I took in a .500 Mag and a .460 Mag from a buddy who purchased them simply for fun... and then needed to direct funds toward the purchase of a second home. So I had them both and I had to decide if I was going to keep one or the other or both or neither.

I chose to keep the .460 XVR and I don't hunt at all. I chose the .460 not for the ability to use shorter and weaker cartridges... but because I figured the bullet selection for handloading would be a bit more available and perhaps a bit lower in cost.

I have two uses for this big revolver:

--it's fun, especially for other folks to try, and handloading for it means it doesn't cost a fortune. Plenty of friends have had fun with the massive blast and concussion when it lights off and when I'm at the range... if other folks I don't know are interested, I don't mind letting them have a couple of shots after a short primer.

--it's enjoyable for slapping steel plates at distances from 100 to 300 yards and the load I've cooked up for it uses a 240 grain Hornady XTP Mag bullet. What I find wildly interesting is that according to my ballistic software, that load has the 240 leaving the muzzle at 2,000 fps and still going 800+ fps at five hundred yards. Now I'm not actually trying to hit targets at 500 yards but it's funny to me that I have almost the same weight slug going almost the same speed at 500 yards as a .45 Automatic does at the muzzle.

I only have a couple guns that have a designated use or task or job. Everything else I own is because I am an enthusiast, and that's exactly what my .460 XVR is for. At that, it's a total success.

The massive weight, the well-designed rubber grip and the exceptional porting on this beast does a flat-out amazing job at taming recoil. I can honestly say that shooting the 240-Mag slugs out of this revolver is more enjoyable to my shooting hands than shooting 240gr JSP's at 1,200 fps from any 6-inch or shorter .44 Magnum that I have ever experienced, bar none.