I just bought the 500 6.5" model 163565 from Buds for $987 shipped which seemed like a good price. Now I need some good target ammo at a decent price. Any recommendations?

Good target ammo at a decent price sounds like a prerequisite for handloading . Reading what I have from others shooting the 500 about the cost of factory ammo . My only suggestion would be to check with Georgia-Arms . They manufacture ammo , sell " once fired " reloads and maybe they can help you . Good Luck

Don't know how these compare. I usually get other calibers from them.

Bulk Handgun Ammo For Sale

Congratulations on a good gun at a good price

My 6 1/2" also came from Buds

50AE and 500 S&W Magnum are not interchangeable cartridges.

500 S&W ammunition is just going to be pricey. Never use inexpensive and 500 S&W Magnum in the same sentence .

Even hand-loads are up there due to projectile cost.

Just go slow to start and if cost is truly a primary concern then hand-loading is the way to go.

NONE of my firearms chambered for 500 S&W Magnum have ever shot a factory load, but I was hand-loading decades before the 500 S&W cartridge came on the market.

I was actually shooting the 500 S&W cartridge the summer before S&W introduced the revolver. Factory ammunition and loading data did not yet exist.

Many of us also cast. These days I have half a dozen custom molds for the my 500 firearms.

Thanks for the input.

I am going to start out with 300 grain ammo but I am curious as to hot I can safely go grain wise. I am assuming 500 grain, would that be correct?

No you are not correct
The little tiny cartridge in this photo is a Federal Core Cast 250 grain 41 Magnum factory load. It is sitting next to a 725 grain wad-cutter

Those did not drop out of my mold. After experimenting with those I went a little shorter. Mine is set up to drop 700 grain wad-cutters or if I put the pins in 640 grain hollow points.


From left to right those are 450, 510, 550, 640, 650 and 725 grain. As you look at these projectiles keep in mind that they are 1/2" in diameter. Firing a cylinder full of the 700 wad-cutters puts half a pound of lead downrange

Good thing I asked! So what be the hottest round to be safely shot from my 500?