S&W 500 Load Help?

[T/CShooter]

recently picked up a nice S&W 500 and everything to reload for it. for bullets i picked up some 350gr hornady XTPs and some rainier leadsafe 275gr . powderwise, i picked up a pound of

titegroup
unique
H110
H322
lilgun
BLC2
H335
IMR-4198
H4198
red dot
reloder7

(i reload for other calibers to,so i just listed all the ones i picked up just in case)


ANYWAY, i tried out some loads already. i found one an old post where the guys were talking about how great there accuracy was with the 350s and 38 to 38.5gr of lilgun. i loaded some up and took them out and they grouped about 10" ( they were talking 4" to under 2" groups with the load). i loaded up another 10 each of the 350s and 39 grain and 40 grains respectively ( hodgdons load data calls for a starting load of lilgun of 35 grains and a top end of 42 grains, but yet another guy mentioned in in another thread that his 500 data says start at 40 gr lilgun and top end was like 44.5) and took them out, and with the 40gr, of course recoil came up ( im not in the least recoil sensitive, i shoot other big-bore handguns all the time) but my groups shrunk to about 4-5" at 30 yards.


does anyone hve a really accurate 275gr cast load and a really accurate 350xtp load? rainier recommends loading there bullets with cast load data as they are actually cast ,swagged, copper plated and then swagged again. the 275gr rainier loads dont have to be smokin fast as i just bought the rainiers to use for plinking/practice loads so im able to get out on the range with it without wasting my XTPs

also, can anyone enlighten me on the ballistic charateristics of this round?...i read somewere where one guy said he had to sight in 1" low at 50 yards to get his gun to shoot 1" high at 100, but even then he was shooting over the back of a deer at around 130 yards.....i got this gun in hopes of using it for elk this fall. id like to get a load dialed in that will shoot fairly decent at 100 yards. what distance would you recommend lining the open sights up, and at what distance can i expect this round to shoot "flat"?


also, do you guys recommend a scope on the 500?....i was thinking about scoping it, but id also like the option of using it as a regular sidearm. i was thinking quick detach rings, but dont have any experience with them. if you remove them, will they hold zero when you reinstall them very well?



any answers to my questions would be greatly appreciated

 

[T/CShooter]

recently picked up a nice S&W 500 and everything to reload for it. for bullets i picked up some 350gr hornady XTPs and some rainier leadsafe 275gr . powderwise, i picked up a pound of

titegroup
unique
H110
H322
lilgun
BLC2
H335
IMR-4198
H4198
red dot
reloder7

(i reload for other calibers to,so i just listed all the ones i picked up just in case)


ANYWAY, i tried out some loads already. i found one an old post where the guys were talking about how great there accuracy was with the 350s and 38 to 38.5gr of lilgun. i loaded some up and took them out and they grouped about 10" ( they were talking 4" to under 2" groups with the load). i loaded up another 10 each of the 350s and 39 grain and 40 grains respectively ( hodgdons load data calls for a starting load of lilgun of 35 grains and a top end of 42 grains, but yet another guy mentioned in in another thread that his 500 data says start at 40 gr lilgun and top end was like 44.5) and took them out, and with the 40gr, of course recoil came up ( im not in the least recoil sensitive, i shoot other big-bore handguns all the time) but my groups shrunk to about 4-5" at 30 yards.


does anyone hve a really accurate 275gr cast load and a really accurate 350xtp load? rainier recommends loading there bullets with cast load data as they are actually cast ,swagged, copper plated and then swagged again. the 275gr rainier loads dont have to be smokin fast as i just bought the rainiers to use for plinking/practice loads so im able to get out on the range with it without wasting my XTPs

also, can anyone enlighten me on the ballistic charateristics of this round?...i read somewere where one guy said he had to sight in 1" low at 50 yards to get his gun to shoot 1" high at 100, but even then he was shooting over the back of a deer at around 130 yards.....i got this gun in hopes of using it for elk this fall. id like to get a load dialed in that will shoot fairly decent at 100 yards. what distance would you recommend lining the open sights up, and at what distance can i expect this round to shoot "flat"?


also, do you guys recommend a scope on the 500?....i was thinking about scoping it, but id also like the option of using it as a regular sidearm. i was thinking quick detach rings, but dont have any experience with them. if you remove them, will they hold zero when you reinstall them very well?



any answers to my questions would be greatly appreciated

 

[T/CShooter]

guess no one here owns a s&w 500.....

 

[625smith]

I use 40 grains of 4227 with a 350 grain Hornady XTPs. At 25 yds 4 of the 5 rounds are touching. I used 296 and a 500 grain Hornady on bowling balls. The balls did not make it! As for shooting flat you would want a 460 XVR.

 

[DonD]

.500s show dramatic changes in point of impact with different weight bullets. A 275 will hit the target much lower than will a 440gr both loaded to similar performance levels. You'll have to carefully dial in your loads if you want to use them effectively. Don

 

[T/CShooter]

my 500 is the same configuration as your 460 XVR.

i had a problem with the front hiviz sight being way to high so i called smith and they sent me a whole sight set to adjust it to the level i needed. pretty cool.

 

[Smitty500Mag]

Originally posted by T/CShooter:
guess no one here owns a s&w 500.....

Ah we're around we're just hangin' out in the political room most of the time lately since it's a new site.

You might want to check your back strap after shooting a few of your light weight bullets. I find that shooting anything less than 350 Gr. bullets causes excessive flame cutting on my 500 when shooting max. loads. Such as the 325 Gr. Speer bullets I use with 45.3 Grs of Hodgdon H110 really will cause some flame cutting.

I think most people agree that flame cutting won't do any major structural damage and that the flame cutting will only go so far and quit. While that's probably true I just don't like the looks of it personally. I still shoot those hot loads with light bullets but I made a small clip out of some thin stainless steel that I place on the back strap above the cylinder gap that does away with the flame cutting.

Smitty

 

[T/CShooter]

good to know, i hadnt heard that. i bought the rainiers for just plinking, and think i found a fairly decent load for them today. i loaded up a bunch with 40.3 grains of lilgun and the rainiers and took them out. i was shooting apprx. 3" to 4" groups open sights at about 60 yards or so. i know from previous experience that loads shooting like that from a handgun in anyone else hands would probably be a one hole group ( lost my glasses sometime back so i cant see the damn open sights worth a squat). the 350 XTPs actually shot better. i had them loaded up with 38.5gr of lilgun, and out of 5 shots i had 3 touching, and the other two high right (my fault im sure)

as a test though (HAHAHAH) i filled up a gallon milk jug with water and set it at about 100 yards out and exploded it with the first shot, and bounced what was left of it would with the other 4. id imagine that if i can hit that milk jug 5 for 5 at 100 then ill be able to smack an elk down with no problem.

one other thing. i loaded up 10 rounds of H110 (cant remeber off the top of my head the load,id have to check my load log) and had 2 out of the 10 "hang fire". the primer sort of spit bak a bit and about 1/30th of a second later the gun fired. sort o what youd get from a flintlock. startled me. didnt have that with any other rounds i loaded.

whats strange is i came back home ( im 90 seconds from my own range) and loaded up 20 more, took them out and had 3 more of those "hangfires"...im using magtech brass with large mag rifle primers. didnt have any problems like that with the lilgun at all. same primers, same brass,same bullets,same gun....it was strange.

ever heard of such a thing?

 

[T/CShooter]

smitty

is the front sight on your 500 a stock front sight, or one you got elsewere?

i like that style alot better than the stock style myself

 

[Smitty500Mag]

Originally posted by T/CShooter:
smitty

is the front sight on your 500 a stock front sight, or one you got elsewere?

i like that style alot better than the stock style myself

It's stock.

Smitty

 

[T/CShooter]

i love the look of that one...is it the 4"?

oh, and i looked mine over good and there are no signs of any flame cutting at all.

 

[T/CShooter]

does anyone know if any other S&W grips will fit on the 500?

 

[JD 500]

I believe N frame (Round butt) grips will fit the 500.

 

[T/CShooter]

actually, i called and spoke to S&W in length about it today, and they told me that it is the K and L frame grips that will fit . it was funny to as the guy almost had a heart attack when i told him i was thinking of changing the grips....

 

[Smitty500Mag]

Originally posted by T/CShooter:
does anyone know if any other S&W grips will fit on the 500?

The 500 has a K frame round butt grip. Those are Hogue mono grips for a K frame that are on mine in the picture. I use those to carry it in a shoulder holster because they're quite a bit smaller than the ones that come on the gun.

i love the look of that one...is it the 4"?

Yep it's a 4 inch.

Smitty

 

[T/CShooter]

well, i got a couple boxes each of the sierra sportsmaster 350gr HP and the siera sprtsmaster 400gr soft point. loaded up some of the 350 grainers this morning with 38gr of lil'gun,magtech brass and large magnum rifle primers and from a rest i got 3, 3 shot 1 hole groups and a flier (i wasnt ready to fire,glanced up to eyeball the target over the top of the sights and the sucker popped off on me!...i have a really light factory single action trigger)

best groups ive gotten sofar. i think ill use that load for my elk trip

 

[T/CShooter]

you know, lil'gun has to be one of the most versatile powders on the market.

i use to reload several calibers including the 500 s&w,22 hornet,22 K hornet,30 carbine,38,357,410 shotgun,44 mag,and others...

what gets me is load data for 222 and 223 are non existent for lil'gun. one would think that since it has such a wide variety of uses that someone would have worked up some loads for it.

kind of like the little 35gr hornady bullets i load in my 221 fireball. when they first came out, and a long time thereafter, there were no loads available for the little pill for the 223. i even called hornady and asked if they had data ( at that time) they said no freaking way, that it was way to small and would peel in a 223. well, i started working with it and worked up some sweet fast loads for the 223 and have loaded them up every since. now, the 223 has 35gr load data pop up quite often.

i know this is a bit "off topic" from my original post, but i thought it was interesting that the lil'gun powder was so versatile.

wouldnt it be nice for someone to make one single powder that worked great in all calibers?