First Experience with the .500!!!

Magnum.35744 · September 22, 2007, 06:04 PM

Hello everyone,

I've been drooling and obsessing over the Smith & Wesson .500 Magnum for a long time!!! Sadly for me I'm too young to own one and I've already decided that it will be the first one I own! Today I went to some outdoorsmen shoot and big game meal which was very fun! I stuck around at the pistol range for the whole time making friends with another guy there. He opened up his pistol case and low and behold my dream gun laid in there perfectly with an 8 3/8" Inch Barrel. I immediately went over there and talked with him for a while about his "Hand cannon". After some time I finally got the guts to ask him if I could shoot his revolver and he was more then happy to say yes. My turn was up to shoot since there was a waiting list and so I went with the .500 in my hands. Now being only...mhmm a teenager

. I have done my research and have many hands on experiences shooting big bore revolvers. I'm about 142 pounds and thought it couldn’t push back a skinny/muscular thing like me. So I was not intimidated by the monster what so ever...

. I had many experience with magnum revolvers and heard others say this was a piece of cake to shoot the .500 with 300 grain bullets. First shot was a shocking surprise. Recoil was not bad at all and I had the biggest grin on my face after I emptied the cylinder. I shot the gun a couple more cylinders full and had so much fun. Only thing was we were shooting at a distance of about 15 feet and it shot a little high. But I didn't care...he-he ended up out shooting the owner and had a blast!!! Pretty accurate blowing away some steel targets

.

Overall I loved the .500 so much. Now if I could only talk Grandpa into getting one...

. And also if you have had any experience with this firearm please feel free to share!!!

-Tre

Majic · September 23, 2007, 12:25 AM

Owning it is the easy part. I take it you don't reload yet so feeding it ammo is going to be quite a chore. Look at what a box of ammo costs. A 20 round package of 350 grain Hornady cartridges is $50.00 at a site known for reasonable prices.

tomh1426 · September 23, 2007, 01:24 AM

.500 is cool but all it eats is expensive .500's
A .460 s&w mag is also cool and can shoot .454 Casull which means you can also shoot .45 Colt

Socrates · September 23, 2007, 03:27 AM

Actually you can shoot 500JRH in the 500 S&W, and, it's on the cheaper side, about 33 bucks for 20 round from Jack Huntington Advanced Gunsmithing.

S

NCHornet · September 23, 2007, 07:58 AM

Ha Ha the gun shot high!!! Did you actually think a cannon like that would shoot low?

Magnum.35744 · September 23, 2007, 10:44 AM

Honestly I didn't know what to expect

. With a bullet bigger then my thumb and the barrel longer then my arm...anything’s Possible

!!! But the owner told me at the velocities the .500 was spitting out I guess it wasn’t going to drop at 15 yards to say the least

. Thanks for your comments everyone.

-Tre

Jbar4Ranch · September 23, 2007, 12:18 PM

This was interesting...

4" w/700 grain bullet

I didn't chrono that one out of the four inch tube, but it clocks about 1200-1250 in my 8 3/8"er with a max, or near max, charge of H110, and is extremely accurate. That long, heavy bullet has to be driven to near max velocities to be accurate, and fifty yard accuracy will shrink from 24" keyholed groups to under 2" with only a half grain increase in the powder charge when you reach the stabilization threshold. A still pic from another shot with the 700 grainer clearly shows the hammer to be back upon recoil with the trigger forward and not depressed in a reflexive double action pull, but it was down on the empty chamber every time when the gun came back down out of recoil.

I cast boolits for about fifty different calibers from a supply of a few tons of free lead I acquired some years ago, primers are a couple cents apiece, gas checks are a couple cents apiece, and powder comes to maybe 15¢ per round, for a finished cost of about 20¢ a copy, discounting the price of brass. So, in my case, a box of twenty comes to four bucks or so.

chris in va · September 24, 2007, 12:09 PM

If there's any gun that needs to be reloaded for, it's the 500.

Shot one for the first time a few years ago. Something I'll never forget!

September 22, 2007, 06:04 PM	#1
Magnum.35744 Senior Member Join Date: May 27, 2007 Posts: 268	First Experience with the .500!!! Hello everyone, I've been drooling and obsessing over the Smith & Wesson .500 Magnum for a long time!!! Sadly for me I'm too young to own one and I've already decided that it will be the first one I own! Today I went to some outdoorsmen shoot and big game meal which was very fun! I stuck around at the pistol range for the whole time making friends with another guy there. He opened up his pistol case and low and behold my dream gun laid in there perfectly with an 8 3/8" Inch Barrel. I immediately went over there and talked with him for a while about his "Hand cannon". After some time I finally got the guts to ask him if I could shoot his revolver and he was more then happy to say yes. My turn was up to shoot since there was a waiting list and so I went with the .500 in my hands. Now being only...mhmm a teenager. I have done my research and have many hands on experiences shooting big bore revolvers. I'm about 142 pounds and thought it couldn’t push back a skinny/muscular thing like me. So I was not intimidated by the monster what so ever.... I had many experience with magnum revolvers and heard others say this was a piece of cake to shoot the .500 with 300 grain bullets. First shot was a shocking surprise. Recoil was not bad at all and I had the biggest grin on my face after I emptied the cylinder. I shot the gun a couple more cylinders full and had so much fun. Only thing was we were shooting at a distance of about 15 feet and it shot a little high. But I didn't care...he-he ended up out shooting the owner and had a blast!!! Pretty accurate blowing away some steel targets . Overall I loved the .500 so much. Now if I could only talk Grandpa into getting one... . And also if you have had any experience with this firearm please feel free to share!!! -Tre __________________ Magnum.35744

September 23, 2007, 07:58 AM	#5
NCHornet Senior Member Join Date: December 20, 2006 Posts: 1,001	Ha Ha the gun shot high!!! Did you actually think a cannon like that would shoot low? __________________ When seconds count, the cops are just minutes away!! Carry ON!! NCHornet

September 23, 2007, 10:44 AM	#6
Magnum.35744 Senior Member Join Date: May 27, 2007 Posts: 268	NCHornet... Honestly I didn't know what to expect . With a bullet bigger then my thumb and the barrel longer then my arm...anything’s Possible !!! But the owner told me at the velocities the .500 was spitting out I guess it wasn’t going to drop at 15 yards to say the least . Thanks for your comments everyone. -Tre __________________ Magnum.35744

September 23, 2007, 12:18 PM	#7
Jbar4Ranch Senior Member Join Date: May 20, 1999 Location: Near Helena, Montana Posts: 1,450	This was interesting... 4" w/700 grain bullet I didn't chrono that one out of the four inch tube, but it clocks about 1200-1250 in my 8 3/8"er with a max, or near max, charge of H110, and is extremely accurate. That long, heavy bullet has to be driven to near max velocities to be accurate, and fifty yard accuracy will shrink from 24" keyholed groups to under 2" with only a half grain increase in the powder charge when you reach the stabilization threshold. A still pic from another shot with the 700 grainer clearly shows the hammer to be back upon recoil with the trigger forward and not depressed in a reflexive double action pull, but it was down on the empty chamber every time when the gun came back down out of recoil. I cast boolits for about fifty different calibers from a supply of a few tons of free lead I acquired some years ago, primers are a couple cents apiece, gas checks are a couple cents apiece, and powder comes to maybe 15¢ per round, for a finished cost of about 20¢ a copy, discounting the price of brass. So, in my case, a box of twenty comes to four bucks or so. __________________ Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets replaced... SASS 47015

September 23, 2007, 12:25 AM	#2
Majic Senior Member Join Date: May 24, 2004 Posts: 3,888	Owning it is the easy part. I take it you don't reload yet so feeding it ammo is going to be quite a chore. Look at what a box of ammo costs. A 20 round package of 350 grain Hornady cartridges is $50.00 at a site known for reasonable prices.

September 23, 2007, 01:24 AM	#3
tomh1426 Senior Member Join Date: September 17, 2005 Location: Youngtown Arizona Posts: 1,135	.500 is cool but all it eats is expensive .500's A .460 s&w mag is also cool and can shoot .454 Casull which means you can also shoot .45 Colt

September 23, 2007, 03:27 AM	#4
Socrates Junior member Join Date: January 5, 2005 Location: East Bay NorCal, People's Republik of Kalifornia Posts: 5,866	Actually you can shoot 500JRH in the 500 S&W, and, it's on the cheaper side, about 33 bucks for 20 round from Jack Huntington Advanced Gunsmithing. S

September 24, 2007, 12:09 PM	#8
chris in va Senior Member Join Date: December 26, 2004 Location: Louisville KY Posts: 11,718	If there's any gun that needs to be reloaded for, it's the 500. Shot one for the first time a few years ago. Something I'll never forget!