what's the hottest .500S&W ammo?

[coosbaycreep]

I'll actually be shooting it out of a handi rifle, but I figured there's more people in this section who would know since it's more commonly chambered in revolvers.

I have some 500gr Hornady, and they're alright or whatever, but I wasn't overly impressed. I've looked at the ballistics on a lot of them at midwayusa, and none of them really seemed to stand out that much over each other.

I also plan on ordering some of the 700gr ammo from ballistic supply as soon as they open up again in february.

I want whatever will blow up water jugs, chunks of wood, blocks of ice, etc. the best.

What brand and grain of bullet would be the best for that?

Is there anywhere else that sells decent ammo for less than ballistic supply?

thanks

 

[SimpleIsGood229]

Ream the chamber out to .50 BMG!

Have you tried Corbon's 440 gr. hard cast?

 

[neal7250]

The thought of going into poverty, forced me into reloading. Them bullets cost a lot of money.

 

[Redhawk1]

If you want hot 500 Mag ammo, buy Cor-bon or Buffalo Bore ammo.

Reloading is the way to go.

But to tell you the truth, you don't need HOT loads in a 500 Mag to have an effective killing machine.
Moderate loaded 440 gr. bullet will kill anything walking on the planet.

You will pay the price with them heavy load, and also destroy your firearm.

There comes a point when you get diminishing returns.

I have never found a reason to hot rod my 500 Mags.

 

[EnsignJimmy]

Why would you want to hot-rod the .500S&W? You're already picking up another 300 ft/sec worth of velocity just by shooting it out of a rifle. The .500S&W out of that Handi-rifle ought to readily outperform many "+P" .45-70 Government loads, and the number of things on the planet you can't kill with one those can probably be counted without running out of fingers.

 

[coosbaycreep]

For what any .500 ammo costs, I'd just assume have the most powerful stuff I can get if I'm going to shoot it, especially since recoil is a non-concern with the rifle.

I'd imagine that the NEF rifles are probably capable of handling more hot loads than a .500 S&W revolver too, but I might be wrong. The gun is built pretty stout though.

 

[Redhawk1]

Power does not mean one thing if it is not accurate. You will need to find ammo that shoot the best, not the hottest.

I would say your NEF rifle is no more capable of handling hot load as the S&W 500 Mag revolver. Remember the 500 mag is at a very high pressure. You will tear up any gun using hot rod loads on a consistent basis.

The recoil in your NEF rifle is going to be very noticeable with hot loads.

The first thing people need to get out of there heads is, you don't need all that power, velocity to kill game.
Shot placement and an accurate load is more important. A mild loaded 500 mad will pass through most game with a good hard cast bullet.

 

[coosbaycreep]

I'm not hunting game with it though, I'm hunting water jugs, stumps, and possibly engine blocks, so I've got no problem sacrificing a little accuracy for more power.

I just want the most visually impressive (destructive) factory ammo I can get for my gun that won't blow it up or something.

 

[atlanticfire]

My 700gr, H110 hand loads!

 

[Redhawk1]

If you want to get the most out of the round RELOAD. Be careful you don't destroy your gun it the process. The heavy bullets create a lot of back thrust. Back thrust will ruin your gun as well.

Just trying to help you not destroying your gun, but after all it is your gun, destroy it if you wish. Good luck and have fun.

 

[Kind of Blued]

You keep saying that you're shooting water jugs... Did you shoot some factory-loaded .500 S&W and have it bounce off of a water jug last time?

Anything marked ".500 S&W" will make it go all over the place, and the jug will be blown up good n' dead.

You could probably get more significant results by boiling the water, getting all of the bubbles out of the jug, and taping the cap on, and that's basically free.

 

[coosbaycreep]

No, the bullets didn't bounce off the water jug, but they weren't as impressive as I was hoping for either.

I ordered a box of doubletap 350gr XTP and a box of winchester platinum tip 400gr HP for it from midway, and I'm going to order 1 box of 700 grain bullets from ballistic supply as soon as they're open again. I'll have to make that ammo last a LONG time, because that's about $200 of ammo for only 80 rounds for a gun that only cost $243.

 

[Deer Hunter]

I would only buy a .500 if I cast my own 700 grain loads.

 

[neal7250]

I'm trying to get a moa group at 100 yds with mine. I haven't done it yet, and it may be impossible, but I keep trying. That is what my aim is. I dont want to hit the water bottle. I want to hit the bulls eye, with the BFR

 

[tango2echo]

Sorry.......but I just have to laugh at this thread guys. Look, no disrespect to the OP, but how DEAD do you need that water jug to be anyway???

T2E

 

[tango2echo]

If you want to really see a water jug explode, try loading a 65grain Hornady V-max to about 3800fps out of a .243. Fill the jug with red jello. 'Bout the biggest piece you'll find will be about the size of your pinky nail and it puts about a 30ft spray of red mist in the air.

T2E

 

[bluetopper]

Shooting 500 factory ammo you can pay for an inexpensive Lee reloading press QUICK.

 

[neal7250]

10 boxes can get him a Dillon 550

 

[Redhawk1]

coosbaycreep, I know we all buy guns for different reasons. But a 500 Mag just to blow up water jugs and such is a big expense, if you don't reload.

Anyone planning on shooting a 500 Mag a lot, needs to reload. But if you like to see things blow up, a 22-25 will blow up water jugs just as well and do it a heck of a lot cheaper. JMHO.

 

[Spinnerblade]

Hello, 'creep.
If I was looking for ammo to blowup jugs I would look for the fastest ammo. This naturally, is usually the lightest bullet weight available.

I looked at the Midway site and the 350gr Double Tap ammo looked to be the fastest, also might have been the cheapest too.The one rating it had was five stars.

Save the heavy grain loads for heavy targets, for more penetration, or tough targets.

Take some pics and let us know how it goes, and have fun and be safe.

I don't have a 500 but I shoot alot of 44mag.Patrick

 

[liljohn]

Loading hot is more fun. The more noise, blast, and recoil, the better.

You can out-perform just about any factory ammo with handloads and still be very safe. All ammo manufacturers have a safety margin for liability reasons.

I use 1680 and my own 450, 550, and 625 grain boolit designs cast from custom Mountain Molds. The 450 will consistently provide MOA groups, the 550 is about 2 MOA, the 625 about 4 MOA. The accuracy seems to improve with added velocity as the boolits are better stabilized. It's especially beneficial with the 625s.

I've gotten 1700 fps with the 450, 1500 with the 550, and 1300 with the 625, all with safe pressures. I do not believe these loads place undue stress on the gun, either; I see no appreciable wear after hundreds, or more likely thousands, of rounds (I don't keep a running tally).

For the critics that say it's too much for busting water jugs--so what? If it were about spreading water, I'd use a sprinkler. It's about producing as much power as possible, and coming up with methods of exeriencing that power at both ends of the range.

 

[Kindrox]

Just as a general answer to the OP's question, I think another poster hit the nail on the head. The OP should be looking for fast, light rounds. The heavier loads are generally going to be going the slowest and are going to drill more of a hole in the jug, versus dumping all the bullet's energy into the jug.

You want a 500S&W "varmit" round if you will.

For engine blocks and the like I don't know.

 

[TehK1w1]

So has NEF addressed the issue they were having with the early 500 S&W mag Handi-rifles unlocking the breach when fired?

 

[BCRider]

There was a thread or video somewhere that I saw showing a guy shooting pop cans first with a .22 then with a .17HMR. The .22 put regular holes in the empty can much as you'd expect. The .17HMR SHATTERED the can and tore it apart like a dog with a cheap slipper.

From that demo I'm thinking that a showy end to a jug o' water, melons, etc is more about the speed of the round than the size or ft-lbs of energy.

In that light I'm not sure that the .500 will generate what you're looking for unless it's with more resistive targets such as melons or turnips where the extra firmness will result in the pressure wave doing more damage and spreading more effectively. For the same reason the jello idea (chill it overnight so it's actually thickened) would produce the big show mentioned above.

Of course this means that for the 500 and straight water what you're really wanting is the lighter bullet option along with a hollow point so that the speed is up and the hollow point can mushroom and pass the most energy into the water over the biggest area. Sort of like if you hit the surface of a pool with a fist vs a the flat of your palm.

 

[rcmodel]

If all you want to do is blow up water bottles, you most certainly do not want 700 grain hard-cast bullets chugging along at whatever the velocity is.

Water jugs blow up due to high velocity and light bullet deformation.
You won't get either with heavy bullet big-game loads.

I'd look for the lightest, fastest .500 loads you can find if you want impressive water bottle performance.

Not the biggest, slowest, hardest bullets you can find.

rc