Thanks Gary. For the record, the only snub I have is a 360PD. I do like shroud length heavy revolvers, and have a number of them.
The other guns are customs for guys by Jack Huntington Advanced Gunsmithing.
I was in the shop, and took the pictures. The one I've shot is this one:
It went 950 fps with a 440 grain cast, and around 1250 fps with a 430 grain cast lfn, in .500JRH, a shortened 500 S&W.
Recoil was NOT a problem. The gun is HEAVY.
The top gun is a 50-110, which is WAY too much. The next gun maybe owned by SharplyDressedMan, but with different grips now.
Another fun one was what SK had commissioned after the 50-110:
A very light, custom .500JRH. Think it weighed 35 oz:
This gun is known as Hellboy. Heck of a compact hog gun with 440 grain bullets at 950 fps. All of these are in the near 2000 dollar or more range, and, pretty much one guy has them done, shows them to his friends, they buy them, and he trys something else.
My point in this is the wadcutter can be a GREAT self-defense load in a snub,
and, it's gunweight that determines recoil. A .50 Caliber Ma Duece doesn't recoil much at all, when it's connected to an Abrahms tank.
By the way: when the bullets get over 350 grains, they provide enough resistance so the velocity loss is minimal, out of a short barrel, because the powder, even a fairly slow powder, will burn completely with the bullet providing resistance.
I recently had some .475 Linebaugh loaded for my FA 83. 275 grain HPs went 1560 fps, with a light load, read bottom of the loading table. 325 grain flat points went 1475 or there abouts, but the reduction in noise and blast was huge. The powder, same powder, near the same charge, was burning in the gun, not making it out the barrel.
So, you can get a 440 grain bullet going 950 fps out of a 2" barrel, when that is the spec for the round. Adding barrel length will NOT increase velocity.