.500 A-Square

Alphin's first commercial sporting cartridge and was designed in "response to some severe problems experienced with the.458 Winchester Magnum on safari in Mozambique." The.500 A-Square was a proprietary cartridge and the world's most powerful commercially available sporting cartridge. However, the.50 BMG is the world's most powerful commercial cartridge for any shooting purpose. The.500 A-Square is used specifically for the hunting of elephants and Cape buffalo as well being used as a backup gun for professional hunters and guides while hunting thick skin dangerous game in Africa.

• Name —.500 A-Square • Origin — United States • Type — Centerfire/Rifle • Designer — Arthur Alphin • Design Date — 1976 • Manufacturer — A-Square Company LLC • Production Date — 1978–2011 • Parent —.460 Weatherby Magnum • Case Type — Belted, bottleneck • Bullet —.510 • Neck —.536 • Shoulder —.568 • Base —.582 • Rim Dia —.579 • Rim Thick —.063 • Case Length — 2.900 • Length — 3.74 • Case Capacity — 141.45 • Max Pressure — 63860 • Rifling — 1 in 10" • Primer — Large rifle magnum • Bw1 — 600 • Btype1 — Monolithic Solid • Vel1 — 2470 • En1 — 8127 • Bw2 — 600 • Btype2 — Round Nose • Vel2 — 2470 • En2 — 8127 The.500 A-Square is a belted, bottleneck rifle cartridge, developed by Arthur Alphin in 1976. The cartridge is based on the.460 Weatherby Magnum necked up to accept the.510 in bullet; the same as the.50 BMG cartridge. This was Col. Alphin's first commercial sporting cartridge and was designed in "response to some severe problems experienced with the.458 Winchester Magnum on safari in Mozambique." The.500 A-Square was a proprietary cartridge and the world's most powerful commercially available sporting cartridge. However, the.50 BMG is the world's most powerful commercial cartridge for any shooting purpose. The.500 A-Square is used specifically for the hunting of elephants and Cape buffalo as well being used as a backup gun for professional hunters and guides while hunting thick skin dangerous game in Africa.

The.500 A-Square cartridge was commercially available from both A-Square and Midway USA as loaded ammunition. The ammunition was available in three loads: • 600 gr Monolithic Solid • 600 gr Soft-nose thick jacket • 600 gr Soft-nose thin jacket All bullet/cartridge combinations were advertised with a muzzle velocity of and muzzle energy of ftlbf. In comparison: the parent cartridge, the.460 Weatherby Magnum is commercial loaded with a 500 gr Monolithic Solid has a muzzle velocity of and muzzle energy of ftlbf. The.50 BMG as commercial loaded with a 661 gr FMJ M33 ball ammo has a muzzle velocity of and muzzle energy of ftlbf. Although there is limited hand-loading information, bullet weights (hunting) are from between 300 gr to 647 gr.

In October 2011, A-Square ceased all ammunition operations.