500 Smith & Wesson Magnum

[1946]

I had the opportunity to shoot the 500 Smith today. The rounds were loaded with 480 grain hard cast backed up with 34 grains of H110.
I put three rounds down range and managed to hit what I was aiming at on the third shot. The recoil was, lets say on the warm side. After the third round my bare hand felt like someone had slapped the open palm with a school ruler.
So, question is. How was your experience with shooting the 500 Smith?
Yes I would shoot it again....in a couple of days.

 

[TomN]

Never fired one but would love to! I am jealous sir!

 

[gunman41mag]

I had the opportunity to shoot the 500 Smith today. The rounds were loaded with 480 grain hard cast backed up with 34 grains of H110.
I put three rounds down range and managed to hit what I was aiming at on the third shot. The recoil was, lets say on the warm side. After the third round my bare hand felt like someone had slapped the open palm with a school ruler.
So, question is. How was your experience with shooting the 500 Smith?
Yes I would shoot it again....in a couple of days.

I sold my S&W 500, cause it wasn't fun shooting 50 caliber 350 grain bullet going 1900 FPS

 

[geronimojoe85]

I shot the hell out of Andy219's. It is on the warm side but I think it's alot of fun.

 

[sgreen3]

Ive never shoot a SW500 but have shot my brothers .50AE desert eagle, It was fun for a lil while but killed my wrist, lol

 

[Hornett]

You know, you don't have to shoot the maximum loads every time.
I don't own one but I got to shoot one owned by a friend.
We tried all the loads from light to awesome.
Even the lower loads were shooting through a cross tie.
With the heavy loads, about 3 or 4 rounds was enough to call it a day.

 

[bbarker]

What about the recoil in a single shot rifle, such as a handi rifle or an encore? Would the felt recoil be worse than that of a let's say a 12 gauge 3" turkey load?

 

[rimfire_crazed]

I've shot several full cylinders out of my friend's Taurus. I can't recall if it is an 8" or 10" barrel. Even max loads are manageable with good technique. The Taurus grip and porting also help a lot. We were both ringing the 50 yard gong at MCFG with stunning regularity.

However, I don't think i'd want to shoot the 4" version under any circumstances.

 

[booey50]

What about the recoil in a single shot rifle, such as a handi rifle or an encore? Would the felt recoil be worse than that of a let's say a 12 gauge 3" turkey load?

I have a handi in this caliber and shooting max loads out of it feels no worse than a shotgun shooting slugs. Now I mostly shoot light loads out of it and it feels like a .38. (Smooth as Silk)

 

[Amishman44]

I've never shot the S&W 500...but I have shot the Ruger Alaskan in .454 Casull, several times, and it's pretty stoudt! Daily range gun...hardly! Excellent Personal Defense against large, bear-like critters...definitely! This gun is made for heavy loads...not stuff you'd play around with on a regular basis! Pretty awesome, though!

 

[Jack Ryan]

What would be the point of buying a 500 Smith and Wesson magnum and then shooting wussy loads out of it?

 

[goinggreyfast]

I had some cool pics of last summer when my brother, his son, and myself were granted visitation to a private range but can't find them on my hard drive. ARGGGG!!!

When we had finished our target practice, the member of the club opened up his Jeep and pulled out a 500 Magnum single shot w/12" barrel and red dot scope.

My brother and I both got to shoot it, then my 13 year old nephew got a crack at it. I wish I had video footage of that one. HA! The look on his face was priceless. Up to that time, his only experience with shooting a gun was his BB gun. I let him--with my Brother's supervision--shoot my XD9. And a good time was had by all!

I thought it interesting that even with the mule kicking recoil I still hit my target, some 100 yards out. The projectile was out of the barrel before the recoil had a chance to effect the shot.

 

[NIFT]

A student brought his snub-nose .500 Smith to a class and let me shoot it. No compensator, no porting, just maximum recoil with factory 500 gr. bullets.

Loved it! Now, I want one, but, if I do, it will, likely be the 6 1/2" barrel version.

www.iftnra.com

 

[PatriotPride]

Not a fun gun to shoot for me. A few rounds downrange and I'm good for the present.

 

[Dave Doehrman]

So, question is. How was your experience with shooting the 500 Smith?
Yes I would shoot it again....in a couple of days.

I have 2 .460s and a .500 S&W. One .460 and the .500 are the ES (Emergency Survival) models with the 2" barrel and the other .460 has the 10 5/8" Lothar Walther barrel with a Leupold 2.5 X 8 scope. The .460s are cheaper to shoot since you can fire .45 Colt or .454 Casull as well as the .460 ammo.

I like shooting the heaviest rounds I can find. The heavier slugs seem to have more of a stout shove. The light loads feel like a cherry bomb went off in your hand or like catching a fastball without a glove. I have to shoot the big boys after I'm done shooting anything else that day. After about 10-15 rounds, the shock to my hands and forearms causes so much shaking that it is difficult to keep a decent sight picture.

On Lock n Load, with Lee Ermy, they show him shooting a .500 in extreme slow motion and you can watch the shock waves move up through his hand and forearm. It almost looks like the bones in his forearm are bending.

Ok, I gotta go now... I'm getting overly excited just thinking about this

 

[NIFT]

I have 2 .460s and a .500 S&W. One .460 and the .500 are the ES (Emergency Survival) models with the 2" barrel and the other .460 has the 10 5/8" Lothar Walther barrel with a Leupold 2.5 X 8 scope. The .460s are cheaper to shoot since you can fire .45 Colt or .454 Casull as well as the .460 ammo.

I like shooting the heaviest rounds I can find. The heavier slugs seem to have more of a stout shove. The light loads feel like a cherry bomb went off in your hand or like catching a fastball without a glove. I have to shoot the big boys after I'm done shooting anything else that day. After about 10-15 rounds, the shock to my hands and forearms causes so much shaking that it is difficult to keep a decent sight picture.

On Lock n Load, with Lee Ermy, they show him shooting a .500 in extreme slow motion and you can watch the shock waves move up through his hand and forearm. It almost looks like the bones in his forearm are bending.

Ok, I gotta go now... I'm getting overly excited just thinking about this

That's the one, and Dave was the "culprit" for corrupting me into wanting one of those howitzers!

Hope to see you, soon, Dave, on the range, and I continue to salute you for your service.

 

[retyree98]

Very uncomfortable, took a lot of the pleasure out of shooting. but Damn! Makes one feel very powerful! lol

 

[LuckyGunner]

I own a S&W 460 that I shoot quite a bit and hunt with. My brother has a 500 that he hunts with and I shoot it a little too. Now that we are both reloading you can make the 500 or 460 (in my case) a really soft shooter.

If he didn't have a 500 I would have picked one up myself by now. They are a lot of fun.


__________________
500 S&W Mag ammo

 

[PriestEG]

i enjoy shooting the hornady 300gr ftx rounds. not as brutal as the cast ammo, very accurate, and the terminal ballistics on a whitetail are fantastic!