New purchase, SW500-4" any ideas..

turbo38gn

turbo38gn

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Well, I stuck my foot in my mouth and had to buy it. It was on my list of guns, but wasn't supposed to happen so soon... You guys know how those deals are that you feel like you can't walk away from/.... I justified it, now I got a LNIB 500 with a 4" barrel. She's a beauty. I cleaned her all up, checked her out inside and out, can't wait to shoot it. Been checking youtube, lots of funny vids, reading lots of reviews now I am hoping I can get some tips and help on what to shoot for ammo, what to expect, just plain any info anyone with experience can share... OH ya, I also did put a Bone Collector 500 on layaway a week ago.. so that wiill be in the picture in a few weeks too... thanks in advance..
 
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I have the 8 3/8 so my experience is limited to 1000+ rounds shot with this gun and never the 4" 500. The factory loads excluding corbon...well the accuracy flat out stunk (for me). The load that really groups and has nasty down range ballistics is as follows:

500 grain hard cast with gc- order them from leadhead-http://www.proshootpro.com/ fyi- he casts all the lead bullets for corbon...the ones you buy direct are the same that he sells to corbon

H110- 31 grains (heavy crimp)

These group outstanding but a word of caution if your timid about recoil...these will hurt you..my suggestion is to use soft ear plugs and over the ears to reduce the blast and minimize picking up nasty flinching as a result of anticipating the shot. Once you grow comfy with this load a full house 44 magnum feels like your shooting cotton balls.

Besides you have to reload the 500 if your going to shoot any quanity...at 3.00-4.00 per shot for corbon or buffalo bore your going to lighten your wallet quite a bit. kind of makes gas prices seem cheap when you think about it that way....people bitch about a .05 cent increase and average prices of 3.07 for regular per gallon and you just lit off $20.00 in ten seconds followed by another $40-50 during your shooting period...
 
i have a scoped 7.5"500 from the performance center...on the range and hunting it's a lot of fun...i have taken several boar,a 4-horn ram and a merino ram with it so far...as noted above...better reload for it if you aren't at this point...you get what you want,when you want at an immense savings...i also have the 500 mag snub thats a hoot...you will love it !
 
Wow.. Holy Moly, like my Bro from Ga. would say.. Thanks much guys for the responses and tips. Sounds like I have some fun in front of me. I'm feeling a little giddy after reading this. What kind of performance, accuracy do you all think I would get from say close range15-25 yards as well as further and what kind of ammo loads would you think. I been shooting now for a year, 9,40,45 and 223's... been saving the brass. I think it will now be time to begin looking for the reload equipment... I'll start with buying some factory ammo now, I'll contact that link you gave me and get started with him as well as one of the big GUn stores in CT... I think they have a selection of AMMO... Keep the info coming guys, thanks much.. Bigshoot, looks like we're neighbors... what part of RI, I'm in Springfield..
 
about 2 hours away from springfield, ma....I have a local club I shoot at as well as a 150 acre farm.

Accuracy with the 500 isnt the same as shooting a ruger mk2 govt or s&w 41...with the smaller rounds one can shoot playing cards in half with ease at 15 yards...the 500 is much more of a challenge due to the shear mass your holding. the gun fully loaded is right around 6.5lbs and well..it gets pretty hard to hold the gun up for five aimed shots (at least for me) where does this leed with respect to your question...5 shot groups with iron sights can hold about 2 inches at 25 yards. more then good enough to bust bowling pins or as some would say...MOD (minute of deer). I have little doubt that should one put a scope on the gun it would hold 2-3 inches at 100 yards but scopes on handguns dont cut it for me..

as for recoil, most factory loads the 325-350 grain are very soft...much less then a full house 44 magnum and considerbly less then a 454 casull (again my first hand experience shooting my 629 6.5 power port and my f/a 454) this is due to the mass that the 500 has. yours is going to kick a about the same (my guess) your loosing some velocity due to the shorter barrel length but also loosing mass which will increase the kick...no doubt their is some math person on this board that can figure out the felt recoil taking into consideration those two variables..



UOTE=turbo38gn;135784656]Wow.. Holy Moly, like my Bro from Ga. would say.. Thanks much guys for the responses and tips. Sounds like I have some fun in front of me. I'm feeling a little giddy after reading this. What kind of performance, accuracy do you all think I would get from say close range15-25 yards as well as further and what kind of ammo loads would you think. I been shooting now for a year, 9,40,45 and 223's... been saving the brass. I think it will now be time to begin looking for the reload equipment... I'll start with buying some factory ammo now, I'll contact that link you gave me and get started with him as well as one of the big GUn stores in CT... I think they have a selection of AMMO... Keep the info coming guys, thanks much.. Bigshoot, looks like we're neighbors... what part of RI, I'm in Springfield..[/QUOTE]
 
first off, hang on tight..lol
wear hearing protection.
and learn to reload..

my .500 is one of the older 8-3/8 inch ones.. found a "light load" for a 375 grain hardcast bullet, made it a easyer on the wallet, recoil down to about a .44 mag, ( still pops a slug through a five inch tree at 50 yards)

accurate as just about anything out there, and now get's much more "range/ plinking" time..and saves the more expensive stuff for hunting.
 
I have a couple of 500s: a 4" standard gun, a 5" John Ross Special, and a 6 ½" PC Hunter. The 4" weighs 56 oz. That 4" barrel, combined with the comp, will clear the range of all but the most dedicated shooters when you light that puppy off. Loud just doesn't do it justice. All are accurate, but I have a scope with quick detachable Warne mounts for the PC Hunter. Even I can shoot that thing into 2" at 50 yds. off a bench. The others are also accurate, but I haven't tried to scope them to really see. It really helps in the recoil department that the PC Hunter weighs 70 oz. without the scope and 84 oz. with the scope. It is almost too heavy to shoot freehand, but great off a rest.

I reload for mine for a couple of reasons: sheer cost; the thing costs a fortune to shoot factory loads; and because I like to mostly shoot milder loads on the range. I don't see why I should beat myself up having fun. I have also found that padded bicycle gloves make perfect shooting gloves for heavy recoil calibers like the .500. They really take the sting out of heavy loads.
 

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Gloves...we dont need no gloves...the grips do a great job at reducing pain...and what is a little swelling aside from a discussion that is waiting to happen the next day when others ask "why are you rubbing your hand?"
 
Wow again... keep it coming. Thank you so much for the great info. I've been trying to scrape a few bucks together so I can go buy a little ammo... I checked out the leadhead bullets, I'm a little confused, do they sell just the bullet? Not the whole shell and everything ready to fire.. I have no clue about terminology or reloading .. yet!!!! I will no doubt. In fact if I can get away for an hour, I'm running down to Riverview in CT and check out the reloading equipment.. so any tips there are welcome. I believe we have a section for that here, I'll have to study that as well... right now, I just want to get a few rounds to gether to get the feel for the gun. I'm thinking a few different loads will tell me alot...
 
bigshot500 said:
Gloves...we dont need no gloves...the grips do a great job at reducing pain...and what is a little swelling aside from a discussion that is waiting to happen the next day when others ask "why are you rubbing your hand?"
Click to expand...

Call me a weenie. I don't feel the need to make the payments on my orthopedist's Porche.
 
Made my way to Riverview Guns... daaaamn.. about $1200plus to get set up with Dillon 650 and all the stuff to start reloading!!!! I picked up a box of Hornaday 300gr. evolution.. 51.00 for 20 ...
 
Don't drink the blue kool aid then. You can get started with a nice single stage press kit for under $300.

I second the gloves. Mechanix makes a padded palm glove that works great.
 
check out the complete outfit (single stage) from RCBS it's the rockchucker...aside from dies it's everything you need to get going...around $300
 
Thanks guys, that's what I'm talking. Ok, it looks a lot better at that price. I checked one out on Midway.... but couldn't find a listing for the kit to do the SW50 bullet.. is it just not listed there, maybe somewhere else..
 
you aren't looking for a "500 kit" buy the rockchucker setup from RCBS...this reloads everything...all calibers...you simply buy the die sets then for the various calibers....RCBS has plenty of 500 mag.die sets....
 
I think you've gotten some good ideas.

Personally, I have a Redding T-7 turret press that I like. Faster than a single stage but far less likely to risk a double charge of a fast burning powder than with a progressive press.

One thing I can recommend that is somewhat specific to big cases like the .500. Seat the bullet in one step and crimp it in a second. You will need an extra die for this.

Reloading, you can load from powderpuffs to pretty stout loads for very little money. When you really step up the horsepower, you have to use either jacketed slugs or hard cast with gas checks or you may get severe leading. Don
 
you want this -RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit- while I would love a dillon 650 its not going to happen...my rcbs rock chucker has been kicking out rounds for 25 years and still going strong.


my .02 is to buy it from cabelas...they send out coupons for $50.00 off on purchase of 200 all the time. maybe a member has a current one and can mail it to you so you cans save some coin...btw they sell at the same price as midway and also will do price match with any online vender who has the exact same item....and they offer free shipping at times.
 
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bigshot500 said:
you want this -RCBS Rock Chucker Supreme Master Reloading Kit- while I would love a dillon 650 its not going to happen...my rcbs rock chucker has been kicking out rounds for 25 years and still going strong.


my .02 is to buy it from cabelas...they send out coupons for $50.00 off on purchase of 200 all the time. maybe a member has a current one and can mail it to you so you cans save some coin...btw they sell at the same price as midway and also will do price match with any online vender who has the exact same item....and they offer free shipping at times.
Click to expand...

I like it, that looks like the ticket... now to start saving up, if I can find a free shipping deal, I can save on the tax vs store pick-up in Hartford.. plus, I think we just got a $200 plus coupon for our Cabela's CC use!! now if the wife will give it up... thanks again guys,
 
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