Hi, does anyone have a light load recommendation for the 500 magnum for target fun? After a back injury I haven't been able to shoot 44 magnum let alone my 500. (8-3/8 bbl) So I figure that was a sign to get a reloading press. At the moment I only have 335gr hollow points and unique and 2400 powder around. I don't mind getting other powders etc but of course that means finding it. Thanks!

I don't believe there is any such animal !

Well I'm thinking 1200-1300fps will be a lot lighter on recoil than 1800-2000. If I can find some 250-300gr bullets that should help too.

I would start with a moderate 44 mag load and adjust from there.

__________________
John

I don't load that soup can, so I can't help you with your request. BUT, I've experienced back problems, and I've shot the 500 mg.

Maybe your better course of action would be to shoot a smaller caliber until your back is better?

My light 500 Mag load consists of 370 grain cast bullets from CPBC, 12 grains of Unique, and Federal large rifle primers. My 500 has the 6-1/2" barrel, and with the aforementioned load you could easily spend an afternoon plinking with it. It's very mild.

I've never loaded any light loads for my 500. But if you do, as always, use rifle primers!!!

__________________
I'm 67. I don't do timeouts.

Thanks, that sounds like a good starting point.

Thanks, long story but it doesn't seem to be getting better, after effects from breaking a few vertebra plus some disc problems that they don't want to operate on. So now I'm just trying to get on with life and that is changing some of my hobbies, some things I can't do at all, others like shooting I need to modify..

I'm sure miss shooting sporting clays though.

To date, the only bullet I've used in my 500, no matter what the power level, has been the Hornady 300 FTX. My light load with 2400 is 23.0gr. having a volume density of 68%. With Unique it's 12.5gr. having 59% VMD. (Be mindful of the possiblity of double powder loads.) Both are ~950-1000fps.

Pressure wise, neither of these need rifle primers. I used CCI300 only in that Unique load, & without issue. (My max. though, with Unique, was 19.0gr which is ~43K psi.) If you do substitute primers you need to look closely at the first fired primers to see if they're getting pierced. Not because of pressure but the hammer strength/firing pin length may be too hard/long for the slightly thinner pistol primer's metal. The 500 did not have this issue (neither did my 454 Casull) but my 460 does & so I don't use them in it for reduced loads. Pistol primers are also slightly shorter, height wise, by about .0085" (.1200" vs .1285", CCI300 vs CCI200).

Hope your back gets better soon!

.

__________________
Waiting for the break of day

Isn't a light load for a 500 kinda like a mild nuclear holocaust.

__________________
it just needs more voltage

Trailboss will be your friend for light loads.

Do you want to sell the 500.. Sounds like it may be an option? Pm me if you do

Thewlshm

For now I'm going to hang onto it, I'm pretty sure I can down-load it for target use. It is so darn heavy that I might have a chance, plus it is just too cool to have around.

^^^This. I found that with my .460, about 90% of case capacity made for a good mild shooting load with both jacketed and lead bullets. Only problem is the difference in POI of the mild loads from legitimate .460 loads. I used a dipper from a used case as opposed to dropping it.


Here's a link that explains how to find your min and max loads....

http://www.imrpowder.com/PDF/Trail-Boss-data.pdf

Thanks! Good info.

definitely need to find some trailboss or take "Thewlshm" up on the sale offer... today the doctor was talking about possibly doing a 3 level fusion on my back. ****... back to shooting rimfire for me I guess.

You can easily drive the bullet out the barrel with a moderate charge of Unique, Red Dot or Bullseye. You will definitely know if you stick a bullet, there will be no recoil, but be sure you shoot at clean targets and watch each bullet make a hole with the bullet as you work down loads. Driving a heavy bullet out of a 500 mag is no different than loading low recoil loads for big cased rifle cartridges.

Filling a case with about 12 grains of Trail Boss should get you about 950fps. 8.5g Red Dot or 10g Unique should get you about the same muzzle velocity. Mind you, that's still a pretty hard kick at 335 PF. That's compared to a typical 1911 of 200 PF or a 40 S&W of 175. But since the typical 500 S&W has a PF of about 700 I guess if you want "airsoft-like" recoil, you'd shoot an airsoft gun and not that cannon.

Hope your back gets better soon.

I recommend you use powders which have a case fill of greater than 50% and preferably greater than 80%. With powders such as tite group and unique it is possible to 4 times the correct load in a 500 case.

Practice good reloading habits and we wont be seeing another post of "Why did my gun blow up"

some whomp em' stomp em' Thors hammer type loads for the 500 S&W but this got me to thinking that it might be fun to try some black powder loads. I would fill the case up to about an eighth of an inch from the rim and stuff the bullet on top. If you must, fill it about 2/3rds full then put corn meal on top of that. Remember that it is very important not to leave any air space in the case. It should be a real hoot. I will give it a try. I just got my 4 inch 500 last week and picked up dies, 500 grain HTPs a 100 rounds of brass from cabelas. I am hoping to start reloading in the morning.

Although Precision Cartridge Inc. gets a lot of flak for quality these 350 grain .500 S&W Magnums are a good plinking load. Recoil is similar to a .44 Magnum as you can see from the video. Could shoot them all day.
Out of 30 rounds fired, I did have 2 rounds that didn't fire on the first hammer strike but fired on the 2nd. I wouldn't buy them again though because if I'm shooting my 500 I want full house loads, haha.

YouTube

Why go through the expense of making and shooting light 500 loads?? Just break out a 38/357 and get the results you want at 1/3 the cost. Even a down loaded 44 mag (to 44 special specs) will be cheaper and more cooperative.
FWIW, IF you insist on going there, TrailBoss is going to be a good powder. It was designed to fill big cases and produce light recoil for cowboy action shooting.
Beware of slow powders in small doses . That combination is how allot of guns get blown up!

__________________
Dave

Here is some info from Cast Boollits web site.
.500 S&W Magnum with small recoil

My fun/plinking loads consist of Berry’s 350 gr plated bullets over Trail Boss. Doesn't get any milder.

When my sister broke her wrist , she still wanted to shoot her 41 magnum . I loaded her some 210 cast bullet loads using trail boss powder . She still talks about those loads . They were mild recoil , yet accurate and enjoyable for her to shoot . Regards, Paul

50-330Gr RN/FP

This bullet with 12.0 grs. Unique is my light load out of my .500 S&W Magnum. It goes 1075 fps. out of my 8 3/8" Smith according to my Oehler 35P. Easy shooting with great accuracy.

Amazing how versatile the cartridge is.

Since my last post, in this Zombie thread, I've tried many different bullets & powders in reduced loads for my 500ES.

You can find more in this thread:

Range Fodder for the 500 S&W : ACME, HSM & RAINIER bullets

.

__________________
Waiting for the break of day

Matts bullets does a 440gr with 10grs trail boss. 980fps he said.

Just ordered a 4” 500 magnum, can’t wait for it to come in.

I am not seeing much for reloading on it other than this thread, I dislike the Tapatalk search function.

What dies are best? Do these cases need to be trimmed? Do you folks reload on a progressive or a single stage for the 500?

I have data for everything just about. Worked up for the 10.5 inch though. I use hornady 5th series dies. It does every bullet I load for. Including the 390 extreme spire. All the way to the 700gr

You'll love it. I've got 600+ rounds loaded and 400pcs of new brass. Just ran outta powder lol

I have a mix of dies I found I prefer to use on the 500: Lee TC sizer/decapping die, a Lyman M-2 expander die, & a Hornady seating die. I also bought a Hornady taper crimp die (for reduced loads with non-cannelure bullets & plated bullets) and a Lee collet crimp die for extra power crimp needs.

With reduced loads I doubt you'll run into case length issues requiring trimming very often.

I prime everything on my RCBS JR3 press using a universal priming arm. I load on a Lyman T-Mag II turret (non-indexing) press & use a RCBS Charge Master 1500 for dispensing powder.

.

Always double (triple) check the powder level in the case before seating a bullet in it when using medium speed powders for reduced loads as a double charge would be disastrous !

.

I hope you enjoy your 4" 500.

Reloading is the only way to go with the 500.

.



.
.



.
.



.
.



.

__________________
Waiting for the break of day

I realize this a somewhat resurrected thread but being so, I hope it has updated info on what's currently available.
As a former reloader (years ago) and hoping to get back into on certain calibers (500 mag included) some of the lightest factory loads I've found to plink with and acquire brass, is the Ultramax 330 gr. lead RNFP at 1400 FPS.

I've done a 440 grain gas check lead bullet with 10 grains of Trail Boss or Unique - both very fun and easy shooting.

A did some experimenting with light cowboy loads in my 12" 460XVR just for some knowledge and I tried the 255 Keith SWC with 11.5 gr of WST super mild load that shot about 1125 fps. Felt like shooting 22LR from my heavy 12" 460. I really don't bother downloading my 460, I have plenty of other handguns to fill the "mild" niche

back injury ..........

I know the 500 can be down loaded but

with the injury, I would use a 38 or 357 for plinking and also save
a little on powder, while getting well enough to get back in the saddle.

If the 500 is all that you have, go for it.

Another bullet to consider is the 330 grain RNFP from Badman.

50 Caliber Hard Cast Lead Bullets for Reloading | Badman Bullets

I have 100 each of these in plain lead and polymer coated. Planning to use Trail Boss for them in my John Ross 500. It’s all a pipe dream at the moment, back problems here have me shooting a lot of 22 lately.

Thanks to all. I have ordered some badmans coated 500. I typically only use acme coated for my 45, these 500’s from badman look as good as acme imho and I believe are cheaper. Badman is veteran owned which is nice, not sure about acme.

So I should keep an eye on the brass length? Anyone know where to find a solid compensator? Is trailboss or 4227 the best bet?

Trail Boss and TinStar are safe bets for reduced loads in all strait wall pistol cartridges.

While 4227 can be down loaded in 500 S&W it won't produce the very mild loads produced by Trail Boss.

be safe
Ruggy

You should be fine not trimming unless the brass starts to have varying lengths and crimping becomes a problems. I usually check revolver brass after about 10 reloads. With something like 500 S&W it might happen sooner.

I didn't have any luck finding a solid compensator for my .460.

Trail Boss and 4227 are both good powders. Trail Boss will work the best for real light loads in the sub 900 FPS range. 4227 is also good for light loads in the 1,200 FPS range.

Accurate has a bunch of popcorn loads listed in the reloading section. I did up a few of the 440gr with 10gr if trail boss. Sub 1000fps. Like shooting a 380 lol.

Finally received the kit to reload 500 on my 650. I have never reloaded for revolver rounds and was wondering how to tell if I have too much crimp? I have the Redding pro die set which I believe is the profile crimp (taper and roll).

If your bullets have a cannelure a roll crimp should have a nice rounded curve into the groove (like in my picture above). If you over crimp it'll flatten out instead of being rounded.

.

__________________
Waiting for the break of day