.500 Jeffery

Type

Rifle

Place of origin

England

Production history

Designer

August Schuler

Designed

~1920

Specifications

Parent case

none

Case type

Rebated Rim, Bottlenecked

Bullet diameter

.510 in (13.0 mm)

Neck diameter

.538 in (13.7 mm)

Shoulder diameter

.607 in (15.4 mm)

Base diameter

.619 in (15.7 mm)

Rim diameter

.575 in (14.6 mm)

Rim thickness

.052 in (1.3 mm)

Case length

2.75 in (70 mm)

Overall length

3.46 in (88 mm)

Case capacity

158 gr H₂O (10.2 cm³)

Rifling twist

unknown

Primer type

Large rifle magnum

Ballistic performance

Bullet mass/type	Velocity	Energy
570 gr (37 g) Soft Nose	2,200 ft/s (670 m/s)	6,127 ft·lbf (8,307 J)
570 gr (37 g) Barnes TSX	2,507 ft/s (764 m/s)	7,957 ft·lbf (10,788 J)
535 gr (35 g) SP	2,549 ft/s (777 m/s)	7,721 ft·lbf (10,468 J)
600 gr (39 g) PP	2,468 ft/s (752 m/s)	8,117 ft·lbf (11,005 J)
465 gr (30 g) Lehigh Solid	2,551 ft/s (778 m/s)	6,721 ft·lbf (9,112 J)

Test barrel length: 24"
Source(s): Norma Ammunition RealGuns reloading data

The .500 Jeffery is a big-game rifle cartridge that first appeared around 1920, and was originally introduced by the August Schuler Company, a German firm, under the European designation "12.7×70mm Schuler" or ".500 Schuler". When offered by the famed British outfitter W.J. Jeffery & Co, it was renamed the .500 Jeffery so as to be more palatable to British hunters and sportsmen following World War One.

The .500 Jeffrey was introduced to bring firepower comparable to the .505 Gibbs into a standard sized 1898 mauser action such as what the 8x57 and 7x57 used. As opposed to over sized magnum actions used by the Gibbs and 416 Rigby. Too shoehorn a large round into the 98 action 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. Not that it matters for hunting either were perfect for the largest game in the world when introduced.

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 their introduction. As of 2009, Norma, Kynoch, Mauser, Corbon, and Westley Richards are offering loaded ammunition in 500 Jeffery. There may be other manufacturers as well. Ammunition can cost anywhere from $150 for a box of 20 or more depending on the manufacturer.

There have been a few rifles chambered in the 500 Jeffery including Jeffery, Heym, CZ-USA, and a few single shots including 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 Jeffrey used a single column 2 shot magazine to get around the potential reliability resulting from a rebated rim.

The 500 Jeffery has had a few issues since its introduction. It has a rather short neck length that can make it difficult to seat bullets with a large sectional density. Also it has a small shoulder. This is not usually an issue but as the 500 Jeffery also has a rebated rim it makes it rather difficult to extract in extreme conditions.

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Wikipedia