Buck51
AH veteran
I will also take 10 packs. Please pm for payment info. Thanks
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New owner of 470 n.e.
- Thread starter mitch4570
- Start date
Riflecrank
AH fanatic
Cutting to the chase, here is the tale of a 470 NE Merkel that I finalized 20 years ago:
Maybe that recoil pad helped too !
Maybe Merkel got a better batch of ammo than I did from Federal.
That is the only time I have been disappointed by Federal's premium stuff.
It is usually faster than advertised and very accurate in my preferred DGR, the .458 WIN MAG:
Todays factory .458 WIN MAG ammo is excellent, easily duplicates the ballistics of the 470 NE, and no crossfiring. Handloads are even better, with 400-grainers at 2500 fps able to handle all duties, DG or PG.
Maybe that recoil pad helped too !
Maybe Merkel got a better batch of ammo than I did from Federal.
That is the only time I have been disappointed by Federal's premium stuff.
It is usually faster than advertised and very accurate in my preferred DGR, the .458 WIN MAG:
Todays factory .458 WIN MAG ammo is excellent, easily duplicates the ballistics of the 470 NE, and no crossfiring. Handloads are even better, with 400-grainers at 2500 fps able to handle all duties, DG or PG.
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Riflecrank
AH fanatic
Just to stir the pot,
I found 87 grains of what looked like RL-15/F-216 primer/no filler in the 500-gr TBSS Federal factory load,
but I found this in a 500-gr Woodleigh Weldcore RNSP Federal factory load:
Does this mean the Woodleigh has a greater start pressure and greater barrel strain than the TBSS ?
I believe the research at MIB by Michael 458 has shown that both the CEB 500-gr Safari Solid of brass and the North Fork monometal copper FP solid are easier on DR barrels than the old standard of the DR crowd, the Woodleigh softs and solids.
Add that to the fact that Dacron fiber filler causes pressure spikes that the foam wads (or no filler at all) do not, all this gleaned from research at MIB.
I found 87 grains of what looked like RL-15/F-216 primer/no filler in the 500-gr TBSS Federal factory load,
but I found this in a 500-gr Woodleigh Weldcore RNSP Federal factory load:
Does this mean the Woodleigh has a greater start pressure and greater barrel strain than the TBSS ?
I believe the research at MIB by Michael 458 has shown that both the CEB 500-gr Safari Solid of brass and the North Fork monometal copper FP solid are easier on DR barrels than the old standard of the DR crowd, the Woodleigh softs and solids.
Add that to the fact that Dacron fiber filler causes pressure spikes that the foam wads (or no filler at all) do not, all this gleaned from research at MIB.
Last edited:
Riflecrank
AH fanatic
The Trophy Bonded Sledge hammer was high tech 20 years ago.
Too many have bent like bananas inside of buffalo.
Their meplats are just a little too small to make them as stable as the CEB Safari Solid, North Fork FP Solid, or Barnes Banded Solid solids.
Also, no FMJ is a solid solid, whether brass or copper-washed steel "encapsulating" lead or tungsten cores.
Tungsten cores sometimes penetrate the FN meplat and leave the encapsulation behind.
Monometal solids with driving bands sized 0.474" are easier than Woodleighs on the barrel.
CEB brass and North Fork copper band structures are easiest on barrels.
North Fork gives the greatest variety of 500-grainers, SSP, CPS, and FPS.
Or try the CEB 500-gr Safari Solid and 470-gr Raptor/HP if your DR regulation allows it, many do.
Too many have bent like bananas inside of buffalo.
Their meplats are just a little too small to make them as stable as the CEB Safari Solid, North Fork FP Solid, or Barnes Banded Solid solids.
Also, no FMJ is a solid solid, whether brass or copper-washed steel "encapsulating" lead or tungsten cores.
Tungsten cores sometimes penetrate the FN meplat and leave the encapsulation behind.
Monometal solids with driving bands sized 0.474" are easier than Woodleighs on the barrel.
CEB brass and North Fork copper band structures are easiest on barrels.
North Fork gives the greatest variety of 500-grainers, SSP, CPS, and FPS.
Or try the CEB 500-gr Safari Solid and 470-gr Raptor/HP if your DR regulation allows it, many do.
Riflecrank
AH fanatic
Oops, ought to take a stab at OP:
BELL brass
F-215 primer
109.0 gr H4831 SC, no filler
23.6" Merkel barrels
4-shot average at 5-yd chrono = 2125 fps, corrected to MV for the low BC CPS: about 2140 fps MV
ES for 4 shots was 14 fps
Grouped at 50 meters just like the TBSS which gave 2153 fps MV with same charge.
I bet the North Fork Semi-Spitzer Soft Point 500-grainer would do about the same.
In fact, I bet all of the North Fork 500-grainers would be good to go with that load in my rifle.
500-gr North Fork CPS
BELL brass
F-215 primer
109.0 gr H4831 SC, no filler
23.6" Merkel barrels
4-shot average at 5-yd chrono = 2125 fps, corrected to MV for the low BC CPS: about 2140 fps MV
ES for 4 shots was 14 fps
Grouped at 50 meters just like the TBSS which gave 2153 fps MV with same charge.
I bet the North Fork Semi-Spitzer Soft Point 500-grainer would do about the same.
In fact, I bet all of the North Fork 500-grainers would be good to go with that load in my rifle.
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Woodcarver wrote on RAVEN ROCKS PRECISION's profile.
Just wanted to say thanks for the excellent customer service. Ordered some 9.3x62 brass and the delivery was a little short. An email through your website Contact Us link was replied to the next day with the tracking info for the correction. Good pricing coupled with great customer service will see returning customers every time. Thanks again!
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Made it to Augusta Georgia yesterday for a meeting, hunt bookings are looking good for 2026 and 2027, had a great time on our Alabama safari shot a rutting deer at 200 yards with 7mm PRC near Huntsville and then headed on to Butler Alabama and semi guided my first deer ever shot a very nice broken off 8 point with hunter there and spend a few days on 1100 acres hunting preserve awesome place!