I have been working with the 500 Handi and hard cast bullet load development.
Actually just one bullet so far, the Oregon Trail True Shot 370 grain, only gas checked available from Oregon Trail. I do have the Cast Performance bullets ordered; they have 3 weights, 370 grain, 400 grain and 440 grain. I will test these when I get a chance.
Bottom line is that these loads recoil less because of course the pressures are lower than the jacketed loads. Max for 500 S&W Magnum is 61,931 PSI and the 500 Special is 36,000 PSI. These hard cast loads are between 26k-29k PSI.
500 S&W Magnum brass used for all loads. Brass trimmed to 1.615” for the Magnum and 1.275” for the Special. The overall length used for all, 2.015” Magnum and 1.675” Special.
I ended up trying 86 different loads. Only 5 loads were less than 1” at 50 yards, 3 shot groups.
500 Special - 23.3 grains Alliant 2400 gave 1578 fps.
500 Special - 25.2 grains Ramshot Enforcer gave 1587 fps.
500 Special - 28.3 grains Hodgdon LilGun gave 1630 fps.
500 Special – 20.1 grains VihtaVuori N105 gave 1534 fps.
500 S&W Magnum – 32.1 grains VihtaVuori N110 gave 1750 fps.
Really fun making those BIG holes.
