Just FYI 43 gr. of H110 works very well in Starline Casings with 350 gr. bullets. Which is the max load taken from Hodgdon's web site. They list 39 grs as the starting load for this bullet. NOTE: Always work up your own max. loads starting from min working to max as different lots of the same brand of powder varies.

One thing to be careful of is getting another brand of brass mixed together especially when dealing with maximum loads since not all brass holds the same volume of powder. The difference is quite sizable from brass to brass in the 500 Mag. For example Hornaday 500 Mag brass will hold 4 Grs more powder than Starline brass will. 4 Grs of powder when dealing with maximum loads can be catastrophic.

So if someone were to work up a max load in Hornaday brass and switch to Starline it could result in a very bad day at the range.

I had an article that listed the volumes of different brands of 500 Mag brass and if I can find it I'll post it later.

Smitty

That article is in the Hodgdon's 2007 Annual Manual on Reloading. In grains of water, they give:

Hornady 67.5
Starline P 65.5
Starline R 63.1
CorBon P 64.5
CorBon R 66.0
Magtech 64.8
Winchester 66.8

Hornady has the most capacity, and the large rifle primer (standard now) Starline has the least capacity ...in the lots tested by the folks that wrote the article.

Brian

Thanks Smitty And Conservadude for the heads up on the difference in case capacities for the different brands available.
I havent had any problems in the past but I
will pay particular attention to the manufacturer the next time I load for the 500
Mag. The tables on line do not make mention
of those very important differences...

The 500 S&W's past is more spotty than other rounds when it comes to brass and primers. Some, Winchester I think, use large rifle primers but don't have the 'R' on the case head. Others do. Older stuff uses large pistol but is unmarked ...this is confusable with the unmarked large rifle stuff. And more than with other cartridges, the case capacity varies quite a lot from brand to brand. The best idea is to separate your cases by brand (and lot, if possible), then if you wish to transfer a favorite load from one brand to the next, reduce it by 10% and work it up again but in the other brand of brass.

I stick with new Starline but if I ever build max power loads may change to Winchester or Hornady brass for those ...but since the top dawg loads available over the shelf likely use proprietary powders that get better velocity for a given load, I usually just buy my bear protection ammo (Buffalo Bore.) Maybe I should write to them and ask about that? $50 per 20 is kinda spendy ...I wonder if they'd tell me what type of powder they use?

Brian

I just spoke with a customer service guy at smith & wesson ... he told me that what i am describing to him sounds normal but they will send a package for me to return it to them anyways and to "go shot it and have fun"
I can already tell this is going to turn into a big pain in the a$$