The .505 Gibbs cartridge was designed by George Gibbs in 1911. The cartridge was originally known as the .505 Rimless Nitro Express. The C.I.P. refers to the cartridge as the 505 Mag. Gibbs in their publications. It is a .50 caliber (12.8 mm) rimless bottlenecked cartridge intended for magazine-fed rifles.

General information

The .505 Gibbs has a case capacity of of water. This cartridge was originally loaded with of

cordite Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in Britain since 1889 to replace black powder as a military firearm propellant. Like modern gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burni ...

and bullet at for of kinetic energy. While the .505 Gibbs has a greater case capacity than most modern cartridges, it is loaded to lower pressures. The C.I.P. recommends a pressure of for the cartridge.CIP
/ref> As .505 Gibbs was intended for hunting dangerous game in tropical environments, and due to the temperature sensitivity of cordite, the lower pressures provide a greater safety and reliability margin. The .505 Gibbs has a unique bullet diameter of while most other .50 caliber bullets have diameters of . Barnes Bullets and Woodleigh Bullets are a few of the bullet manufacturers who produce component bullets for reloading in this caliber. Woodleigh Bullets does not recommend impact velocities of over for their .505 caliber 600 gr weldcore bullets. George Gibbs Ltd. (England) continues to manufacture .505 Gibbs rifles; other premium dangerous game rifle makers, such as Hartmann & Weiss and

Westley Richards Westley Richards is a British manufacturer of guns and rifles and also a well established gunsmith. The company was founded in 1812 by William Westley Richards, who was responsible for the early innovation of many rifles used in wars featuring t ...

build expensive and reliable .505 Gibbs rifles on

Mauser 98 The Gewehr 98 (abbreviated ''G98'', Gew 98, or ''M98'') is a bolt-action rifle made by Mauser for the German Empire as its service rifle from 1898 to 1935. The Gewehr 98 action, using a 5-round stripper clip loaded with the 7.92×57mm Mauser ...

actions. Ceska Zbrojovka (CZ) currently manufactures the Safari Classics rifle for this cartridge. Doumoulin Herstal SA of Belgium offers the cartridge in their White Hunter model. As of 2019, Federal,

Kynoch Kynoch was a manufacturer of ammunition that was later incorporated into ICI, but remained as a brand name for sporting cartridges. History The firm of Pursall and Phillips operated a 'percussion cap manufactory' at Whittall Street, in Birmin ...

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, and Swift are offering factory loaded ammunition in .505 Gibbs. Bullets for reloading are available from Barnes, Cutting Edge Bullets, North Fork Bullets, and Woodleigh Bullets.

Design and specifications

The .505 Gibbs is one of the most voluminous cases designed. The large volume was required as the cartridge was designed to burn cordite as its propellant. The C.I.P. has published specifications for the cartridge. : The C.I.P. recommends that commencement of rifling begin at . Bore diameter is given as and groove diameter is . The C.I.P. recommends a five groove barrel contour with each groove having an arc length of and a twist rate of one revolution in . The recommended pressure for the .505 Gibbs is .

Sporting use

The .505 Gibbs is a niche cartridge designed for hunting heavy, thick-skinned dangerous game animals, such as cape buffalo, elephant, and rhino.

In literature

The cartridge's claim to fame was its use by the fictional character, Robert Wilson, the hunter of

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

's short story "

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Set in Africa, it was published in the September 1936 issue of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine. The story was eventually adapted to the screen as the Zoltan Korda film '' ...

References

Current African Cartridges: The 505 Gibbs
* Barnes, Frank C. (2006) “505 Gibbs” Cartridges of the World 11th Ed.Iola WI. Skinner p. 403

External links

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120310111053/http://www.huntnetwork.net/modules/wfsection/html/Ahcurrent%20African%20Cartridges%20The.505%20Gibbs.pdf Current African Cartridges: the .505 Gibbs * gibbsgunmakers.com {{DEFAULTSORT:505 Pistol and rifle cartridges British firearm cartridges George Gibbs cartridges