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.460 S&W or .500 S&W

12K views 24 replies 12 participants last post by  Kilibreaux 
#1 ·
I watched a Video of the .500 S&W, and the Shooter, with larger hands than mine, about 6' 4" maybe tall handled it with ease though he commented about pain in the web of his hand, from recoil.
The velocity is good. He hit a steel target at about 75 yards maybe 100, just a little right and little low.
Hit a thick book dead center and penetrated about2100 pages total, disintegrated bullet from pg 1400 to 2100. Perhaps 6 inches of hard wood would be comparable.
However the .460 looks like the better deal with higher velocity and ability to handle .45 Colt, .454 Casull, and .460.
I don't like the Hillary hole safety on the S&W, nor was the fit especially great.
Ruger only offers the .480 not the .460 or the .500. I guess S&W holds patent and won't license other makes in the calibers.
Are there any other Brands still available?
I would favor porting over more length and weight off a compensater.
Then....I shot a .350grain bear load .45 in my older Vaquero, that near wrecked both hands but the gun handles the load fine.
Then the .44 Ruger, with 300 grain Hornady over 1400 fps, seated to the first cannelure o three, on the bullet.
Would an older Colt .45 Ruger Vaquero in 7 in barrel, ported, help the equation any?It would be lighter but no adjustable sight and a rubber or padded grip might not be available.
 
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#2 ·
@tinbucket
I shot a friend's Rugers 454 today. The first shot had me unawares. It was fun, I let my elbows serve as pivots and that wasn't so bad, as long as you didn't get smacked in the face. I think I'll stick to 45LC.
 
#4 ·
first off, comparing the 500 S&W to the 460 S&W, looking at the ballistics, the 460 generates much higher velocity and muzzle energy than the 500. and yes it has the ability to use lighter recoiling rounds than the 500 does.

large hands do not really have a lot to do with controlling recoil. i have seen petite women shoot the 460 and the 500 with great ease in controlling the recoil and able to hit accurately. how well the grips fit your hand are big factor in helping tame the recoil, and the ability to handle the stouter recoiling rounds.

the 454 Casull is like a very hot 44 Magnum on steroids, and the 460 S&W is like a very hot 454 Casull on super steroids. there really isn't much of a comparison from the 45 Colt to the 460 S&W.

if you had a problems with recoil with a hot 45 Colt load, then trying to step up to the 454 Casull and the 460 S&W might not be a very wise choice.

ported barrels do help to some degree, but so does overall weight. so you would have to decide which would be a better trade-off for you. but when stepping up to rounds like the 454 Casull, the 460 S&W and the 500 S&W, a ported barrel is only going to help to some degree. these are very stout recoiling rounds. i can't tell a huge difference between my two 44 Magnum pistols as far a recoil. one is ported the other not, but weighs a bit more than the ported one.

and the 480 Ruger? if i'm not mistaken, i think Ruger has discontinued that cartridge. but not 100% sure of that though.
 
#5 ·
I own a S&W 460...love that gun, and you learn how to control it . It's all in the arms a shock absorbers.
It is like 454 on super steroids, much better for long distance( great accuracy at 200yrds) and for hunting purposes than the S&W 500.

I have also shot my buddies 500 ,4" barrel a lot...love that thing also, but I'll take the accuracy, velocity, and versatility of the 460.

In the 460 you can shoot 454, and 45LC.
Here's my 460
Revolver Air gun Trigger Gun barrel Gun accessory

My grandson shoots it..
Shoulder Smile Sleeve Gesture Jersey


This is the fireball/muzzle flash of that S&W 500 ,4" ...
I consider it a novelty gun...
Hat Baseball cap Recreation Cap Shooting range


Jim
 
#8 ·
In either caliber, I'd recommend the BFR from Magnum Research. The S&W's will not go more than a couple hundred rounds without repair. My S&W 500 was out of time after 190 rounds. After S&W repaired it under warranty, I sold it. Same with the S&W 460 - it went 240 rounds of 460 & 454 ammo, then it wouldn't index all the way to the next chamber. And that removeable compensator flew off the gun every few rounds.
 
#12 ·
In either caliber, I'd recommend the BFR from Magnum Research. The S&W's will not go more than a couple hundred rounds without repair. My S&W 500 was out of time after 190 rounds. After S&W repaired it under warranty, I sold it. Same with the S&W 460 - it went 240 rounds of 460 & 454 ammo, then it wouldn't index all the way to the next chamber. And that removeable compensator flew off the gun every few rounds.
I also have a 460 and the indexing happened to me also but it was the ejector rod that was unscrewing itself with the repeated blasts, and it even prevented the hammer to be cocked. It was getting annoying till I brought a pair of pliers and screwed it tight during a range session, but now I can't unscrew it for cleaning :p.

Although the compensator can be screwed either from left or right, there's only one side that will lock it in place. It's my favorite gun. I also reload my rounds for it. I shoot around 20-460 and close to 50- 454's every time I bring it, it's an awesome gun.

 
#13 ·
I also have a 460 and the indexing happened to me also but it was the ejector rod that was unscrewing itself with the repeated blasts, and it even prevented the hammer to be cocked. It was getting annoying till I brought a pair of pliers and screwed it tight during a range session, but now I can't unscrew it for cleaning :p.

Although the compensator can be screwed either from left or right, there's only one side that will lock it in place. It's my favorite gun. I also reload my rounds for it. I shoot around 20-460 and close to 50- 454's every time I bring it, it's an awesome gun.

In both of my guns, the invoices from S&W said, "Replaced hand, adjusted timing."
 
#14 ·
Man, you really had a string of bad luck then, aside from the occasional reports of one of those guns blowing up (barrel separating from the frame) it's the first time that I've heard of those problems, but I guess s** happens. I must've shot no less than 500 454's with it and a few hundred 460. 80 of those (my first 4 boxes) were those Hornady's 200 grs. then I started reloading them.
 
#19 ·
The 500 mag, had several different rounds available for it. From mild to punishing.
Pretty much like any heavy caliber revolver.
Which is why when you get either one of those you better get a set of dies for it too. The 460 has a range of rounds already made for it, but if you reload for your .500 you have even more play, cause there are more different bullet weight for the 500 than the 460. up to 700 Gr. if I'm not mistaken and powder is as much or as little as you want depending on the recipe
 
#20 ·
sad to say, there are guns in certain cartridges that unless you have really deep pockets and can afford the ammo, or reload, then it's better to just pass on by and let someone else buy them that can afford them.

i have seen too many people in the past buy guns that they couldn't afford to shoot, because they didn't reload or could afford the ammo for them. so many times the gun either got resold, or sat in the safe going unused. shameful.
 
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#21 · (Edited)
I saw at least 2 guys with .500 at the range who bought the gun just because, they're all smiles when they take it out of the case but when I talk to them I learn that they shoot a cylinder once in a blue moon with them so I asked why don't you reload? they go nah, it's too expensive to buy the whole stuff for it. When you think that once the initial "investment" amount is spent (including brass) it will cost you a little less than 50 cents for your bullet, the usual nickel for your primer and maybe 15 cents for powder. For the thrill of shooting those man, it's worth every penny. Same for the 460.

Edit: this is what I shoot on an average range day from lower left to upper right 460 mag, 454's, 357, .45 and 9mm I reload everything:p
 
#22 ·
i have seen it for many years now. people just see something in the gun store, and just have to have it. well far be for me to tell people what they should or shouldn't buy in firearms. and i have made the same mistake many years ago, buying guns that i couldn't afford to shoot because of the price of the ammo.

for many years i didn't reload because i had children and other things that took priority. but i had been around reloading with my father for many years, and i even had much of the equipment to reload, but just didn't have the time to devote to doing it many years ago once i had a family and was out of town working all the time. then add in becoming a single father, and spare time for things i wanted to do completely disappeared. and the few rare times i had some rare free time to go shooting, it was much easier and time wise to buy ammo than to reload.

for the last twenty five years, i have had much more time and things became much more stable and the children got a little more able to fend for themselves so i could devote the time and energy into reloading.

so i'm more apt to buy guns now that years ago, i might have passed by because of expensive factory ammo. and yes, the initial cost of reloading is what many look at and decide they think it's too expensive of hobby to get into. but as long as i can get the dies and components, i'm going to reload.
 
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#23 ·
Yep, some things take precedence over less important things, family is far more important which is why I always say retirement (or the age of) is the best job I ever had, not only cause you don't have to get up in the morning, but it's the time when you finally think of you first.
 
#24 ·
I watched a Video of the .500 S&W, and the Shooter, with larger hands than mine, about 6' 4" maybe tall handled it with ease though he commented about pain in the web of his hand, from recoil.
The velocity is good. He hit a steel target at about 75 yards maybe 100, just a little right and little low.
Hit a thick book dead center and penetrated about2100 pages total, disintegrated bullet from pg 1400 to 2100. Perhaps 6 inches of hard wood would be comparable.
However the .460 looks like the better deal with higher velocity and ability to handle .45 Colt, .454 Casull, and .460.
I don't like the Hillary hole safety on the S&W, nor was the fit especially great.
Ruger only offers the .480 not the .460 or the .500. I guess S&W holds patent and won't license other makes in the calibers.
Are there any other Brands still available?
I would favor porting over more length and weight off a compensater.
Then....I shot a .350grain bear load .45 in my older Vaquero, that near wrecked both hands but the gun handles the load fine.
Then the .44 Ruger, with 300 grain Hornady over 1400 fps, seated to the first cannelure o three, on the bullet.
Would an older Colt .45 Ruger Vaquero in 7 in barrel, ported, help the equation any?It would be lighter but no adjustable sight and a rubber or padded grip might not be available.
Well, I own or have owned one of each over the years and I can tell you, the S&W 500 4" would the "If I Could Only Have One" big-bore handgun. Reason? Because even with a 3" barrel and an inch of highly efficient compensator, it out-powers everything else out there in a 57 ounce package that can indeed be belt carried.
No, unlike the .460 S&W one cannot load it with all sorts of lesser power loads, however there is quite a bit of variation in lesser power factory loads. In fact, I don't think anyone is actually loading the .500 S&W to "maximum" power simply because it's so much overkill.
As for "kick" sure the .500 kicks...but it kicks a lot less than any .44 Magnum non-comp'd or .454/.480 sans compensator.

The key with the .500 is to load your own...50 empty Starline brass won't set you back much and will probably last for the lifetime of the gun considering how often you'll shoot REAL power loads. If you choose to do mid-range power then the cases will probably last forever. I have some 380 grain hard cast slugs atop Hodgdon Lil'gun that exceed 2,000 lb-ft of KE....from my 4"barrel, and they are NOT loaded as high as possible, only as high as reasonably "needed" all things considered.
About the heaviest one ever "needs" to go is 440 grains...over an ounce of hard cast lead, and even the short barrel will sling it out faster than the .44 Magnum does with a 240 grain slug!

Now, if one simply can't get behind the mighty .500, then of course the next choice "down" is the .460 S&W 5" barrel for general field carry. It will of course chamber weakling .45 Colt factory loads, .454 Casull "mid-range" loads, and of course .460 loads from mild to wild, as well as hand loads.

As for the "Hillary hole," the true negative on that is about 99.99999% BS internet yap, and 0.000001% real concern. If one has serious issues with it, simply remove the entire apparatus and plug the hole, or, like MOST of the world simply shoot the gun and forget about it.
 
#25 ·
BTW, one more "little secret" about compensated handguns. They work BEST with higher power loads, specifically those with larger powder charges. What this means is that shooting slow-moving, lower powder charge loads will actually kick harder than lighter bullets moving fast, ahead of large powder weights.
THIS is why the 700 grain slugs - aside from being completely ridiculous, deliver such vicious recoil while moving at slow speed, delivering modest kinetic energy. A faster-moving one-ounce slug, delivering greater KE will kick less because the compensator is working at higher efficiency.
 
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