.500 Jeffery

• Name —.500 Jeffery • Origin — England • Type — Rifle • Designer — August Schuler • Design Date — ~1920 • Case Type — Rebated, bottleneck • Bullet —.510 • Neck —.538 • Shoulder —.607 • Base —.619 • Rim Dia —.575 • Rim Thick —.052 • Case Length — 2.75 • Length — 3.46 • Case Capacity — 158 • Rifling — 1 in 17.7 in (450 mm) • Primer — Large rifle magnum • Bw1 — 570 • Btype1 — Soft nose (BC:.368) • Vel1 — 2200 • En1 — 6127 • Bw2 — 570 • Btype2 — Barnes TSX • Vel2 — 2507 • En2 — 7957 • Bw3 — 535 • Btype3 — SP • Vel3 — 2549 • En3 — 7721 • Bw4 — 600 • Btype4 — PP • Vel4 — 2468 • En4 — 8117 • Bw5 — 465 • Btype5 — Lehigh solid • Vel5 — 2551 • En5 — 6721 • Balsrc — Norma Ammunition RealGuns reloading data

The.500 Jeffery was introduced to bring firepower comparable to the.505 Gibbs into a standard-sized 1898 Mauser action as used with the 8x57mm and 7x57mm cartridges. The Gibbs and.416 Rigby cartridges required oversized magnum Mauser actions. To shoehorn a large round into the 98 action required a rebated rim. When introduced, the.500 Jeffery was technically rated as the most powerful rifle cartridge although in reality not quite up to.505 Gibbs' performance. The.505 Gibbs, with greater capacity, can be loaded far in excess of the.500 Jeffery today.

Like the.505 Gibbs, the.500 Jeffery is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance among American shooters and African big game hunters in the early 21st century, almost 100 years after its introduction. As of 2009, Norma, Kynoch, Mauser, Corbon, and Westley Richards were offering loaded ammunition in.500 Jeffery with ammunition costing $150 for a box of 20 or more.

There have been a few rifles chambered in the.500 Jeffery including Jeffery, Heym, CZ-USA, and a few single shots including the Ruger No. 1, and the Butch Searcy & Co. Mauser offers its Model 98 magnum in the caliber. Its "elephant" model is offered in.500 Jeffery exclusively. In 2011, Sako began offering the caliber in its Model 85 "safari" rifle using a new XL size action, and since 2014 the XL action has been available in the more affordable Model 85 brown bear rifle. Blaser also offers rifles chambered in the caliber. Many of the modern rifles have feeding issues due to the rebated rim. The original Jeffery uses a single-column two-shot magazine to get around the potential reliability problems resulting from a rebated rim.

When the.500 Jeffery was first introduced it was loaded to a velocity of 2350 ft/s with a 535-grain bullet generating 6560 ft.lbf of muzzle energy. Since then, reloading capabilities have changed to be able to launch heavier bullets at higher velocities. With modern reloads, the.500 Jeffery can launch a 600-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity ranging from 2450 to, generating 7995 ft.lbf to 8100 ft.lbf.

Institutional cataloguing adds that.500 Jeffery is classified as a rifle cartridge.500 Jeffery is associated with United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Institutional cataloguing adds that.500 Jeffery is recorded from 1920.