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Old June 16, 2013, 02:46 PM   #89
Flyboy_451
Senior Member
 
Join Date: July 30, 2008
Location: Missouri
Posts: 172
Lots of opinions have been shared...

a few arguments and one or two facts have even been presented. I do not own, or have the desire to own a 460, but I do own a 454 and a 475 Linebaugh. My preference for revolvers is for short barreled guns, easily paked on the hip. My opinion of the long cylinder guns such as the Smith X frame and the Magnum Research BFR is that they are ugly enough to knock a buzzard off of a dead Rhino.

Having said that, the performance of the 460 is mighty impressive. Still don't want to own one, but it did interest me enough to do a limited ballistic comparison using the program "Load from a Disk". Since it seems that many of the 460 fans tout the extreme velocity of 460 I selected a 250 Hornady XTP at a muzzle velocity of 2,000fps as the load of choice for that caliber. The 454 load is my handload using a 335 grain hard cast LBT bullet at 1460fps from a 6" Freedom Arms, and the 475 Linebaugh load is my handload using a 420grn hard cast LBT bullet at 1,300fps from a 5 1/4" BFR. Velocities for my handloads are as measured using an Oehler 35P chronograph.

Here are some graphs showing the results...

T1= 460 Smith and Wesson
T2= 454 Casull
T3= 475 Linebaugh

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Taylor values for those who are interested...
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Wind drift from a 10MPH crosswind

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Interestingly, Among the loads compared, the energy numbers at 200 yards are very similar, with 460 coming in last place by small amount. It starts out well above the other two, but gets overtaken by the 475 at about 125 yards and then by the 454 at just short of 200 yards.

The 460 does hold a significant advantage in trajectory at the 200 yard point, but the graph does show that you had better know the distance to the target within a pretty small error factor and exactly what your chosen load does if you choose to try to take advantage of the flatter trajectory. Twenty inches of drop is still a lot. When you start stretching the distance, the bullet begins a fairly steep plunge with any of these three.

Wind drift is the other area where the lighter bullet takes a a little bit of a beating by the heavier bullets. None of them are what I would call a "straight shooter" when it comes to bucking wind, but the heavier bullets hold the advantage.

For those interested, the results of the Taylor numbers are pretty predictable. Larger heavier bullets have a distinct advantage in this race. Good, bad, or indifferent...I'll let others argue about it.

There are a few things to keep in mind while looking at this information. Any bullet suitable for the 454 is also suitable for the 460. My personal preference is for heavier bullets, and I will sacrifice velocity. My experience is that this is a very reasonable trade. The barrels of the 454 and 475 are much shorter than the 8 3/8" 460 from which 250 grain bullets at 2,000 fps is attainable. I do not know how quickly the performance will fall off as barrel length is shortened. If anyone as verified data from a short barreled 460, I would very much like to see how it compares.

At the end of the day, all three are powerful and very capable of taking large game at distances that are well beyond an average shooters ability. If you intend to shoot much past 100 yards, you had better know your business and be well practiced and proficient. Beyond that, it is as much a matter of personal preference as anything else.

JW
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