50 Action Express

I did`ent know much about the 50 Action Express until I recently had an extra cylinder in that caliber fit to my FA`s 500 Wyoming Express. Some ballistic research showed this round has more then enough energy to handle (with the right bullet) anything in North America and most of Africa (locate Dick Williams safari article using the 50AE).
I purchased a selection of factory ammo ( not reloading this one) including Fusion 300gr HP w/1550fps MV for 1600ft.pds. energy...Underwood 300 and 325 grain bonded JHP`s...300gr XTP and Magnum Research 350gr JSP... The Underwood 325 has a listed MV of 1450fps with a foot pound value of 1517. That`s power in a small package. The outdoor range at Tioga showed all makes gave good 25yd accuracy with the XTP shooting real good with a 40 yard sight in. The next day an extreme quarter away 30yd shot dropped an average size boar without problem. We all know the extremes in expansion and weight retention that XTP bullets can give
(read my 41 XTP/Swift article) so I was pleased with the results of the 300 grain XTP`s terminal performance. The recovered bullet lost 92.8grs while expansion (without measuring the copper petals) was 0.723". Admirable performance on 200+ pound boar. For any handgunner looking to enter the fifty caliber group the 50AE should be looked at with single actions being produced by Freedom Arms and BFR... I found the 50AE to be a powerfully effective cartridge from my revolver and a good alternative other 50 caliber hunting rounds..

Hey, James, quit playing around with those little rounds and get that FA bored out to a .500 Mag. That's what men do? Right??!!??

Larry, Are you kiddin.... I almost busted my forehead with a 400gr handload with the 500WE cylinder...

Got a Picture? Aren't you one of those guys that says if you don't have a picture it never happened? LOL

The neighborhood of 1500 ft. lb. is good territory to be in, unless you?re a hog. I bet he thought a truck had fell on him ! :-)

I killed everything from Yaks and Water Buffalo to Nilgai and Deer and Boar with the 50 AE....it's really hard to dispute the effectiveness of this round. The 50 AE is a great round for handgun hunting.

More than enough power, no doubt but isn't the major shortcoming of the 50AE that it is more susceptible to crimp jump due to it using a taper crimp as opposed to the more traditional revolver roll crimp?

Not with properly reloaded cartridges

There are a plethora of reloading books that contain pictures of properly loaded cartridges. Not so many that show JFJ "... almost busted (his) forehead with a 400 gr handload with the 500WE cylinder...".

Any thoughts of loading 400 grain hard cast in the 500 AE?

The 370 gr Cast from CP is a better weight for the AE