZ 550 (which weighs almost 10 lbs) plus their optional mercury recoil reducer (what a wuss!). My first medium bore rifle, don't have a flinch now, don't want to develop one ...



Chuck

As a stopper the 505 (and other big 50's) have to be seen to be fully appreciated but they are no substitute for bullet placement. Recoil effects are cumulative which explains the renewed popularity of the 9.3x62. The difference on game between it and the 375 is nowhere near as distinct as the difference in recoil between them.

And Ray, you old rodeo cowboys are always blame shooting for your aches and pains but you are not fooling anyone .

Phil,

I think a piece on the .505, was one the first stories of yours that I read. Your description of the recoil, has always stuck with me...."memorable". A lot said, with just one word!!!

Jeff

A 680 gr bullet @ 2400fps in a nine and a half pound rifle is memorable if not downright facinating. I don't think Mike Roden's Granite Mountain .585 was any worse.
But the standard 525 gr bullet at around 2150fps from the 505 is similiar to a standard 458 Win and a lot more comfortable than a hot 458 Lott load.

...I have not had the PLEASURE of shooting Mike Roden's .585, but I do shoot a Mike Roden GMA .505 Gibbs.
My loads are not "max blast" by any means. 600gr bullet @ 2185fps is quite sufficient on ele's. IMO, more velocity is not warranted. Recoil is managable, much like shooting my 10#.458WM with 500gr bullets @ the same velocity. The GMA weighs a pound more than the Winchester. Perhaps the additional weight/balance of the GMA also reduces felt recoil.

Phil,

Will have to try a few shots from a Gibbs, if I get a chance. The most punishung recoil I've yet to experience, is from a .458 Win Mag, that I put together on a Sako L61R barrelled action. Way too light. Had a couple of friends at the range, on it's maiden voyage/scope zeroing(Leupold 2-1/2x). They were practically in tears, laughing, watching me take a pounding. Damn thing cuts cloverleafs....but not much fun to shoot!

Jeff

I will own a 505 one of these days. I purchaced a Hein LH action in a gibbs length, but it has been a year with no firm date on shipment. I wish someone would make a nice LH large action for 1500 bucks. Thats all I ask! I have my barrel and wood just need the action and I'd have a 505 also.

Ed

The 505 fascinated me so much that I had to order the issue of Rifle where Phil built the Gibbs. That article is probably the reason that I couldn't pass up a 50 blank that appeared at a buddy's place. Now to build something on it!

Peter V: A terrific story and told so well. Bravo!

I was thinking the same thing as a few others have noted. 2150 fps for a 525 grain bullet is not much different than the reported ballistics of a .458 Winchester.

To be sure...the amount of powder you are using is well beyond the max load for the .458 and so I wonder if your chronograph is reading correctly or if you might be using a barrel shorter than standard length.

No question about it....your load and your rifle sound amazing and your confidence in its performance coupled with the terminal performance leaves no doubt you are on to something great.

That said: How was it that some of the great African sportsman have had such success with the 7MMx57 Mauser and others with the 6.5x55 Swede? Where these simply brain shots at close range on unsuspecting animals or was the success of these under-powered rounds truly legitimate? Do you know or can you say?