Thread: Tiger troubles anyone ? I have the solution

A lovely old gun and in very nice condition. I am envious! It should be just the goods for a scrub bull. I shot one in the back of North Loburn over 50 years ago with my .318 Nitro Express Vickers Mauser. It was carrying a selection of wounds inflicted over the years (.22 and shotgun mainly) but the 250 grain Kynoch soft point did the job. The .318 was popular for Tigers as well.

Probably took out those 2 elephants in the bush behind the tiger as well

Made 11 cases now



Sealed the labels with 3 coats of Resolene and oiled the leather exterior and straps





Have 20 bullets being powder coat baked now which will be ready to load tomorrow

So watch out hares !

I'm guessing your making cases from .577 nitro, are you having to turn the rims and the case to get it to chamber?. That really is a thing of beauty and could possibly convert you to "repeating" rifles.

Nice work

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

I'm guessing your making cases from .577 nitro, are you having to turn the rims and the case to get it to chamber?. That really is a thing of beauty and could possibly convert you to "repeating" rifles.

Never going to happen !

I'm just treating this as two complete single shot rifles
Two barrels
Two hammers
Two triggers
One double rifle

Originally Posted by akaroa1

Never going to happen !

I'm just treating this as two complete single shot rifles
Two barrels
Two hammers
Two triggers
One double rifle

Oh and twice the price of a British single shot rifle

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

I'm guessing your making cases from .577 nitro, are you having to turn the rims and the case to get it to chamber?. That really is a thing of beauty and could possibly convert you to "repeating" rifles.

Cases are trimmed from 577 3" Nitro
Heavily annealed nearly to base
Lubed lightly and formed in a full length 577-500 #2 die
Then rims are trimmed to correct diameter
Base of case is turned down very slightly
Case length is trimmed again because they grow about 2mm during forming
Polished while still in lathe
Then re annealed

One of the easier cases to make due to borrowing a complete dies set.
I will make myself a die set also some time soon.

It required a heavy annealing and a lot of force on the press because the 577-500 #2 has a lot of body taper to the shoulder.
But that's great because they chamber magnificently

Taper is a good thing in a dangerous game cartridge, you wouldn't want things sticking when in a sticky situation would you. Besides the loaded round looks more elegant

Originally Posted by Marty Henry

Taper is a good thing in a dangerous game cartridge, you wouldn't want things sticking when in a sticky situation would you. Besides the loaded round looks more elegant

Yes correct on every count

Being a 500 caliber bullet going into a 577 cartridge base chamber the rounds just slip in so easily

Gun case has some history.

Wet again this morning so I loaded 5 rounds with the heavier 130 grain BP charge

Left to right

222 Rimmed
7x57 Rimmed
5 rounds 577-500 #2 Express
500 3" BPE
50-70 US Govt



The 500 3" BPE is the go to 500 BPE in the day and is sufficient for any DG that could bite and claw you.
But they ran into pressure problems in the tropics.
Hence the 577-500 #2 Express had 40% more capacity and used very coarse slow powder to get velocities around 1800 FPS and low pressure at high atmospheric temperatures and humidity.

The 500 BPEs were not for DG that could stomp on you and grind you into dust.
They were not as most people currently think a Big Five DG caliber.
They look puny against a 10, 8 or 4 bore BP rifle which was what you would have faced off the big angry guys prior to Nitro coming on the scene

Originally Posted by Tentman

Could be one lurking under the tree fern beside ya . . . TIGER TIGER!

There’s a short barrelled double rifle floating around NZ, one of 3 made. Its use was to shoot tigers trying to come up the side of an elephant to eat you.
It’s in mint condition

Refitting the case is finished and the Greener looks pretty comfortable in there

Originally Posted by Maca49

There’s a short barrelled double rifle floating around NZ, one of 3 made. Its use was to shoot tigers trying to come up the side of an elephant to eat you.
It’s in mint condition

Howdah Pistol