Factory Hornady 500NE Velocities -- Also RL16 Data

Gents, I am finally looking back after taking my 450 to Zimbabwe and Botswana for elephant to working up a load for my new 500NE. Heym used factory Hornady DGX ammo for regulation, but honestly have no idea what kind of real velocities it would produce. Some places they claim 2150, but their website currently says 2120, and have experienced some very, very slow loads in comparison to claims with their 450/400 ammo. Their 450NE ammo that I have shot is pretty spot on to claimed speeds.

I've never shot any Hornady 500NE, and cannot find any up here to try anyway...so hoping maybe someone here has, and could hook a brother up with what kind of speeds you saw.

I'll do a RL16 post over in the reloading forum, but am curious if any of you gents have tried it in your 500NE, even 470 or something like the 505 Gibbs. I would love to hear what loads you worked up and velocities...not looking to copy cat a load without working up, more trying to get an idea what folks found from their time with the powder.

Rifle was finished in spring of 2025, but no idea how old of a lot no. is on the ammo itself.

Thanks in advance for any insight gents.

Here is some speeds of factory Barnes solids and bottom 2 are reloads with RL15 which I used on my elephant hunt.

Thanks Hyk. Out of all the factory ammo I ran through my Rigby, Barnes was the closest to spot on claimed velocities, and had the best ES/SD of them all, well above Federal Premium included.

I am specifically curious about Hornady factory ammo since that would prove somewhat similar to the speeds at which the rifle was regulated.

You had those Barnes solids cooking along on that hunt. And gorgeous bull you got as well.

I’ll look through my notes, I should have DGX speeds as well. I bought a bunch of factory ammo for practice. I still have factory ammo unfortunately don’t have the gun.

Factory Hornady DGX Bonded give 2170fps from my .470 Krieghoff, regulates well..

Factory Norma 500 grain Woodies give 2140fps from same rifle..

91,5 grain Vithavuori N150 and 500 grain Woodie soft give 2150fps.. N150 is very similar to RL15.

Will - I looked back and with factory Hornady 570gr DGX I was averaging 2075.5; 24 inch barrel Krieghoff. This is only a 10 shot test group FWIW.
I believe Hornady specs this factory ammo at 2120fps from a 24 inch barrel if I am not mistaken.

I too own a Heym 89B 500 NE.

I can't share what velocity Hornady factory ammo runs at but I will say that Federal ammo with 570 grain Hydros & my reloads with Swift Bullets each run around 2150 and regulate under 2 inches on target at 50 yards.

Last, left barrel is shooting left and right barrel shoots right so they have not crossed center of target yet.

Buckums said:

Will - I looked back and with factory Hornady 570gr DGX I was averaging 2075.5; 24 inch barrel Krieghoff. This is only a 10 shot test group FWIW.
I believe Hornady specs this factory ammo at 2120fps from a 24 inch barrel if I am not mistaken.

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Very helpful, thank you so much.

Wildwillalaska said:

Gents, I am finally looking back after taking my 450 to Zimbabwe and Botswana for elephant to working up a load for my new 500NE. Heym used factory Hornady DGX ammo for regulation, but honestly have no idea what kind of real velocities it would produce. Some places they claim 2150, but their website currently says 2120, and have experienced some very, very slow loads in comparison to claims with their 450/400 ammo. Their 450NE ammo that I have shot is pretty spot on to claimed speeds.

I've never shot any Hornady 500NE, and cannot find any up here to try anyway...so hoping maybe someone here has, and could hook a brother up with what kind of speeds you saw.

I'll do a RL16 post over in the reloading forum, but am curious if any of you gents have tried it in your 500NE, even 470 or something like the 505 Gibbs. I would love to hear what loads you worked up and velocities...not looking to copy cat a load without working up, more trying to get an idea what folks found from their time with the powder.

Rifle was finished in spring of 2025, but no idea how old of a lot no. is on the ammo itself.

Thanks in advance for any insight gents.View attachment 772325

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Will I have some i think. I can get readings out of my .500 next Thursday or Friday. Or I am happy to ship you some so you can see your exact rifle's stats.

ftrovato said:

I too own a Heym 89B 500 NE.

I can't share what velocity Hornady factory ammo runs at but I will say that Federal ammo with 570 grain Hydros & my reloads with Swift Bullets each run around 2150 and regulate under 2 inches on target at 50 yards.

Last, left barrel is shooting left and right barrel shoots right so they have not crossed center of target yet.

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I’ve got mine shooting under 2” at 50 yards with a few loads but trying to consistently get this….

It is slow, 2110-2114fps. When I go much faster I am getting vertical movement in the points of impact. But in trying RL16, even some of the slower pairings I’m getting some, which I am starting to wonder if part of it isn’t me. I don’t get it in any of my other Heyms or Westley Richards, but thinking back to when first shooting my 450NE I was seeing it some here and there, more so at longer distances of 70-100yrd. It slowly went away and attributed it to the difference in geometry of my trigger pull on the rear trigger.

The rear trigger on this new 500 is heavier than all the others too. So starting to think it may prove to be some movement that I am imparting to the rifle more than a regulation thing. Figure after this next hunt I am thinking of taking the rifle on, if it hasn’t worn in more, I may have Ken or JJ address it a bit, likely lengthen the rib RMR slots just a bit to accept Trijicon’s Henneberger mount while at it so it’s not an issue finding additional mounts.

Here are a few more from Sunday. The little dots are pairs of Woodleigh RNSN with RL16 going slow…think around 2020. The AFrame pair was 2088/2089 for the pair. All at 50…which is why I have to draw circles around the dots, my eyes lose them with an RMR on the gun. All of these are with RMR since working up a load. May hunt it with iron sights like my Elephant in April/May this year, but not sure yet.

And then a couple pair of Woodleigh RNSN with RL15, these were in the 2130-2145 range.

And then a couple of the Hydro loads with RL15.

So out of the 44 rounds I shot Sunday those were the better of the groups. The one really nice and tight group up above was from Friday.

On a positive note, my A-frame load for the 88b 375 Flanged Mag is still shooting nicely, at 50, 100, and 200, even with the strong side winds blowing right to left.
The Woodleigh RNSN is coming along, still a little more work. Similar at 50, but opens some at 100 and 200. (I adjusted my hold at 200 after noting the wind drift on the other pair above)



Anyway, back at it. Playing with the new Autotrickler which should improve consistency with charge weights and should be out running another 20-40 rounds through the 500 tomorrow or Friday.

Hornedfrogbbq said:

Will I have some i think. I can get readings out of my .500 next Thursday or Friday. Or I am happy to ship you some so you can see your exact rifle's stats.

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I would enjoy hearing what velocities you see. Your 500 88b shoots pretty consistent speed wise with my 89b. The very first loads I ran through the gun, those couple days before departing to Zim with my 450NE, were loads that showed promise and within targeted speeds during initial load work on your rifle. Both guns shot the initial loads within the same general speeds.

Wildwillalaska said:

I’ve got mine shooting under 2” at 50 yards with a few loads but trying to consistently get this….View attachment 774222

It is slow, 2110-2114fps. When I go much faster I am getting vertical movement in the points of impact. But in trying RL16, even some of the slower pairings I’m getting some, which I am starting to wonder if part of it isn’t me. I don’t get it in any of my other Heyms or Westley Richards, but thinking back to when first shooting my 450NE I was seeing it some here and there, more so at longer distances of 70-100yrd. It slowly went away and attributed it to the difference in geometry of my trigger pull on the rear trigger.

The rear trigger on this new 500 is heavier than all the others too. So starting to think it may prove to be some movement that I am imparting to the rifle more than a regulation thing. Figure after this next hunt I am thinking of taking the rifle on, if it hasn’t worn in more, I may have Ken or JJ address it a bit, likely lengthen the rib RMR slots just a bit to accept Trijicon’s Henneberger mount while at it so it’s not an issue finding additional mounts.

Click to expand...

All your shooting/loads look like dead buffalo/elle/hippo to me. ;-)

I chronographed 10 rounds of factory Hornady 570gr DGX Bonded out of my Heym 88B 26” .500NE before I started load development.

Avg COAL: 3.740”
Avg Velocity: 2158 fps
Median Velocity: 2162 fps
Standard Deviation: 42.7 fps
Extreme Spread: 144 fps

I tried 4 different powders to get 570gr A-Frames to regulate well. I settled on a near max load of H4350 with Federal 215 primers. Seated to a COAL of 3.590”. Velocity of 2134 FPS and had a measured group at 50 yards of .985”. The load was not crossing.

I outlined this process in the episode “Double Rifle Ammo Regulation 101” on The Nitro Express Podcast.

Proceed with caution, but this was the result of my work. Best of luck!

MRBlack said:

I chronographed 10 rounds of factory Hornady 570gr DGX Bonded out of my Heym 88B 26” .500NE before I started load development.

Avg COAL: 3.740”
Avg Velocity: 2158 fps
Median Velocity: 2162 fps
Standard Deviation: 42.7 fps
Extreme Spread: 144 fps

I tried 4 different powders to get 570gr A-Frames to regulate well. I settled on a near max load of H4350 with Federal 215 primers. Seated to a COAL of 3.590”. Velocity of 2134 FPS and had a measured group at 50 yards of .985”. The load was not crossing.

I outlined this process in the episode “Double Rifle Ammo Regulation 101” on The Nitro Express Podcast.

Proceed with caution, but this was the result of my work. Best of luck!

Click to expand...

Thank you. Sent a PM and will go listen to the podcast too. Cheers.