S&W 500 S&W Magnum

H

HMcClellan

Inactive
I have a 500 S&W Magnum that I need to fire for a case. I've never fired one of these before. At the risk of sounding pansy, has anyone on the board fired one before and do you have a comparison round that is similar that I might have fired before.
I had a 480 Ruger in about 2 years ago and it kicked pretty hard but was liveable. I see 50A&E's farely regularly and they aren't bad at all. I was told by a co-worker that an employee at the local firearm store said a lot of men were upset by the kick after purchasing one. I thought it might be a good idea to get an idea before firing this thing, know what to expect and all.

HM
 
Well, I've never done it, but word on the street is that it kicks like crazy. :)

But it's survivable. :D

Heck you HAVE one and never shot it? Got ammo? Go have some fun at the range! I do know that feeling of fear though... LOL! When I got a .44 mag 35 years ago or so, the talk was of the recoil bringing that baby back and burying the front sight in the foreheads of strong men! I actually wore a WW2 helmet liner so that didn't happen to me. :p

Another day I was at the range and a guy turns up with a .460 Weatherby rifle. He quit shooting after the scope came back and drew Big Blood from his nose. I asked if I could shoot it... I've never had another chance before or since, so I'm glad I did. I kept the scope WELL away from my face... but just wanted to send a round downrange, and I did. Yes, it recoils heavily. ;)

Come on, man... just go to the range and do the deed... wear your helmet liner if you have to! :)

Yes it kicks, but you knew that before you got it. How can you resist? And how come you're sitting there reading this instead of having a really memorable day at the range with your .500? Wish I could shoot one. If I see you at the range I'll borrow your helmet liner and beg for a shot. :)

Merry Christmas!

StrikeEagle
 
The gun isn't mine, I am an examiner and have to fire it for casework. The 44Mags don't bother me, nor the 50A&E's. They both have good kicks but are usually farely heavy firearms and absorb a lot of the recoil.
I had a Weatherby rifle in 3 1/2 years ago, I thought it was a 480 Magnum though. It was a nice rifle but I down-loaded the round because it was the week before my wedding. I hadn't fired one before and didn't know what it would do. I didn't think a bruise on my shoulder or a dislocated shoulder would look good in my dress. I wish I had held the gun over though to fire later. I may never get another of those in.
Most of the guns I see are really cheap or really beat up.

Mark54g-thanks for the info. I don't have anything to consern myself about then.

HM
 
My dad has a S&W 500 and I fired it, it really isn’t bad. His has a 8 3/8 inch barrel on it, and I never fired any thing bigger then a 357 mag before this. I think catching a hard hit baseball is worse. :rolleyes:



And welcome to the forum!!!
 
Magic- it would be if I purchased the gun. It was taken in a Narcotics raid, so I don't get to pick and choose- just do the work, which requires it to be fired.

HM
 
It's amazing to think some criminal was using or planning to use one of those giant revolvers in an actual crime! Talk about hard to conceal or even just carry around! I guess they were expecting some full grown elk to try to kick down their door!

Gregg
 
If you're really intimidated, you could put the gun in a vise.

We have done that with a 8mm mauser surplus rifle that we rebuilt. We were afraid of an old rifle blowing up and taking someone's face off. We strapped it down to a table, tied a string to the trigger and hid behind our truck's engine block 30 feet behind it.

With a handgun you will need a vise of some sort, and two rubber pads or wooden bumpers to secure it in place.

The S&W 500 has enough power to flip a freestanding vise, though, so it needs to be bolted to a workbench or shooting bench of some sort.
 
i'd say that 80% of recoil is all mental. simply convince yourself its not that bad.

besides, if i, a fat savage who is obsessed with mall ninja and mall ninja accessories, can handle shooting the 500 magnum, from a 4 inch barrel, surely anyone can.
 
If you do shoot it with your hands, beware of this:

Our gun club has one for rent. They only allow people to load one cylinder at a time.

This is because when they load it all up and thumb the hammer back for SA shooting and light off that first round, the gun takes off into orbit. The novice magnum shooter will take the pressure off the trigger, letting it reset. He will also fight the recoil of the gun, pulling downwards with his hands (including trigger finger). This has resulted in .500 magnum rounds being shot during the recoil period. Up in the air thru the roof.

So, mind what you do with your trigger finger during recoil, and only load one cylinder at a time (incase the gun differs ballistically from each cylinder and you need to shoot off each one).
 
I have not shot the .500 personally, but I can tell you (from my experience atleast) that recoil has more to do with the gun than the round if you know what I mean. The weight and design of the grips has a huge effect on felt recoil.

A heavy gun gun will soak up alot of the recoil as will rubber grips.

I would'nt worry about it. From what I've seen/read/heard it's a well designed, heavy gun, with good grips.
 
I got to shoot the 500 during a range trip where a guy had one. I have a 357 Mag and don't enjoy shooting heavy loaded 44 mags much, just not my cup of tea. The 500 was not what I expected and was pleasent. It had the long barrel. I put the X frame on my long list of things to buy.
 
ok, I'll play Devil's Advocate

I have a 4" 500 which my friends and I affectionately refer to as "the 4 pound hammer". I hand load 350 & 500 grain rounds to Hornady's maximum listed safe load.

If you are an experienced magnum shooter, and you are shooting non Hornady/Cor-bon/Winchester loads, you should be ok - Magtech, etc.

However, any of the "signature" rounds - the 350 grain JHP's, 400 gr. JHP's or Hornady's 500 gr. JFP, expect some recoil. And, a prodigious muzzle blast.

Enough to make most rifle shooters want to get up and move away.:cool:

It's big, it's loud, it's heavy, and it recoils quite a bit, but it is by no means uncontrollable. Only 1 person has actually not liked shooting mine; He fired one shot, immediately set it down and proclaimed that was all he ever needed to shoot it. Ok... :confused: :rolleyes:

I've found what works for me is from an ISO stance, a firm 2 hand grip with both thumbs secured against the frame, breaking the shot, and holding the gun, but not trying to fight the recoil as it travels back/up.

Warning: It's addictive:D
 
my wife likes to shoot the 500mag. She sets up clay targets on my shooting berm and even when she misses, she manages to take out most of them. Something about the dirt flying makes her giggle. I don't thing the recoil is as sharp as the 454 casull, but I still recommend hanging on.
 
Yea it jumps but it will not fly out of your hand if that is what you are thinking. I own one and was aprehensive the first time I shot it also, but not to worry.:D
 
A ruger super redhawk in .454 was worse. The major difference is that the S&W has a much better padded and shaped grip (the Ruger left me a little inverted U-shaped bruise between my thumb and index finger) and that muzzle brake, which really does direct the pistol so all the recoil force is directed straight back.

Be not afraid, there are harder kickers than these :)
 
I fired the 500 this morning. The gun has a 9" barrel and is farely heavy (which reminds me a co-worker wanted a weight on that and I forgot). Anyway, the grip was really comfortable too. It was fine all around. A little bit more than the 50AE's, but fine. I can't say I would want to go empty a box of ammo any time soon with this gun. However, I do have a love/hate relationship with these monsters (including 480Ruger and 454) when they come in. They are exciting, yet a bit uncomfortable because of my size (5'1"). This S&W 500 was easier to hold with my small hands than the Desert Eagle 50. Interesting gun and well made.
I should say, we have to fire these into a vertical water tank to collect the bullets for court purposes, so the ergonomics aren't great either.

Now back to my stack of POS'es that need fired.

HM
 
Question:

How do you shoot a 500 magnum downwards into a tank of water and not shatter the tank or rupture it somehow?

I always wondered how you folks collect ballistic evidence.

Wouldn't it take a tank at least 30 feet deep to provide enough resistance to stop the bullet? Deeper?

I haven't shot high speed bullets at/into water ever before, but I would imagine that scene of Normandy beach in Saving Private Ryan to be fairly accurate: The guys underwater getting torn up by german machine gun fire that enters the water and still moves at 1000+ fps.

Also, in Pearl Harbor, the navy guys underwater getting shot at by the zeroes...

Hey, I've seen it in two movies, so it must be true.:)

So, how does a 2000+fps round react when it enters water and how long does it take to slow?
 
HMcClellan said:
I fired the 500 this morning.
Click to expand...
Recoil seem to be a very subjective thing as you found out. When I bought my .454 Casull earlier this year I had never shot anything bigger than a 45 ACP in a handgun. Ofcourse I had always been the type to go all out when I do something...why not with my first handgun too. I kept hearing stories of bloody foreheads and all sorts of bad things about the recoil. Well I finally got it and took it to my range. I loaded all six cylinders up. I aimed and squeezed the trigger. The recoil was alot more than I ever had experienced but definately nothing terrible. I'm glad I didnt listen to all the horror stories and infact I love big bore revolvers now. The 500 Smith recoils much less than my .454 Casull, the recoil is different more of a push than a snap like with the 454. Really if a gun just recoiled so badly that nobody could tame it, do you think it would last very long? That said a 500 and 460 Smiths are my next revolvers:D
 
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