Here it is come and get it. THE 500 S&W Mag range report

[R.W.Dale]

RANGE REPORT!!









Average velocity of 1889 fps. With Jerkface goofing and using mixed brass. The corbon brass showed lower velocities with starline brass coming in at 1910 fps.

As for accuracy 2 1/2 inches was the best we could do at 50 yards before runing out of ammo. But it's apparently quite hard to shoot a good group with a red dot. Recoil for the session left jerkface with an aching shoulder and he commented that it felt like a hot handload in his marlin .45-70.

Afterwhile we'll get some pictures of the rifle and some of the recovered bullets which had expanded to over an inch!!.

[quickdtoo]

Impressive for a handgun load!!! Thanks for the report and nice pics, specially the glimpse of your cast!!! :-D  Nice chrono, too....same one I use. :wink:

[quickdtoo]

FYI, the Point Blank calculated recoil of that load is 32lbs if the rifle weighs 8.5lbs, 34lbs for an 8lb Handi. And for comparison, here's a recoil table for ya....So it's no wonder Jerkface has a sore shoulder!!! :eek:


http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm

[Ct Kid]

Hey Krochus good range report with the chrony.  THANK YOU. Didn't mean to start anything. I was just giving a range report that I thought would be of interest to 500S&W owners( just my own  experience ).I know what you mean about the shoulder, it feels great !!!

[jerkface11]

The load i used was 42 grains of H110 with a remington 385 grain spitzer core-lokt. Next time i'll segregate head stamps and just use the starline stuff.

[Haywire Haywood]

Hodgdon lists 42.5gr of 110 as max with a velocity of 1794 from a 10" barrel, so it looks like the extra 12" of barrel yielded about 100-120ish fps.

Appears that the folk that said the cartridge was about maxed out for pistol length barrels weren't too far off the mark.  Still, that's some serious deer medicine, would make an outstanding woods gun.

Ian

[bajabill]

for comparison, its about 3050 ft-lbs of energy

Now, it would be nice if some powder or bullet company tweeked a good load to take advantage of a longer rifle barrel.

[Mac11700]

for comparison, its about 3050 ft-lbs of energy

Now, it would be nice if some powder or bullet company tweeked a good load to take advantage of a longer rifle barrel.

The only problem with this is the majority of guns that is chamberd for the cartridge are pistols...and I wouldn't want to get any rifle loads getting mixed up with pistol loads...not a good thing to happen....

Looking at the burning rates for different powders...one worth asking Hodgdons about might be H4198...They could ask the techs there and see if they thought it would make viable solution for the longer barrel..I'm not sure what the pressures would be...and if you could get enough of it in the case to get the velocities up,they should know though...

Mac

[bajabill]

Aren't there load data for 357 mag, 44 mag that are designed to shine in  rifles rather than pistols?  I know Buffalo bore has some 357 loads that they rave about the performance out of a rifle.  I dont know if the loading was tailored for the 20" barrel though.

[Mac11700]

Yes there's rifle data available for those...maybe if enough folks asked...they might include rifle data for the 500 S&W in the next annual manual? I thought you ment loaded  factory ammo strickly for the rifle...sorry...

Mac

[bajabill]

yep, load data

what are your concerns with the pistol and "rifle loads"

[Mac11700]

yep, load data

what are your concerns with the pistol and "rifle loads"

My concerns is to shooting a rifle load in a pistol...can we say major fireball... I made this mistake a few times with my 357 and 44 Rugers mags....if kept to pistols COAL it shouldn't hurt ..but it will eventually flame cut the top straps on them...

Mac

[JPH45]

Aren't there load data for 357 mag, 44 mag that are designed to shine in  rifles rather than pistols?  I know Buffalo bore has some 357 loads that they rave about the performance out of a rifle.  I dont know if the loading was tailored for the 20" barrel though.

Yeah, but look closely, and you'll see the same powders being used, at the same laoding densities. Mostly what changes is the velocity as a result of the extra barrel length. To do what the 500 does from a pistol barrel, it has to be maxed out with H110/296. A change to 1680 ( I wouldn't go there without data) may make a bit of difference, but that is probably as slow as will do any good. You have your expansion ratio working against you. You don't have enough powder to make enough gas to keep pressures up in that cavernous barrel. To get more from it, you'll need a bigger case, or a lighter bullet (which would be defeating the purpose).

[cheatermk3]

1900 fps is pretty respectable velocity for a half-inch-diameter slug!

Possibly a heavier bullet, seated long, might  be able to maintain that velocity using a bit slower powder?

Just musing--I ain't volunteering to shoot it!

[R.W.Dale]

Gee wiz fellas I didn't realize that a .5" diameter 385gr chunk of lead moving along at 1900 FPS wasn't enough.

[jerkface11]

The aren't the ones who shot it either my poor shoulder doesn't want a hotter  load.

[FirstFreedom]

He breaks his thumb with the recoil of the .500, and expects us to go get one now.....  :-D

JK, nice report; thanks!

Lol, if I put my chrono that far out from the bench, the brains unit would be shot in short order.

[quickdtoo]

Here's an easy chrony set up for those not wanting to shoot their chrony!  :oops: ...

http://rimfirecentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87684

[R.W.Dale]

He breaks his thumb with the recoil of the .500, and expects us to go get one now.....  :-D

JK, nice report; thanks!

Lol, if I put my chrono that far out from the bench, the brains unit would be shot in short order.

 It may not look that way in the pic but the chrony was setup at the standard 25 feet.

[Haywire Haywood]

Gee wiz fellas I didn't realize that a .5" diameter 385gr chunk of lead moving along at 1900 FPS wasn't enough.

It isn't that it isn't enough.  Like I said, it'll make a fine woods gun.  I'd guess that no deer or hog would be long to this world with one of those violating it's chest cavity.  It's just that there was a lot of guessing at how much more performance potential there was to be had out of a rifle length barrel.  Some were saying that the cartridge was designed for optimum performance out of pistol length barrels and it didn't have enough case capacity to take advanage of a longer barrel.  Others were saying that it would be challenging 45-70 marlin loads.  Now we have a clearer idea of what it has to offer.

Ian

[Mac11700]

It should do exactly as it was designed to do...and will offer more to them that choose to reload it to those levels. What it really does is it offers another choice to a fine line of great little rifles to choose from or have as an additional barrel...and that's what it's all about...it will become a favorite to some...and to others they won't see the need for it...
Such is the way of things here.It doesn't make it better than anything...but as others have said ...just different ... :toast:


Mac