DocNitro
.224 member
Reged: 03/03/07
Posts: 9
Loc: Europe
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Hi there,
what do you think about .600 Nitro Express? Does anyone have any experience with it or an opinion about it? Does anyone own a .600? Has anyone already shot one? Has anyone already hunted with the .600? Does anyone reload for it? Has anyone obtained any outstanding good oder bad results with it?
Any info is appreciated.
Kind regards
DocNitro
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500Nitro
.450 member
Reged: 06/01/03
Posts: 7244
Loc: Victoria, Australia
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Shot one - underlever hammer Jeffrey 600Nitro - 5 shots in 25 seconds in a competition.
No problems with recoil but not sure I would do it on a regular basis.
I wouldn't mind owning one but if I did it would have to be a Hammerless Ejector.
Haven't hunted with one but apart from Elephant or as a PH,
I can't see what you would hunt wit it that can't be handled with a 500Nitro or similar. The effect of 500Nitro's on Big 1 ton game is impressive enough plus the added advantage of having it in a gun you can personally carry all day.
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DocNitro
.224 member
Reged: 03/03/07
Posts: 9
Loc: Europe
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5 shots in 25 seconds is quite fast and shows that you had the gun well under control.
No doubt that the .600 is a dangerous game rifle and needs to be carried by a gunbearer as a second rifle, which comes into action only in thick brush or on a follow-up. It is a very specialised thing.
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500grains
.416 member
Reged: 16/02/04
Posts: 4732
Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah USA
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I used to own a Heym .600 NE. It weighed 14.75 pounds. The recoil would send the muzzle almost vertical and sometimes I would momentarily black out when shooting it. I would aim, shoot and then realize that I was looking up in the sky and that there was also a gun barrel pointed up there.
Generally it took me 10 minutes between shots to recover enough to shoot the 2nd shot well. But I could put 3 shots offhand into a 3 inch group at 50 yards. Never shot it off the bench and would never even consider doing it.
I sold the gun because it was too heavy and kicked too much. Spent the money on elephant hunting.
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DocNitro
.224 member
Reged: 03/03/07
Posts: 9
Loc: Europe
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So there we have two different opinions on the recoil of a .600. I may add my one: I shot a Heym double rifle (13 1/2 lbs.) with factory loads. The recoil was powerful, but very slow. A push, not a kick. The muzzles climbed to approx. 45 degrees in the sky. This slow recoil didn't hurt me and therefore I found it not to be too unpleasant.
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500Nitro
.450 member
Reged: 06/01/03
Posts: 7244
Loc: Victoria, Australia
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DocNitro
2 Different piios but 2 different guns - I think at 13.lbs I would feel it more as well. The gun I shot was an Underlever Hammer Jeffrey 600 so it was DAMN Heavy - and I would say heavier than the Heym.
I agree - it is a very big push whereas my 500's are a big push but quicker.
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DocNitro
.224 member
Reged: 03/03/07
Posts: 9
Loc: Europe
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500grains, which ammo did you use? Factory loads? Reloaded cartridges? If reloaded: Did you use filler wads? Booster loads? Fast burning or slow burning powder?
I loaded test cartridges with VV N 160 and foam filler wads behind a 900 gr Woodleigh SN. Didn't shoot them yet, but will test them soon.
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Ndumo
.300 member
Reged: 21/12/03
Posts: 230
Loc: Namibia
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I shot one shot with a .600 NE into a downed but not dead hippo bull. Recoil not painful, but it really pushes you too far back. (Spanish clients rifle.) This client has shot 4 elephant and one hippo (above one) with this rifle in my presence, and though the penetration impressed me (unlike what you read about it), the overall performance was nothing more than a good .458... Propably due to not so good shot placement. What was interesting is that shots into the face of bull elephants 12 yards and 25 yards away did not "knock them down". The one did stumble, but both times the bullet missed the brain, and the elephant could have made an escape if the client's brother and himself did not pour some more lead into it in very short time. (On the first instance related here, the brother was using a .500 Schuler bolt actioned gun, second time a .577 NE double.) On the penetration- my shot into the brisket of the downed/ stunned hippo, exited between his shoulder blades, after smashing through his spine. On most of the elephant, it was difficult to try and work out which bullet went where, but the skinners have recovered 2 so far (he is hunting with me again this year), one in the head, and one in the paunch.
The only ammo seen used so far- Wolfgang Romey factory loaded solids (Woodleigh's).
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Karl Stumpfe
Ndumo Hunting Safaris (Pty) Ltd.
karl@huntingsafaris.net
www.huntingsafaris.net
+264 811 285 416
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mickey
.416 member
Reged: 05/01/03
Posts: 4647
Loc: Pend Oreille Valley, Idaho
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I have a friend who had a Thys that weighed 11-12 pounds.
I shot it once and that was twice as many times as I should have. 
Another friend shot 1" two shot group with it at 75 yards but refused to shoot it again.
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Lovu Zdar
Mick
A Man of Pleasure, Enterprise, Wit and Spirit Rare Books, Big Game Hunting, English Rifles, Fishing, Explosives, Chauvinism, Insensitivity, Public Drunkenness and Sloth, Champion of Lost and Unpopular Causes.
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DUGABOY1
.400 member
Reged: 02/02/03
Posts: 1340
Loc: TEXAS USA
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IMO, the whole reason for a double rifle, is negated by the 600NE! If it is heavy enough to carry all day on the spoor, it is too light to dampen recoil. The recoil is such that it takes away the instant aimed, instant second shot! The recovery time is so slow, that if your first shot doesn't do the trick, someone else will have to shoot your game. So! To steal a phrase from 400NitroExpress, a 600NE double is as useless as tits on a tom cat!
Even the 577NE is a little much in a close encounter! The recovery time litterly makes this a single shot, for all practical purposes,on things like close, in weeds, on something like a lion, because one shot is all your likely to get, before he's chewing on your hind quarters. For cats give me a 450/400, or even a 375H&H flanged double, and on Buffalo, or Ele give me a 450NE 3 1/4", up to a 500NE in a properly weighted double rifle!
I don't even want to talk about the 700NE, unless it has wheels! 
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..........Mac >>>===(x)===>
DUGABOY1, and MacD37 founding member of DRSS www.doublerifleshooterssociety.com
"If I die today, I have had a life well spent, for I've been to see the Elephant, and smelled the smoke of Africa!"
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500grains
.416 member
Reged: 16/02/04
Posts: 4732
Loc: Salt Lake City, Utah USA
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Quote:
500grains, which ammo did you use? Factory loads? Reloaded cartridges? If reloaded: Did you use filler wads? Booster loads? Fast burning or slow burning powder?
1. Westley Richards factory ammo (loaded by Wolfgang Romney)
2. Reloads using Woodleigh 900 gr FMJ and 159.0 grains Re22. no filler
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DocNitro
.224 member
Reged: 03/03/07
Posts: 9
Loc: Europe
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Ndumo, thanks a lot for writing down your interesting field impressions. I read about two other incidences of a .600 failing to knock out an elephant: The bullets broke and therefore didn't penetrate sufficently.
mickey, a double weighing but 11-12 lbs. is - for my taste - a bit too light. I shot 13 1/2 lbs. and find this weight to be minimum.
DUGABOY1, in my opinion you are right: recovery time is very slow. It takes at least a lot of practice to get fast enough.
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500Nitro
.450 member
Reged: 06/01/03
Posts: 7244
Loc: Victoria, Australia
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I agree
Recovery time from a 600 Nitro is significantly slower than
a 500 Nitro.
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mickey
.416 member
Reged: 05/01/03
Posts: 4647
Loc: Pend Oreille Valley, Idaho
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Quote:
mickey, a double weighing but 11-12 lbs. is - for my taste - a bit too light. I shot 13 1/2 lbs. and find this weight to be minimum.
Doc
I actually considered it more than a 'bit' light. 
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Lovu Zdar
Mick
A Man of Pleasure, Enterprise, Wit and Spirit Rare Books, Big Game Hunting, English Rifles, Fishing, Explosives, Chauvinism, Insensitivity, Public Drunkenness and Sloth, Champion of Lost and Unpopular Causes.
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JTOMLINSON
.300 member
Reged: 16/02/05
Posts: 188
Loc: York, England
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Doc Nitro
Do you have or intend to use the .600 bore rifle, if so I may have some load data and other information that may be of assistance as I have such a rifle under build at present in the U.K and have done some initial load development on the Kynoch pressure gun with Woodleigh solid and soft nosed bullets.
PM with any infomration you seek.
Jonathan
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walksfar
.275 member
Reged: 13/11/05
Posts: 87
Loc: East Texas
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I'm building a .600 on a custom falling block(not a ruger-it's a design of my own roughly based on the Ballard, only very, very, much more beefy), but have not ordered the barrel yet, so it may turn out to be a .577, if from what I hear on this thread is serious enough to change my mind.
I've shot .577's before, and they are great-not at all hard to recover for follow-ups, in fact, not bad at all. Of course I realize I'm a smaller man compared to most, and I deal with recoil differently than men of large stature. This makes a huge difference. The .577 kicks, yes, but to me, it's not something to be at all concerned about, even in a single-shot heavy barrel.
But, having not fired a .600 before, I'm having an itchy feeling about the .600
Plus, the .577 has cheaper and more readily available loading components, especially with jamison brass.
But oh well, there is something of a mystique about the .600 that I would like for my personal needs. It's weird.
When I get some photo's taken of my falling blocks I'll post them.
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..Faith in God and the Mauser...
Member-DRSS
Edited by walksfar (29/04/07 03:07 AM)
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Schamankungulo
.300 member
Reged: 21/04/07
Posts: 115
Loc: Southeastern USA
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walksfar me and you need to gee haw I see
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walksfar
.275 member
Reged: 13/11/05
Posts: 87
Loc: East Texas
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Yes, gee haw away. I'll gee haw back-lol.
These rifles, I'm building will be limited to one or two (two is a long shot for me) per year since I work alone and daily life always brings something new with it every day that I try not to get distracted with, but they will be English quality, all but the barrels, which are Pac-Nor, but Searcy uses them, so they are not bad, and very convenient in my experience. I'm working on some wood right now, but will be turning out some new steel in the next few weeks (possibly a month) and will then post pictures. I've been doing these things since the early 90's, but really, in all honesty, am just now of confidence to only slightly go public with any potential "product" as it were. I don't make "lots" of whatever I'm making, and at the rate I work, the ser. no.'s might not reach a triple digit before my passing. In fact I know they won't. Cases for my rifles will be contracted out, as I will not do those. But the rifles can be had with any custom features, other than engraving which can be had, but is also contracted out for the time being. I have no earthly idea of prices yet, as I'm not "pushing" any of this, and I have yet to think of such things. However, I will add, in as nice a way as possible, that the price will represent the hours spent on the rifle. Also, I'll be working on a few reproductions of original vintage pieces, but those are still just in my brain and not on paper.
Also, I can do my frames in a small size for anything down to .22-short, but I personally feel these to be a waste of time, when I can put those many hours into a collectors Nitro.
If anyone has any number of questions, please ask away.
I will answer all questions, but as far as taking any order, I would prefer to get the one I'm currently working on finished and photo's taken so that anyone who is interested can focus on an example of the finished product before making up his or her mind. This could be a matter of months now. however, i will have some "in the white" photo's fairly soon.
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..Faith in God and the Mauser...
Member-DRSS
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