S&W 500

[Dougw1515]

Local Cabela's has one. Kinna interested in it. Anyone have one and can tell me anything about it besides it's a handful and cost a lot to shoot?

 

[TreyG-20]

Local Cabela's has one. Kinna interested in it. Anyone have one and can tell me anything about it besides it's a handful and cost a lot to shoot?

I had one, a 6.5" model for about a year. Shot it 3 times for a total of 60 rounds. Fun, but no real practical use I could think of so I traded it. It’s quite a chunk of a handcannon.

 

[candcallen]

You can shoot RPGs out of the sky with it.

 

[Dawico]

Local Cabela's has one. Kinna interested in it. Anyone have one and can tell me anything about it besides it's a handful and cost a lot to shoot?

Had one. Quite the range attraction. I swap a lot so it went down the road.

It was fun but found something I wanted more.

I hope you reload because damn!

I own a 460 now. For all intents and purposes it's about the same with the ability to shoot 45 Autorim (ACP), 45 Colt and 454 Casull.

 

[Mills]

 

[Dougw1515]

Eggg'zakly what I'm'a fearin'! LOL... Not really looking for any S&W 500 tattoos.

And I don't reload - yet. Maybe never if supplies remain as they are.

 

[oldag]

Have a Ruger 480 snubbie.

A real blast to shoot.

Good for hiking in bear country.

 

[Dougw1515]

Hornady 300g FTX $4.60rd. There is some Magtech 325g for $2.60rd. Yikes!

 

[Maverick44]

Yeah, you probably want to reload if you want to get into shooting the "super magnums". They're not cheap. If you get the 500, I have two suggestions. The first would be to only load a single round in the cylinder and shoot it like that until you have a good feel for the recoil and can control it. There has been at least one fatality caused by the gun recoiling heavily and firing a second shot unintentionally. The bullet went through the shooter's head.

The second suggestion would be to shoot 500 JRH through it. It's a far more "reasonable" round than 500 Mag. It's basically the "special" version of the round. Don't take that to mean that it's a light round. It'll still hurt you if you don't give it respect.

 

[Mills]

Not no but F no.

 

[Geezer]

My buddy has a 4 inch S&W 500. He brings it out for anyone that wants to shoot it. In my opinion, unless you're hunting with it, it's just a novelty item. Recoil is manageable once you learn to let the gun have it's way and not to try to hold it steady.
To me, another buddy's Ruger in 454 Casull is much more violent in recoil.

 

[Dougw1515]

Yeah, you probably want to reload if you want to get into shooting the "super magnums". They're not cheap. If you get the 500, I would make two suggestions. The first would be to only load a single round in the cylinder and shoot it like that until you have a good feel for the recoils and can control it. There has been at least one fatality caused by the gun recoiling heavily and firing a second shot unintentionally. The bullet went through the shooter's head.

The second suggestion would be to shoot 500 JRH through it. It's a far more "reasonable" round than 500 Mag. It's basically the "special" version of the round. Don't take that to mean that it's a light round. It'll still hurt you if you don't give it respect.

Yeah... I think for now I'm gonna let it stay in the display case at Cabela's. Not being a glutton for punishment nor filty rich that seems like the prudent thing to do.

 

[Maverick44]

Yeah... I think for now I'm gonna let it stay in the display case at Cabela's. Not being a glutton for punishment nor filty rich that seems like the prudent thing to do.

I don't mean to scare you off from owning a super magnum. They really are great guns and can be a lot of fun if you know how to handle them. I don't know your experience with magnums, but if you don't have one, I'd recommend picking up a 44 mag before venturing into super mag territory. The ammo is far cheaper (cheaper, but still not cheap) and more readily available, and it will teach you how to handle heavy recoil. The next step up from that into the super mag territory would probably be the 480 Ruger or the 454 Casull. It's my opinion that for 99.99% of practical uses, these are really all you would need. The 480 is the more "gentle" of the two and is considered by many to be the most powerful round you can shoot with a reasonable level of comfort. It's a 420gr bullet at around 1200 FPS, so it's no slouch. The 454 is more powerful, and pretty snappy too. Recoil can be harsh as a result. Ammo is probably easier to find for it, and you can always shoot hot 45 Colt ammo in it if you don't want to shoot the 454 level stuff.

There's no reason to pick a fight with the biggest, meanest guy in the yard on your first day unless you just want to.

 

[Axxe55]

From a an owner and shooter's standpoint, they are very expensive to shoot, unless you reload. Factory ammo was expensive before all the ammo rices went up, and I doubt they got any cheaper.

Unless you have experience shooting large bore handguns, they are a handful for sure and to be honest, not for beginners either. They can literally hurt you if you aren't careful. Split eyebrows, fractured wrists, torn muscles or ligaments in the hands and wrists.

 

[Dougw1515]

I don't mean to scare you off from owning a super magnum. They really are great guns and can be a lot of fun if you know how to handle them. I don't know your experience with magnums, but if you don't have one, I'd recommend picking up a 44 mag before venturing into super mag territory. The ammo is far cheaper (cheaper, but still not cheap) and more readily available, and it will teach you how to handle heavy recoil. The next step up from that into the super mag territory would probably be the 480 Ruger or the 454 Casull. It's my opinion that for 99.99% of practical uses, these are really all you would need. The 480 is the more "gentle" of the two and is considered by many to be the most powerful round you can shoot with a reasonable level of comfort. It's a 420gr bullet at around 1200 FPS, so it's no slouch. The 454 is more powerful, and pretty snappy too. Recoil can be harsh as a result. Ammo is probably easier to find for it, and you can always shoot hot 45 Colt ammo in it if you don't want to shoot the 454 level stuff.

There's no reason to pick a fight with the biggest, meanest guy in the yard on your first day unless you just want to.

Got ZERO experience with magnum hand guns. shot a 357 back in the 70's once or twice but that's it. I shot 6 rounds outta Moonpies 10mm revolver wit a 1/2" barrel . That hurt my support hand more than the primary.

Point of all of this. My thought is if I get used to something larger than a 9mm it will probably make me more proficient with the 9mm. So might start looking at a 10mm or a 357. That would be a more natural progression up - right?

 

[ZX9RCAM]

Just shoot your 9mm more.
Maybe find an instructor.

 

[Axxe55]

Got ZERO experience with magnum hand guns. shot a 357 back in the 70's once or twice but that's it. I shot 6 rounds outta Moonpies 10mm revolver wit a 1/2" barrel . That hurt my support hand more than the primary.

Point of all of this. My thought is if I get used to something larger than a 9mm it will probably make me more proficient with the 9mm. So might start looking at a 10mm or a 357. That would be a more natural progression up - right?

Honestly, 357 and even the 10mm are tame in comparison to even the 44 Magnum. My hotter 44 Special loads are pretty close to 357 Magnum loads. The 500 S&W is almost three times the energy levels of the 44 Magnum. Even the 454 Casull is almost twice the energy level of the 44.

Unless you reload, most of the factory 10mm ammo is pretty tame and pretty close to hot 9mm ammo.

For most people, large bore pistols are for hunting, target shooting and plinking. There really isn't much about shooting them that translates or relates to self defense shooting practice IMO.

Like my compadre Maverick, I'm not going to try and discourage you from buying a large bore magnum pistol, just that I want you to know what you are getting into, and know what to expect. Mt father told me a story years ago, that happened back in the mid to late 1970s', about many 44 Magnums getting sold after being shot only a few times. Seems like "Dirty Harry" sold a lot of them for S&W, but once people started actually shooting them, they were not as fun to shoot as many thought they would be! He said you could buy barely used 44 Magnums fairly cheap back then.

 

[Axxe55]

Doug, IF you are serious about stepping into the shooting world of larger bore magnum pistols, let me pass on some suggestions to help you decide to go that route, or make that transition into them.

I'd start with a nice 44 Magnum revolver. You can start with 44 Specials and also shoot the hotter Magnum loads as well. Great starting point. Shoot it and learn how to shoot it. Then decide if you want to progress to a larger bore.

IMO, how well the pistol fits your hand is way more critical than most semi-auto pistols. Grips are crucial to being able to help you control recoil, and can make a huge difference whether the shooting session is enjoyable, or painful. Shooting style changes as well. Most people have to shoot them two handed to be able to hit accurately and to help with recoil management. Also be aware of cylinder gap blast as well when shooting two handed. On the larger magnums, there is enough to actually cut through skin, muscle and bone! Seriously!

As I said, there isn't really much that relates to self defense shooting practice, but they can be lots of fun to shoot and plink with. I have been shooting large bores for over forty something years. I still enjoy them and I'm looking to step up now to my own 454 Casull. I have shot those, and a friend's 460 and 500 S&W Magnums and enjoyed them a lot, and have wanted to own my own for a few years now.

 

[SQLGeek]

If you're just wanting something with more oomph, I'd go with a pistola in 10mm fed with Sig 10mm. 180 gr running at 1250 fps is no slouch and it seems you can still find it at Academy. Ours regularly has it stocked.

 

[Maverick44]

If you're wanting to just get better at shooting 9mm, then you can shoot a LOT of 9mm for the cost of any of these big bore revolvers and a few boxes of ammo to go with them. 9mm doesn't really recoil enough that you'd need the same level of recoil control as you'd need even with a 357 mag, and I am not entirely sure those skills would even translate the way you are wanting them to. The way to get good at shooting is to shoot a LOT.

Now, I still think you'd find some enjoyment in a magnum round. 357 mag is pretty fun to shoot, and it won't leave you sore after a day of shooting provided you shoot it in a reasonably heavy gun (not a lightweight stubnose). The same goes for 10mm.

44 mag is a pretty good step up, but it's a incredibly versatile round. 44 Special is roughly equivalent to 45 ACP, and can be loaded past 357 Mag levels in the right gun. 44 mag can be loaded from mild to wild. Most factory ammo is on the more mild side, though you can get the hot stuff from a few places. I think Cor-Bon and Buffalo Bore both offer full powered 44 mag loads. This is why it's my favorite round. There's a very wide scope of what it can do. It's a beast out of a rifle too. One of my loads will push a 200gr bullet out of a 20" barrel at just over 2000 FPS.