I've seen YouTube vids and read posts here about some of the revolvers like the 500 S&W and some shooting rifle cartridges. I believe for me I would just load one at a time. There are a lot of people on videos getting black eyes, guns flying out of some poor girl's hand, etc. You all know what I mean. Many of the guns have compensators and I suppose they help, but did anyone ever have some sort of safety chain or similar attached somehow to the end of the barrel for bench shooting like long 100-150 yard targets? Maybe a strong bungie-type cord to keep the gun from recoiling back into one's face? Yes, it sounds (stupid) after I see this in writing. I watched a video and this guy was shooting a straight-jacketed cartridge the length of maybe a .308 or .30-30. Can't remember the exact cartridge, but this dude was all excited about the power. It sounds weird, like I said, but it seems like something somebody besides me would think of, also, just to keep the gun from doing flips or something. Yeah, my lame 65 year old wrist just might lose it.
Please, don't slander me!!! But I had to ask!

Hmmm. Don't know about the various rigs to keep something like that from flippin' back.

But, as Clint Eastwood once said, "A man's gotta know his limitations."...and shooting handguns like a 500 S&W or a .454 casull are way-y-y beyond my limitations. Especially since my wrist surgery a few years ago with the addition of a couple screws.

I'll stick to my .45 Colt or .45 acp or .357 magnum. Those are definitely my limitations...and the older I get, my limitations may even begin to shrink to only a .38 special, but that hasn't happened...yet.

__________________
Pack light and cinch tight.

S&W 500s are pretty heavy guns. I have a 8 3/8 one and can fire it one handed without difficulty. When you go to short barrels real heavy bullets that may change some. I believe 99.9% of the people having problems either have little to no experience with handguns that have heavy recoil or they are exceeding their physically capabilities. My 135# niece fired mine repeatedly, but then she is physically fit and also qualified expert in the USMC. You do need a firm grip, healthy wrists and some muscle tone. But, the main thing you must have is experience with powerful handguns.

Look at my very first handgun, a 4" barreled 500 Magnum. I got it for self defense. KERBang, Wacko right in the head. Jerk to 110# soon to be ex. "Here shoot this".

If you need the muzzle restrained, you should not be firing it.

They aren’t that bad if you know how to shoot. I was surprised at how easy it was to shoot factory Hornady 200 grain ammo out of my .460. If you can shoot a box of .357 Mag out of a 4” K frame you’ll do fine. You might not find it enjoyable but nothing crazy will happen.

My 460XVR is really kind of a modern marvel in the way it manages recoil.

It is 8-3/8” barrel, extremely heavy, with incredibly effective porting and the (just plain UGLY) OEM Hogue grip is fantastic at handling recoil.

My usual handload is the Hornady 240gr XTP-Mag bullet over 48.0 grains of H-110. (Forty eight grains!)

This load chronographs 2,000fps at the muzzle. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 60,000 PSI Max pressure. This bullet that is just slightly heavier than GI Hardball from a .45 is going about the same speed as .45 Hardball muzzle when it is -500- yards down range.

This is more enjoyable in my hands than most .44 Magnum from a 4 or 6-inch S&W Model 29.

The videos on YouBoob are for entertainment, quite often detailing morons doing moronic acts and setting other people up for dumb and unsafe, unenjoyable escapades. I can’t understand the attraction to watching videos of mankind’s feeblest minds.

The 460XVR is a whole lot of fun to shoot and once you try one, you would find the very idea of tethering it for safety to be miles beyond unnecessary.

My personal "hand cannon" is my 3" 629. I'm not sure which is most impressive: the noise, the muzzle flash, or the recoil...

A 44 magnum is as big as I want to shoot. And nothing is cooler in a revolver than a 6 1/2” Model 29. If I need more than this I’ll grab a rifle.

__________________
Thirty characters. Exactly...

"A 44 magnum is as big as I want to shoot."
My thoughts exactly. When I do shoot mine I usually just use .44 Spl. for a few cylinders then go to the magnums until I'm one shot away from not being able to write my name. I see no need to go to any more power than that. Heck, 2 1/2 years into retirement I don't even want to use anything bigger than a 14" pipe wrench. I agree about if you need the muzzle restrained you shouldn't be shooting it. It was just a stupid thought that came to me!

I agree! I live in Virginia, if a 44 Magnum won't put it down, then I need a shotgun or a rifle. I certainly don't need to be punishing my wrists and hands with anything more than the 44 Magnum.

__________________
VCDL, GOA, NRA

Those videos of people getting wacked by those powerful handguns are online because they will get views. It is not a common event. People shoot these guns many times a day without incident. Those videos just aren't as exciting to watch.

If UTube had existed in 1956 we would have seen the same ignorant stuff with the 44 mag when it first came out

IMHO the recoil from a 6" 29-2 with full house 240 gr mag is about the same as that from the same length S&W 500 shooting 350 or 400 gr bullets.

A 6" 29 weighs about 45 oz. The 500 is about 1.5 times heavier at around 68. That weight soaks up a lot of the recoil

The 44 mag has about 1050 ftlb of muzzle energy
The 500 with 400 gr bullets has about 1500flb of muzzle energy
Hey 1.5 times as much mass and 1.5 times as much energy

Ya, ya, nobody needs a 500, but nobody really needs a 44 mag either. S&W sure has sold a lot of both though.

You can easily kill anything on this continent with a 30-06. In fact you can do it easily with a 30-30. The 06 just lets you do it from farther away. Rifle manufactures sure sell a lot of guns with far more power.

Nobody really needs a car that goes over 60 mph either

WANT is a whole different story

I think there is nearly as much danger of some inexperienced revolver shooter being injured by putting a hand or fingers close to the barrel/ cylinder gap. That being said, everything has risks and law suits abound! I get tired of seeing warning on products that should put the onus on the user, i.e. "Remove baby from stroller before collapsing for storage!"

Years ago when S&W first sold the 500’s a friends wife bought him a custom shop one. Long barrel with sling and scope. We took it up to hunt club and shot on our 250+ yard range. Rested off a tree limb, very accurate and recoil was something else even with gloves on. Fired 3 rounds and gave it back, have no desire to try another.

My buddy has a big Smith 500 Mag. He often brings it to the range. He likes to let other people try it out if they are so inclined. I have seen big people, small people, old people, young people, male people and female people shoot the thing. Few want to shoot the thing beyond a time or two, but I have not yet seen anyone bang themselves in the head, drop it, or otherwise have a calamity as a result of shooting the thing. All are instructed to grip it firmly. All do. End of problem.

My guess is that a good share of the Youtube Videos of people getting hurt are staged so that they will get clicks. I would not waste a lot of time inventing retention devices. Not necessary.

__________________
NRA Life Member

I’ve never fired the 500 or 460. But I have fired many 44s a 30-30 revolver and a custom 30.06 Encore. Granted each gun had a different weight but with typical factory ammo they all felt about the same recoil wise…….on a side note my 629 6” is MagNa Ported. It’s very loud and still kicks about the same as a friend’s non ported 6” Blackhawk.

A friend shot a .454 Casull and told me if I shot one to use one hand. That way I would only ruin one hand.
Old age has caused me too back off the powder charge with a .44M and if I live much longer I will reduce the .357M powder charge. Larry

I’ve seen some of those videos also. Most don’t appear to be holding the firearm correctly, butt pad off the shoulder, one hand hold on a huge revolver, and on and on. At 72 years I’m content with my 38’s and 22’s. Once a year, on my kid brothers birthday, I break out the Virginia Dragoon he left me. Six rounds of 44 magnum and six rounds of 44 special and I’m good til next year.

On the (LONG) list of gun forum tropes must be “if I need more than ____”

I thought we all long ago, decades ago got past the silly term of ‘need’ when we are talking about our shared passion of handguns.

I myself am not a hunter. I love the entire concept of hunting but I’m not one. My 460XVR isn’t for hunting and I surely don’t “need” something with that much power.

When talking about guns on this forum, I suspect that “need” covers something on the order of 2% of what we collectively own but somehow when the subject is big bore magnums, this word gets used a lot.

Shooting a S&W Model 500 is a lot more fun (easier?) than 357 out of a 340PD. I do not see the problem, but I am over 6 foot with the weight and muscle mass to match. I think the guns are designed to fire what they are chambered in. I do not own anything in a revolver above 357, but enjoy firing friend's "hand cannons" fully loaded from my hands. Tying it down would take the fun out of it for me.

I shot a .454 Casull Freedom arms with one hand and it broke my glasses and gave me a permanent scar but I hit what I was aiming at. I shot another one braced against a tree and it blew all the bark into the left side off my face. Luckily I had my glasses on. All this was years ago.

A favorite X Frame quote:

"The 460 is way way up there in the handgun pressure world. Not exactly riding the edge of madness, but you can see it from there".

We usually hunt with fishing rods in South Florida, but,
the long one can hit a flying fish at 200yds, resting on the rocket launcher, or a can of Spam at 250 for chumming up Hogfish, where great distance is prudent.
Is that smell diesel or Spam?

Seriously: the 3.5" 460 is just about the same length as our 629/4". Loads exceeding the 44 Mag in weight/velocity, yet are very manageable for repeat shots with the 460/500.
A proper set of stocks makes all the difference.

Attached Images

3E132AC0-0699-4D65-B447-C7EBEA03B627.jpg (78.8 KB, 20 views)

__________________
Have Fun/Stay Safe

I have shot nearly all of the big bore handgun calibers out there, including 454 Casull and 45-70 revos. The S&W 460 and 500 are really pretty manageable compared to some.

The worst one I ever shot was a Thompson Contender with 10 inch barrel and 500 grain 45-70 ammo. It was painful to shoot. Five of those is about 2 lifetimes worth.

Never did the 600 Nitro Express handgun, but there is a YouBoob video of someone shooting it. I'll take a pass on that one.

__________________
protocalldesign.com

Though I have a passion for single shot rifles, I shifted to hunting with handguns many years ago. Am addicted to TC handguns and have from
22 to 45-70, some wildcats and recently added 308, 30-06, 270 to the herd. Am 65 and still enjoy all. A good grip helps, many custom grips or pachs. but most of my bigger shooters have a muzzle brake on them. Hearing protection a must, ignorant youth without and a 35 remington TC has led to crickets 24/7. As far as the revolver, the 41 mag is my fav but have a number of 44's as well. Where I live, dont see the need for bigger and will grab a single shot (as in handgun) for a longer distance.
Most recent addition is Savage's 110 PCS in 308. Will see how the short barrel will work but am keeping an eye out for a rifle 7-08 barrel to cut down to about 15 inches and switch it out.

The XP 100 actions have been rebarreled to some pretty powerful rounds. I have one I rebarreled to 6mm Remington and needed to clearance it a bit to be able to eject unfired rounds with 105 gr bullets. Wearing a 2x Leopold scope and a short bipod the recoil isn't bad at all. Some have gone to the point where the bolt need to be completely removed, the round inserted from behind then bolt reinstalled to chamber. I have 350 Remington mag rifle on the same short action. A belted mag bolt can and has been used in an XP100 action to chamber and fire the 458 Winchester mag as a handgun. Thing had 2 hand grips at 90 to each other with the one on right having the trigger. Now that is some pistol power. I hear you can also get the Encores in that chambering.

DO NOT lose you grip on one of those.

I'm with Protocall, I've fired many heavy calibers, including a 14" Contender in 45-70. It is no fun. I don't care for the 500, but the 460 I don't think is that bad. At my life stage now, I don't even like .357's any more. I'll stick with my 45 acp's and 9mm's.

__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

I can’t imagine what I’d use a 460, 500 or 454 for.

They are all huge handguns that defeat my purpose in carrying a handgun: handy and likely to be available. These huge guns are anything but handy. They aren’t the sort of thing I’m likely to carry so they’re anything but readily available. If I need that much power, I have rifles that are easier to carry and shoot.

These big revolvers use seems limited to the range and impressing the other folks. I’m not into buying guns to impress other shooters.

Jeff Cooper was a big proponent of asking “but what is it FOR?”. I can’t think of a good answer when it comes to these guns.

I have seen these so-called "comedy" videos. You know, a guy hands his girlfriend or wife a 500 with no firearms training whatsoever, she fires it and ends up with a big notch in her forehead, and everyone stands there laughing hysterically.


These are the irresponsible idiots that do nothing to further gun safety and ownership. To the contrary, they only provide ammunition to the anti-gun lobby.

__________________
USAF (Ret) 1974 - 1994

First non- resident Elk Tag I drew was Wyoming in 1983….Took my S&W 29 6” loaded with 250 gr. Keith Hardcast on top of 18.5 grains of 2400….Trailhead out of Turpin Meadows, not far from Jackson…Spent a week with the People that invited me out there….Didn’t snow enough up high to push the Elk down, but the area was/is known for Grizzly and there had been documented attacks there, as recent as a couple years ago involving a Bow Hunters guide.

all of us carried Handguns in Shoulder or Hip Holsters…Calibers ranged from .357 Magnum to .44 Magnum…24/7.. Getting Firewood, Water for Camp, Saddling/ unsaddling, Picketing your Horse and Feeding and watering or just spending time with the Horse, carrying your Rifle is impractical. ... others had S&W .41 Magnums. Never needed/ wanted anything bigger….Best week I ever spent in the Mountains……Last Elk hunt was late 90s….went with a Friend from Montana…We used the Trailhead out of Gardner….Stayed in town at nite….saw 2 Cow Elk, but non- resident is Bull only….Saw numerous Elk walking around in Town at night…Never needed to draw the 29, but far better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.

I am new to the 500 magnum and absolutely love it. So far I have shot about 60 rounds through it of the 440 grain Bear Load. I tried benchresting it and it really does not jump that much. I then shot it two handed with my non shooting hand wrapped around the shooting hand and found that I subconsciously loosened the grip of my shooting hand and it hurt like crazy. Then I started shooting it with one hand only and with a tight grip it is good. Now If I use the second hand it is only to help with the gun's weight by holding under my shooting hand wrist for a support. I do not hunt and bought it only because I wanted it. I do not see the need to tie it down. As I am not the greatest shot I have been getting 4 out of 5 in the black at 15 yards and at 81 years old I am satisfied with that.

I hate those guys. Someone needs to beat them soundly about the head and shoulders with a baseball bat. There's nothing funny about it.

__________________
protocalldesign.com

I knew a guy who had a .500 S&W he shot it quite a bit. He said the 340pd .357 magnum was harder to control and that it hurt his wrist.

I always wanted a .454 Casul, but now I realize I dont need anything over .357 magnum. Although I do enjoy my Contender with its 30/30 barrel. If I had a chance at a 30/30 BFR I’d probably go for it.

Ya, my alloy J frame 327 mag stings more than my 500. I would rather 20 rounds out of my 500 with its rubber grips that 6 from my 2325 when it was wearing wood grips, with rubber grips the 325 is not so bad.

From my youth I was a "recoil junkie". The bigger the better. I used to shoot a lightweight 458 Win Mag rifle at benchrest shoots. It had no recoil pad. Can't say I have ever outgrown my obsession. Shot quite a lot of 375 JDJ from a 10"-barrel contender. Not too bad, but you did not need to open the action and check the primer to see if it had gone off.

One of the guns that "stung" my hand the worst was my 940 snub nose J Frame. I don't understand why, but the sudden recoil in that gun was like a small ball bat smacking my palm and thumb base. It was no fun to rapid fire.

__________________
H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

A friend of mine is a new shooter. I’ve been happily helping him spend his money building a small purpose driven collection. Part of the process has been a series of funny text questions. As he does his own research at home.

He asked this very question specifically about the S$W 500. I have to admit I could not give him a good answer. Other than just having to own the biggest handgun available. I believe federal law prohibits going larger than .50 cal any gun other than shot gun? So S&W trumped everyone and set the bar as high as it could go.

Remember when .44 mag was the most powerful handgun? (We were letting practicality limit us)

The one pictured below is in another country and is .600!

Attached Images

B9972103-2811-45B1-93C8-C18948163BDE.jpg (52.9 KB, 18 views)

Actually if you got a destructive device stamp or a sporting use exemption from the BATF, you could own and shoot a 600 caliber pistol

Here is a video of a guy firing a 950 JDJ rifle. It uses a necked down 20mm cannon brass and the manufacture has secured a sporting purpose exception for them. Maybe you could a handgun chambered for it.

A 600 or 700 nitro express is legal to own because it was designed as a sporting arm

They should have shown the ammo it fired.

__________________
protocalldesign.com

The Pfeifer-Zeliska: The Revolver in .600 Nitro Express (VIDEO) :: Guns.com