Posted on 12/25/2023 12:55:53 PM PST by PROCON
Greg Buchel was born and raised in Chicago but “escaped Illinois” to move to Wyoming and founded Big Horn Armory which touts its AR500 as the world’s most powerful AR-style rifle. Buchel says it will down anything from "pachyderms to Peterbilts."
When it comes to bagging big, dangerous critters, hunters want all the knockdown power they can get, and a Cody-based company has taken that to the extreme.
Big Horn Armory Inc. touts its AR500 as the world’s most powerful AR-style rifle. The semi-automatic weapon is chambered in the company’s own .500 Auto Max cartridge and can thump out half-inch diameter bullets just as fast as a shooter can stand to pull the trigger.
“Bison are pretty much the toughest critter on this continent and it punches right through both sides of them,” Greg Buchel, the company’s founder and president, told Cowboy State Daily.
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Upping Smith & Wesson’s Power Levels
“When I first moved out here, a neighbor of mine was a gun crank. The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum cartridge had just been created. And we thought, ‘Hey, we should make a lever-action rifle chambered for the .500 Smith & Wesson.”
So the seeds were planted for Big Horn Amory. The company was founded in 2007, and started turning out its first lever-action rifles a couple of years later.
Smith & Wesson created the .500 cartridge for its legendary revolvers. It dwarfed even the mighty .44 magnum. That round made Smith & Wesson a household name — thanks in large part to Clint Eastwood’s “Dirty Harry” movie character packing a Smith & Wesson .44 magnum revolver.
Cartridges like the .44 magnum and .500 Smith & Wesson are certainly respectable powerhouses in their original revolver platforms. But there’s a long tradition of building lever-action rifles chambered for magnum revolver cartridges.
The longer barrels take the bullets’ performance to whole new levels, Buchel said.
With their shorter barrels and gap between the cartridge chambers and barrel, revolvers blow out a fair amount of unburned powder when they’re fired.
The enclosed action and longer barrel of a rifle allow more of the gunpowder to burn, Buchel said. And more powder burned explosively during firing equals more velocity, and more bullet velocity means more devastating impact on the target.
Muzzle velocity, or the speed the bullet is moving when it leaves a firearm’s barrel, is measured in the feet per second (fps). So, for instance, a 400-grain bullet fired from a revolver might have a muzzle velocity of 1,457 fps. Whereas out of a rifle with an 18- to 20-inch barrel, it might be trucking at 2,000 fps, Buchel said.
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Won’t Ruin Smaller Game
The company’s lever guns have been taken on South African Safari hunts. However, it’s unlikely that the AR500 will be used on Safari, because semi-automatic rifles aren’t allowed in South Africa, Buchel said.
Even so, it’s suitable for Wyoming hunts, he said. Folks might worry about such a massive round making a complete mess of relatively smaller animals, such as deer or antelope.
But with hard-case bullets that’s not the case, he said.
He knows of one hunter who used an AR500 to shoot an antelope, and said the critter “was dead before it even fell completely over.”
“There was a half-inch entry wound, and a half-inch exit wound” indicating that the bullet didn’t expand inside the antelope as smaller-caliber bullets would have done, he said
“But with a half-inch bullet, how much expansion do you need?” he added.
Big Horn Armory’s rifles are higher-end, but represent a long-term investment because of the craftsmanship that goes into each one, Buchel said.
The AR500s are priced around $2,500, and the lever guns are priced around $4,500 on up.
I believe John Moses Browning’s invention, the .50 Browning Machine Gun round is a .510” diameter bullet.
They make a 458 Winchester AR auto mag.
https://www.petersenshunting.com/editorial/nemo-omen-458/272789
Uh, does it have recoil?
More kick than a Starbucks Latte maybe?
That’s much cheaper than some Nitro Express rounds at over $100 each.
BHA also makes a great Ar-10 chambered in .308 and I would know! It’s what I keep in my truck when I go out!
That’s very interesting to me. The .458 Win Mag case is belted, so when fired it headspaces on the belt in a bolt rifle. I wonder if they kept the cartridge case dimensions the same but redesigned the case sans belt. Just the musings of an old Marine Corps armorer and gunsmith. I want one! Probably a little more punch than I need to knock down a 175 pound Kansas whitetail deer. Regards.
I know they make the AR in 300 win mag with a magnesium lowers receiver. I am not sure the 458 held up with the heaviest loads. The website shows a guy doing a mag dump with the 458.
“...The .500 Auto Max’s heavy, large-diameter bullets make it well-suited for use against engine block... the same can be said for assailants with body armor... It passes through automotive body panels as easy as a deer cavity...”
Hmmmm...
Yes it is.
I bought a 458 win mag bolt gun this year. Just finished restocking it (it had a busted up stock). Reinforced the new stock with a titanium grooved rod set in epoxy bedding material down through the wrist area (prone to breaking on the big guys). Haven’t worked up the guts to shoot it yet.
Wow...
I have both the 460 and 500 S&W revolvers. I also have TC Encore rifle frames with barrels for 460 and 500 S&W Magnum. The rifle format delivers more punch. Good ammo for either one is very expensive. I reload ammo for plinking. The factory loads for hunting are significantly better quality in both bullet and powder volume. The TC for 460 can also launch 454 Casull and 45 Colt. For those who don't like the vicious recoil of the 500 S&W Magnum, there are 500 SPL loads. Same concept as 357 magnum/38SPL. Shorter case, lighter bullet, less powder.
My Magnum Research BFR in 45/70 is a fairly potent revolver as well. Suitable for moose. I hand load plinkers for that one tool. It's a little more trouble because of the case size. You MUST use case lube on the brass before resizing or expect a stuck case in your resizing die. Too much lube and you get "lube dimples". Too little and you get a stuck case. Mine has the 3 inch cylinder and I think the 10 inch barrel. The only caveat with factory ammo is a 31,000 PSI pressure limit. It can't handle T/C Encore pressures. The 1895GM rifle handles pressures between 31,000 PSI and the T/C Encore limits.
I took another look into my Christmas stocking and there was no AR500 there...😭
>A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state<
Texas is a free state.
Why is the shooter not on the Tex border facing the invaders?
The 2nd A has become a myth and something to boast about.
Width of the Rio Grande river?
Maybe in my younger days - I don’t think the old bones would be able to stand the recoil these days. Gonna be some more detached retinas if it becomes a “fad”....
Me: It’s a Bill of Rights, not a bill of needs.
Bullet snob 😄
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