Smith & Wesson 460 XVR Disappointment

Purchased a new 460 XVR, 14" and had to send it back after it's first outing. The 460 Federal ammo casings had to be pounded out of the revolver cylinders. The extractor could not eject them for fear of bending it.

45 Long Colt ejected without a problem, so the problem was in the forward section of the revolver cylinders.

It's been 3 or 4 weeks since I sent the gun back to the "Performance Center" (we use that term loosely) and still don't have it back yet.

Not so good performance for a "Performance Center", but then I can always shoot my reliable Desert Eagles in the mean time.

Also noticed that the sights on the 460 XVR were off. I can keep a 12" grouping with my 50 AE Desert Eagle stock sights, on a 10" barrel at 100 yards. Could NOT hit the 3' X 3' target with the 460 XVR. What's interesting is that the barrel on the Desert Eagle pops off in 2 seconds, swaps out with my 44 mag barrel and stays accurate. Not sure how to adjust the sights on the 460 XVR, but guess I need to learn - any advise?

Don't get me wrong, I like the 460, mostly because it looks so nasty, but got off to a bad start.

Why do you think this a gun issue?

If you fired the Colt and did not clean the residue before firing the 460 cartridges chambering and extraction will also be problematic

or

sounds like it is an ammo issue, loaded to hot.
Can you provide a lot#?
Did you call Federal?

I would think that he tried a few different brands to make sure it wasn't ammo,right OP?

Ohh man.. i have to give her hell to get the 440gr nickel cases out of my 500 .. those sumbishes are hot!

Most other ammo ejects with fairly little drama .. but those winchester rounds get stuck in there tighter than 2 dogs humpin

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I aint got time to bleed....

You are right about the 460 sights. Mine is new also but not from the PC... Just the standard 5" model. I started with a 12x12 target at 25yds with 45 colts. Didn't hit paper. So I took a couple more shots and nicked the left edge of the target. Elevation was fine. By the time I got it centered the rear sight was way off center and almost at max adjustment. But the groups were fairly good. Then I went to 325gr hard cast 454 casulls and then 365gr hard cast 460 mags. These were both Buffalo Bore. The 454 & 460 rounds are pretty potent but ejected OK with a couple of snug fits. Unless you were using hot reloads you shouldn't have had the problem you described. Good luck.

Read the manual that came with the gun...it will tell you in detail how to adjust the sights. My PC .460 has tight throats(many do) and does not like hot loads. Buffalo Bore has addressed this issue by downloading it's .460 ammo from the original specs. Good thing is, one does not need hot loads for the .460 to be effective. My .460 X-Frame is more accurate than my handgun caliber carbines, even for first time shooters. Odds are, once sighted in, yours will put the DE to shame. Me thinks if you can't keep it on paper you need to look at the shooter, not the gun.

I recently purchased the 12" 460XVR and I was was initially shooting the Hornady factory 200gr FTX loads and they are advertised at about 52 gr of H110 which yields approx. 2200 fps. When shooting the factory loads I was getting an occasional lightly stuck casing. I have been handloading the 200 FTX with 50 gr of H110 and the casings now eject no problem. As for your sight being "off" I had a pretty substantial issue with my windage. Turns out the "clamp on" front sight perpendicularity of the blade is critical to a good baseline for zeroing. I had to fiddle with the rotation of the front sight to get things correct. I set the windage clicker to approx centered then began shooting and rotating the front blade to get my POI close, then fine tuned the windage with the rear clicker. I've got a super accurate shooter, scoped and off a rest I am able to hold about 3 MOA @ 200 meters if I am doing my part with a steady hold (which firing a cannon at that distance looking through a not so friendly eye relief handgun scope) is a MAJOR challenge !

The gun was manufactured 2/5/15. Fired the 460 Federal rounds first, when gun was brand new. Fired 45 colts after. The Performance Center said that it was a bad revolver, replaced it, but haven't shipped it yet.

Seems like alot of 460 owners have stubborn extraction with max or near max loads. Myself included...

I have been advised by quite a few fellow owners here who have the means of measuring throats, that many of the 460's have throats on the tight side.

FTR: When I first fired my 460 using the Hornady factory 200gr FTX rounds, a had about 50% of the fired cases need to be tapped out with a pen one at a time. Now that I have settled on a handloaded recipe that is about 2gr below max listed charge of h110, I have not had any issues.

It's been said many times already and I'll say it again, the 460 is a handloader's revolver.

What was bad?

I shoot a 240 grain Hornady XTP on top of H110. I think S&W chose the 200 grain for marketing purposes - make the 460 the fastest revolver on the market. Everything about my 460 is better with the 240 grain. Especially, the groups at 100 yards and the reduced muzzle blast.

S&W 460 XVR 14" Barrel, Brand New Gun, First Time Out had a problem extracting the Federal 460 mag shells. Shipped it back to S&W on 3-16-15, they replaced the revolver, have shipped it out Friday, 4-4-15 and should receive it Tuesday 4-7-15.

Not a bad warranty turn-around, total 3 weeks from when it left my hands to hopefully when it's back in my hands.

The problem with this gun is that it's so awesome, I've been impatiently counting the days until I get it back!!!

CORRECTION: TOTAL TIME LOST FROM MY CHERISHED 460 XVR, 14" FOR WARRANTY WORK, INCLUDING SHIPPING TIME - 3 WEEKS.
Not bad, but owning this gun makes you very possessive over it. Especially when you haven't owned it very long.

The Federal 460 mag casings had to be tapped out of the cylinders. I'll have the gun back 4-7-15, with a new cylinder, curtesy of S&W warranty (3 week turn-around time, including shipping).

Will see how the new cylinder works and report back.

Love the gun and miss it!

I think most brass cant hold up to the power of the cartridge. Light projectiles always gives me sticky brass. But loads are usually hot.
Did OP clean out the gun before first range session?
Also Im sure I would have problems extracting brass if there were 5 to push out.

Another question h as anyone have a 460 with a orange or rust color in barrel when new best regards TZ

No, I did not clean out the gun before first range session. Will try that when I get it back. Thanks for the good advise.

Copper from factory test firing

GOT MY NEW 460 XVR, 14" BARREL BACK FROM WARRANTY SERVICE TODAY!! Remember, I had to pound out the spent shells out of the revolver. Guess what - had to send it right back!! They put a new revolver on it and according to the packing sheet replaced a bunch of other stuff inside as well. Don't know why they replaced all of that stuff in the frame of the gun, but then I'm not a gunsmith.

The gun came locked, but I couldn't unlock it. Given that I am new to this gun, I took it up to the gun shop where I bought it, hoping I wouldn't have to send it back. The ex-cop, gun instructor, owner of the gun shop could not unlock it either. He said, send it back.

Evidently when they replaced all of the internal parts, they screwed something up. The gun cannot be unlocked. DOESN'T ANYONE CHECK THEIR WORK BEFORE SENDING IT OUT??

Ordered the gun early March, took delivery on March 13th, 2015, shot it March 14th, sent it back 3-16-15. Received it back 4-7-15, sent back 4-7-15. HOPE THEY TURN IT AROUND QUICK AND DOUBLE CHECK THEIR WORK THIS TIME.

Wonder if I could charge S&W rent on the gun, they've had it longer than I have.

Don't get me wrong, I like the gun, would just like to have it and shoot it. S&W, if you're listening, please work on more Performance, in your "Performance Center".

I glad to see your turn around time is a lot better then the turn around time on my 460. Good luck with your 460 when it comes back maybe they put a new lock in the gun and just forgot to give ya the keys to take it for a test drive.

Didn't know they had different keys? They didn't send new keys back with the gun, so maybe you're right. Maybe the original keys I got with the gun don't fit the new lock they put in?

What was wrong with your 460?

I'm not sure they have differnt key but I would think they would have a few differnt locks for guns maybe like 200 of one lock and so on and so on just so they all don't have the same one.

Mine has been recalled for a bad barrel. Check out the theard. Recall notice 460xvr PC!!!!!!!

Seems strange that SWPC would lock the gun before shipping back. That would frustrate the hell out of me. Hope you get it back in a couple of days. Not sure why any other parts would have needed replacement.
Chrono the loads on your outing. That may give you plenty of insight into your loads factory or otherwise. skip the 45 LC all together.
Save brass and reload if possible.

That's just ridiculous that S&W would replace the lock ?? I'm not understanding how the lock mechanism would have anything to do with the original issue ? Furthermore upon replacing the lock assembly not provide a new set of keys ? Did you call customer service for a logical explanation ?