.500 vs .577 vs .600 NE

[RootballExpress]

Hi all,

I know this is gonna sound kinda touché, but I have a problem deciding on which double rifle caliber to go with.

When looking at ammo availability and affordability, the .500 NE is clearly the best option. HOWEVER, which one do you who use and have used these bigger double calibers recommend when it comes to stopping power, accuracy, and penetration?

Real excited to see what you all of you say.

, Rootball

 

[Tanks]

Are you going to hunt with it? Back in February you asked opinions between a .470 and .500.

Now, it is .500, .577 or a .600?

All of the guns, if you buy from a reputable manufacturer will be accurate enough (regulated to 2" @50 meters). So, accuracy and handling will be up to you.

As you go up in caliber the weight of the gun will be going up. My .500 weighs 11.6 pounds, .577 will weigh in at 12.5 and I think most .600s are 14 pounds and up. Cost of the rifles scale up with the caliber as well for the most part.

In regards to stopping power assuming correct shot placement all of them will have the stopping power. Penetration is more dependent on the bullet than the caliber (to a certain extent), not that many selections for .600.

Personally, of the three, I'd go with the .500 NE for the reasons you mentioned. However, as people mentioned in the thread from February I'd go with the .470 NE for your purposes.

 

[robert kuester]

I own and shoot a 577. If you like recoil go for it. If you just want a do all go with the 470. If you can get a chance to shoot a few different cal,s you will get a better idea on what soots you.

 

[CAustin]

I have a 470 and have fired a 500 several times. Both will get the job done on anything you want to hunt as long as you can aim and hit the target.
What rifle do you have your eyes on????

 

[npm352]

Ask Mark Sullivan...he thinks anything under .577 is for women and children. He told me this when I met him and told him about my upcoming (at the time) elephant hunt with my 375 bolt action.

 

[Red Leg]

Most anything you hunt with one of these doubles will require a lot more walking than shooting - lots more. Unless your new thumper comes equipped with a gun-bearer, why drag all that weight along when a .470 or 500-416 will cleanly kill anything in Africa? Of the three you listed, I would opt for the .500. If picking my own double, it would be a .470 or 500-416. In almost any circumstances in modern Africa, it would be a .375.

Like many who have been over there a few times, I could care less what Mark Sullivan opines.

 

[npm352]

Haha..I wasn't too concerned. I'd read his book so knew it was coming.

 

[grand veneur]

Hi all,

I know this is gonna sound kinda touché, but I have a problem deciding on which double rifle caliber to go with.

When looking at ammo availability and affordability, the .500 NE is clearly the best option. HOWEVER, which one do you who use and have used these bigger double calibers recommend when it comes to stopping power, accuracy, and penetration?

Real excited to see what you all of you say.

, Rootball

I wonder if that's not the main reason !

Which caliber for an DR was really not the question I asked myself when I hunted for the first time DG in Africa. I took a standard rifle for this purpose caliber 375 H&H Magnum and started.

If you are hunting DG for the first time in africa , you should first gain experience and this is best done with an scoped bolt action rifle and that in a suitable caliber like 375 or 416 for example nowadays. Then you have the best possibility to be successful by your first hunt.

Later you can still think about trying it all again with an DR caliber between 470NE and 500NE , or more. Don't forget , when hunting with an DR , the hunt must be adapted to the rifle.

 

[cal pappas]

As mentioned ,you'll carry the rifle far more than you will shoot it at game. In that direction of thought the .500 is the choice with a .450 even better. But sometimes we do illogical things in the world of guns and hunting. I've carried my .600 Wilkes to Australia twice, a moose hunt in Alaska and 7-8 times in Africa. I will take it again this year and suffer the carry as it is just so cool to shoot game with a vintage .600. All that said, the recoil is really not an issue. Using a formula for felt recoil a 10.5 pound .450 will fell like a 12 pound .500, will feel like a 14 pound .577 will feel like a 16 pound .600. The stories of horrible recoil are fabricated by wrriters for a hype factor. Bottom line, use what you like best. If it was what is needed then we all would shoot .30-06 and a .375.

 

[Nhoro]

Of the 3, I have fired a 500 NE. It was a Rigby double and was easier recoil than my 458 win mag. However it weighed a tonne and was NOT easier to carry. The 577 in its original loading was not known for penetration-some considered it insufficient for frontal brain shots on big ele bulls. However it seemed to knock them down/out or make them lose interest in proceedings. I would guess that modern handloads would improve that but you may be in for a pounding. I think that the advice above is good. 500 NE of the choices given. 470 also a nice choice. Go shoot a 577 or 600 if you can. Some people love the tough guy " I can handle recoil' image but very few can actually shoot them with any accuracy.

 

[Pondoro]

Cal...what muzzle velocity do you get from your .600 Wilkes with a 900 grain solid..? Yours is regulated for the 110 grain cordite load is it not..?

 

[Major Khan]

Go for the .500 Nitro Express .It shall actually serve you better than the .577 Nitro Express or the .600 Nitro Express.

 

[tigris115]

From browsing ammo sites, the 500 NE would be optimal since it's being manufactured by more companies, meaning that the average price is lower than that of the 577 and 600

 

[grand veneur]

From browsing ammo sites, the 500 NE would be optimal since it's being manufactured by more companies, meaning that the average price is lower than that of the 577 and 600

I think so too.

An DR caliber 500NE is the good compromise between the rifles caliber 45 and the biggest one caliber 577NE and 600NE. I saw very fine and relatively light DR caliber 500NE.

The two big one 577NE and 600NE , leftover from the old days of ivory hunting , are in most cases very heavy and not so optimally suitable for an modern guest hunter in Africa.

However , in the caliber class 500NE , 577NE and 600NE , I would only buy old used DR or let built it at a very well-known house that has kept gunmaker tradition. If one want to play the great old Africa hunter , one have to do it right. The modern Africa hunter with ear protection and camo shirt has a bolt action rifle of new production and in an suitable caliber for our times. Unfortunately used DR in this calibers are rare and not cheap. We don't want to speak of the price of newly built ones.

 

[cal pappas]

Pondoro: With the 900 grain Woodleigh soft nose I get 1900 fps with 160 grains of IMR 4831. With a solid I use 155 grains of the same powder. Large rifle magnum primer. Barrels are 26". Both loads shoot 2" at 50 yards. If Zimbabwe opens soon a planned hunt will see the .600 for elephant, buffalo, and hippo and the .450-400 for croc, lion, and leopard. It's a waiting game now.

 

[Tanks]

...If Zimbabwe opens soon a planned hunt will see the .600 for elephant, buffalo, and hippo and the .450-400 for croc, lion, and leopard. It's a waiting game now.

Quite a full bag, hope it happens for you. Are you putting a light gathering scope on the .450-400?

 

[cal pappas]

Swarovski 1.25-4x 30mm is my only scoped rifle.
C

 

[tigris115]

With ammo cost, it's not just the safari. Practice makes perfect so sending bullets down the range is necessary to get really comfortable with your gun. That means cheap, easy-to-buy ammo will reign.

 

[cal pappas]

I do a lot of shooting with cast bullets both for target practice and to get used to the recoil after a long winter of little shooting. Today I ran 16 rounds through the .600 and used the new Lab Radar. I made the switch from 4831 to RL 15 to see the difference. Accuracy the same, velocity the same but recoil was less with the RL. When I Australia a few years ago I ordered 30 boxes of Woodleigh 900 grains for the .600 so hav enough for the rest of my life.

 

[Tanks]

I would not call $7 or so a round cheap per se, though compared to the cost of Safari spending a couple of thousand on practice ammo is not much of a cost if one does not handload. I have no idea how much factory ammo for .577 or .600 costs as none are available online that I could see. The rest are about the same price.

Handloading will cut the cost to about a third of factory ammo.