Fired my S&W .500 today for the first time and I want to say

It was fun! After much talking and agonizing about barrel length, muzzle velocity etc, etc I chose the custom shop compensated hunter with 6.5 inch barrel which is the longest barrel that seems to draw, point, and handle well. After a month of carrying it around the house (unloaded of course) and drawing and targeting stuff, drawing on the big screen TV daily, it feels really good in my hand.

All the talk about wearing a crash helmet and damaging ones wrist did not materialize. I found the "kick" to be similar to a snub .44 with hot mags and with the 360 compensator found the gun to push straight back more that want to rotate up (which IMO is what is hard on the wrist) like the freedom arms 454's do.

It was fun to shoot. Granted I am a large person and effects my experience with the gun but I really liked it.

I didn't shoot a lot but I shot 20 hornady 500 grain bullets. Per the box 1430 FPS at the muzzle. That is pretty insane! These were the most stout. I also shot 12 275gr CORBON DPX at 1665 FPS...they are not kidding these penetrated like crazy on the wood, phonebooks and metal plate I brought out. These were really comfortable to shoot.

.50 specials were really nice while putting out around 1100 ft/lbs of energy. I think this is a great round, very comfortable.

So I am surprised to see a lot of negativity about the .500 on the board. Other than being expensive to shoot it is a new classic IMO. My brother in law reloads and the idea is that with this gun you can do so much. Load to whatever specs you like, light for boar, full strength for a protection gun when in bear country.

Not a light pistol, but with a good belly holster still more free and easy than a rifle.

IMO after experiencing the terror of being close to a grizzly, you can NEVER have too much gun. From years of working with LEO's and in hospitals it seems that caliber is what drops people. (how many guys get hit over and over with 9mm and keep going where one 45 creates a huge numb area, disrupts hemodynamics and drops them) so I cannot help but generalize this to other animals and assume this is the best stopper in a "small" package, and why I chose it over the 460 (that and also the fact that .50 gets more out of a shorter barrel and the barrel recalls were a concern)

thanks for reading, welcome any comments

Thanks for reading, welcom any comments

 

I love my 500, it is hands down my favorite gun to shoot!! I have a light target load of Trail Boss under Berry's plated bullets that I can shoot all day long and it's a real tack driver!!

I use Lil-Gun for the full house loads with Hornady, CPB, and Remington bullets. With those I'm good for about 25 shots or so before I'm worn out!! I start to get a pretty good bruise in the web of my hand between the thumb and pointy finger where the backstrap of the revolver rests against my hand. But that big blast is so much fun that it's totally worth it!!

For a hell of a good time try shooting some cinder blocks with your big loads, it blows them to hell!!!

 

Hello Shawn and good to hear your having fun with it. I don't think the gun gets bashed here because of its attributes. The negative responses come when someone tries to use this gun outside it's intended purpose perhaps. I'm currently looking at the Ruger Redhawk 44 Mag Alasken. Reasons are........... I want an Alasken . I expect the recoil to be slightly greater than my New Model Super Blackhawk Hunter in 44mag due to its lighter weight and shorter barrel but I know what to expect. When it comes to the 500 I've read articles by acclaimed gun authors that the recoil is 3 times greater than a 44 mag. I believe it when you talk about the 500 gr Hornady at 1430fps. You have bigger nuts than me. Good luck to you.

 

Love the Alaskan

I cant tell you why, but the Alaskan is the meanest, coolest looking gun I have every seen in peson, it just feels like a vault. While I made my purchase to try and cover the base the alaskan would fill, I just love to handle the thing.

I always liked the look of the unfluted cylinder (same on the .500 hunter)

Re recoil, the freedom Arms 454 with the classic wood handle is the worst gun I have ever shot in terms of flipping up in the hand and torque on the wrist.

The 50 specials seem to be a great round, I think almost anyone would enjoy shooting and 1100ft/lb out the end so it is potent though kind on the hand

I think the main proble is $$$ but I dont shoot much. So Ill skip the bottle of wine a few nights out and reload.

Coming from bowhunting experience (patient stalking), a pistol like the 500 seems great for many hunting applications. My experience hunting LONG range with a really fine scoped 7mm mag rife seemed really detached, not for me. Some may argue more humane with such percision, but there was not much there for me emotionally.

Reading about primative hunters and what they went through, I think the 500 can get the job done

Thanks for reading

 

Thanks

Ill have to get some cinder blocks for the next trip. I want to stack em up agains a 12ga slug or sabot and see what happens

 

If you don’t roll your own.
Besides the known brands, you may want to try:

http://www.magsafeonline.com/
I didn’t know about this ammo, till, author John Ross posted it.

http://www.thehuntingshack.com/catalog/wholesale/hsm/pistol/standard500sw.htm

Have not got around, trying these. Inexpensive


http://www.doubletapammo.com/php/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=21_47&products_id=170

 

I like mine too. I mostly shoot 350 grain and 500 grain bullets with either lil gun or h110. I wouldn't say it's my most fun gun to shoot, but there is a very high grin factor.