Ultimate Stopper

[PaulT]

This morning I recieved news from my good friend Mike, in the U.S, that one of my project rifles has been completed and is ready to ship out to Aus.

This rifle has been put together with, what in my mind, makes for the ultimate stopping/back-up rifle.

Spec;
platform; Win Mod 70 C.R.F.
barrel; Pacnor 20".
Stock; Accurate Innovations Turkish walnut xx with aluminium bedding chassis.
Sights; N.E.C.G.
Finish; Gunkote matt black corrosion resist.
Metalwork; S.S.K Industries.
Finish weight; 8 & 1/2 lbs.
Over-all length; 41"

Cartridge.
.500 M.D.M Ultra.
550gn @ 2400 fps.
510gn @ 2600 fps.
470gn Brass Non-con @ 2750.

Light and short for plenty of carry, handles like a pistol, and points like a shotgun.
Feeds shells like a hog at a trough and will bring down anything that walks the face of this Earth.

Yes, it is a wild-cat and may-be not everyone's "cup-of-tea", but it sure is for me.

Hope you enjoy, thanks for looking,

Paul.

 

[tim416]

Great looking rifle. Nice choice of components as well.
I visited Accurate Innovations shop a few years ago while I was in South Dakota on pheasant hunt.
Very impressed with their processes and attention to detail.

 

[enysse]

Great looking rifle, I like the sights on the gun!

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Very nice. I'd like to hear more about the cartridge, that's a big piece of lead moving pretty fast all things considered.

 

[Mike70560]

Here is a link for some info.

B & M Rifles and Cartridges - Home

 

[monish]

Hi Paul,

CONGRATULATION !!!!!! thats a immaculate looking rifle , may you take some real trophy bulls...... thanks for sharing.

Monish

 

[505ED]

Looks like quite a hammer!!!! 50's shure hit hard!!!!

Ed

 

[PaulT]

Thanks to all for the positive comments, thus far.

Tim; I too have been extremely impressed with the level of professionalism that A.I apply to their work. In addition to the attention to detail, that you have also noted, they are also innovative, as their name suggests. The aluminium chassis they provide with their stocks benefits accuracy, improves the bond between metal and woodwork and eliminates the risk of stocks splitting on big bores such as this. I have no scientific way to qualify this next statement, and am not sure wether to attribute this to the stock design/cut or the aluminium chassis, but recoil (from such a monstrous cartridge in a light weight rifle) is surprisingly mild.

Enyess; N.E.C.G provide, in my opinion, the most practicle, and functional, open sights you can put on your gun. If you have a gun that you rely on for use with open sights I reccomend you look at the products they supply. From a usability standpoint, I think they're great.

Phoenix Phil; As Mike 70560 has provided, there is a direct web site detailing the design, history, and ballistics produced by the entire B&M range of cartridges, 9.3 through to this monster the .500 M.D.M.
The original concept was to create a range of cartridges that would enable them to be built on a platform of rifle that was more portable, lighter and handier than the equivilant standard cartridge equivilants.
If you visit the B&M web site you will see that in each caliber range this goal has been reached, and in some cases exceeded. The 9.3 B&M, for example, acheives 2700fps with a 250gn from a 20" barrel! Over-all length of the 9.3 rifle is 40". For those of us who enjoy using a neat, short, handy and light-weight gun these are the "dux-nuts".

Mike; Thanks for adding the link to the web site, that I omitted in my haste to post my good news. My bad.

Monish; I fully intend on building a relationship with this piece and cannot wait to unleash it, this season, on some bovines. I have no questions regarding its suitability as I have allready seen the effectiveness when the originator Mike McCourry field tested the cartridge on a buffalo hunt with me in Arnhemland, in 2009. This is without doubt the most the most punishing cartridge/caliber I have ever witnessed used on buffalo.

505ED; You hit the nail on the head there ED. Note this is a true .50 cal, not 505 or 510, but true half inch !, and yes they hit like the Hammer of Thor.

Thanks to all,
Paul.

 

[Mike70560]

Paul,

That is a good looking rifle. It will work well on buffalo. Did Michael make you sign a "no roundnose solid" agreement?

Paul made reference to his friend Mike. I know Mike also, he is the most passionate person I know about his guns and especially bullets.

I believe Michael's rifle/cartridge combinations to be among the best available today for big game.

Michael's reloading room, I say he takes it a little serious.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Checked out the website. The prices for what is a custom rifle are very appealing.

Paul, one question. Can you expand a little bit on what your long term plan is for brass. Obviously bullets in the calibres they offer will always be available, but brass is the question to me. I've never made my own brass or taken existing brass and made it into something else. I ask this only for my own education not to cast any doubt because it's a 'wild-cat'.

 

[PaulT]

G'day Mike 70560,

Hahaha, I see that you do know M.M quite well.

No I wasn't made to sign any agreement not to foul this barrel with questionable roundnoses, but considering the outstanding results provided by Mike M's research, I would be a fool to use anything but any of the fine F.N's provided by C.E.B or North Fork.

I'm quite keen to try out the .470gn non-con hollows as my first round, possibly followed my a mag full of the C.E.B #13 brass solid.
Mike took a number of animals with a prototype of the .470gn non-con while hunting with me in '09 and the results were quite devastating.
Penetration of the remaining shank is quite often the complete animal and the trauma and damage created by the shearing petals has to be seen to be believed.

Thanks to all of the time and hard work, not to mention the expense, by Mike M, we now have a wonderful selection of high performance projectiles to choose from.

I also have a .458 Lott which will follow the above rifle, also from the same stables of construction which will serve as a secondary back-up to this .500, should I run out of ammo during the season, as i work and operate in a very remote region.

I will post pics of the new Lott soon.

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[Code4]

That reloading room is far too clean and is clearly the sign of a sick mind. I'm very jealous.

 

[PaulT]

G'day Phil.

Commercial brass, with proper headstamp for the complete range of B&M's, I believe IS available.

I understand that Mike was dealing with a number of sources that were to go into production soon, or may have done so allready.
I will check validity of this with Mike and get back to you.

In the specific case of the .500 M.D.M, and for my purposes where salvaging brass is sometimes not practicle, cases can be formed quite simply by using the parent case, the .375 R.U.M.
Therefore, easy to access, relatively inexpensive brass is available with some minor alterations (expanding & trimming to length) in situations where original headstamped cases are not required.

For the instances where I might travel with the rifle for my own recreational hunts, I will obtain a stock of heastamped cases for Customs requirements in other countries.

For a more detailed description, I may invite Mike in to visit this thread and provide you with a more comprehensive description.

Phil, your initial evaluation of these guns and their prices is spot on but I cannot over emphasise just how much appeal and function of these rifles is lost unless you're physically holding them in your hands !
I will never forget my intial reaction to picking up one of Mike's rifles, I was thinking, "holey smokes, this is awesome". At little over the length of some lever action rifles, they provide much of the same handling characteristics, with the punch of a serious dangerous game rifle.

All good to have when your dealing with something that can put a horn, tooth or claw into you !

I'll be back to you with some further detail soon.

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[classicsafari]

How many rounds does it fit and are you not concerned about finger damage due to sling swivel position and recoil?
Just got home from the range just now as I had to set the sights on my 8.5lbs 458Win Project. At those velocity's, I'm glad I didn't have the sight aligning job for that beast...

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

I was really hoping you weren't going to say that! Just when I thought I had all the rifles in the world I would ever need or want....and having told my wife that....:doh2:, I now have another rifle getting my attention. The 416 version caught my eye. Do keep us informed and best of luck with the new gun.

 

[PaulT]

Classicsafari;
rifle is 3 down + 1 up. No, the positioning of the swivel stud does not concern me at all. I have fired an identical rifle in this caliber with the swivel in the same position and it is not an issue. Recoil, despite the ballistics being produced and the weight of the gun is not dissimilar to a properly loaded .458 Lott, with which I'm very familiar, and comfortable, with. I think the stock design/cut goes a long way to taming what would otherwise be quite a beast.
I have watched the creator/designer, Mike McCourry, of this rifle/cartridge combo sit at our camp bench and shoot groups at 80yds with his scoped .500 M.D.M where most of the holes were touching.
Perhaps I'm de-sensitised, or my Lotts have shaken my brain loose over the years, but the recoil is not un-managable.

Phil;
sorry to have stirred the pot for you, wasn't my intent. A .416 B&M would certainly be a handy, hard hitting, portable tool for a lot of DG hunting. Will get back to you soon re-cases etc.

Paul.

 

[classicsafari]

Four rounds is impressive. What is the case based on?
Mate Jaimie W is looking into 450Rig at the moment but I'm not sure he's going to fit four rounds (imo a sensible minimum) unless he go's for a CZ base.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

Phil;
sorry to have stirred the pot for you, wasn't my intent. A .416 B&M would certainly be a handy, hard hitting, portable tool for a lot of DG hunting. Will get back to you soon re-cases etc.

Paul.

No issues Paul, my wife just rolls her eyes when I say silly things like, "Really honey this is the last rifle I'll buy!"

 

[PaulT]

Four rounds is probably two or three more than your going to need in most situations !
One of the "down" sides to owning these guns is that you don't get the need, often, to shoot more than the first one !

The .500 M.D.M is based on the .375 R.U.M, so in the situation where your not traveling overseas, target practice, plinking and local hunting, "cheap" and available brass is available and relatively easy to convert. I'm having a base stock of headstamped cases sent to me just in case I can manage to rub enough coin together to travel with the piece.

I sent Jamie W a pic of this via e-mail yesterday and, after he picked himself up off the floor, wrote back a very complimentary mail.
The .450 Rigby is one heck of a hammer, a good mate has one and reports excellent knock-down on buff and scrub bulls but had to turn his back on it (Brno) as he just couldn't get it to feed reliably. A lot of the Brno's/C.Z's seem to have the same issues with straight walled cases, I have a C.Z 550 in Lott with the same problem, will not feed reliably from the left side of the rails and, even if it can be confidently fixed, I've lost my faith in it.

I'd rather have a gun that feeds reliably and holds one less round, than a gun that will jam-up on the first re-load !

Goodby C.Z !

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[PaulT]

Phil,
I really don't think that your difficulties in justifying another rifle, to your good lady wife, will end with aquiring a 416 B&M.

You see when you hold and handle these rifles,
YOUR GONNA WANT THE ENTIRE STABLE OF B&M CARTRIDGES !!!

I suggest you get out there and start mowning the lawns and washing her car NOW in preparation for what will inevitably happen.

To be fore-warned is to be well armed... or something to that effect !

Cheers,
Paul.