500 S&W In A Rifle

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mac2

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Thought I'd Google 500 S&W rifle expecting quite a few only to find just one or two; would have thought it would be popular in lever actions - thought revolver cartridges in revolvers & lever action were quite popular - eg 357, 44-40, 44mag etc. Hardly anything, just what looks like a semi-custom gun, the Big Horn lever action costing 2-3 grand; no Marlins or Winchesters, nothing mass produced. Quite surprised really, woulda thought the 500 was more suited to something fired from the shoulder afterall?

Thoughts?
 
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I've had the same thought, and I'd bet there have been multiple custom rifles of various types made up in .500, but I have not knowingly seen any.
 
What I forgot to add was, that I would have thought demand would be high, the revolver was popular when it came out in 2003 wasn't it?
 
There's been a single shot or two,the NEF and you can get the Encore a barrel.

I'm sure I've seen a Savage custom barrel,or at least one guy who would make a Savage barrel.

And of course any single shot that's strong enough you can get a barrel i.e. the Ruger #1

There IS a lever action out there if I recall,but it's hand made and pushes $3,000 or so :eek:
 
Right that one,I wonder why Marlin hasn't done it yet? maybe the high pressure of the round,I do know the NEF carbine is said to pop the action open on firing sometimes.
 
I've wanted a 500 S&W carbine of some kind for quite a while. The single shot break-opens never suited me and the Big Horn is too expensive, at least for me. Something in a falling or rolling block would be ok or a Marlin lever, etc. A few years ago I saw a SxS at Wanenmachers but wasn't for sale as the guy had just bought it at the show and it was a custom build but was surprisingly only $1300.
 
I suspect the reason why you don't see 500 Magnum Lever Actions is the cost of the ammunition. Unless you load your own ammo this is a very expensive caliber to shoot, more that triple what the 45/70 costs.
 
Just buy a rifle in 50 70 Government. Its case is 1.75 in long while the 500 S&W is 1.625 in long.
I edited this to state that I am not recommending anyone shoot 500 S&W in a 50-70 chambered rifle. What I am recommending is buying a 50-70 instead and shooting 50-70 ammo in it instead of 500 S&W. There were thousands of buffalo killed with the 50-70 and also i am sure many grizzley bears also with black Powder loads. Unless you want to shoot Cape Buffalo or Elephants a 50-70 would do the job.
 
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I just don't think it's a very popular caliber? I agree, It's very expensive to shoot. Even to reload. I think the 500 is cool, but wouldn't trade one of my 44 mag's for one! I can barely afford 44 mag ammunition.
 
Even a modern 86/71 action won't stand up to the extended use. Yes Winchester made the 86 in 50-110, but that was in Black powder and low pressure smokeless loadings. The Marlin action may or may not take the long term use, but the action won't fit the diameter of the rim. I have seen Ruger No.1 rifles in 500 Nitro Express and even 577 Nitro Express, Get one of these and load down.

The comment about shooting the 500 S&W in a 50-70 style action has a name...Pipe Bomb!

I remember being in a gun store when 500 S&W had been out for a year or 3. A customer was picking up TWO X-frame 500's, a ported 4" and a 8" or so. I mentioned that they had a new NEF single shot on the rack (for $189 or something like that), so he added it to his pile. He often wrote magazine articles and then sold the revolvers through the store. In about 2 months the revolvers passed through the store again, but I never heard what happened to the single shot.

Ivan
 
I often thought a .500 double rifle in @ 20" barrel lengths would be the ideal brush gun/wander around in the woods rifle.

But I have issues........
 
EQGuy said:
Just buy a rifle in 50 70 Government. Its case is 1.75 in long while the 500 S&W is 1.625 in long.
I edited this to state that I am not recommending anyone shoot 500 S&W in a 50-70 chambered rifle. What I am recommending is buying a 50-70 instead and shooting 50-70 ammo in it instead of 500 S&W. There were thousands of buffalo killed with the 50-70 and also i am sure many grizzley bears also with black Powder loads. Unless you want to shoot Cape Buffalo or Elephants a 50-70 would do the job.
Click to expand...

Right after the 500 came out I thought of getting one in a rifle and loading it with black powder. Wouldn't that be a fun piece I thought. That's about the time I realized I would be re-inventing the 50-70. Gave up on that idea when I saw the price of 500 brass. :eek:
 
Without loading to 500 S&W pressures, you cannot get the 50 Beowulf to go as fast with the same bullets. The AR platform won't handle 500 S&W pressures, but it is a heck of a lot of fun! The US Coast Guard adopted the AR with a 50 chambering (I'm not sure if it was Beowulf or another) some time back as a "Breaching" rifle. In a CQB situation, I'm sure the noise alone would assure every person on board, "This boat is going down & I AM about to die!"

Ivan
 
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