Smith and Wesson 500 snubby bear kit- lesson learned
I'm a gun guy first and foremost...by that I mean I wake up and go to sleep thinking about guns or my next gun purchase, I went to medical school (in part of course!) so I could support my gun habit...I've got 18 years military experience and counting...including the first part of my career as an SF guy (18D naturally...) I have shot a good deal of weapons over this time from all over the world. At the peak of my training I was firing 3K-5k rounds per week with 8 hr range days the norm (and a pleasure!) I have never assumed I was a master of any weapon or technique and practice basic gun safety in a stringent matter regardless of my comfort level with a particular weapon. I am certainly no name-brand gun course instructor or the like who lives on a gun range and trains our civilian or military population daily...but I THOUGHT at least I had enough experience to avoid the more common shooting mishaps. I was wrong. After a recent invitation to an Alaskan fishing trip my first thought of course was what kind of gun should I take- I found the S&W 500 bear kit within a week or so and life was good. I read all the 500 forums, etc, to include John Ross's 26 pages (PDF) on the topic, hand loads, you name it. I purchased a sample of all locally available 500 ammunition and headed to my local indoor range. Yes, the "bear kit" is great marketing, the "spec ops" knife is made in China and I already have all the survival stuff included many times over- but a bright orange waterproof case with all those items already tucked away is still better than the cheap plastic glock/FN/XD case with a few spare mags and a maybe a holster! Back to the story- I get to the range and set-up. Double hearing protection, check. Sig 220 elite dark lubed and fired (new gun, shoots great), rugar LCP (boot gun until the Rohrbaugh arrives, no problems). Now the big boy. I inspect each round of 500's I have brought and put them back on the bench. I pull the 500 snubby from the kit and re-inspect it for any possible flaws, although the gun has been dry fired a few hundred times (at least). I load 5 325gr JHP ultramax rated at 1400 FPS and take a good stance. From all the forum chatter I am a little nervous, "death grip" is an understatement, but hey, I am an experienced shooter right? I can handle this. The freak'n size of the pistol alone with its short 2 3/4 barrel makes me question whether this is really a good idea for a pistol for public release to unsuspecting "got to have the biggest" shooters- but they made it and I have one so here goes... First round recoil is more than I ever imagined in a pistol but not as bad as it could be- at least I'm not bleeding (yet). The next 19 rounds were much more controlled- all in the head region at 15yds. I then load only 3 rounds of 400 gr cor-bon hunter (they come 12 to a pack and a row is 3 across) I see two empty chambers as I slam the cylinder shut. I am going to "advance" the chamber so my next shot is the real deal. I have the gun pointed down range, proper stance. I have a one hand grip and start the DA trigger pull as my left hand is closing on the two hand grip with arms extending. BLAM! although I thought I was advancing on two EMPTY chambers the S&W goes the other way- next thing I know I am holding my mouth. I knew HOW it occurred a split second after it occurred. weak right handed grip not expecting to fire the round but to advance the chamber (I know, I know- wrong wrong wrong way to to do that) My lip was split wide open and the rear site impacted two teeth (my right front tooth had a perfect "notch" wacked out of it and the one next to it was shattered in pieces to the gum line). I composed myself, retrieved the gun and made a round count. I felt only one detonation and it was pointed downrange, but I still made sure the fellow in the far right lane was uninjured. I put the gun lube sock I had been using to my mouth to stem the bleeding (I wish they made flavored gun lube...) and checked out of the gun range. I had the guy double check my 3 guns for safety and went to have my lip sewed up and my teeth fixed. 4 hours later I returned (only local anesthetics- I was not drugged up) I simply could not go to sleep that night with that as my last experience with the 500 mag. I fired a few 400 gr and then a few 500 gr Hornady XTPs. WoW! previous injury (all my fault) not withstanding- that is one powerful handgun. I believe something in the 300s will be my max for the fishing trip. Anything bigger in the the snubby is great to say you shot it, but far from practical for the field. I do plan on getting at least two more- the John Ross 5" if I can find one and a longer hunting length. The big 500 has got my attention. I admit I am now hooked. In all my years shooting this or that wonder caliber or wonder gun I have never felt the pure affection I have for the power this gun packs in such portable package. If your a newbie and reading this go back and read the basic safety warnings for firearms in general. The gun should point always in a safe direction with your finger OFF the trigger and ONLY down range or something you might destroy if your finger goes near the trigger. No exceptions, ever.