Q: I’ve been reading a book by Ernest Hemingway in which he mentions his .505 Gibbs Mauser-actioned rifle several times, but few details about it. What can you tell me about this big-bore?
When was it introduced, what was the bullet weight and ballistics? I’d imagine recoil in a hunting rifle would be bruising?
Arthur Potter
A: There is some controversy about when the .505 Gibbs was introduced but it was before World War I, possibly 1912-13. Originally, the .505 Gibbs started life as a rimmed cartridge for double rifles, but Gibbs later turned the rim off it and cut an extractor groove to form a rimless round for magazine rifles.
John Rigby & Co, the exclusive distributors for Mauser sporting rifles in Britain at the time, had Mauser build an action large enough to handle their rimmed .400/350, which was 91mm (3.6”) in length.
Gibbs altered this magnum-length action to handle the mammoth-sized .505 cartridge, which had an overall length of 95mm (3.750”), a rim diameter of 16.3mm (.640”), a shoulder diameter of 15.3mm (.600”) and a short 19-degree shoulder angle.
The advantage of the .505 Mauser was that it provided two additional shots over a double rifle.
Kynoch loaded ammunition with 525gn bullets, both solids and soft-points, over 90-92gn of cordite for a nominal muzzle velocity of 700m/s (2300fps) and muzzle energy of 8352J (6160ft-lb). Recoil in a 4kg (9lb) sporter is 118.6J (87.5ft-lb) — ouch!
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