Forums.NitroExpress.com

Thanks, guys!
My hunting style involves a lot of slow movement, known as stalking, sidehilling, still-hunting, or cat-footing. Typically in steep, slippy environments, nose into the wind, trying to bust critters in their beds. Snap shooting. A hammer gun in that environment just does not work for me, and believe me, I have tried. Hammerless gives me the fastest get-on-target-pull-the-trigger time that my brain and body can muster. And in those conditions, it all happens fast. Pulling back a hammer wastes too much time, and creeping about, trying not to fall with hammers cocked is not an option.
I'd like to get a .577 BPE for elk, and a bison hunt or two, maybe a grizzly. I hunt a lot and there are some hunts I have not yet done, which I want to do according to my own style and ethics.
My dad did not let me hunt with a scope. He forced me to develop woodcraft and stalking skills, to get close to the animal, and to respect it enough to give it a fighting chance. All my life I have hunted with manual guns, no scopes, single shots, sxs shotguns, flintlock etc.
BPE rifles are fairly new for me, and I have had hunting success with them and really like them a lot. The qualities of a BPE compared to a nitro rifle are substantially different; the BPE is the greater gun. BPEs are so sleek and beautiful, not punishing to shoot, minimal meat damage, and with flat bullets they are the Hammer of Thor.
So a 2-3/4" or 3" .577 BPE will have more than enough zing for what I want to hunt. I do not want to hunt elephants, or rhino, or giraffes.
The 577/500 3-1/8" round has about 3,400 FT LBS of energy, pretty much the same as the 577 2-3/4". Finding 577/500 3-1/8" caliber brass, or even brass that can be necked down and turned, is a huge challenge. I did recently acquire what had once been an honest and wonderful SXS rifle in this caliber, but the seller had misrepresented it, it had been recently "tarted up" for sale and in so doing it had been improperly gunsmithed to death; it was not shootable, my gunsmith (well known to this site) refused to work on it, and so it and its 120 shells plus dies went right back. Heartbreaking.
Recently someone offered me another sxs rifle in the same caliber, and I accepted, despite knowing the challenges, but he got second thoughts and decided to hold onto it. Perhaps this is for the best, as the 577/500 3-1/8" ammunition situation is nearly impossible.
As for the 577/500 #2, it is really just a .500 BPE, so why deal with the necked down brass business when the easy straight shell can be used in a gun far more abundant and easier to reload for.
I do appreciate both the advice and guidance given here, thank you all, and I very much appreciate the overtures made in PMs and by email. Several nice guns have been offered. One was retracted by its owner, who understandably still loves it; another rifle offered is exactly what I want, and the asking price is very high, even by the seller's own admission. We continue the discussion, as it is a nice rifle. A dealer I have purchased from offered me a great gun previously floated on this site, but it has hammers and is the dreaded 20/577....another brass challenge and more power\ flinch than I need.
So, I continue to stay in touch with these thoughtful gun owners. Perhaps one of these guns will eventually "click," or as someone suggested, the right gun will come up at auction. I do haunt the auctions, and have purchased guns at some of them.
Please keep my quest in your thoughts, gents. Your help means a lot to me.
PA