500 Nitro Express project

[krusin]

Before I purchased a double rifle, I thought I knew everything about shooting. Oh boy, I was wrong. Regulation of a double rifle is the area I was completely unaware of. It humbled me. But because I had reloaded for many years and for multiple rifle calibers, I had the necessary experience and equipment to tackle this challenge. After reading “The Bible” on the subject ("Shooting the British Double Rifle" by Graeme Wright), I felt pretty confident that I would be able to handle this project. That is before I actually started shooting it.
The first problem was the express sights. I’m 65 and my vision is not as good as before. So, I really can’t see the sights clearly. As a consequence, my target acquisition was very slow and accuracy was awful. So, I’ve milled out two slots behind the rear sight and installed a Trijicon RMR.

That solved one problem, but created another one. The sight was now sitting too high and I have to lift my head up to see through the red dot sight. My cheek bone was not touching the comb. That led to a weaker grip and a nasty hematoma on my shoulder that spread to my upper arm in a few days.

Thankfully, I realized that I needed help from an expert. So, I sought advice from one of the best shotgun gurus in Michigan (and maybe in the entire US), Bryan Bilinski (Fieldsport in Traverse City). After a thorough evaluation of my rifle, he installed a better recoil pad, adjusted the trigger pull for both triggers (the rear trigger pull was just a 1.5 pounds), bent the stock to provide a proper cast and installed an adjustable comb (he actually subcontracted that job to Graco Corporation in Arkansas who did an amazing job).

I was able to regulate my rifle using CEB Safari Solid bullets and RL-15 powder. 93.5 grains of RL-15 pushes 570 grains bullet at 2131 fps.

Now my rifle fits like a glove and shoots like a dream. I still need to decide what to do with the gap created by adjustable comb. I don’t want it to catch brunches when I am walking through the thick brush. I will post an update when I fix that issue.
Anyway, I can’t wait to use my 500 NE rifle during my upcoming trip to Africa.

 

[uplander01]

Brian is a good guy, known him for a long time, and frankly wasn't aware he would take on a project like this. 500 NE level recoil is not for the faint of heart, if you can find an evo shield shooting shirt, it will make your practice sessions a lot less abusive. I wear one religiously at 416 and up, makes shooting a lot of reps and frequent range sessions fun, not painful. Hats off to you sir for being 65 and just now picking up a 500 NE, that's not a story you would hear often. At 65, which isn't far off for me, I'm pretty sure I'll be perfectly happy with 375, 404, or 416.

 

[krusin]

Thanks for the advice on the shirt. I’ll look into it. Bryan made me very happy by making all necessary adjustments to my rifle. It shoulders great now.

This is a picture in his shop after all adjustments were made.

I just finished regulating it. It took 21 shots. My shoulder doesn’t hurt at all. And results are great. Below are final 5 shots from the sticks at 50 yards.

 

[uplander01]

I’d say you’re ready for some action. I actually just went and got a damn contact lens to correct the astigmatism in my right eye, unreal the difference, like a bionic eye. Contacts had never bothered me, wore them for 15 years when I was younger. Had to or I wouldn’t have been able to maximize the express sights on the double I’m using on my next hunt—-100 year old Manton 470 ne

 

[Altitude sickness]

Before I purchased a double rifle, I thought I knew everything about shooting. Oh boy, I was wrong. Regulation of a double rifle is the area I was completely unaware of. It humbled me. But because I had reloaded for many years and for multiple rifle calibers, I had the necessary experience and equipment to tackle this challenge. After reading “The Bible” on the subject ("Shooting the British Double Rifle" by Graeme Wright), I felt pretty confident that I would be able to handle this project. That is before I actually started shooting it.
The first problem was the express sights. I’m 65 and my vision is not as good as before. So, I really can’t see the sights clearly. As a consequence, my target acquisition was very slow and accuracy was awful. So, I’ve milled out two slots behind the rear sight and installed a Trijicon RMR.

View attachment 627104

That solved one problem, but created another one. The sight was now sitting too high and I have to lift my head up to see through the red dot sight. My cheek bone was not touching the comb. That led to a weaker grip and a nasty hematoma on my shoulder that spread to my upper arm in a few days.

View attachment 627105

Thankfully, I realized that I needed help from an expert. So, I sought advice from one of the best shotgun gurus in Michigan (and maybe in the entire US), Bryan Bilinski (Fieldsport in Traverse City). After a thorough evaluation of my rifle, he installed a better recoil pad, adjusted the trigger pull for both triggers (the rear trigger pull was just a 1.5 pounds), bent the stock to provide a proper cast and installed an adjustable comb (he actually subcontracted that job to Graco Corporation in Arkansas who did an amazing job).

View attachment 627106

I was able to regulate my rifle using CEB Safari Solid bullets and RL-15 powder. 93.5 grains of RL-15 pushes 570 grains bullet at 2131 fps.

View attachment 627107

Now my rifle fits like a glove and shoots like a dream. I still need to decide what to do with the gap created by adjustable comb. I don’t want it to catch brunches when I am walking through the thick brush. I will post an update when I fix that issue.
Anyway, I can’t wait to use my 500 NE rifle during my upcoming trip to Africa.

Krusin, Perhaps you could have a nice leather cover made. This one is nylon, but will give you the idea.

 

[VertigoBE]

I think these experiences illustrate again that you cannot have a stock optimised for both irons and optics. Unless your optics are at the same height as the irons.

 

[krusin]

Yes, you have to have the ability to raise and lower comb either with cover like suggested by Altitude Sickness or the way i did it with adjustable comb.

 

[krusin]

Updates for those of you who are interested.

I’ve angled posts on the adjustable comb, so the comb is now parallel with barrels instead of being lower at the heel. This now prevents comb smashing into my cheekbone during recoil.

Figured out pretty good way to adjust zero on the Trijicon RMR. I never expected this from Trijicon, but the elevation and windage adjustments on that red dot sight really suck. If one tries to count clicks on the sight to move the POI intended number of MOAs - be ready to be unpleasantly surprised.
For example, three clicks could be anywhere between 1 and 5 MOA adjustment and it’s NOT reproducible. In addition, adjusting elevation sometimes affects windage and vice versa. The good thing is that zero is not drifting after you adjust it.
Below is the procedure (don’t be offended if it’s too elementary for some of you).

1. Shoot left and right barrel groups aiming at the same point. I am shooting from the sticks (the way I intend to shoot during the actual hunt) because POI is different compared to shooting from the sled.
2. Find the equal distance point between centers of L and R barrel groups. Make a hole in the target and place a small LED light into it. Now you can actually see it from 50 yards.

1. Secure the rifle to the sled and aim your red dot sight at the original point of aim. Make sure that the sled and rifle cannot be moved easily so the red dot always aims at the original point of aim. I put two 25 lb lead shot bags on the sled for this purpose. And tie the rifle to the sled.
2. Using windage and elevation adjustments, move the red dot to cover the LED light on the target. And you are done.

Also, several people had contacted me privately after reading my post about achieving good accuracy and regulation when shooting a double rifle. Obviously, there are a lot of components to this.
Quality double rifle is a necessary starting point.
I can attest that a professionally customized stock does make a lot of differences (it did for me).
Shooter’s factors. I’m not going to talk about this subject. There are multiple posts on this and other forums on it.
The last component is ammunition. I’m obsessive-compulsive about it. I obviously overdo it. I separate cases and bullets by weight (don’t do this because it doesn’t make a lot of differences).
Precise powder charge, consistency of the crimp, and powder compression by the filler are extremely important factors. If you can control those things, your velocities will be very consistent. Just look at the table below.

R2, L2, R3, L3, R6, L6 are velocities for three pairs of shots using CEB Safari Solid bullets 570 Gr. Extreme spread is only 14 fps.

R4, L4, R5, L5 are velocities for two pairs of shots using CEB Safari Raptors 530 Gr plus tip 10 Gr = 540 Gr total weight. Extreme spread is 7 fps.
I’m using the same powder charge of RL-15 93.5 Gr. Same crimp 3/8 of the turn. Same filler - Backer Rod Foam .5-inch diameter and .5-inch length. The filler provides gentle and consistent compression of the powder. This leads to very uniform and reproducible ignition, which in turn leads to consistent velocities.
I’m getting better than 3 MOA groups on a very consistent basis. L and R barrel groups are 1 inch apart (non-crossing). It’s a huge improvement from where I’ve started.

I never in my long practice of reloading rifle cartridges used filler. I’ve learned about it reading posts on this forum. I can’t remember all the members that posted on this subject, but I am very grateful for their knowledge. I’ve learned a lot. Not only about fillers. I’ve learned a lot about shooting and regulating a double rifle in general. This is the reason I am posting my experiences. Kind of giving back to the community a little bit of my newly acquired knowledge.
Thank you all members that post on this forum.