Well, It has been a few months since my last visit to the Big Bore Addiction Support Group and I have truly fallen off the wagon. I have been saving up Cabela's points and gift cards for some time and they just started "burning a hole in my pocket" in the last 2 months. During that time I bought a Weatherby Safari Custom in .460 WBY (very nice wood and cool custom leather WBY case) and just recently as the DSC show I found a CZ 550 Safari Classics in .500 Jeffery that caught my eye. The gentlemen working the booth made me a great deal on it but I still wasn't sure so I went to the CZ booth to learn more about how they are made, etc in the Safari Classics shop. After learning more about the gun and cartridge, I decided to buy that one at Cabela's (they knocked $1300 off of the new price). Now I need to gather up some ammo for both (WOW expensive) and go touch off a few rounds in each. I really like my .416 Rigby and .500 NE double and they are not bad to shoot but I imagine the 460 WBY and 500 Jeffery will be like trying to ride a lightening bolt.
I will try to get some pics up before too long.
Hello Vette447,
In the event that you find the .500 Jeffery to have too much recoil, hopefully you do hand load and if so, try loading it down to .500 NE ballistics.
The factory loaded Jeffery is reportedly shooting its 535 gr bullet at about 2400 fps and this is too much recoil for me personally.
It is both a heavy recoil and a fast recoil.
But even with the heavier 570 gr bullet from the .500 NE cartridge fame, loaded into the Jeffery case at around 2100 fps, even I can stand to shoot it accurately for a few times but, I never shoot it from sitting at a bench, only from standing.
Also worth mentioning, I have been loading mine down to about 2000 fps with the 570 grainers to help tame recoil.
Loaded down like the above mentioned specifications, it is still a heavy recoil but slow, and that makes a huge difference to the shoulder.
Besides, if the .500 NE ballistics are not adequate, we all had better run for our lives.
I have the same brand/model that you now have and these are thankfully equipped with a mercury cylinder in the buttstock to help mitigate recoil.
Mine weighs about 11 pounds empty and yours probably does as well, this is a good weight for the .500 Jfry.
Although it generates quite a bit of recoil, (even loaded down as described), I can shoot it well from standing, over the sticks and I'm a recoil sissy.
As for your new .460 Wby, I have never fired one and I do not even know anyone who owns one so, perhaps Jaco Strauss or some of the others here have some ideas on this one.
I know that he has one and apparently has quite a bit of experience with it on African animals.
Cheers,
Velo Dog.
