S&W 500

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Voyager28

Voyager28

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How many of you have ever fired one of these things? I had the opportunity to do so at the range this morning. 6.5" barrel, ported to "reduce recoil" so they say.


Now mind you, I shoot 44 Magnums quite often and, to a point, enjoy shooting them. My wrists, at my age, won't let me shoot them as much as I used to but I still enjoy the occasional 6-12 rounds of full boomers.

This 500 beast, however, is in another league entirely and it is my intention to never, ever fire one of them again. :eek:

Bob
 
Yeah, I play piano. Shooting even more than a few 44 mags (especially with wood grips) makes it hard to play octaves for a day or so. The S&W 500 just plain makes me twitchy after just five shots (unless loaded with lighter handloads).
 
Shoot both the 460 and 500 on a weekly basis, 100 to 150 rounds.
Love them, though they are not for everyone.
These guns are best suited to those whom are not recoil and/or noise sensitive.

Shoot what you like and don"t worry about what anyone else says.
It your enjoyment that counts.

Be safe
Ruggy
 
I have been shooting my 500s for 12+ years now.

Different people react to recoil differently

Of the 500s out there you probably chose the 3rd or 4th heaviest recoiling variant to try.

You also fail to mention what ammunition you were firing.

The 500 is capable of launching projectiles as light as 275 grains up to 725 grain monsters. Depending on how the cartridge is loaded, muzzle energy can range from below 1000 ft-lbs to well in excess of 3000 ft-lbs. That more then doubles what your 44 Magnum produces.

And I guarantee you that porting on the 6 1/2" half lug 500 does reduce the recoil. I own that 6 1/2" that you shot but I also own a unported 5", the difference is very noticeable
 
I shot a 500 with an 8 3/8" barrel before. It wasn't as bad as I figured it would be. Only shot it five times though (Winchester Silvertips).

The ammunition price is my only gripe with those guns.



Sent from my XT1060 using Tapatalk
 
A few factors to consider

I have the 6.5 ported version. I have shot the 8 3/8 ported and felt little difference in recoil.

I usually fire standard (not reduced recoil) 350 SJH rounds. Hornady or similar

The very first cylinder full I could barely get through the five.

Now 20 is very comfortable....why? Glad you asked....lol

First you need to get used to the recoil of this gun

Second you cant get away with any lazy or kinda correct form. You have to work on your technique if you want to comfortably shoot this gun.

Important things to work on,

1. Gun centered on body and good grip so BOTH arms absorb the shock
2. Grip the weapon as high on the backbone as possible.
3. Learn the best balance of tension in the wrist and elbow so the gun can move but not violently upwards. You want the main thrust of force going straight back. Too much barrel rise is caused by a weak grip in the hand/wrist, or a locked elbow(s)...

Practice
 
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Checked with my friend and asked him what it what the ammo was. He just laughed and said it was just factory 350 grain JHP. Nothing too hot. Still, what a canon! He said he had some "much livelier" ammo I was welcome to try. I politely declined.

I don't think there is anything breathing on the American continents that thing will not bring down.

As sore as my wrists are today I'm not sure I could stand it to put enough rounds down range to work on proper technique. It's a hell of a gun but I think I'll stick with my 6" .44 Magnum as the top of my heap. At my age I'm OK with that. :)

Bob
 
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I've shot and own three different barrel lengths in the 500.

IMHO the 500 has less recoil than 329 PD shooting 300 grainers with the wooden grips
 
My father has one with the 10" or is it 10.5"? Either way he had some 325 or 350gn Winchester jhp. It was very mild. I guess it was a combination of monster barrel and lighter loads? Either way, he needs to pick up some heavier hitting ammo so I can see what everyone's talking about. I'm sure that thing can really thump! He also just picked up a 460 with a 6" (?), so maybe we'll bring them both out next time I'm over there. I can also get some pics for the official x frame thread then.
 
Hey guys, i own the 8 3/8" model and love it. First day i got it i bought 2 boxes of the winchester platinum 400 gr. Went to the range and only brought home 1 round. Its alot of fun to shoot. Im just glad i reload. I let a buddy of mine shoot it, and had shot it several times and out of nowhere ran into a double tap. Claims its a design flaw in the firearm.
 
The double tap is a shooter issue and is well documented.
Go to John Ross's web site and you can find out more info.
 
Yeah i've researched the double tap issue before. Just cant convince him the the xframe trigger is the same as my 686 and no one has double tapped it. Best part of all is he just keeps saying "I only pulled the trigger twice". And that he would of known if he pulled the double action trigger. I tried explaining to him how it happens. Told him it would'nt matter if it had a 20 lb trigger. It happens so fast that you dont recognize it. Anyone else experience this?
 
jack the toad said:
Yep.
And IMO as to uncomfortable felt recoil, the 340 (Sc/Ti 357) with full-house loads has them both beat.
Click to expand...

That's good to know as I shot some underwood 180g 357 hard cast out of my M&P340 and said I would not do that again. I have never even shot a 44 so your input helps.
 
The 500 is not a gun for everyone or a beginners piece. It can be a joy to fire or loaded up hot & heavy and test the shooters pain threshold and flinching resistance. The recoil can be heavy but IMHO has less of a brutal snap of lighter guns in lesser magnum calibers.
 
686_500fan said:
Hey guys, i own the 8 3/8" model and love it. First day i got it i bought 2 boxes of the winchester platinum 400 gr. Went to the range and only brought home 1 round. Its alot of fun to shoot. Im just glad i reload. I let a buddy of mine shoot it, and had shot it several times and out of nowhere ran into a double tap. Claims its a design flaw in the firearm.
Click to expand...

"double tap" as you call it CAN be a flaw, but can also be shooter error. Too loose a grip can cause a reset of the cylinder lock and subsequent rotation of the cylinder so quickly that the shooters finger is still on the trigger and still pulling and therefore the second round goes off.

That being said, S&W did make a special cylinder stop spring for the X-Frame guns. Mine was found to have had the older spring in it so these "double taps" happened easier than should have. I sent it back and they put the right spring in, all is good now
 
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