Anyone shoot a .50 Express?

[perry owens]

At the range this morning one of the new members mentioned that he had a Winchester 1886 in .50 Express for sale.I haven't seen it yet but he says it is factory lettered and the price is attractive. Naturally I am tempted but I think loading for it here in the UK might pose problems. I think I can use .50-110 brass, at equivalent of $4.50 each but can the brass be fireformed from say .348 Win? I also heard that bullets other than the correct 300grain one can cause feed problems but I can't find a 300grain 0.512 mould. Any experience or advice most welcome as I really need to be talked out of buying this piece.
Perry Owens

[shoe]

Hi Perry,

I believe the .50 Express is just another name for the .50-110 Winchester.

[kimwcook]

Everything else aside, how cool would it be to have an '86 in 50 Express. Personally I'd be willing to pay the extra coin for components. I don't think you'd be going to the range and shooting more than a handful of rounds at a time and that would probably be mostly for load development. After than well, how much fun do you want?

Buffalo Arms shows Starline brass at $1.21 each and Jamison for $1.39 each. Bullets may be the stumbling block, but if the price was right for the rifle I'd get it.

[Kansas Ed]

If my recollection is correct, the 50-110 and the 50-100-450 were the same cartridges just loaded with different bullet weights and headstamped differently. The one resource I had on this subject claimed that the rifling twists were the same. I can't say for sure, but if others can verify that here, anything from 300-500 grains should work fine.

BTW, an attractive price over here is $5K for a shooter...a nice one will fetch $20K or more.

Ed

[perry owens]

BTW, an attractive price over here is $5K for a shooter...a nice one will fetch $20K or more.
Ed

Asking price is UK£2000 (US$3110) and he claims the bore is mint. Over here antique guns chambered in the .40-XX and .50-XX calibres can be acquired without a licence so long as you don't shoot them, so they have a wider appeal to collectors and command higher prices. I would not have any trouble licencing it as my local firearms department is well used to the wierd stuff I shoot.
Perry Owens

[kimwcook]

If the rifle is all the seller says it is I'd throw my arm out of socket digging at my wallet.

[6pt-sika]

I've had a couple 1886's in 50 cal in my hands before . But when I could buy them I didn't have the capital to buy them !

Also had a very nice Winchester 1876 in 50-95 in my hands that was for sale and again I didn't have the $6500 it would have taken to bring it home with me

[JFE]

That sounds very reasonably priced for the UK, maybe too reasonably priced. I'd be looking the rifle over very carefully before laying out any money. When I lived in the UK there was a guy at the Bishop Stortford Rifle Club who had one and he used to use it quite a bit. He also had a beautiful H&H double rifle in 577 NE that I particularly fancied.

Lyman still make a mould for the 50 that should work. The ref no. is 515139 - it has a short ogive and nose shape should feed fine. Nominal weight is 330gr but from WW alloy my mould drops around 345gr. RCBS 50-450 has nose shape that should feed OK, however this weighs more and may not stabilise depending on twist rate.

The rifles for the original loading (50-110-300) had very slow twists and apparently couldnt stabilise much more than that weight. I have several 50 cal moulds including the two I mentioned. If you do buy the rifle and want some samples to check for fit and function I'd be happy to post you some.

50/110 cases can be bought from Bertram or Starline and both are well made. Cases formed from 348 Win will be too short and with formed cases available, there is no need to do that these days.

[ArcticGoose]

Perry,

I love mine! It started out as a shot-out 40-82 that a friend of mine and Turnbull converted for me. Shot a Caribou with it this last season.

I use the Starline brass only now. I have many reformed 348Win cases but have had trouble with them. First, they end up a little short (not a problem). Second, I had trouble getting my dies to work with them. The 348 Winchester brass is much thinner and I couldn't get it sized down enough to get proper neck friction (bullets almost dropped all the way into the case). The thinner case requires more powder to get the same velocity.

My 50 Ex. has a 1 in 20 twist and I have had good luck with the 450gr. +/- 50gr. bullets. An original would probably do better with the 300gr. bullets due to the slower twist.

I say go for it.

[M. M. Wright]

I had one. Barrel marking was 50 Ex and I used the 50-110 brass from starline. Bought a mold from Buffalo Arms for a 300 grain bullet and the sizer of the correct diameter. I forget the exact dimension. Tried several different ffg loads and had a great deal of fun with it. A fellow SASS shooter fancied it so we made a trade. Bet he still has it.

M. M.

[457121]

NEI has the mould, #375A. That's a .512" 300gr. gas check. I have that mould made by the now deceased Walt Melander. Most older .50 cal rifles will chamber a .515" bullet. As artic goose stated, the reformed 348 WCF brass is thin, has huge volume, and even with a .515" bullet it dosen't fit the chamber well, and dosen't work well with CH4D or RCBS dies. Don't get me wrong, it will get you up and shooting but results i found are sub par. Starline brass is the way to go.