Load Information For the 500/416 NE With Barnes 400 Grain TSX Bullets?

[UpNorthMI]

I purchased my first large double last year, a Krieghoff Classic in 500/416. It shoots well with factory ammunition and I've collected a reasonable amount of load data for the caliber other than loading and using Barnes TSX bullets. I've even come across a number of unclear negative comments (pressure?) about using Barnes TSX bullets in a Krieghoff double.

I'm looking for feedback from other 500/416 users and reloaders specifically about using & reloading the TSX bullet for this caliber.

You may ask why use the Barnes TSX, the key reasons is availability and the positive experience I have had with them in .375. If I could get my hands on 400 grain Swift A Frames in .416 I would happily load and use those. Anyone have any for sale? I have a trip planned in May to Australia with my son that includes a large amount of buffalo culling, other than solids my factory ammunition includes Nosler partition and Hornady DGX -B bullets.

 

[AZDAVE]

I have load data for a number of bullets but not the barnes TSX, so I am going to be interested in what others have found works for them.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I purchased my first large double last year, a Krieghoff Classic in 500/416. It shoots well with factory ammunition and I've collected a reasonable amount of load data for the caliber other than loading and using Barnes TSX bullets. I've even come across a number of unclear negative comments (pressure?) about using Barnes TSX bullets in a Krieghoff double.

I'm looking for feedback from other 500/416 users and reloaders specifically about using & reloading the TSX bullet for this caliber.

You may ask why use the Barnes TSX, the key reasons is availability and the positive experience I have had with them in .375. If I could get my hands on 400 grain Swift A Frames in .416 I would happily load and use those. Anyone have any for sale? I have a trip planned in May to Australia with my son that includes a large amount of buffalo culling, other than solids my factory ammunition includes Nosler partition and Hornady DGX -B bullets.

400Gr Barnes TSX
Nosler Cases
Federal 215 Primer
107.0Gr H1000 powder

Velocity= 2320 FPS

400Gr Hornady DGX Bonded bullets are excellent water buffalo medicine, and I’d be more than happy to provide you with load data using these bullets if you like.

The reason Barnes TSX & other monolithic bullets are discouraged from being used In Kreighoff double rifles, is because Kreighoff themselves do not encourage firing too many monolithic bullets through their wares since they believe that it wears out barrel life comparatively quicker than lead cored bullets. Unlike say Heym, who have absolutely zero issues with how many monolithic bullets you run through their double rifles.

 

[UpNorthMI]

400Gr Barnes TSX
Nosler Cases
Federal 215 Primer
107.0Gr H1000 powder

Velocity= 2320 FPS

400Gr Hornady DGX Bonded bullets are excellent water buffalo medicine, and I’d be more than happy to provide you with load data using these bullets if you like.

The reason Barnes TSX & other monolithic bullets are discouraged from being used In Kreighoff double rifles, is because Kreighoff themselves do not encourage firing too many monolithic bullets through their wares since they believe that it wears out barrel life comparatively quicker than lead cored bullets. Unlike say Heym, who have absolutely zero issues with how many monolithic bullets you run through their double rifles.

Thanks for your comments, from the load data I have picked up (mainly from old posts on this forum) it seems that 105 - 106g grains of H1000 is typical for lead cored bullets, the only prior load data I found for a 400 grain TSX was for 96 grains of H1000 giving 2,300 fps (Member Jim G900) considerably less powder than recommended for a 400 grain lead core bullet!

I am concerned at the significant variation in power levels on the very limited TSX reloading data that exists for the 500/416 NE, I'm not going to mess around with load development if there are good alternative loads available for a reasonable performing bullet.

At this point I'm going to respect Kreighoff's view on barrel wear and stick with lead core bullets for my 500/416 NE Australia trip. I did a little more research on the newer model Hornady DGX Bonded bullets and agree with your comment that they should make excellent medicine for Australian buffalo. Our upcoming culling trip is for at least 30 buffalo between the two of us and a bunch of camel, donkey and other animals. I will certainly be able to give some real world feedback on how the Hornady .416 400 grain DGX bonded bullets perform. The great thing is that the Hornady bullets are available and also come at a reasonable cost.

I'll be loading some Hornady bullets this week and will see how they perform in my double rifle.

In addition to the Hornady DGX Bonded bullets, I may try some Nosler factory ammunition that I have in solids and partition bullets.

 

[UpNorthMI]

Well it was a nice day yesterday so I spent some time at my range with some initial loads. Here are my findings.

Factory Nosler ammunition with 410gn solids regulates well in my Krieghoff 500/416NE, this ammo chronographs at 2,330 fps at the muzzle.

I loaded a number of Barnes TSX 400gn bullets, starting at 98 grains up to 104 grains of H1000 powder. 100 grain game me 2,230 fps, 104 grain got me to 2,320 fps.

I loaded a number of Hornady DGX Bonded 400gn bullets, starting at 100 grains up to 105 grains of H1000 powder. 100 grain game me 2,200 fps, 105 grain got me to 2,310 fps.

My goal was to find out what loads got me to a similar velocity as the factory rounds that regulate well in my double rifle. For me this is:

• Barnes TSX 400 grain with 104 grains of H1000
• Hornady DGX Bonded 400 grain with 105 grains of H1000

All loads used Remington magnum large rifle primers. All cases were new Nosler brass.

Accuracy did not figure into my testing as I had just fitted a red dot sight and used these test firings to continually try to get the point of impact closer to a zero. Next move will be to load a larger batch of these 2 bullets and then test for accuracy / grouping and regulation. Hope to find another nice day next week to get out again to work things out further.

I just want to say a thank you to Mark Oulette, who took time to give me a call to talk about his experience with the TSX in this caliber and for producing a QuickLoad calculation to show that 104 grains of H1000 powder was about the maximum load to consider within the pressure standards of the 500/416 NE cartridge. Thank you Mark for the 5 text photos showing all of this data from your computer.

 

[Canadaboy]

I logged in to look for 500/416 reloading data and saw this without even having to search. I guess it’s my lucky day.

I guess my lucky streak is continuing, I got a bargain so good on a Krieghoff 500/416 that I just couldn’t turn it down.

My local store has H-1000 in stock so I’ll grab some while they have it.

 

[UpNorthMI]

I logged in to look for 500/416 reloading data and saw this without even having to search. I guess it’s my lucky day.

I guess my lucky streak is continuing, I got a bargain so good on a Krieghoff 500/416 that I just couldn’t turn it down.

My local store has H-1000 in stock so I’ll grab some while they have it.

It's good to hear others are joining the 500/416 ownership, it seems that we are definitely a minority in the double rifle world, I guess that is because of the limited age and limited adoption of the caliber.

New brass can be had for about $2 a piece (gunbroker), Barnes TSX and Hornady DGX bullets are relatively easy to get in both expanding and solid formats. I'm some months ahead of you in ownership but I'm looking to give mine a good bit of hunting use this year. Feel free to reach out if I can help in any way.

 

[UpNorthMI]

An update on my .500/416 NE reloading: I started to load both Barnes TSX and Hornady DGX Bonded soft points both in 400 grain. My first task was to get my reloads to match the factory velocity of approximately 2,330 fps. Once these load was figured out I found some time last week to work on consistency and zeroing the red dot sight.

I quickly managed to achieve zero and become comfortable and proficient with 1" groups from the right barrel at 50 yards with the Hornady DGS Bonded Bullets, I was shooting from a simple 2 leg stick set up in a standing position. These are not guns for the bench !!!. I then focused on shooting both barrels to check the regulation, unfortunately I ran out of range time and only got 3 pairs of shots off. My groups were between 2-3 inches, not bad but I felt very rushed as I did not realize how time had passed and I needed to be somewhere else. I just reloaded another batch of ammo for use on my trip to Australia and another couple of trips to the range before I leave in 30 days.

I'm focusing on the Hornady DGX Bonded 400 grain bullet for my practice and for my upcoming trip, I don't have the time to work with both the Hornady and the Barnes TSX bullets at this moment.

As a life long shooter and stalker / hunter, I feel I am a reasonable shot and would confidently take a shot out to a maximum of 100 yards at a large animal like a buffalo or camel with my .500/416 NE. I'll shoot it back to 150 / 200 yards in the next couple of weeks to understand the longer range ballistics of the round. Shooting it more than 80 - 100 yards will not be my goal for hunting unless I need to shoot at a wounded animal. My son will be carrying a scoped Blaser R8 in .375 H&H, anything over 100 yards this will be our choice of rifle. I am very confident that the .500/416 NE will do the business in Australia on water buffalo and camels (over 1,000 lbs in weight).

Our goal of shooting 30 cull water buffalo and 2 trophy water buffalo in Australia will certainly allow us to come up with a real conclusion on the capabilities of this double rifle / red dot sight combo, the Hornady DGX Bonded bullet and the 500/416 NE caliber in general, we are exactly 4 weeks away for what should be an amazing trip of both hunting and fishing in the Northern Territories. To say I'm excited is an understatement! I'll be carrying 40 rounds of .500/416 NE on my trip, our goal is to shoot all of this ammunition during the trip at large game and then fall back to the guide's and my son's .375 for the rest of the trip on large game and .308 for a mixture of pigs/hogs, donkeys and camels.

My son who is 22 had his first and only shot with the big double, he plans to borrow it to shoot a few buffalo in Australia even though he will be shooting it left handed, he did pretty good handling the recoil on his first go. No water buffalo will be surviving on that margin of error.