500 magnum revolver as a ccw gun

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH,the wonderfull sound of a 500 S&W mag in a 2.5 inch barrel going KABOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMSKI on a Badguy. Like one of Johnny cash songs after the shooting,PICKEM UP ONE PIECE AT A TIME.
 
Sheepdawg, that could be - I never have tried to

carry it. I have carried a full framed steel Witness in 10mm often, though, and had no problems. While I more often carried the compact steel Witness, I never had much problem. I did have to be picky with the shorts I wore and modify them all to use paracord for a drawstring through an external sliplock thing I got from REI - and it did always leave an indentation all the way around from it, but I never had it slip. In jeans I never had a problem. I always used a Kydex IWB with a sleeveless outer button-up work shirt (unbuttoned, like a thin vest) over it.

I even occasionally carried my suppressed Glock 20 that way - no one ever noticed, but it was weird sitting down with something that went halfway to your knee!

The shoulder rig would probably be better, but, except when I was in the 170's for a few years about two years ago, I could never reach it, as can few fat guys or most women, unless they have an extra arm segment surgically added... :)
 
.500 S&W for CC? Good luck in civil court if God forbid you ever have to use it.........I hope you hit the attacker(s) and don't ever miss, and the guy doesn't survive to come back and sue you.

And if the round goes through the bad guy or if you miss and hit an innocent bystander......the prosecutor and/or the victims lawyer will eat you for breakfast.......remember, YOU own the bullets that come out of your gun, even if they land 400 yards away in someone's living room or car. I wouldn't want to defend myself in court because I used a hand held elephant gun to "defend myself" and killed someone's Grandma 200 yards away, sad to say you'll be painted as a "Rambo Dirty Harry wannabe out looking for a reason to use a grossly overpowered handgun"
 
Personally a 5 shot revolver might be a little light in the capacity area. The idea is sound though so why not a custom shoulder holster to carry a pair of 500 mags, one for each hand! That will give you 10 rounds of firepower that even with a miss will blind and deafen your attacker from the sound and muzzle flash.
Just my 2 cents worth to this ridicules thread:D
 
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Please recnsider your choice of CCW. There is a good chance of over penetration w/the outcome of an innocent bystander being injured. I'm the veteran of two gunfights w/ .38 +P during my LEO days. That round proved to be more than enough to end the problem with the result of me enjoying my grandchildren, and the BG in another world.
 
As I mentioned earlier, I carry a 4" 500 quite a bit, usually open on a belt holster but sometimes concealed in a (large) fanny-pack. I have also hunted with an 8 3/8" and have shot, handloaded, and chronographed a lot of loads in both guns. I do not CCW the 500 in an urban setting. It is, for me, a backcountry gun. I live in NW Montana and this is grizzly country. I own some acerage on the Swan River in an area where griz are often seen, and I have found tracks and scat of both griz and wolves on my property, although have never actually seen either of those species of critter there 'in the flesh'. I hike sometimes in Glacier National Park, and now that CCW in parks is legal, and given the number of griz in that particular park (and a number of fatal maulings over the past several decades), consider the 500 in a fanny-pack to be mandatory equipment there. I realize that one may be just as likely to be attacked by a two-legged predator in a national park, or even moreso in some, but I think one needs to arm himself for his biggest potential opponent, not the smallest one.

The 500, more than any handgun I have ever owned, inspires confidence. I shot a deer with the longer gun once, a good sized buck at about 40 yards, and it anchored him, literally slapped him to the ground, DRT. I've shot deer with 357s and seen them shot with 44 Mags and the 454 Casul, and there's really no comparison. I honestly think I'd feel no less well-armed in a face-off with an ornery grizzly with the 500 versus any bolt-action hunting rifle on the planet.

The load I have settled on is a handloaded equivalent of the 440 grain flat nosed gas-checked SWC Cor-Bon.
 
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Softball sized holes or not, it's merely a matter of what it's loaded with as in any firearm used for carry. Shoot the wrong (or sometimes right) person with a mouse gun loaded with Glaser Safety slugs and watch the circus follow that one in the courts. Just the same with any such caliber. Folk don't usually shoot well with the highest power loads anyway.

I am and always have been a big fan of the "larger hole" theory and have preferred to get there is bullet diameter and weight rather than higher and higher velocities. Another reason for the choice of 45 LC when starting my run in SASS (Single action Shooting). I used full case loads of black behind a 300 grain slug and just had a blast and with a powerful, but rather slow moving slug. Big point is that it was NOT painful or inaccurate to shoot.

I'm right now looking for the mold of the slug I'll be casting for my 4" 500 magnum and it's between a couple of designs. On that I helped create is a lengthened nose section, round nose, plain base bullet that's around 575 grains. (500 was my starting point). In this quest I've found what may be the biggest and best bullet to have, a 710 grain monster that only tapers in on this semi-wadcutter design, the least little bit at the nose. The nos section is at such a length so as to come just 1/32" shy of the end of the Smith 500 mag cylinder, so there isn't much more than can be put in that case. I'll load this to what many might call blooper velocities, yet can you imagine getting hit at any velocity with 710 grains? I've not seen too many bullet proof vest owners/manufacturers volunteering to be shot with a 12 gauge slug at any velocity, so much the same here. It might not be worth a poop at 100 yards or even at 50, but when was the last time you remember someone needing to shoot someone at that distance and is not spending the rest of their life in jail. At 50-100 yards, most think that getting away would have been the most prudent response rather than shooting. I now think I've just convinced myself to go with that 710 grainer. Yep that's it for sure. Smithy.
 
If you go to the Big and Tall store and ask for the special even-bigger stuff in the back, sure.

If you pay for two plates at an all-you-can-eat buffet, sure.

If you tear out the front bucket in your 1 ton truck...because you have to sit in the back to work the pedals, sure.

In all seriousness, a really big guy could pull it off with a heavy jacket. The butt will still be up in the armpit on a belt carry.

Others have covered the legal ramifications. It's obviously a landmine to carry a handgun intended for shooting large game.
 
Did I miss something here? mg357 is talking about 4 legged animals not 2 legged ones.
To answer your question mg357. The 500 mag is too heavy, way to much recoil for fast follow up shots if needed and way to difficult to accurately shoot in a hurry if you were surprised by a bear or mountain lion.


When hunting in the deep woods of Maine and Vermont, I started out carrying a Ruger Blackhawk 44 mag with 6" bbl. After some thought and use of that gun in this situation, I down sized to a Ruger 41 mag with 6" bbl (it also comes in a 4.6" bbl). It had less recoil, faster follow up shots and only a minimal downsize in power (with the right loads). It would handle any Black Bear, Mountain Lion or Bob Cat! JMO

In the 41 mag I shot 210gr vs 240gr in the 44mg (Below specs for Underwood ammo).
The muzzle energy is around 1135 ft/lbs for the 41mag.
The muzzle energy is around 1199 ft/lbs for the 44 mag.

Be SAFE and Shoot Often !
 
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I recall once seeing a guy on another forum (can't remember which one) who carried a S&W M500 with a 3" barrel as an EDC, but then again, he lived in Alaska, not Illinois.

Furthermore, unless you're likely to encounter the absolute biggest, baddest bears in North America, you're probably better off carrying something smaller, lighter, easier to shoot, yet still totally effective.

Folks tend to be of the opinion that anything less than .44 Magnum is inadequate for defense against predatory animals, but in reality most animals across the United States can be dealt with using non-magnum cartridges like .44 Special or .45 Long Colt when it comes to Black Bear, and for smaller predatory animals like Mountain Lions you can actually get away with using standard duty cartridges like 9mm Luger, .40 S&W, or .45 ACP.
Coyotes? Pfft... People have been known to drop Coyotes with Pocket Pistols. Heck, Ruger actually did a run of Limited Edition Coyote Brown LCPs after a Governor successfully used an LCP to drop a Coyote who was attacking his dog.
 
I decided that the S&W offering in 500 Magnum was too heavy,, and 4" was too long for the barrel.

SO,,

I had this the barrel and cylinder of this gun rebored to 500 MAGNUM.

kHphdPk.jpg


The "Safety Lock" was converted to a cylinder lock.
After loading,
the new function of the lock is to keep the cylinder from flying open when the higher powered 500 Magnum round is fired.
The conversion of the lock function from passive, to active took 3 days of design effort, and 2 days of CNC programming,
and two days of tooling design, and part manufacturer.

Due to accurate CNC 3D modeling, the actual parts worked to perfection the first time.

All new parts that were added are made of precipitation hardening 17-4 PH stainless steel.
Final heat treat of those parts take about one day of actual oven time.
A 0.000001 TORR programmable vacuum furnace was used for the heat treat.

The one exception it the actual tip of the locking pin.
The tip is investment cast MetalTek RENE® 77 Centri-Vac Nickel Cobalt Based Alloy,,
the only material that I could find that would hold up to the 500 Magnum full power cartridges.

The "Key" for the cylinder lock dangles from a titanium chain that connects to the lanyard loop.
This picture was taken before the titanium chain arrived from Gun Broker.

NOW, I have the perfect backup carry gun.:D

You do not want to see what my main carry gun is,,, :eek:
and, do not ask how long the main carry gun took to develop,,,,,,,, :cool:





:rolleyes:
 
I shot a 4-inch barrelled .500 once.....my entire hand tingled for a few seconds! The owner that loaned it to me laughed but I wasn't offended.

I have a friend that carried a Desert Eagle .50 AE concealed for many years and used it to stop several crimes and even held offenders at gun point until police arrived. He's a big guy and carried it in a sort of makeshift shoulder holster.
 
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SweetMK said:
I decided that the S&W offering in 500 Magnum was too heavy,, and 4" was too long for the barrel.

SO,,

I had this the barrel and cylinder of this gun rebored to 500 MAGNUM.

kHphdPk.jpg


The "Safety Lock" was converted to a cylinder lock.
After loading,
the new function of the lock is to keep the cylinder from flying open when the higher powered 500 Magnum round is fired.
The conversion of the lock function from passive, to active took 3 days of design effort, and 2 days of CNC programming,
and two days of tooling design, and part manufacturer.

Due to accurate CNC 3D modeling, the actual parts worked to perfection the first time.

All new parts that were added are made of precipitation hardening 17-4 PH stainless steel.
Final heat treat of those parts take about one day of actual oven time.
A 0.000001 TORR programmable vacuum furnace was used for the heat treat.

The one exception it the actual tip of the locking pin.
The tip is investment cast MetalTek RENE® 77 Centri-Vac Nickel Cobalt Based Alloy,,
the only material that I could find that would hold up to the 500 Magnum full power cartridges.

The "Key" for the cylinder lock dangles from a titanium chain that connects to the lanyard loop.
This picture was taken before the titanium chain arrived from Gun Broker.

NOW, I have the perfect backup carry gun.:D

You do not want to see what my main carry gun is,,, :eek:
and, do not ask how long the main carry gun took to develop,,,,,,,, :cool:





:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

LOL, Nice write up. How did you keep the 500 chambers small enough to fit 6 of them in a N frame cylinder??? I couldn't even get 5 to work in mine, so I shortened a 5 shot X frame cylinder so it fit one of my N frames. I had to relieve the top and bottom of the frame window a bit. I used model 329 Scandium alloy frame with the plug and replaced all the cylinder lock up springs with stronger ones and added a double ball detent lock to the yoke. I had to fashion an over sized thumb piece so I could push it hard enough to open the cylinder. :D

Recovery time between first and second shot is substantial as I am still waiting to get the cast off.:rolleyes:
 
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