Reloading the S&W .500

[Big Yac]

I'm going to be picking up a S&W .500 soon. Ofcourse I will also pick up some dies for it too. What are some good loads/powder for this gun? I use 296 in my 454 Casull, is there any 296 data for the 500? or should I go with H-110? Bullets would be mostly jacketed with a few lead every now and then. Weights would go from 275gr on up. Thanks

[Kenneth L. Walters]

Ballisti-Cast has a bullet mould that throws a 368 grain linotype bullet. Excellent bullet. Lyman has a load for this bullet weight of 15.5 grains of Unique. This combination works wonderfully. Noticable but not severe recoil. Very Very good accuracy. Excellent load.

[Jbar4Ranch]

I use cast bullets from 350 grains to 700 grains in my .500's. For full power loads, W296 or H110 are hard to beat. Before load data was readily available, I worked up an easy shooting mid-range load with the 350 grain bullet that just happens to be almost identical to the above, 15.0 grains of Unique. It chrono's about 1150 fps, and will easily print sub-4" five shot groups @ 100 yards off sandbags.

270/275 grain jacketed bullets can hit 2200 fps, and 325 grainers can top 2000 fps. Cast 500 grainers can hit 1500+ fps, and even that gigantic 700 grainer can easily top 1200 fps.

[skeet47]

Where did you find 700Grainers for the 500?I have been trying a guy in Homer A;aska but he never answers his phone.
George
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[Tom C.]

While shooting the .500 with full power loads is fun, I mostly shoot mine with wimpy loads. 320 and 370 lead FP bullets, with Titegroup, Trail Boss, Universal or H4227. I use the H4227 for high power loads. It doesn't seem to be sensitive to less than full loading like 296/110 are.

[Jbar4Ranch]

Originally Posted by skeet47

Where did you find 700Grainers for the 500?I have been trying a guy in Homer A;aska but he never answers his phone.

I had a mould made by http://www.mountainmolds.com/ , which I believe is where Ranger Rick of Homer Alaska also had his made. Here's the bullet between a .50AE and a .44 mag.

In my X-frames, it doesn't like reduced loads at all, but performs superbly with upper end loads. When I worked up the load, I was increasing the charge in half grain increments and getting ridiculous 50 yard groups, like 18" plus. Then I hit a spot where the next half grain shrunk the groups down to under 3" at that range.