My .500 Jeffery wish list build MEMBERS opinions are welcome

[Gert Odendaal]

I think it is the same , the reamer and the dies ..same 12 degree angle

 

[Schüler Jumbo]

That’s good news. Is that based on a visual or did you drop a 12 degree piece of brass in the chamber?

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I am making progress ..I located a company in Cape Town that can provide me with 0.5mm thick spring material to enable me to make my own magnum strength magazine spring that will be 27.6mm wide ..just as wide as the follower I am milling out of aluminum... the magnum strength and size magazine spring with the light aluminum follower will ensure good pressure on the rounds in the magazine keeping tension on the round on top to keep it under the feeding rail ...not letting it jump out of the magazine ..

I found high carbon steel from a knife shop to bend the magazine boxes with, 1000 x 50x 2.1 mm ...I think 2.1mm thickness is sufficient for a magazine box with the 500 Jeffery recoil ... when completed the bending process I can heat the box and temper it to be spring steel ..

The photo of the 500 Jeffery reamer shank I took before sending it to Frans Odendaal of Eagle Barrels ...he made the 500 Jeffery barrel for me .Will contact Frans and ask him to insert a round into the chamber..Frans Odendaal has a .500 Jeffery as well...

Currently there are two more 500 Jeffery rifles in the shop to be completed, mine makes it the third 500 Jeffery rifle in a building process in the Gunsmith shop...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I am brazing an extra recoil lug onto the 500 Jeffery barrel as well..and fitting 2x cross bolts ...the 3 x 500 Jeffery rounds in the butt stock will add to some balance and weight of the rifle ..I want it to handle nimble as well...fast target acquisition with the ghost ring dove tail milled into the cocking piece of the Mauser action. If I am going to fit a v-express sight it has to be fitted into such a way that it will not be in the way of the ghost ring set up at all...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I am receiving advice from Craig Clintworth as well, I bought Schuler spacer plates from him as well as a magnum magazine spring he is making as well. Craig has a technique building the 500 Jeffery on a standard Mauser action and magazine making it feed extremely well.
It is always great to learn from fellow rifle builders , he builds rifles as a Professional Gunsmith .

It really is a privileged to have some one with such immense knowledge sharing all his knowledge with a person building only rifles for himself like me...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I am making some progress..still needs to mill a few thousands of a millimeter off on the steel forming/bending jig. I will then mill 0.5mm rail grooves into the bending jig ...this will ensure that the rounds are not having any friction against the inside of the magazine wall at all....enhancing the feeding /cycling process.

Question:
Are there any examples of the old vintage cocking piece rear sight ghost rings that RIGBY company build in the 1930 era???

It really would be much appreciated if some one will be able to send me a photo of these small box like dove tailed rear sights on the cocking piece ...I currently looking at the Lyman tang sights ..especially the ghost ring stem design ...I want to incorporate both rear sights features into my rear sight on the 500 Jeffery ..

 

[Gert Odendaal]

This RIGBY rear aperture sight photo is not too sharp , but it is at least an example I am looking for . I want to manufacture such a sight to fit onto the 500 Jeffery . It would be much appreciated if if a member has a design /blue print/video of such a sight to share to share with me please>?????? I will cut a dove tail into the cocking piece to enable the ghost ring to be moved left or right ...and it will be adjusted for hight as well..

 

[grand veneur]

Rigby Diopter Schlagbolzendiopter - eGun

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Rigby Diopter Schlagbolzendiopter - eGun

View attachment 782969

Thank you kindly Grand Veneur , it is much appreciated ...I now has to figure out how it works mechanically ..especially the large wheel dial...the rest I already figured out...

There was a RIGBY cocking piece design as well many years ago..it had a small elongated box type design with a ghost ring post that can be manually adjusted and lock by a grub screw...I probably will build that design...I do not like over complicated designs at all...It is only for myself and my two Dangerous game rifles ..the 500 Jeffery and the .458 African I am currently building..

 

[Schüler Jumbo]

@Gert Odendaal were you able to confirm the barrel chamber shoulder angle cut matches the shoulder angle of your RCBS handloading dies?

 

[Huvius]

Lyman made a cocking piece sight that I think they called the No.1
It dovetailed into the original Mauser piece and used the staff just like other Lyman tang mounted sights.
They were offered as an original option on many British bolt guns.
The Rigby and Jeffery models were more complicated.
I’ll look at one of my old catalogs to see what I can find.

 

[Velo Dog]

Pictured below is my beloved .500 Jeffery.
It is a CZ Model 550 Magnum, 24 inch barrel, with mercury tube in the buttstock.
To it I had a local Anchorage Alaska Professional Gunsmith (Andy Hawk) install a Model 70 style “safety” catch and over-sized white front bead sight, barrel mounted sling swivel stud, reinforce the stock against recoil and heavy duty rear sling stud.
He also welded on a proper sized large bolt handle, appropriate for a dangerous game stopping rifle.

I load it to only .500 NE Flanged ballistics, with 570 grain Woodleigh bullets at just over 2,100 fps.
The rifle weighs about 11 pounds empty and recoil is just barely tolerable for me lately.
Now at age 73, it is becoming a bit more than I am able to train with for very many shots.
Furthermore, it looks like I will no longer be planning an elephant hunt or hippo on land, as I had once hoped to do.
One of these days I will have to sell it.

At the moment it still brings me joy to own it.
Just not much longer I suppose.

The .500 Jeffery is a Time Machine and for those who can handle it, it is a real peach.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Pictured below is my beloved .500 Jeffery.
It is a CZ Model 550 Magnum, 24 inch barrel, with mercury tube in the buttstock.
To it I had a local Anchorage Alaska Professional Gunsmith (Andy Hawk) install a Model 70 style “safety” catch and over-sized white front bead sight, barrel mounted sling swivel stud, reinforce the stock against recoil and heavy duty rear sling stud.
He also welded on a proper sized large bolt handle, appropriate for a dangerous game stopping rifle.

I load it to only .500 NE Flanged ballistics, with 570 grain Woodleigh bullets at just over 2,100 fps.
The rifle weighs about 11 pounds empty and recoil is just barely tolerable for me lately.
Now at age 73, it is becoming a bit more than I am able to train with for very many shots.
Furthermore, it looks like I will no longer be planning an elephant hunt or hippo on land, as I had once hoped to do.
One of these days I will have to sell it.

At the moment it still brings me joy to own it.
Just not much longer I suppose.

The .500 Jeffery is a Time Machine and for those who can handle it, it is a real peach.

It really is a beautifully 500 Jeffery for sure ..I would complete my build, shoot it a few times and sell it as well, I do not have a use for this super bore caliber ...hunting dangerous game is too expensive in South Africa ...I enjoy the building process..it is great to be able to create a rifle from scratch...the journey is the aim of this project.

 

[Jack Stevens]

Rigby Diopter Schlagbolzendiopter - eGun

View attachment 782969

That bolt peep needs to be opened up to typical ‘Ghost Ring’ diameter at least. Minimum dia. would be circa .093”, and more like .200” on the large side.

You’re not proned-put shooting bullseyes with a 500 Jeff, LOL!

 

[Velo Dog]

It really is a beautifully 500 Jeffery for sure ..I would complete my build, shoot it a few times and sell it as well, I do not have a use for this super bore caliber ...hunting dangerous game is too expensive in South Africa ...I enjoy the building process..it is great to be able to create a rifle from scratch...the journey is the aim of this project.

Greetings Gert,

I admire you and others who can build rifles.
There is no question about it, I am not one of you skilled machinist types.
My level of rifle tinkering only includes hand checkering of wooden stocks, clamping and aligning scopes into rings and adjusting trigger pull in rifles equipped with a tension screw for that.
I look forward to seeing photos of your .500 Jeffery when it is done.

Cheers,
Paul.

 

[grand veneur]

That bolt peep needs to be opened up to typical ‘Ghost Ring’ diameter at least. Minimum dia. would be circa .093”, and more like .200” on the large side.

You’re not proned-put shooting bullseyes with a 500 Jeff, LOL!

I use this Rigby-like diopter to help me focus better on the open sights. I had it fitted to my rifle caliber 500 Schüler years ago when my eyesight started to become a bit less sharp. It can be put into position when needed, otherwise it remains possible to use the open sights without or to shoot with a scope.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Greetings Gert,

I admire you and others who can build rifles.
There is no question about it, I am not one of you skilled machinist types.
My level of rifle tinkering only includes hand checkering of wooden stocks, clamping and aligning scopes into rings and adjusting trigger pull in rifles equipped with a tension screw for that.
I look forward to seeing photos of your .500 Jeffery when it is done.

Cheers,
Paul.

Paul, it surely is good to hear from you , your .500 Jeffery is a great looking rifle. I am fortunate to have access to a gunsmith shop and the owner being a friend is another great fortunate advantage to me..Johan Greyling is my Mentor, he is always willing to advice and guide me with a rifle building process.

There are currently two more 500 Jeffery rifles to be completed, with my rifle as the third 500 Jeffery it makes this rifle building process much more focused like the time we build those 10x 404 Jeffery rifles...

What I like about this scenario is I am doing the research into the different options available to us like the type of action, design /conversion of the magazine box ....fortunately I have this forum and great members who has vast experiences in regards to their own experiences they share with me...

This is extremely fortunate...I really got all the answers to my questions from every member here on the forum who share his knowledge with me ,...making this build project just so much easier ..Thank you again to every member who put in a lot of effort to assist me in working out the details of what needs to be done to make a 500 Jeffery rifle work on a Mauser 98 action..it is much appreciated members

 

[Huvius]

That bolt peep needs to be opened up to typical ‘Ghost Ring’ diameter at least. Minimum dia. would be circa .093”, and more like .200” on the large side.

You’re not proned-put shooting bullseyes with a 500 Jeff, LOL!

This is the beauty of incorporating a Lyman staff in the sight!
Some of them have a little flip down aperture so you have both a small peep for precision and a wider "ghost ring" for a wider FOV.
It's funny how the "ghost ring" concept has gained such popularity in the last ten years or so but it has existed for over 100yrs.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

This is the beauty of incorporating a Lyman staff in the sight!
Some of them have a little flip down aperture so you have both a small peep for precision and a wider "ghost ring" for a wider FOV.
It's funny how the "ghost ring" concept has gained such popularity in the last ten years or so but it has existed for over 100yrs.

Huvius thank you kindly for this great information..and the photos ...I only realized the great accuracy that this type of ghost ring provides at short shooting distances from 25 meters to 50 meters recently.

I struggled to regulate my Pederzoli SxS .50 caliber muzzle-loader rifle with the original V-sights ....then I fitted a Lyman nr 1 ghost ring sight ( similar as in your photos) .

The first two shots at 25 meters was through one hole ....I then was able to shoot a small 100mm gong at 50 meters ...

I am now fitting the Lyman sight permanently onto the Pederzoli Kodiak double rifle and is currently working up loads...I am drilling and tapping the second screw to ensure it really is screwed down tightly...

Regarding the .500 Jeffery , I will be making a dove tailed cocking piece ghost ring as well..it will enable me to have wind-age adjustment as well...

 

[Gert Odendaal]

How available are these Layman tang sights in the USA? They really are scarce here in South Africa ..I just missed one on the Classic Arms Auction....