[MODS: This post contains several video links. They are all relevant to the topic of shooting the S&W .500, but if somehow this post violates the forum's guidelines, just delete it without sending me a nastygram...]
I keep getting emails from people interested in the .500, asking me what to expect from this gun.
I never want to talk down to anyone, but it concerns me that some of you may not realize what you are in for, if you have little to no experience with heavy recoiling magnum revolvers. By "heavy recoiling," I mean something with MORE recoil than a factory .44 magnum round out of a 48 ounce gun. If you've been shooting a 329 with magnum rounds, you can stop reading...
Below is a vid of one of my customers shooting my .500 alongside a 5" full-lug .460. In the .500, he is shooting a 300 grain Hornady factory load going about 2000 FPS. He is an experienced magnum shooter and knows what he's doing. For him, recoil with this load is quite manageable, even one-handed...
YouTube - S&W 500 & 460 Dual-wielding!!!
Below is a guy shooting a factory 3 1/8" barrel (4'' with compensator) .500 with a 700 grain round at 1050 FPS from Ballistic Supply. He has no experience with handguns more powerful than .44 mag, and the heavy recoil startles him. The barrel goes slightly past vertical. BTW the 700 grain bullet likely went unstable in 30-60 feet out of that gun.
1994pears1993 - YouTube
Here's a vid in slo-mo of a kid (meaning half my age) shooting one of my guns with a 500 Hornady factory load. He needs a better stance and technique, but it was his first try at the .500, and he didn't drop the gun or let it hit him in the head...
Smith & Wesson 500 Revolver -500 grain bullet - YouTube
Next, here's a girl "doubling" a factory 8 3/8" .500. I have personally witnessed this twice with two of my students. The gun recoils enough to compress not only the rubber grip but the palm fat in your hand and push the gun and trigger away from your trigger finger, letting the trigger reset. Your brain is still telling your finger to put pressure on the trigger, and you fire the gun again, usually straight up. Use a firmer grip. Although the gun doubles on her, she maintains her stance and the gun comes nowhere near hitting her. A firmer grip and she'll shoot the gun like a champ.
YouTube - FULL AUTO 500 S&W
When reports of these "doublings" first came out around June of 2003, S&W shot some extreme high speed footage of what happens when the .500 fires. Here's S&W engineer (and chief .500 designer) Brett Curry firing the 500 one-handed. The vid starts just as the primer has ignited the powder. Watch as the gun recoils ALMOST enough to reset the trigger. The gun initially moves straight back, compressing both rubber grip and palm fat. The clip ends before the muzzle even starts to rise. We are looking at about five milliseconds span of time in this clip. Note that he bullet passes the B/C gap at :02 and exits the muzzle at :06.
Here's the shortened and slowed-down section of the S&W vid:
S&W 500 magnum slow motion (cylinder gap) - YouTube
And here's the entire original S&W vid that gives an even better view of the trigger almost resetting:
dwebb210 - YouTube
And last of all, here's what happens when someone with no experience with heavy recoil gets turned loose with a .500 by some idiot boyfriend. Note that this girl is about the same size as the young woman in video #4, but her technique is all wrong.
When newbies get excited at seeing the .500 and want to shoot it, here's what I do: A cylinder out of a K22, then a K38 shooting wadcutters, then regular .38s, then a Model 27 with magnums. If they're still in, then a 6 1/2" M29 with 10 Unique/250 Keith. Still game? 25 296/250 Keith. More? 5" .500 with a 550 over a case full of Trail Boss. Still with me? 550 over a case full of 4759 for 1325 FPS. Most women and some men have had enough by then, but a few have gone farther, including one woman who made it all the way to the end, 725s @ 1250. My rule is you can quit at any time, but you can't go up until you finish the cylinder you're on. That's how I do it.
Anyway, here's the vid:
YouTube - Girl pistol whips herself in the face with 500.magnum (fail)
Use a crush grip, extend your arms and lean forward with one foot farther to the rear, and work up to the heaviest loads gradually. Don't EVER shoot this gun with a loose grip and your arms relaxed.
Be careful out there...