50-90 was introduced in 1872 at the peak of the bison hunting, or massacre I should say....... it is .510 caliber and 2.5 inch case and became known as the "Big Fifty" in those days.
I love big bore guns. It is extremely difficult for me to get any interest at all in bore size less than 458 caliber. I have to work at it. There are some small bore we like, mostly because of the
platform and the intended use of, such as 223 and a few various .308 caliber cartridges, these have utility and a purpose. I have some 338s and 358s that are great medium caliber cartridges, but it is only after you cross that .45 caliber threshold that I truly get very interested in........Recently I discovered 450 Bushmaster, and adding bullet tech to this cartridge has really enhanced it to another
level. Another friend of mine in TX decided to sell his Rossi Puma 454, this being a `16 inch gun, I did not hesitate to get it on the way, should have it in hand in a week or two............
A friend of mine decided to sell some of his rifles, a 458 B&M, 50 B&M, and this 50-90 Ruger #1. The big rimmed 2.5 inch .510 caliber cartridge caught my attention, and I love single shots as well, both Ruger #1s and Winchester 1885s......... I could not pass the 50-90 up.
50-90 was designed in the day of big lead bullets and velocities of 1500-1700 fps or so, 600 gr Lead bullets was the bullet tech of the time.............. From days gone by, I have several hundred big 500-535 gr Cast Performance bullets on the shelf, I might play with those some and have some easy light shooting at or around 1500 fps or so.............. But, my goal is to up the game in this rifle with Bullet Tech. We have 510 gr CEB Solids and its matching 475 gr Raptors, these would be very effective at 2200 fps or so, but of course there is no data on such, so I will have to make my own data. But have a good start with some ideas I will bring over from the 500 B&M, another 2.5 inch case, but RUM and .500 caliber designed for Winchester M70s........... Should not be much of an issue if I can get time to spend on the range with it..........
I am sure it is hard for most of you to relate these cartridges, most have never seen a 50 B&M Alaskan or 500 B&M, so this morning I took some quick photos that maybe you can relate to a little more........
And here is the gun, it sports a 24 inch barrel, which is a little long for my taste...... I think I also need to do something with the sight system as well...........but the blue job on this gun was done by Brian at SSK Industries, and it is incredible...........
I love big bore guns. It is extremely difficult for me to get any interest at all in bore size less than 458 caliber. I have to work at it. There are some small bore we like, mostly because of the
platform and the intended use of, such as 223 and a few various .308 caliber cartridges, these have utility and a purpose. I have some 338s and 358s that are great medium caliber cartridges, but it is only after you cross that .45 caliber threshold that I truly get very interested in........Recently I discovered 450 Bushmaster, and adding bullet tech to this cartridge has really enhanced it to another
level. Another friend of mine in TX decided to sell his Rossi Puma 454, this being a `16 inch gun, I did not hesitate to get it on the way, should have it in hand in a week or two............
A friend of mine decided to sell some of his rifles, a 458 B&M, 50 B&M, and this 50-90 Ruger #1. The big rimmed 2.5 inch .510 caliber cartridge caught my attention, and I love single shots as well, both Ruger #1s and Winchester 1885s......... I could not pass the 50-90 up.
50-90 was designed in the day of big lead bullets and velocities of 1500-1700 fps or so, 600 gr Lead bullets was the bullet tech of the time.............. From days gone by, I have several hundred big 500-535 gr Cast Performance bullets on the shelf, I might play with those some and have some easy light shooting at or around 1500 fps or so.............. But, my goal is to up the game in this rifle with Bullet Tech. We have 510 gr CEB Solids and its matching 475 gr Raptors, these would be very effective at 2200 fps or so, but of course there is no data on such, so I will have to make my own data. But have a good start with some ideas I will bring over from the 500 B&M, another 2.5 inch case, but RUM and .500 caliber designed for Winchester M70s........... Should not be much of an issue if I can get time to spend on the range with it..........
I am sure it is hard for most of you to relate these cartridges, most have never seen a 50 B&M Alaskan or 500 B&M, so this morning I took some quick photos that maybe you can relate to a little more........
And here is the gun, it sports a 24 inch barrel, which is a little long for my taste...... I think I also need to do something with the sight system as well...........but the blue job on this gun was done by Brian at SSK Industries, and it is incredible...........