Help me pick a Magnum

[MachIVshooter]

the 454 is nice "no mas" the 460 will shoot 454 and give you the room to grow or shoot 45lc which is no pansy round itself. Little extra heft is good on the big boys.

Seems he is looking for a backpacking handgun, not a stockless rifle. At well over a foot long and more than 5 pounds, the .460 is not what I would call a good "pack gun". It is a hunting handgun, plain and simple. I like them, but they are heavy and< I think< would be quite unweildy to use in a defensive situation. If the bear is on top of you, you might be able to draw a Ruger SRH Alaskan. The .460 XVR? No way.

The SRH Alaskan was specifically designed to meet the needs of a defensive handgun in areas with dangerous animals and, IMO, is the best option.

 

[Marshall]

If you think a 44 Magnum is too much for me what then shall I buy?

Whomever made you feel or think this is the case is wrong. If you're shooting a GP-100 now, you'll have no problems with a .44Mag. You might even like it better.

 

[fisherman66]

Seems he is looking for a backpacking handgun, not a stockless rifle. At well over a foot long and more than 5 pounds, the .460 is not what I would call a good "pack gun". It is a hunting handgun, plain and simple. I like them, but they are heavy and< I think< would be quite unweildy to use in a defensive situation. If the bear is on top of you, you might be able to draw a Ruger SRH Alaskan. The .460 XVR? No way.

Hacksaw?

I agree (grudingly), but there should be some mountain gun style of the 460. I doubt many would shoot 460 rounds often, but I bet they would be carried into the field.

 

[Marshall]

They have a 6 1/2" .460 XVR, still a long gun.

 

[imas]

That 460 just doesn't look right at all. It almost looks like the barrel was photoshopped on there.

 

[Stainz]

The .460 is a faster cartridge than the .454 - by design. S&W heralded it's super, well over 2,000 fps design. The long - and slow rifling - is best in a longer, ie rifle-like, barrel. Whether it will live up to it's higher speed rating is a question for time to answer. The .454 isn't quite as fast, and generally is heavier. The most KE I regularly shot from my 7.5" .454 SRH was from the 240gr 2,000 fps Hornady XTP's, which were also the lightest bullets I shot. They actually derated them for a while, but increased them back to 2,000 fps in the last few years. I chrono-ed them from my SRH and measured 1,985 fps with a low +/-12 fps SD. At that, they had a muzzle KE of 2,096 ft-lb - not up to the 2,600 ft-lb of the new S&W .500 Magnum, of course.

Ruger announced their 'Alaskans', in both .454 and .480 Ruger, this year. While the .454 is around - including the one a friend of mine bought and 'let' me shoot earlier this year, the .480 Ruger doesn't seem to be in the stores quite yet. It may just be the better choice. I have heard that penetration is important - but so is a large meplate and bullet mass. In fact, the higher velocity .454's and .460's may just be too fast. This may give the nod to the .480 Ruger - actually, just a shortened case .475 Linebaugh. Sure, only 'dedicated' gun shops will have .480 Ruger - probably fewer than would have the .460's, too. The full sized .480 Ruger SRH is heralded as having a less brisk recoil than the .454 version. It may just be the ideal choice for you as close-in protection against big critters - when it becomes available.

Meanwhile, you can't beat the S&W 629 Mountain Gun for all-but-the-biggest critters... a good choice. Mine is forever a .44 Special & Russian revolver. I just got my new 6" 629 half-lug back from S&W. It weighs ~6 oz more than the MG, but should be easier to shoot well with hotter rounds - especially with my .500 Magnum-style grips on it.

Stainz

 

[Marshall]

Agreed, the Mountain Gun is tough to beat.

 

[MachIVshooter]

Hacksaw?

I agree (grudingly), but there should be some mountain gun style of the 460. I doubt many would shoot 460 rounds often, but I bet they would be carried into the field.

Won't work. The .460 uses gain-twist rifling, which means that shortening the barrel will compriomise it's ability to stabilize bullets.

That 460 just doesn't look right at all. It almost looks like the barrel was photoshopped on there.

Agreed. The S&W PC guns are completely bead blast, not just the tube. And my understanding after talking to S&W directly was that there will be no .460 with a shorter barrel than the standard model. Besides which, it would completely defeat the purpose of the gun.

The full sized .480 Ruger SRH is heralded as having a less brisk recoil than the .454 version.

IT also has considerably less power. The .480 was designed to split the difference in both energy and recoil between the .44 mag and .454. In actual shooting, it ends up being much closer to he .44 mag, with energy levels between 1,300 and 1,400 ft. lbs form a 7.5" SRH. The .454 can exceed 2,000 ft/lbs from the same length tube. The .480 is more like a wheelgun version of the .50 AE, though the .50 can develop up to 20% more energy, even from a 6" barrel.