Smith & Wesson Forum

Go Back   Smith & Wesson Forum > Ammunition-Gunsmithing > Reloading
o

Notices

Reloading All Reloading Topics Go Here


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 12-06-2016, 05:28 PM
Confederate Tyrant's Avatar
Confederate Tyrant Confederate Tyrant is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 65
Likes: 3
Liked 28 Times in 19 Posts
Default Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5

I'm looking to see if anyone has found or tried Accurate Arms #5 for light loads in the S&W 500. I have found light loads with Universal, Trail Boss, and Unique but not AA#5.

From Accurate's load data, the hottest use of AA#5 I can find is for 30,000 PSI .45 Colt rounds using 300 gr lead flat point and 10.1gr to 11.8gr of powder.

I know it's not linear in reloading but figured it was worth mentioning that data.

Thanks
__________________
Authorized AMSOIL Dealer
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-06-2016, 07:04 PM
ruggyh's Avatar
ruggyh ruggyh is offline
SWCA Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: North Texas
Posts: 1,350
Likes: 181
Liked 1,654 Times in 639 Posts
Default

Never seen any load data for #5 for the 500 S&W.
While a load might be worked up fast powders and large volme case are not a good mix, things go bad very quickly.

Would stick to Trailboss or TinStar.
If you would like John Ross's load data send me a PM with your private email address and I will send you the PDF (which is not attachable through PMs) or email me at [email protected]
It has a number of reduced loads that have been tested.

Good luck and be safe
Ruggy
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-27-2016, 04:12 PM
Pipitlvr808 Pipitlvr808 is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 1
Likes: 2
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Default

I never really understood why someone would buy a 500 and want a light load. You buy a 500 for the power. If you want a light load buy a 38. But to each their own. What ever tickles your pickle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
Reply With Quote
The Following User Likes This Post:
  #4  
Old 12-28-2016, 10:30 PM
rays44 rays44 is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: NJ
Posts: 186
Likes: 49
Liked 158 Times in 83 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pipitlvr808 View Post
I never really understood why someone would buy a 500 and want a light load. You buy a 500 for the power. If you want a light load buy a 38. But to each their own. What ever tickles your pickle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
A .50 cal 350gr slug riding along at 1000fps is enjoyable to shoot and will kill anything in the lower 48. At 60, I enjoy shooting reduced loads for the comfort and the love of the particular pistol. I'll shoot some nukes for old time sake, but been there, done that. I've shot scores of wild boar, bear and pronghorn from 50 yards to over 300 yards. Now I no longer hunt but still very much enjoy shooting at the range, only with the more comfortable reduced loads, You may find this to make sense as you age.
Reply With Quote
The Following 6 Users Like Post:
  #5  
Old 12-28-2016, 11:43 PM
SLT223's Avatar
SLT223 SLT223 is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Jan 2009
Posts: 3,304
Likes: 2,719
Liked 5,046 Times in 1,439 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pipitlvr808 View Post
I never really understood why someone would buy a 500 and want a light load. You buy a 500 for the power. If you want a light load buy a 38. But to each their own. What ever tickles your pickle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
If you like shooting the gun alot and want keep your eye brows, make light loads. Another reason is simply because you can, and it's fun to change things up.
Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Like Post:
  #6  
Old 12-29-2016, 01:02 AM
scooter123 scooter123 is offline
Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Metro Detroit, Michigan
Posts: 6,919
Likes: 179
Liked 4,294 Times in 2,106 Posts
Default

Based on a promotional blurb I stumbled on years ago Accurate #5 was originally developed for the 45 ACP, a large bore low pressure caliber. Personally I've found it's an excellent choice for some rather hot 45 ACP loads, as in a 185 grain Speer Gold Dot that clocks 1050 fps over my chronograph from my 5 inch 1911. I've also found it a wonderful choice for the 158 grain Magnum Lites I've worked up for my 2 1/2 inch 19-3. For that load I basically took the +P charge and the minimum 357 Magnum charge and averaged the two weights, so at a guess it's somewhere in the rage of 24,000-27,000 psi. Makes for a low flash load with a bit of a punch but is easy on the hands and the forcing cone in my treasured model 19.

So, in the correct case I would expect that #5 could work well in a 50 caliber application. However, if you compare the case capacity of the 45 ACP or 357 Magnum to the case capacity of the 500 Magnum I would expect that you'll see where you may have a problem. Quite simply a 10 or 15 grain charge of #5 will pretty much disappear in that 50 caliber case and I suspect that you'll find that you have position sensitivity issues that are extreme enough that you might end up with a squib in your barrel. I would suggest that you consider going in a different direction for a powder.

However one possible option might me to cut your case length by enough to reduce the case volume so that it's about 10% larger than the 45 ACP. This should alleviate any Position Sensitivity issues and keep you pressures in the 45 ACP pressure range. As a result you may be able to work up some powder puff loads featuring a cast bullet in the 270-320 grain weight range. Just be aware that when you go this far off the reservation you'll need to check for a squib after every single shot fired and you will most definitely want to chronograph every single load you try. Do that and keep you developed velocity close to 1000 fps and I would expect that you'll have some very soft shooting loads that are perfectly safe. I will also note that I do NOT recommend using a plated or jacketed bullet because copper jacketing has a larger differences between the Static and Dynamic Coefficient of Friction and use of jacketed bullets can greatly increase the potential of a squib when you are trying to work up "light" for the caliber loads.

I will also note that I am NOT a ballistician and all my guestimating is based on my experience with the 45 ACP and 357 Magnum. So do NOT take my advice as being gospel or even safe, it's an opinion of a non expert and I could be steering you completely wrong. All I am doing here is providing a Thought Experiment on how to make the 500 Magnum behave more like the 45 ACP by scaling the 45 ACP up to a 50 caliber in terms of volume and powder charge levels. If you are feeling in a mood to experiment be very careful in your approach.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 12-29-2016, 09:16 PM
Rule3's Avatar
Rule3 Rule3 is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Florida
Posts: 22,065
Likes: 10,777
Liked 15,467 Times in 6,788 Posts
Default

I guess I just do not understand the question?

Why does it have to be be AA #5?? Is that the only powder available?
If there are no reduced loads(for that powder) then there usually is a reason for that.

AA does list reduced loads for AA #2 and 5744. There are probably other loads out there with different powders.
With the amount of powder needed to load up those big cases maybe it is worth while buying some other powder??
__________________
Still Running Against the Wind
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 12-29-2016, 09:58 PM
Rivoak Rivoak is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 146
Likes: 51
Liked 230 Times in 77 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pipitlvr808 View Post
I never really understood why someone would buy a 500 and want a light load. You buy a 500 for the power. If you want a light load buy a 38. But to each their own. What ever tickles your pickle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


Very simple. The S&W is a heavy gun. "light load" is a relative term. A "light load" on a S&W 500 is still capable of killing anything that walks in North America, and due to the weight of the gun, the shooter is experiencing manageable recoil. Also, if a person intends to shoot more than 5 or 10 rounds for practice, light loads are less brutal on the wrist and the ears. I think somebody has to actually own and shoot a 500 regularly to fully understand that a light load from that gun is still more powerful than nearly every other pistol round out there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Like Post:
  #9  
Old 12-29-2016, 10:27 PM
Rivoak Rivoak is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 146
Likes: 51
Liked 230 Times in 77 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pipitlvr808 View Post
I never really understood why someone would buy a 500 and want a light load. You buy a 500 for the power. If you want a light load buy a 38. But to each their own. What ever tickles your pickle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


So you can understand what we are talking about, the round on the right is a magtech 38 special standard load.

158 grain bullet. Muzzle velocity 754 FPS.
Muzzle Energy 201 foot pounds.

The round on the left is a "featherweight load" by magtech for the 500 S&W.

325 grain bullet. Muzzle velocity 1378 FPS.
Muzzle Energy 1370 foot pounds.

I really don't think it makes a lot of sense to compare the two.






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Like Post:
  #10  
Old 01-01-2017, 05:59 PM
CH4's Avatar
CH4 CH4 is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: Mojave Desert
Posts: 10,254
Likes: 17,901
Liked 23,938 Times in 6,786 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Pipitlvr808 View Post
I never really understood why someone would buy a 500 and want a light load. You buy a 500 for the power. If you want a light load buy a 38. But to each their own. What ever tickles your pickle.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
There are myriad reasons to shoot light 500 loads, but if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand. Same could be said for shooting 38 spl from a 357 mag or 44 spl from a 44 mag, in fact, there exists a 500 spl for those that want a light factory load for their 500. Not to sound cliché, but variety is the spice of life.

Happy New Year
Reply With Quote
The Following User Likes This Post:
  #11  
Old 01-03-2017, 10:00 PM
azlou66 azlou66 is offline
US Veteran
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 68
Likes: 18
Liked 56 Times in 25 Posts
Default

When I was working up light loads for my 500 5744 became my go to powder.
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 01-04-2017, 10:29 PM
rays44 rays44 is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: NJ
Posts: 186
Likes: 49
Liked 158 Times in 83 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dr.Lou View Post
There are myriad reasons to shoot light 500 loads, but if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand. Same could be said for shooting 38 spl from a 357 mag or 44 spl from a 44 mag, in fact, there exists a 500 spl for those that want a light factory load for their 500. Not to sound cliché, but variety is the spice of life.

Happy New Year
Exactly.
I own a .50 Special made by Hamilton Bowen, built on a Redhawk platform. Power and comfort in the same package. It will shoot through both shoulders of a 350 pound hog and have far less recoil and blast then a .factory .357 round. What's not to like.
Sorry to drift off topic which was about AA #5 and reduced loads in the .500. The answer is it's simply not the best/right choice for reduced loads in that caliber.

Last edited by rays44; 01-04-2017 at 10:36 PM.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 01-06-2017, 10:02 AM
Road_Clam Road_Clam is offline
Member
Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5 Light S&W .500 Loads With AA#5  
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: New Hampshire
Posts: 258
Likes: 34
Liked 152 Times in 85 Posts
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Confederate Tyrant View Post
I'm looking to see if anyone has found or tried Accurate Arms #5 for light loads in the S&W 500. I have found light loads with Universal, Trail Boss, and Unique but not AA#5.

From Accurate's load data, the hottest use of AA#5 I can find is for 30,000 PSI .45 Colt rounds using 300 gr lead flat point and 10.1gr to 11.8gr of powder.

I know it's not linear in reloading but figured it was worth mentioning that data.

Thanks
Problem is with AA5 is the fact it's near the slower end of the pistol powder burn matrix, and honestly i've never read much data on plinker loads using AA5. Many times what I will do is study the burn chart, find the next closest powder that I have experience with and adjust my charge as necessary. This is where a chronograph is a critical tool in monitoring velocities when experimenting loading "uncharted territories". You don't want to be pushing a typical 300 gr hard cast bullet more than 1200 fps to stay safe. My fav cowboy loads in my 12" 460 XVR is loading 255 gr hard cast Elmer Keith's with either 11 gr of WST or 10 gr of Trailboss. Both these loads yield about 1100 fps. WST was an unusuall powder experiment for me as well. Only reason I wanted to persue WST is the fact I have an 8# keg that I had given to me for free. I started with a light load of 9 grains and worked up to 13 gr. All shot well and the 11 gr pet load was the best compromise of accuracy and safe velocity.

Last edited by Road_Clam; 01-06-2017 at 10:08 AM.
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Light 44 Mag loads no dash Reloading 86 08-29-2022 10:27 PM
.44 light loads with 700-X knotbrush Reloading 10 02-09-2020 12:20 AM
38 Light Loads? captken Ammo 20 03-18-2017 08:20 PM
40 S&W M&P PRO with light loads TSQUARED Smith & Wesson M&P Pistols 2 02-04-2011 08:14 PM
.40 S&W light loads ? zenfly Ammo 3 01-19-2010 01:06 AM

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
smith-wessonforum.com tested by Norton Internet Security smith-wessonforum.com tested by McAfee Internet Security

All times are GMT -4. The time now is 02:57 AM.


Smith-WessonForum.com is not affiliated with Smith & Wesson Holding Corporation (NASDAQ Global Select: SWHC)