.500 S&W Grip problems

M

Moloch

New member
Hell my fellow sixgun shooters!

I have a problem with my .500S&W 4'' revolver, it is equipped with the standart rubber grip which absorbs a lot of recoil, but the grip tends to wear out very quickly with 400 grain loads @ 1600fp/s.
After ten shots my hand is all black and covered with small rubber pieces from the grip, the grip already starts to get rough and ugly. I have only around 300 rounds through it and a replacement would be needed to keep the great look of the gun.

Its also very annyng to wash my hands after each range trip with the .500, but I dont want do shoot with silly shooting gloves.

Is it my fault? Am I holding the gun to loose? Should I replace the grip with wodden ones?:confused:
With my Ruger Super Redhawk I never had problems of that kind, the rubber on that rvolver seems to be more dense.

Any ideas?:confused:

Thanks for replies!
 
I know the S&W 500 Hogue grip is supposed to have a special Sorbothane insert in the backstrap to help with recoil. Sorbothane is soft and very shock absorbing, but that's why it helps.

Assuming they make one to fit the S&W 500, I think the next best thing would be the Pachmayr Decelerators.
 
You mean that one?
DeceleratorSWK.jpg


Could be an option, but does Pachmayr actually produce grips for the large frame S&W's? I did a little bit of reasearch but I but couldnt find any informations.

Hogue should have made the rubber grip with soft inlets but with a hard thin surface to avoid rubber gettin loose instead of making the whole grip with the same dense material.

The grips Taurus revolver have is great!
 
Could be an option, but does Pachmayr actually produce grips for the large frame S&W's?
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If you mean for the X-Frames, that I couldn't tell you for sure, but the grip portion of the frame *might* be the same as the N-frames, because I saw a revolver smith who uses the Hogue/Sorbothane grips off the Smith 500s for customizing lightweight .44Mag S&Ws. May just need to call 'em on Monday - sometimes there is also stuff made that's not in the catalog.
 
I saw a revolver smith who uses the Hogue/Sorbothane grips off the Smith 500s for customizing lightweight .44Mag S&Ws.
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DSC00571.jpg


Jeff from Gunblast did it too, seems to fit very well. / The wooden grip looks very neat, could it fit on a x-frame?)

I'll ask the shop assistant of my prefered gun shop on monday, hes a .500S&W nut and knows one or two things about S&W revolver equipment and Pachmayr grips too. :D

If everything does not work, I will try to get wodden grips to stop this annoyance.
 
the grips from the airlite will fit the 500 , they do stick out alil on the top back so there not 100%

i tested mine off my 41mag , im going to have a set made for my 500
 
The grip area of the X frame S&W is the same as the K/L frames. Any grip for a K or L frame should fit the 500 X frame.
 
Have you contacted S&W?

300 rnds and the grips are being chewed up? Tell S&W. You have warranty, right?

Tell them, and then, please let us know what they say.
 
Sounds like a bad batch of rubber to me. I have put over 1,000 rounds through my .460 XVR and the grips still look new. About a third of these loads were 395 gr cast bullets pushing the 1,700 fps mark. I had thought about a set of wood grips too. I asked a guy who owns four 500s and two 460s, and he claims that the K frame round butt grips will fit. But he also said that there have been problems with them cracking on the 500. He still has a set on one of his 500s that has held up for a while, if I can find the post (on a different forum), I will post the brand and type of grip here.
 
I would have to say agree hat it may be bad grips, I have a 500 smith with about 700 rds through it and my grip looks fine.


Dan
 
What are you cleaning the gun with? Some cleaners will attack rubber and plastics.
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The cleaning after shooting the .500 is mostly done with WD40 and 5W40-oil, but I always take care of the grip that no drops of WD40 touch it.

Bad grips?
I dont know, I am the only one in my area shooting a .500 so I cannot compare my grips with other ones. I'll ask the dealer bout it, maybe he just repleaces them and the problem with rubber wear will be gone.

I have put over 1,000 rounds through my .460 XVR and the grips still look new.
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Does your grip lose rubber when you scratch it gently with your fingernail?
 
Wear shooting gloves!!! I do when I shot my 2” .357 with 158’s in it. Why because the first time I did my palm was bruised and sore for 3 days.
 
I think its bad grips, I am not where I can check my grips, however I am pretty certain that you should not be able to scratch the grips and have the rubber peel off.

I advocate the gloves also, I have a pair of work gloves that have a leather palm and some kind of nylon/cordura back that I got at wall mart or any retail place. I wear them when I shoot the 500 & my 45 colt. I figure I will be wearing gloves while hunting so I might as well be used to them.

Dan
 
I don't use soft rubber handgun stocks because I'm able to consistently produce better groups with either wooden or very hard rubber stocks. I'll hasten to add that that I've seen some shooters who are able to get satisfactory results with the rubber OEM X frame stocks.

I can't speak to shooting so light a bullet as a 400 grain @ 1600 fps in the 500 S&W, I ran only about thirty 360 grain bullets through my revolver before deciding that I much preferred to use a heavier bullet- 630 grains @ ~1200 fps.

The revolver pictured below has had factory aftermarket N frame stocks modified to fit the X frame, the strong side panel was recoutoured to incorporate a swell (copied from stocks made in the 30's by Walter Roper). The points of the checkering have been slightly flattened.

When shooting a big bore revolver fited with inelastic stocks the fit of the stocks to the shooters hand is, IMO, critical. A really good fit will markedly reduce percieved recoil.

Here in southern Oklahoma the weather during deer season is seldom so bad that gloves are necessary: I usually do without. For a short range session, say ten or fifteen rounds I also don't wear gloves. However, for more extended sessions I do find that gloves are a help.

Bob

M500.jpg
 
I can't speak to shooting so light a bullet as a 400 grain @ 1600 fps in the 500 S&W, I ran only about thirty 360 grain bullets through my revolver before deciding that I much preferred to use a heavier bullet- 630 grains @ ~1200 fps.
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I tried heavier bullets in my 4'' .500 but my decision to use lighter bullets came pretty fast.:D Bullets over 550 grain will turn my wrists into mush with the little light 4'' snubby, and bullets did not stabilize very well.
Heavy bullets also pushed the screw on the grips out a bit after each shot.

Is it just me or is the compensator on longer barreled smith .500's bigger or different? That one is BIG!:eek:

However, for more extended sessions I do find that gloves are a help.
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Shooting gloves are no-go for me, I tried several models and all of them made my hands itchy and wet. They also somewhat sabotage my aim, soft rubber grips and shooting gloves are just too much stuff between my palms and the gun.

However, talked with the dealer yesterday, he said that he will replace my ''bad'' grips with new ones, he told me that he never heard about grips as soft as mine and hes just amazed.
I'll ask himk about wooden N-frame grips on monday since I tend to shoot better with harder grips, the hogue grips are the softest I ever had on gun.
I guess its not possible to customize ruger super redhawk grips because they are the best grips ever made for big bore revolvers- They're soft enough to compensate recoil very well but they are still good for accurate aiming and a tight grip.

Well, you cannot have all the goddies. :D
 
The Factory Hogue .500 S&W Grips will fit on N Frames like the 329PD AirLite, but not vice versa...

I have both firearms, and if you have the 329PD the first thing you need to buy is the .500 S&W X Frame Hogue Grips, because the N Frame Hogues are not as good on the 329PD N Frame because it is so lite, the felt recoil is more in the 329PD then the .500 S&W...

I have found nobody making any X frame grips other then Hogue, and you do not want to fire either the 329PD or the 500 with any kind of solid grip...

The 329PD can be fired with solid grips running lite loads like .44 Specials, but any .44 Mag load will literally bruise your bones in your hand with any kind of sustained firing, practice, etc.

I like both pieces and would not part with either, anybody wising to buy, shoot either I would suggest reduced loads until you get used to them...

Guys I know at the local indoor range say people seldom fire more then 5 rounds out the 500 when they rent them, pretty much the same story with the 329PD if they use any .44 Mag Ammo.
 
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