Big Bore Addiction Group

a 577 BPE double would be a pretty cool rifle for either goofing around with or close range medium game. according to my Woodleigh manual the traditional loading was a 560-610 gr bullet at around 1650-1740 fps. Woodleigh suggests a load of 170gr of Swiss 3F black powder under their 650gr BPE SP bullet for 1545 fps with a 26" barrel. they do offer nitro for black loads as well which gets the velocity to 1850 fps with the same bullet and barrel.

just keep in mind that the 577 BPE rifle is not suitable for dangerous game. the lighter bullet does not have a high enough SD or enough velocity to make up for its low SD.

-matt

Goofing around is my style, the 450 would cover the hunting bases.
Also thought it would be pretty cool at a shoot when guys are pulling out their 416s 458s and maybe a 500, to then chirp up 'hey that's big but how about this old school bad boy'.
Final thought was that any boy trying to date my teenage daughter could be 'recoil tested'?

your reasons sound good enough to me.

the recoil seems like it would be pretty similar to the 500 NE 3" but so slow that it would be easier to shoot. the bore of any .585" gun always looks impressive at the range, not to mention the incredible "BOOM" when the gun goes off! even my 58 cal muzzle loader drew a crowd when I touched her off.

-matt

I've got a 577 BPE and like it a lot.

A nice 577BPE hammer gun would be a real good choice.

After three weeks of battling with my self I was driving back by the gun store and decided to stop and see if she was still sitting there all lonely on the rack. She was in the same place I had last seen her. After a little haggling she is now a resident at Cody's Home for Wayward Rifles. She is of a basturd pedigree, 375 Whelen Ackley Improved. The bolt shroud will soon have a M70 style safety on this Mauser action, the brake will be cut off and barrel re-crowned and a cross bolt for good measure. I'm sure these pictures don't do her justice and I will get some in better light later. I fell in love with the lumber enough to justify the ass ache of making brass to feed her.

375 Whelen Ackley improved... now there is a chambering you don't see every day! i love the wood and fully approve of your plan to get rid of the abomination on the end of its barrel.

i did a little searching around and it appears a 300gr bullet at around 2150 fps or a 260/270gr bullet at around 2400 fps seem to be the choice loads for this cartridge. i think id load it with a 260/270 grain bullet and go wack the snot out of the local deer/bear/elk population. it would certainly make for a cool close range PG cartridge as well!

how much does she weigh?

-matt

Weight is right at 8 lbs. I agree it would make a nice PG rifle, unfortunately properly head stamped brass is probably not in existence. I am looking forward to the load development on this rifle, concurring with the 260/270 gr pills.
To be quite honest I had only heard mention of the 375 WH imp once before. It was not one of those moments when the earth quit spinning and women quit complaining and I just had to have one. I enjoy reloading and trying to ring all potential out of my rifles but I prefer to call a supplier and order brass rather than have to build it. This one should be a simple neck up, fire form and anneal cartridge case, I have a fair amount of 35 Whelen brass so I should be able to build some ammo soon. Soooo, short of the limited info on the net, I'm gonna be the Lone Ranger on this one I believe.

Cody

"Just keep in mind that the 577 BPE rifle is not suitable for dangerous game. the lighter bullet does not have a high enough SD or enough velocity to make up for its low SD."

Matt, you need to recalculate on this. 650 grns plowing along at 1700 fps with a .585 diameter is 4170 FPE and a TKO (Taylor Knock Out ) of 91. I will use it on a cape buff someday as others way back in the day did.
There are more hard hitters today without a doubt but don't scoff at some of the old iron.

The 375 H&H with a 270 gen zipping along at 2700 FPS is not a slouch. Right?
4360 FPE and a TKO of 39.

http://www.n4lcd.com/calc/

akmike, yer missing one of the biggest problems with .585" and larger bullets. the .585, .620. and .700 are all notorious for having poor penetration even at their proper weights. these extremely large bore cartridges require both the weight and velocity to perform. the 577 NE has suffered some serious blows to its reputation in the past because the 750gr bullet would regularly fail to penetrate elephant skulls. it turns out that some factory ammunition was only pushing the 750gr bullet to around 1850 fps. so if a 750gr bullet at 1850 fps is going to fail then a 650gr bullet at 1700 fps is SURE to fail.

im not scoffing at old cartridges but sectional density and velocity are more important then energy and TKO when it comes to large bore guns. the 650gr .585" bullet has a SD of .271 which is not suitable for thick skinned DG and in order to make up for that SD you would need velocity. the very standard of .300 or greater SD comes from the early era big game hunting when large bore muzzle loaders would often fail to bring down animals because a round ball has a terrible SD. to make up for this terrible SD these muzzle loaders used HUGE projectiles such as 8 bore and 4 bore to bring down animals.

remember the 58 caliber was originally a medium bore which was used for game like deer, boar, and as a military caliber. the 58 caliber didnt become a "large" bore until the advent of smokeless powder.

disclaimer: im not saying the 577 BPE wont take a buffalo. but i put it in the same category as the 45/70 when it comes to buffalo. "will it work... probably. is it ideal... no."

-matt

I wouldn't take it after Hippo or Elephant but it'll work for anything else that I can think of.
The shock value of a big slug hitting hard also will work to drop them at least for a while until they are finished off.

i suppose if you stuck to broad side shots and used either a solid or a hard cast bullet (no expansion wanted!). but this would be for buffalo only and you would want to be very sure of your first shot because a second shot would likely not make it to the vitals. i certainly would not want to take a quartering or going away shot with that little penetration, even with a solid.

now i could see the 577 BPE with the Woodleigh softs working well on big cats. but that would be one heck of a hole for your taxidermist to patch up!

-matt

Ok so I couldn't take it anymore. Shot a 200lb sow with my 416 ruger. WOW impressive. I had a video but it's deleted. I don't want PETA up my rear as it was pretty gory. Needless to say I have the utmost confidence in that rifle now for my upcoming buff/lion hunt. Long as I do my job the round will definitely do its.

gizmo said:

Ok so I couldn't take it anymore. Shot a 200lb sow with my 416 ruger. WOW impressive. I had a video but it's deleted. I don't want PETA up my rear as it was pretty gory. Needless to say I have the utmost confidence in that rifle now for my upcoming buff/lion hunt. Long as I do my job the round will definitely do its.

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picures or it didnt happen!

PETA has no bearing on this thread. i have more respect for a steaming pile a feces then i do for them.

-matt

Now that's a bullet!

Bought some 570gr Barnes TSX for the 500 Nitro I will have one day!

Next to it is a 33gr Speer for my .22 Hornet.

tarbe said:

Now that's a bullet!

Bought some 570gr Barnes TSX for the 500 Nitro I will have one day!

Next to it is a 33gr Speer for my .22 Hornet.

View attachment 40639

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Which is which?

Royal27 said:

Which is which?

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I think the one with the grooves is the 500, but I am not positive of that.

matt85 said:

picures or it didnt happen!

PETA has no bearing on this thread. i have more respect for a steaming pile a feces then i do for them.

-matt

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While I agree, it was filmed making a tv show and there was no way I wanted that on the air. It got deleted. Otherwise I'd posted it for you guys.

tarbe said:

I think the one with the grooves is the 500, but I am not positive of that.

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You should paint the grooves red, like you did with those other bullets, so you can tell the difference!

Paint one green and you could use it for the tip. Like a TTSX.... I have only shot a .50 BMG I can't imagine what that could do.