.510 Wells Express chamber reamer(s), where?

.510 Wells Express

New member
Joined
Sep 4, 2024
Messages
12
Reaction score
8
Using a 30 years old Weatherby Mk 5 in .460 Wby mag.
Firing mostly hard cast bullets, of Saeco design, a 540 GC cast slug, a bore-riding design.
Accuracy fair, 4 to 6 inches at 110 yds, but some yawing, - slightly oval entry holes at target.

My old Mk 5 feature a considerable amount of freebore, (reduced some by Weatherby for more recent chamberings in this caliber, I recon). Extensive reebore is not beneficial for cast slugs, I think.

A stockmaker supplied a custom thumbhole stock made of laminated heavy hardwood (in the rough) for this rifle. I may want to rebarrel the rifle for the .510 Wells Express wildcat cartridge, - designed/constructed by gunsmith Fred Wells, Arizona.

I prefer the .510 Wells Express over the .500 A-Square, due to the considerably longer neck of the Wells design. The longer neck is favourable for cast boolits, i believe.
The .510 Wells is simply the .460 Wby necked up to .510, - and new cases in .460 Weatherby mag are readily available from Norma, and are fairly priced.

Difficult to find a supplier for chamber reamer(s) in .510 Wells Express caliber.
Does anyone know where i may buy (or eventually borrow) reamer(s)? New, or used?

Have mailed some makers of reamers in the US, and Europa, - no response yet ...

Appreciate any info for a supplier of reamer(s).


Best regards.
 
Isn’t the weatherby case belted and the wells case belt less, I could go over to the shed and find my dummy cases, but it’s dark and I’m cooking dinner. One of my gunsmith friends has brass(where I got my dummy case from) and reamer, but as I’m most likely on the other side of the planet to you it doesn’t help much.
Gumpy

Also, isn’t it just a long necked 505gibbs that shoots a 510 pill?
 
Just looked it up, the wells is a reformed 460 weatherby case, so has a belt, now I’m wondering what the case I’ve got is, of coarse it’s raining now and the shed is 200 mtrs away. I’ll try to find out later
Gumpy
 
Try pacific tools and gauges (PTG)
OR Ch4D.
Krish
Screenshot_20240906_004857_Phone.jpg
 
Does anyone know where i may buy (or eventually borrow) reamer(s)? New, or used?
I had my 416/348Ackley Improved reamers made by Pacific Tool & Gauge. They were very helpful and the quality was excellent, but not quick to deliver. I sent Emails and followed up with phone calls. At least they are on the West coast so the time difference was not too bad. Looks like the 510 Wells is a custom job. They were 2/3 the cost of other quotes I received.
 
Just looked it up, the wells is a reformed 460 weatherby case, so has a belt, now I’m wondering what the case I’ve got is, of coarse it’s raining now and the shed is 200 mtrs away. I’ll try to find out later
Gumpy
I appreciate your response, "Grumpy", - from "down under". (Australia?)

You are right, there aint no such thing as a "rimless" .510 Wells Express.

If the friend of your do not inted to reload the . 510 Wells cases, I may purchase those cases.

But even more desireable is the REAMER for the .510 Wells! Or even two reamers, a "rougher" and a "finisher".

Because I got this answer from Clymer:

"Sir,
Thank you for your interest in our tooling. Unfortunately, due to our current over extended back log, we cannot quote on your “custom” project at this time as we cannot accurately forecast it’s lead time.

Best regards,
Staff

CLYMER Precision, Inc."
- - -
You wrote: "the other side of the planet", you may have interpreted that from my less than perfect written english?
Well, then: "Parden my english".
 
Last edited:
@
Try pacific tools and gauges (PTG)
OR Ch4D.
KrishView attachment 631880
Thanks, "krish".
I got a leed here, - looks like PTG simply labeled the .510 Wells as ".50/.460 Weatherby mag.
If not a true . 510 Wells, it comes close.
The drawing of the .50/.460 at the PTG pages indicates an usual chamber to bore transition, - none of the undesirable "freebore" seen in the Weatherby made rifles. ( The "freebore" may reduce peak chamber pressures, for sure, but ..)

The .510 Wells is also similar to the .500 Weatherby mag.

I´ll get in tuch with PGT, after a while, waiting to see if "grumpy" from down under may be able to bring forward real .510 Wells reamer(s), for sale og rent.
 
Closer inspection reveals the PTG is a "short neck" version, much like the .500 A-Square.
Neck lenght of the PTG .50/460 Weatherby is 0,4106 ", 10,4 mm that is.
The preferable .510 Wells has a longer neck.
 
I thought the 500 A2 was really a 510 Wells but I'm probably wrong.
 
The .500 A2 (A-Square) is different from the .510 Wells.
The .500 A2 is a "short neck", "improved" cartridge, the .510 Wells is not.

Neck length of the .510 Wells, and the very similar .500 Weatherby mag, is 14 mm, while the neck length of the 500 A-Square is a mere 10 mm. Longer necks are better.


 

Attachments

. 500 Weatherby mag. :

 

Attachments

I appreciate your response, "Grumpy", - from "down under". (Australia?)

You are right, there aint no such thing as a "rimless" .510 Wells Express.

If the friend of your do not inted to reload the . 510 Wells cases, I may purchase those cases.

But even more desireable is the REAMER for the .510 Wells! Or even two reamers, a "rougher" and a "finisher".

Because I got this answer from Clymer:

"Sir,
Thank you for your interest in our tooling. Unfortunately, due to our current over extended back log, we cannot quote on your “custom” project at this time as we cannot accurately forecast it’s lead time.

Best regards,
Staff

CLYMER Precision, Inc."
- - -
You wrote: "the other side of the planet", you may have interpreted that from my less than perfect written english?
Well, then: "Parden my english".
Hello, yes I’m in Australia and my other side of the planet comment is based on your "hello from Scandinavia "post, and I didn’t find anything wrong with your English.
And to add to my confusion, the wells case I have has had the belt removed, and doesn’t quite look like the picture I found of one, when my friend (a gunsmith for APRS/nightforce) gave me the case, he also gave me a 510 beecher case which is where I was confused with which was what. I’ll be seeing him in a week ( I now live 2hrs away from him) so I’ll see what is going on. I know he has a barrel, stock and a magnum Mauser action that he was going to build on but don’t know if he’ll go ahead with it , he’s got two 505 Gibbs and a 500 Jeffrey sitting in his safe/vault but wether he will part with something, I don’t know
Gumpy
 
Closer inspection reveals the PTG is a "short neck" version, much like the .500 A-Square.
Neck lenght of the PTG .50/460 Weatherby is 0,4106 ", 10,4 mm that is.
The preferable .510 Wells has a longer neck.
PTG will grind the reamer to whatever dimension you want.
 
PTG will grind the reamer to whatever dimension you want.
I will mail PTG in near future.
I sent a request to JGS about chamber-reamer for the .510 Wells Express/.500 Weatherby magnum a few days ago.

The answer from JGS was dissapointing:


"I am not finding these in our print base. If they are over .5000 bore we cannot sell them due to regulations.
Best regards,
Becky Humbert, CFO
JGS Precision Tool Mfg, LLC
Coos Bay, OR 97420 "


Over .500 bore we cannot sell them due to regulations? ...
Reffering to regulations for the state of Oregon only?
Or regulations for the whole of USA?
Or does it mean they cannot export reamers over .500 bore to other countries?

The big bore following is growing in the US, same in some other countries.
I know the .50 BMG is banned from private ownership in some european countries, but that caliber is a different matter.
I may understand the reluctance to export a barrel in .510 bore, - to some countries that my require an "end-user-certificate".
But for a reamer only?
 
@Micheal.458 wrote, ar "carolinafirearmsforums.com" you wrote:

"And I see the new guy is banned........?"
Yes, I was banned, after one post only. Nver happened to me before ever, after som 30 years + participating in forums regarding firearms, hunting, cartridge constructions etc.

But the administrators at "carolinafirearmsforums.com did not accept my presens there.
Maybe bacauser i am a foreigner? Hope not.

But strange, anyway.
Briefly I got on info form above mentioned forum:
"Your IP adress has been banned"

And second: " Your IP adress has been bannet, reason: probable bridging of safety" ...


Do I feel humuliated? Embarassed? Provocated? Rediculated? No, I could hardy care less.

No, I think I had better be impressed! Banned at the basis from one noen-provokative post? That is simply great. Unsurpassed. One great achivement. None better?

@ folks of carolina .... , you may follow me here at afticahunting.com.

My experidence is some 52 years of firearms, a few decades of competitive shooting ISSF at a faily high level, a few national championships, two international competition individual medals, 3 og 4 national records. National team member at two international championships.
40 years+ of cartridge construction and firearms improvements.

But, I was not enough to bet granted acceptance at carolinafirearmsforums.com.

I am impressed. Not offended. My way in shooting is straight ahead, avoiding carolinafirearmsforums.com.







 
Last edited:
I’ve just got back from town, big day of it, anyway the dies and reamer Larry has are for the 510 Beecher, the case he gave me was someone’s attempt (most likely the deceased estate he got the other bits from) to make Beecher cases from wells cases, that looked like they failed, my mistake was when he gave me the wells case he said he had dies and brass and I assumed he meant the wells , not the Beecher. Sorry about that. Although he has chambered and fitted the barrel to the action and started inletting it, this has only taken him five years so far
Gumpy
 

Forum statistics

Threads
57,159
Messages
1,223,382
Members
100,258
Latest member
MilagroBro
 

 

 

Latest profile posts

TAG SAFARI wrote on mvalden's profile.
Wishing you a Happy Birthday!
TAG SAFARI wrote on K31's profile.
Wishing you a Happy Birthday!
TAG SAFARI wrote on davidg8480's profile.
Wishing you a Happy Birthday!
TAG SAFARI wrote on Daven22s's profile.
Wishing you a Happy Birthday!
TAG SAFARI wrote on bobdahunter84's profile.
Wishing you a Happy Birthday!
 
Top