OT- 500 S&W Magnum NEF Handi on the way

[O.S.O.K.]

I just ordered an NEF handi rifle in 500 S&W Mag. What can I say? I had some $$$ burning a hole in my pocket... I kept looking and looking at other stuff but this kept speaking to me - it's totally redundant as I already have a 45-70 NEF... oh well.

To go in this puppy, I ordered some Star-Line brass (LR primers), the Lee 2-cavity .501", 440 grain mold, gas checks and the Lee sizer die kit.

School me on this one - should I open the sizer a bit to .502 or .503"? What about alloy? I'm thinking probably Lyman no.2 or ww and tin... this isn't going to go much over 1500 fps - at least I'm not planning on goosing it that fast. I don't like kicking the stuffing out of myself and I know that 440 grains at 1500 from this 5 1/2 pound rifle will come back plenty hard enough.

My standard lube is Lee Liquid Alox - should I use something else for this fat boy?



Everything I see on this indicates standard, iron sights - which I prefer over the fragile optical sights they have. I'm not sure what I'll be doing for aftermarket sights - might go with a WRS aperture for this one or a low power scope.... not sure.



I chose the Lee mould for weight and gas check design. My Lee 310 .430" mold has produced excellent boolits/results for me. Not to mention the price is right

Boom!

[AJMD429]

I think I had to call Williams to get the right one (wasn't specifically listed), but I got their "WGRS" one for my .500 Handi, and I really like it. On the Williams' I use the aperture to sight in (the WGRS isn't a "click-adjustable" sight, so there will be trial-and-error involved, but the "FP" and "5D" series are far bulkier, and I usually just develop one 'main' load for a given gun anyway), and then remove it for a 'ghost ring' effect after that. My rifle (posted somewhere on this site) came with a busted 'fiber-optic' front sight, so I also replaced that. Maybe that is the one I had to 'call' on - I think it was a 20 gauge shotgun diameter barrel that the ramp (Williams Shorty I think) was sized for, and I got a fiber-optic sight of the right height (I hope - haven't shot the gun much yet).

I want to shoot big, heavy, sub-sonics in it mostly, and play around with .50 cal SABOTS to see what I can do if I ever find myself with primers and powder but an inadequate supply of proper bullets. With a sabot, you can use a .45, a .40, or a .357 bullet, or for that matter, a piece of gravel, old stove bolt, or whatever...

[O.S.O.K.]

Hmm sabots. Didn't really think about that - I've got some that utilize 44 mag bullets - XTP's to be exact. That's what I use in my TC Omega. They go about 1800fps - so very similar to 45-70 factory rounds of the same weight.

Anybody cast for theirs? I'm wondering about proper diameter for this caliber/gun.

[TedH]

That should be a fun one to play with. I've been wishing for one of those too, but haven't been able to justify it.............yet.

[O.S.O.K.]

Well, I had an AR on order chambered in 6.5 Grendel - ordered it last July! Every time I called it was "another 6 weeks". I finally cancelled the order which loosened the cash. I'm also selling the mags I bought for that on gunbroker - which will give me another $100.

I hate to admit it but I was looking at all kinds of guns on gunbroker, bud's, etc. and nothing really called out to me - other than this one. Something about a big bore centerfire rifle... and the price was right - $255 shipped. Hard to beat that.

[AJMD429]

On another thread you said your .500 S&W "didn't have a lever" - it's got one, but it's just in the wrong place - call it a "top-lever"

[O.S.O.K.]

Its a thumb lever

The NEF's kinda fit in good with leverguns though - they are also based on an old design from the same time period...

Oh, and I decided to get a Weaver 1x3 28mm to go on this. I figured a little more weight on the rifle wouldn't hurt!

[Warhawk]

This ought to be an interesting rifle.

I like the big bores, I've killed more deer with a 338 Win Mag than any other caliber and my favorite lever guns are chambered for the 45-70. But I have a little H&R Topper Junior 20 ga that hurts all the way down to my toes every time I shoot it.

I'm anxious to hear how you get along with this little beast.