505 GIBBS

BUFFALO BORE 505 GIBBS AMMUNITION

525 gr. BARNES TSX Soft
2,300 fps/ME 6,166 ft-lbs

5 Round Box

ITEM 505G - 525 TSX

The 505 Gibbs and the 500 Jeffery are the same class of cartridge. They both push bullets of nearly the same (.505 inch and .510 inch) diameter and weights at roughly the same velocity. While other's opinions will vary, good stopping cartridges for an African dangerous game start at .505-.510 caliber. I know that a lot of .416, .423, 458, and .474 shooters will disagree with me. If the ammo is constructed correctly, all of those calibers are good stoppers of dangerous game during a charge. However, when we get to the three big 500’s (500 NE, 500 Jeffery, and 505 Gibbs), they stop better than anything smaller. And, if you’ve never seen a Cape Buffalo bull, go bullet proof while charging, you really should not have an opinion on stopping cartridges. After shooting a lot of African dangerous game, my favorite stopping cartridge is the 600 NE, but the 500s do a pretty good job, and I would go into any serious potential charge with any of the 500s if the ammo were designed to do the job at hand.

We are making two (possibly a third coming) 505 Gibbs loads. A “soft” featuring the 525 gr. Barnes TSX and a 525 gr. “solid” featuring the CEB brass, flat nose. The flat nose CEB makes a hole in living tissues that is roughly double its diameter (that’s one inch) and will penetrate several feet in a buffalo. The TSX does what TSX bullets do, which is mushroom and still penetrate quite well for a mushrooming bullet, but not nearly as deep as the CEB solid.

The 505 Gibbs requires a large magnum action. The 500 Jeffery does not. They both give the same velocities with like bullet weights, but the Jeffery uses 20-25 grains less powder to accomplish that. They both work well for stopping and even better for hunting. “Hunting,” dangerous game, versus “stopping” it during a charge, are two very different activities. If you own or want to own a 505 Gibbs rifle, we are making ammo that has no peer.

You’ll note my real-world velocities from real-world guns. Yes, the 20-inch barrel shoots noticeably faster than the 22-inch barrel. This would be a good place to read……..VELOCITY VERSUS BARREL LENGTH.

>  2,186 fps - Bauska custom, 22-inch barrel, 525 gr. TSX
>  2,173 fps - Bauska custom, 22-inch barrel, 525 gr. CEB solid

>  2,270 fps - Duane Wiebe custom, 20-inch barrel, 525 gr. TSX
>  2,251 fps - Duane Wiebe custom, 20-inch barrel 525 gr. CEB solid

I know I am anal, but friends, please test any ammo you plan to use in the real world before using it in the real world in your particular rifle. Firearms are very individual, and virtually all of them will show different tendencies and ammo preferences. So before you go into harm's way, please test. Doing so will boost your confidence and perhaps keep you from making fatal mistakes. From double rifles to magazine rifles, I am often amazed that folks will take their rifles afield without even sighting them in with the ammo they have chosen. I once had a friend named Doug. Doug booked an expensive guided elk hunt on an Arizona Indian reservation known for producing 370 class and up bull elk. Doug had a custom-made rifle chambered in 7MM Weatherby and was planning to use Weatherby ammo, but he failed to sight his new rifle in with that ammo because a gunsmith who mounted his scope, “bore sighted” the rifle. I emphatically warned Doug to sight in his rifle with that ammo before going hunting. He refused because he had confidence in the hypothetical world of “bore sighting”. Opening morning, Doug was lucky enough to get a 370-class bull in his sights in an open meadow at around 100 yards. He fired and the bull just stood there, so as he went to chamber another cartridge, he experienced sticky extraction of the fired casing. By the time he was able to chamber another cartridge, Mr. Bull, called BS on Doug and left the opening, never to be seen by Doug again. Doug's Native American guide was so angry at Doug that he took him back to the lodge and insisted Doug sight in his rifle. It was only two feet (that’s 24 inches) off at 100 yards with that ammo. Doug left that hunt with a normal 5X5 bull that he could have shot in a general public hunt on public land. Good thing Doug was not hunting DG. Doug was one of the better humans I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing, but he did not understand much about rifles and ammo.

Three years ago, I bought five boxes of Norma PH 500 Jeffery ammo loaded with their 540 gr. flat nose solid. Norma generally makes some of the best ammo you can get anywhere, and their brass is simply the best anywhere. I have two 500 Jeffery rifles that have never misfired, no matter the make of ammo, but with this Norma ammo, I had numerous FTFs in both rifles. When I have an FTF (Failure to Fire), I normally attribute it to the rifle as many more things can go wrong with a rifle, than with ammo, but then I test to find out the facts. Both of my 500 Jeffery rifles are still firing all other ammo put in them, including my hand loads, with nary an FTF. GO FIGURE or perhaps I should have said GO TEST. Never, ever trust any firearm/ammo combination without first confirming through testing.

The 505 has a voluminous case capacity and can be run at much faster velocities than we choose to run this ammunition. As a dangerous game cartridge to be used in African heat, or during a downpour or after pushing through thick vegetation and getting particles in your barrel, etc., we prefer to keep pressures low as any of these occurrences can raise pressures substantially. These are the original velocities and bullet weights for this cartridge, and they have a history of killing very well, even with the ancient bullet designs used then.

Please use our DG ammo with confidence. Have fun and be safe. Good hunting and God bless.

Tim Sundles

Attention!
You must be 18 or older to order ammunition. Ammunition must ship UPS ground. Due to Department of Transportation regulations, we cannot accept returns on Ammunition. Make sure to use the correct ammunition in your gun. Check local laws before ordering.