460 S&W Advice

[gto364cid]

Been looking at getting a 460, really like the ability to step up in calibers from 45LC, 454, and 460 Mag. The 460V has been discontinued with the 5" barrel, looked like a nice size. Still, I don't have any experience with something as powerful as a 460, closest is a Desert Eagle 50 AE.

I don't want to go too short and cut back on range and have extreme recoil. Looking for something not too nose heavy and can be maybe shoulder holstered. What do you guys think between the 5", 8.375", 10", etc.?

 

[DonD]

I'm not knocking the shorter barrels and I have never shot the .460 but I have had 5 of the 500 Mags, currently have two keepers.

I find that the 8.375" barreled models "hang" better in the hands, facilitating accurate shooting. They of course, also give higher velocities particularly I would expect in the faster .460.

Handle all of them if you can, evaluate your expected usage and chose one. Good luck, can't go wrong with these beasts unless you're intimidated by them, they're lots of fun. Don

 

[mr.magnum]

like don d. said, you really need to handle one first. i wanted one for a long time and finally bought an 8 3/8" model. if i would have known how big ang heavy it was, i would have definetlt gotten a longer barrel, 10 or whatever is longer. (and a backpack holster!) just my humble opinion.

 

[duckloads]

I have the 8-3/8" XVR version with a Burris scope. I have the S&W holster that is pretty comfortable for the hike to the tree stand. I'd like to have the 10" (?) performance center barrel installed. That has the cool factor.

 

[duckloads]

by the way, don't even think about shooting ANY of these without hearing protectioon. I wear Plugs and muffs. Except for that ONE time. BIG mistake.

 

[Krull]

If you wanna hunt then I'd say get a 5,8 3/8,or a 10 inch PC and probably stick a scope on it.

If you want to carry it more then anything then a 5 is good or you can be crazy like me and hunt up a 2 3/4 snubby!

by the way, don't even think about shooting ANY of these without hearing protectioon. I wear Plugs and muffs. Except for that ONE time. BIG mistake.

No offense but how are you going to do this while hunting? run around with muffs on all the time? and I expect my short .460 is going to be worse,but I don't plan on roaming the woods with plugs in,sorry.

On the range stuffing the ears makes sense,in the woods it's just stupid,and that's my two cents.

 

[.460Fan]

by the way, don't even think about shooting ANY of these without hearing protectioon. I wear Plugs and muffs. Except for that ONE time. BIG mistake.

The .45 Colt 255 grain 830 fps rounds are not that bad. They're compairable to the 230 grain standard pressure .45 ACP rounds I use in my 1911 in terms of loudness.

Casull and .460? Yeah... might be a good idea.

The only way I'd lug plugs around with an X-frame with full on "artillery" rounds is if I planned on being in a tree stand which is real popular around here. For SD I'd go for less pressure. I don't need to go deaf before 65. lol

I own a 460V. I LOVE it. And now since it's discontinued I'd rather die than sell it.

To answer the topic starting Q: If it's for both SD and hunting, go for the 5 inch if you can get one. .45 Colt rounds like I use barely make the muzzle move, my old man like that fact plus the fact that at 65 with glaucoma in one eye he can still nail the bulls eye and put'um where he wants them at the range. .45 Colt in a 460V is a set up you can shoot all day and accurately too.

It's a chunk, I won't lie but it means business. I heard one guy load up 200 grain Hornady .460 rounds in his and hit a wild hog in the shoulder in one shot and turn her heels up dead at 200 yards with a big hole of an exit wound.

Just depends on what you want to do with it.

What do I do with mine? Shock and Awe at my local range. I like to shake the range with sound and fury. lol

 

[madmikeb]

I've got one of the 10.5" Performance Center guns with a Burris 1.5x4 in Leupold quick release rings. One thing for sure is that the gun is heavy! I think it goes something like 90 ounces. It does dampen recoil but it is also kind of awkward. I wouldn't even consider shooting it without a rest of some sort. It came with a sling and I think that's the only way you could carry it!

 

[duckloads]

If you wanna hunt then I'd say get a 5,8 3/8,or a 10 inch PC and probably stick a scope on it.

If you want to carry it more then anything then a 5 is good or you can be crazy like me and hunt up a 2 3/4 snubby!



No offense but how are you going to do this while hunting? run around with muffs on all the time? and I expect my short .460 is going to be worse,but I don't plan on roaming the woods with plugs in,sorry.

On the range stuffing the ears makes sense,in the woods it's just stupid,and that's my two cents.

I use electronic muffs to turn the volume up above the ear plugs. The electronics turn off at a shot blast. Go ahead. Make one shot on purpose with 200 gr Hornady mag load and report back. Then we'll talk about what is stupid.

You might want to check if that snubby is legal to hunt with. I've heard of states that require a 4" (I think) minimum barrel. You've never shot that 460 snubby with a 460 magnum load, have you?

 

[mr.magnum]

recoil is a perceived feeling. i have friends who won't shoot a full cylinder of light loads out of my 44's, while the stiffest loads don't really bother me at all. then there's the member of this forum who figured out a way to get rid of the compensators on his 500 mags.ther's nothin crazy about owning or shootin a snub 460, if that's what you can handle and enjoy. but it doesn't make you a crazed lunatic livin life on the edge either or a superhero. it's just a big gun with a big bullet and there's always a bigger one.

 

[Krull]

I use electronic muffs to turn the volume up above the ear plugs. The electronics turn off at a shot blast. Go ahead. Make one shot on purpose with 200 gr Hornady mag load and report back. Then we'll talk about what is stupid.

You might want to check if that snubby is legal to hunt with. I've heard of states that require a 4" (I think) minimum barrel. You've never shot that 460 snubby with a 460 magnum load, have you?

It's not for hunting,I have a CCW so I'll be using it as my "ultimate woods gun" and tucking it under a vest or a coat.

I'm giving a 10.5 inch .460 the hairy eyeball for maybe getting for hunting......

No,no .460's yet,just some 300gr .454's,I can see the .460 shells will be a real ride.
I figger if I stay away from the 2,000 FPS screamers I should fair ok,probably stick with anything from the 260gr range and maybe the 300's the 200gr rounds are the screamers and I suspect the blast is going to be like a .223 pistol (one of a few pistols that made my ears hurt while hunting) so I'll avoid them,thank you.

The blast is impressive out of the 454 as is

 

[jlynch34]

I see guys about every two weeks with broken bones from shooting 454's, 460's and 500's. Why hurt yourself a .44 mag will kill anything in the lower 48?

 

[madmikeb]

What kind of broken bones are you seeing? I shoot 500's and 460's and I've never even thought about broken bones! I did see a picture once of somebody who shot a 500 with their finger on the front of the frame and it wasn't pretty, there was a lot of meat removed from that finger.

 

[Cocked & Locked]

thumb blowout

I had a friend that did similar thing first time he shot his 460. For some unknown reason, he cradled the gun in his left hand in front of the trigger guard.

The escaping gas at the barrel/cylinder gap split the fleshy heel of his thumb and blew a small hole through his thumb and out the end under the thumbnail.

His son cleaned the area with rubbing alcohol and sewed up his dad's thumb heel with a needle and thread. Yikes!

This was about 1.5 years ago. He has some nerve damage to that thumb of course. Of course he still has and shoots the .460. When he moved to AK, I shipped that gun and many more to him.

 

[Combat_Diver]

I got to fire a 460 with the 8 3/8" bbl last year before deploying. Fired 260 gr 454 and 200 gr 460 loads out of her. I had lots of fun with it and rocked firing the 460 DA rapid fire. I'm debating which I want for Christmas either that 460 or a new 57 6" as a hunting revolver (whitetail, black bear and hog). I'm totally set up for reloading the .41 from light to heavy cast boolits but don't have any dies/molds and very few brass of .45 Scholfield,45 Colt/454 or 460.

CD

 

[.460Fan]

The escaping gas at the barrel/cylinder gap split the fleshy heel of his thumb and blew a small hole through his thumb and out the end under the thumbnail.

His son cleaned the area with rubbing alcohol and sewed up his dad's thumb heel with a needle and thread. Yikes!

Yeah I do it differently. I put the left hand index finger on the front section of the trigger guard and place my thumb in line with the index finger. I find that the pistol balances well there and the gas pressure is not an issue.

The reason? I wanted to find a way to deal better with the recoil as the two hands at the grip wasn't to my liking with a round with that much force because the trigger guard was trying to bruise my left index finger on recoil so I had to move my hand.

The #1 reason you don't grab the frame on any firearm is heat. It's just a no-no. Add the cylinder gap pressure and there ya go.

 

[duckloads]

I got to fire a 460 with the 8 3/8" bbl last year before deploying. Fired 260 gr 454 and 200 gr 460 loads out of her. I had lots of fun with it and rocked firing the 460 DA rapid fire. I'm debating which I want for Christmas either that 460 or a new 57 6" as a hunting revolver (whitetail, black bear and hog). I'm totally set up for reloading the .41 from light to heavy cast boolits but don't have any dies/molds and very few brass of .45 Scholfield,45 Colt/454 or 460.

CD

Hey Combat...When you get back home, and come close to Huntsville, Alabama, look me up. I'll let you shoot my 460 XVR all you want... 60-80 rounds anyway, because that's how many I'll have loaded. (If you can take that many).

Thanks for your service and all you do.

 

[gto364cid]

Thanks guys, I'll try handling a few different sizes at my gun store to try to get a feel for it.

How is the accuracy when shooting 45/454s out of a 460?

 

[Combat_Diver]

duckloads,

Thanks for the offer, be awhile as I just started my second year here.

CD

 

[buck460XVR]

I see guys about every two weeks with broken bones from shooting 454's, 460's and 500's. Why hurt yourself a .44 mag will kill anything in the lower 48?

......sounds like your friends need to find a new pastime. Funny, as many times as the mangled finger pic has been on the web, that one hasn't seen documentation of all these other incidents of which you speak. My youngest son has been shooting my .460 with true magnum loads since he was 13. He weighed maybe 75lbs soakin' wet. Never broke nuttin' but the clay pigeons set up on the berm. Now @ seventeen, he loves to shoot it DA as fast as he can. My daughter-in-law shoots it also.....she weights maybe 105#. She consistently hits the bowlin' pin @ 75 yards with open sights. I don't think she has even broke a fingernail. Now I admit, it ain't the snubby but the PC model with the 10.5'' barrel, and we all know that the .460 S&W is not for the faint of heart. But..... if folks are breakin' bones with any model .460 with the regularity that you speak, they need to take a long look at their technique.