Strange 460 XVR question...

[codefour]

I have a .460 S&W Magnum XVR in the X-frame. It has a 8 and 3/8 inch barrel. I can't recall where, but I read somewhere the expected barrel life was 1200-1300 rounds with full house loads.

Can anyone verify this.?? I thought maybe some of the THR inmates might know. Maybe I got ahold of some bad information.

Thanks in advance for any information.

 

[Jaxondog]

That is a legitimate question and now that you have brought it up, I would like to hear from the pro's on this also.

 

[PuddleMonkey]

What are "full house loads"? I need numbers here. I have the same gun and I've put a couple hundred through it, but a bunch of them were 45 and 454.

 

[mes227]

Poking around other forums I find a lot of people posting that they have several thousand rounds (of .460 or .500, I figure they are comparable at least for this topic) through their XVRs with no apparent wear. One poster claims to have over 8,000 full-house loads through his .500 with no apparent wear. I have maybe 500 through mine (8-3/8" barrel) and the barrel looks new.

That said, these are VERY high energy loads and thus the barrel is going to wear faster than in most other revolvers. You can mitigate that by shooting hard cast (rather than jacketed) bullets and by liberally mixing in .454 Casulls; the XVR, by the way, handles the Casulls easily - a genuine pleasure to shoot and mine is now getting much more range time with the .454s than the .460s.

 

[codefour]

I guess I should have clrified what a "full house" load is. I was strictly talking about full magnum loadings in the .460 cases, not .454 or .45 LC.

My full house load is a 300 grain XTP Mag bullet over 40.0 grains of H110 that has been chronod at 2,000 fps. That is a scary accurate load.

I am starting to work up a new load. I was going to use a MBC 300 grain .45 LC lead bullet. I was going to ignite this with 19.0 to 20.0 grains of Power Pistol. This chould get me in the 1,400-1,500 fps range for plinking. Those XTP Mag pills are getting expensive too for target shooting.

Another note, the 500 S&W magnum works at lower pressure than the 460. S&W engineers had to use different stainless alloys to withold the pressures of the 460. The ony thing that is the same is the frame size IIRC.

 

[buck460XVR]

I have a coupla thousand legitimate .460 mag rounds down the tube of my XVR and have noticed no change in accuracy or barrel wear. I'm more concerned with forcing cone issues, but have not seen excessive erosion there either. Either way, since it comes with a lifetime warranty, after I'm dead, others can worry.

 

[Mr.Revolverguy]

I guess I should have clrified what a "full house" load is. I was strictly talking about full magnum loadings in the .460 cases, not .454 or .45 LC.

My full house load is a 300 grain XTP Mag bullet over 40.0 grains of H110 that has been chronod at 2,000 fps. That is a scary accurate load.

I am starting to work up a new load. I was going to use a MBC 300 grain .45 LC lead bullet. I was going to ignite this with 19.0 to 20.0 grains of Power Pistol. This chould get me in the 1,400-1,500 fps range for plinking. Those XTP Mag pills are getting expensive too for target shooting.

Another note, the 500 S&W magnum works at lower pressure than the 460. S&W engineers had to use different stainless alloys to withold the pressures of the 460. The ony thing that is the same is the frame size IIRC.

Codefour,

Not trying to be controversial but there were no difference in alloys utilized between the 460 and the 500 according to S&W. The big difference is the gain twist rifling used in the 460 barrel to stabilize the bullet and help with long range accuracy. The twist starts at 1 turn in 100 and tightens to 1:20 at the end of a 7 1/2 barrel, the compensator actually makes up the other inch.

The 460 SAAMI max pressure is 65,000psi but most factory ammunition is loaded to 55,000psi to prevent hard extraction of the cases. In the real world 65,000psi is not a practical working pressure. Most reloading manuals are around 55,000 to 58,000 as well and it is my recommendation to stay within the reloading manuals spec. Creeping up towards SAAMI spec is not advised and there is a possibility you will see frame stretching, top strap cutting and forcing cone erosion before seeing any impact to the barrel. If special alloys were needed for the 460 because of pressure then it would be needed for the 454 Casull as well because it's pressure also max's out at 65,000psi.

The S&W 500 SAAMI Spec is 60,000psi, again most factory ammunition is loaded to 50,000 to 55,000psi and the reloading manuals stay within this range. Trying to reload and creep up to the SAAMI Spec in the S&W 500 would result in the same issues I mentioned above about the 460VXR.

This is all data I have spoken to S&W about that was non confidential they were willing to share with me.

As for number of rounds I am not sure, but for as much as one would shoot these monster magnums they should last you a lifetime. If not I am sure S&W will take care of any issues.

I soon hope to complete a review of these behemoths shortly for my website http://www.dayattherange.com