Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 505 Gibbs

doclee - the guys who test fire the "big" guns (doubles , .505's etc.)for a living are easy to spot. They're the one's popping the Advil's, have the 'twitches' and are on a first name basis with the local chiropractor's office staff. Regards, Homesteader.

My 500 Jeffery (a CZ 550 Safari classic) weighs in at 11.25 lbs without scope and 12 lbs with my Leupold 1.5 - 5x on it. I shoot 570g TSXs at 2300 fps. It's fun offhand and kneeling, from the bench I use a lead sled with 25 lbs of weight and it usually knocks off my hearing protection with each shot lol ... At 2300 fps it's a hoot and very accurate. I've loaded it up to 2500 fps with the 570g TSX's and at that speed it's just unpleasant to shoot. The 505 Gibbs should be in about the same league recoil and power wise ...



Best 3 shot group so far at 50 yards (all have been better than MOA)



My friend holding "Baby" when she first arrived after being rebarreled to 500 Jeffery ...



Regards,

Chuck

Chuck - mighty fine looking rifle you have there. CZ fitted your piece with a nicely figured walnut stock. Have fun 'Bwana'...pardon my Swahilli(?). Homesteader.

I blame Phil for making me think that I want a 505 Gibbs. Still have never shot one, nor handled a rifle chambered for it, but there's something sick deep in my psyche that still wants one, 416 Rigby, 458 Win, and 470 NE be damned! I've even been holding onto a .510" blank for about 5 years thinking that I would some day build a Shoemaker-esque 505 (.510) Gibbs. Damn near bought a CZ action from Brownells on several occasions. Besides...why buy when you can build something similar for half again as much?

BUM,
Sounds like you need to buy that action and get on with the project .

I remember reading that Elmer Keith carried a .505 Gibbs double when hunting some of his big bear. It probably went to Africa with him.

croldfort - being old enough to know who Elmer Keith is and know about his quirks I can say the only reason he would take a ".505 Gibbs" to Africa is because they didn't make a ".506 Gibbs" - LOL ...with apologies to the Texas Rangers. Regards, Homesteader.

IIRC, On big bears, Elmer would try to take out the front shoulders with the first shot to hinder their mobility. Then he would go for the vitals.

You are correct about his thinking that bigger was always better.

croldfort - had to wonder about Elmer as to which would be bigger...his Stetson, his cigar OR his rifle caliber on any given hunt and in his articles. He would, no doubt, use an AR15 to swirl his bourbon. Can't fault his shooting technique however. Regards, Homesteader.

I just went digging through my stuff the other day and realized that the damned movers lost my barrel! Son of a bitch!

How does the recoil of the .505 compare to the .460 Weatherby?

I have fired a .460, and that is about as much recoil as I want.

I think Elmer's double would have been a .500, not a .505 Gibbs.

Yep. Of course, Elmer wrote less about where that bullet needed to be placed to take out the front shoulder(s) because he supposed (as many modern gunwriters suppose, I suppose...) that his readers understood the anatomy of their quarry from all angles, as he, and experienced hunter, guide, and field-dresser of game, did.

Depending on the presentation of the bear to the shooter, you can take out one shoulder and in some cases, with the right presentation and bullet, both shoulders while also shredding heart and lungs.

I don't presume to speak for Elmer. Just speaking from my reading of his writings.

I've got a CZ 550 in 500 Jeffery (comparable recoil to a 505 Gibbs), weighs 11.25 lbs without scope. Shooting 570g TSX's at 2300 fps gives 84 ft/lbs of recoil with 22 fps recoil velocity. A 460 Weatherby Mark V (weighs 10 lbs without scope) shooting a 500g bullet at 2600 fps gives 95 ft/lbs and 25 fps respectively.

Here's a link to the recoil calculator ...

http://www.handloads.com/calc/recoil.asp

Chuck