S&W 500 and 50 AE Performance

[Crazy Uncle Al Gore]

I'm trying to decide if I should procure and equip my three man rapid response team with S&W 500 or 50 AE. I was wondering if anybody has any experience in using them. My main questions are: 1.) How do they compare to more common rounds, and 2.) How do they perform in ballistic gelatin.

*I'm just kidding about the mall ninja thing .

 

[MachIVshooter]

I'm just kidding about the mall ninja thing

You almost had me goin' there.

Can't help you with the ballistic gel, but they are the #1 and #3 rounds in terms of ft/lbs (The .50 AE is really tied with the .454 Casull for the #3 slot). #2 is taken by the .460 XVR.

You have the .500 developing ~2,600 ft/lbs from an 8" revolver, and the .50 AE will get a bit over 1,600 ft/lbs from a 6" Desert Eagle with top loads. In other words, about 6.5 and 4 times the power of a .45 ACP.

Recoil in the .500 Ranges from moderate with the lighter bullets to downright punishing with 600 grain hard casts.

The .50 AE has a much narrower range of bullet weights, and the Desert Eagle does a good job of making recoil manageable. It's still heavy, but not sharp.

Either round is certainly capable of dispatching any creature on the North American continent.

 

[jgo296]

the 500mag has taken elephant with one shot
that ought to be good enough for the gelatin portion

 

[ClemY]

The .50 AE is what you get when you load down the .500 S&W.

 

[Markbo]

I love recoil. I just love it. Having said that, my 8 3/8" .500 S&W is the only handgun I have ever fired in my life that bruised my hand. For that much power I am a much bigger fan of the .475 & .500 Linebaugh rounds in Single action pistols. There is nothing that walks on this planet that has not and would not succumb to either of these fine rounds.

Now a .460 S&W with the Hornady pointy bullet loads is just impressive.... to the one holding the gun and everyone else on the firing line! It is just a big danged revolver to lug around.