Post by rivercane on Apr 10, 2023 22:37:36 GMT -5
About a year ago, I shared my initial work in forming .500 Wyoming Express brass from .50 Beowulf and .458 HAM'R cases. What I did not mention at the time was that I had first formed a piece from .50 AE. Foolishly, I never tested it, because I wanted the cases to be the same length as the .500 WE.
Forming .500 WE from .50 Beowulf didn't work particularly well, so I never offered it to others as an option. I ended up moving on to the .458 HAM'R, which has a less extreme rebated rim and is a more heavily constructed case than the .50 Beowulf. This resulted in a better product. However, converting the brass entailed a great deal of work: it had to be necked up, belted, inside reamed, and trimmed to length. I refined the process with time, but it was always laborious, and I ultimately scrapped a large number of cases. Plus, ballistic potential was somewhat limited, at least when compared to FA maximums. I'm not sure whether this matters to most .500 WE shooters, as recoil is quite unpleasant at those levels, but it's better to have options than not, by my thinking.
On a whim, I decided to try the .50 AE as a parent case. It stretches somewhat during the swaging process. Once belted, cases measure right at (or very close to) 1.3" (the FA specified trim length is 1.365"). I've had no issue in running the swaged brass to FA maximums (unless using bullets with greater projection, however, maximum charge weights should be adjusted to account for the somewhat shorter cartridge length). I've also refined my swaging setup with time. The belts I'm forming now are superior to my initial work.
On the whole, I'm quite pleased with the .50 AE cases as a starting point. They require no inside neck reaming or trimming. I can run my 520 gr WFNGCs through the brass without issue, though I prefer the 400-450 grain weight range for my purposes. The swaging process involves four operations, so it takes some time, but .50 AE brass is quite economical and fairly available.
Here's a video of the process. This is a photo of the end result:
Forming .500 WE from .50 Beowulf didn't work particularly well, so I never offered it to others as an option. I ended up moving on to the .458 HAM'R, which has a less extreme rebated rim and is a more heavily constructed case than the .50 Beowulf. This resulted in a better product. However, converting the brass entailed a great deal of work: it had to be necked up, belted, inside reamed, and trimmed to length. I refined the process with time, but it was always laborious, and I ultimately scrapped a large number of cases. Plus, ballistic potential was somewhat limited, at least when compared to FA maximums. I'm not sure whether this matters to most .500 WE shooters, as recoil is quite unpleasant at those levels, but it's better to have options than not, by my thinking.
On a whim, I decided to try the .50 AE as a parent case. It stretches somewhat during the swaging process. Once belted, cases measure right at (or very close to) 1.3" (the FA specified trim length is 1.365"). I've had no issue in running the swaged brass to FA maximums (unless using bullets with greater projection, however, maximum charge weights should be adjusted to account for the somewhat shorter cartridge length). I've also refined my swaging setup with time. The belts I'm forming now are superior to my initial work.
On the whole, I'm quite pleased with the .50 AE cases as a starting point. They require no inside neck reaming or trimming. I can run my 520 gr WFNGCs through the brass without issue, though I prefer the 400-450 grain weight range for my purposes. The swaging process involves four operations, so it takes some time, but .50 AE brass is quite economical and fairly available.
Here's a video of the process. This is a photo of the end result:
