50 Thumper Sweaged Bullets

[Blitzfike]

My 50 Thumper project has been going well, I started with a Savage 111 in 30-06. I yanked the barrel, changed the bolt head, modified the internal box mag, put on a new Stainless bull barrel from Apache Gun Works in 50 Cal, chambered for what is called the 50 Thumper. Bullet diameter is .501 like the pistol bullets, not .511 like the BMG. Brass is 375 ruger basic brass, straight wall trimmed to 2.655 for my paarticular rifle. This is a rimless straight wall case and headspaces on the case mouth so case length is critical. This beast will hold up to 92 grains of IMR-4895. I'm loading 75 grains of IMR-4895 with standard large rifle primers. I'm using a 500 SW die to do the sizing of the brass, an expander from my 50AE set and seating with the 50Ae seat die and crimping with the Lee factory crimp die out of the 50AE set. I machined a swaging die to give me .5015 diameter swaged bullets, I can take a sized and lubed 340 grain 45-70 bullet and bump it to .5015 with the lube and rings intact. They shoot very well. My latest experiment is making FMJ type bullets from 45ACP brass and a gas check. I turn the rim off of the 45ACP, turn the area around the promer pocket to a tapered end, anneal the entire 45ACP case to a bright red, then insert an unsized unlubed 340 grain 45-70 bullet nose down into the 45ACP case. I place a 50 cal gas check on the base of the 45-70 bullet and insert it into the swage die. a little work and I get a .5015 FMJ weighing 437 grains, and as a plus, the swaging releases the primer from the primer pocket making a hollow point bullet. I haven't had a chance to shoot any of them yet, maybe next week when the weather gets better. Here is a picture of a couple of the bullets.

 

[Okie4570]

That's an interesting project! What velocities are you expecting?

 

[Blitzfike]

I'm not sure, I haven't chronographed any of them yet, this has been a work in progress, mostly going very slowly. Some of the guys are loading much heavier charges than I am, but I'm more interested in accuracy down range with lighter loads. The primers after firing are still completely rounded and from that I know I'm probably not in the sweet spot as far as full development of the gas column. Thing kicks like a mule even with the lighter charges. I can load the 300 grain or 330 grain plated bullets and recoil is much less. All my swaged and cast bullets are very hard, and require more effort to push down the bore than the soft plated bullets do. My last trip to the range with it was a couple of weeks ago, one of my friends has a hundred yard range on his farm that we use. I went through 28 rounds of it then, with him shooting two. He didn't want any more than those two. I suspect these swaged 45acp jackets are going to generate more recoil. This beast will do a number on anything we find in Oklahoma. I'm anxious to see if it will turn a coyote wrong side out... Jim

 

[Blitzfike]

Here are a few pictures of the process if I can get them to load.

This is the die with punch


Trimming the rim from the 45ACP brass


Annealing the brass to red heat


The column-jacket, core and gas check ready to swage

 

[Blitzfike]

Here are more in the sequence

swaged to final size


Here is the FMJ and two swc half jackets with the base of the case as the base of the bullet


And here is the view of the FMJ from 458cp These weigh right at 437 grains depending on the case used.

 

[swampratt]

WOW!! That is some masterminding stuff. Congrats on the entire project.

Looks like a tedious process and well worth the effort.
keep us posted on how it comes along.

 

[Blitzfike]

Thanks, coming from you thats a good compliment.. I do admire the stuff you post. Just think, if Godzilla ever comes around here, I may have the perfect bullet to perforate its hide... In all seriousness, I think this would make a good bullet for most anything on the North American continent. Probably not much expansion, but should hold together well and travel deeply enough to get to the vitals of a big bear or something like that. Unless I get a chance to test it on a hog, it will probably only harvest paper and maybe a deer or two. Jim

 

[Okie4570]

So this will lay right between the .458 Win mag and a .458 Lott with a bullet that's .043" wider, if I'm reading your info correctly? Your bullet work is pretty incredible!

 

[Blitzfike]

Thanks, If I incerease the load to the full potential of this case safely, it goes out beyond the 458 win mag by quite a bit. One of the guys working on this project has the software to model different powder bullet combinations and as this case will hold 92 grains of IMR-4895 with a 340 grain bullet seated, it's got way more energy than I want to deal with. The rifle I'm using as a test bed is a Model 111 Savage, one of the wierd iterations that Savage played with back in the '80s. It has the scope bases cast into the receiver which makes it more rubust when handling heavy recoil with heavier scopes. This started from the factory as a 30-06, then I converted it to 458 win mag, got tired of the brutal recoil and had the opportunity to join the guys playing with this beast and converted it to the 50 Thumper. As far as I know Apache Gun Works has done all the barrels for this 50 project. 375 Ruger Basic Brass trimmed to 2.655 gets me to the length for my rifle. It headspaces on the case mouth as this is a rimless, beltless straight wall case. The case will hold 110 grains water. I load and shoot 50AE as well as 50 Beowolf, so adding another barrel with the .501 diameter bullets was another reason to play with this one. (As if I really need a reason) 70 grains of IMR-4895 has respectable recoil, 75 is getting more noticible, and when I get a chance to work with this bullet, I'll try to find a sweet spot for accuracy without beating my old shoulder to pieces. 45-70 full house loads in my 95 marlin are about as painful as I can stand these days. There are no loading dies for this as of yet, so I use a 500 SW die with the top opened up for full length sizing as needed, then a 50AE dies for neck sizing, opening up the case neck for proper tension, and finally a 50AE seater and crimp. In all my years of reading gun mags and listening to different so called experts, I've come to the conclusion that to be really effective on game, a bullet has to have adequate penetration in any position and leave a massive wound channel. I've blown big holes in my share of deer, and prefer not to destroy so much meat. I think a heavy fairly solid bullet like this one will do the job. No need for hyper volocity, just need to hit in the right place.

 

[GUN DOG]

that is just flippin cool, keep us posted