Thread: 460 vs 500
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Old 01-05-2012, 05:49 PM
Cordite Cordite is offline
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Join Date: Dec 2011
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My thought process was a little different. Already have a .454 Casull, so for me going op six thousandths of an inch in caliber seemed a like I was not getting much more out of a .460 - even though the .454 is relatively constrained versus the .460 in OAL you can load to.

On the other hand, going up almost 5 hundredths in caliber is indeed a big step. After going back and forth on the right 50 cal for about 2 years and looking at the JRH, Wyoming, Action Express and a couple of others, it hit me that I kept comparing them to the 500 S&W. And while the others were 50 cal, you really were limited in getting close to the bounds with the OAL limitations. With that 2.3" cylinder, there was plenty of room to load all kinds of different bullets.

Did a lot of research on the X frame, and it is definitely a well engineered design that will handle some tremendous pressures (like 338 Lapua pressures).

My initial issue with going with the S&W pistol was the conventional barrel length and the twist. I don't want a snub nose - my primary purpose would be to use this as a packing pistol for situations where "final protective fire" was in order for some raging beast with me on its radar. At the speeds something like a grizzly travels, you can only count on getting one shot. So the barrel had to be of a size that would allow for quick extraction yet long enough to allow for getting the most out of the round. Between extraction, aim and shot, figure 2 seconds. Figure a bear going 30 MPH can cover over a little over 40 feet a second, or close to 30 yards in 2 seconds.

So, the bigger the better.

Then I came across the JR S&W Performance Center version of the 500 S&W - 5" barrel, no compensator (no real need for one seeing as how I have never noticed recoil in a high pressure situation - ever (also don't ever remember hearing a shot). 1:10 twist to stabilize longer and heavier bullets. On an X frame. That can make the 500 S&W round be all it can be.
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