Range Day for a Bison
 

Today I was checking a rifle I will hunt with. It was my WHITE BISON in .504 caliber. The rifle has a 4x32mm Simmons Pro Diamond scope. According to notes it said..

65 grains of Pyrodex RS or Triple Seven 2f and a 460 gr conical bullet. Sighted in at 35 yards. (the gun card information)



The rifle was never swabbed. I was shooting a .5045 conical made by Bull Shop Conicals. I also tried some conicals a person sent me that they wanted to see how the White handled them..

I lost count of the number of shots I took. I would guess over ten. As the box of conicals was new and now there is a top row missing. This is a good shooting close range rifle. But when I got the rifle it was abused. The barrel is in ROUGH SHAPE. But with the short 22 inch barrel, this is a good stalking rifle, other then because of the Myrtle wood stock it is kind of heavy.

I then got out the test conicals. They are 433 grain and were sized according to the maker at .501 diameter. The rifle has a .504 barrel but a .504 is tight. So I was a little concerned. I noted when loading the test conicals.. they all but fell down the barrel. That did not worry me at first. And I decided to use Pyrodex P 65 grains to test them. Now remember, I was aiming at the center bulls eye!!



Kind of a perfect keyhole there. I was shocked. I just could not believe the White threw shots like this. I checked the rings.. they were fine. I checked the rifle, they were fine. Now granted.. the Pyrodex P was down to the last few shots in the jug, and the powder is very old. But I mean.. WOW!!

So to check the rifle, I loaded some of the bull shop conicals and the Pyrodex powder..



I was aiming between the keyhole shots and fired off a number of the Bull Shop conicals.. I don't think it was the rifle. So it has to be the conical bullets they wanted tested. So the answer is... THEY ARE NOT THAT GOOD FOR ME.

I ran out of Pyrodex P finally so I moved the target back to 70 yards... I picked out a new part of the target in the lower right hand corner is a small bulls eye



I could tell the rifle was finally starting to get dirty, but even at 70 yards it shot good. I'd definitely attempt a 70 yard shot from a good rest.

The White had a MISFIRE today. I aimed, pulled the trigger and all I heard was the cap fire. I thought.. what the White failed? Checked the nipple after removing the spent cap and there was a perfect copper seal in the inside of that nipple. I picked that out, and all was back to normal.

This rifle is ready!!

That is crazy the way those conicals keyholed. Do you think it is because they were so loose? Even then I wouldn't think they would do that. Could you post a pic of the bullet?
Part of what makes that Bison so heavy is that bull barrel. I have two bisons, a .540 and a .504 and both of them shoot great. Nothing fancy about them, just a good meat and potatoes rifle.
Art

I shot them off. They sent me five of them to try.

That .540 Bison must be a bear to shoot. That would be so cool a conical that large. Does it also shoot with around 70 grains of powder?

Dave, can you believe how well a 22" barreled White can shoot??? I picked up a 504 Whitelightning a month back and I am amazed at that little rifles abiliy to shoot.

Question or thought... my 504 bore on the Umag is a smidge bigger than the 504 on the Whitelightning... a 504 Bull Shop will go right to the bottom in the umag with just the weight of the ram rod, yet the same bullet in the Lightning does require some push down the bore. So I am wondering does your Bison have a slightly tighter bore than the UMag?

Guess it really doesn't matter - I am going to send you some bullets to shoot but you do need a + sized 50 cal bore. When you get them if you would pop off a few, would like to know your results and/or thoughts...

Awesome shooting by the way...

I believe the Bison has a slightly smaller bore then my U mag. The .451 only has the short barrel and that thing is just deadly accurate. Does the Lightening have a bull barrel also?

I have found that it shoots well with 70 to 75 grains. The only thing I have shot out of it is the 535 grain No Excuse conical. You know it really doesn't push back all that hard with that load. My .504 has a laminated stock and for one reason or another that one punishes me more than the .540.

That is throwing a lot of lead. Anything it hits is in for a very bad day. One reason I often shoot the 500 grain conicals in the Ultra Mag. It just makes me feel better...

Doc talks about shooting a 750 grainer out of the Bison but I think that is a little over the top. :happy0157::happy0157::happy0157:
My .540 has the composite stock, I bedded the action in it and it seems to be a nice combination. I sanded a little off one side of the barrel channel on the muzzle end as it seemed to be pushing the barrel a little to the right. I think I need to get that rifle out again real soon. :party0005:

That is some fine shooting.