Shoot my S&W 500 low

[sothoth]

I just picked it up from jail today and shot a few rounds with it. Fun revolver!! I shot some 300 grain Hornady, 400 gr Magtech, and 500 gr Hornady. It was a hoot!

I'm guessing it'll take a little while to get used to the new beast. I'm not sure if I should try to keep the grip as tight as possible or relax into it and let her kick? Thoughts?

I have been shooting consistently low, which I also do with 44 mag, so I think it's me. Because recoil is so stout, I'm guessing i'm flinching hard but then again I'm probably 8" low at 10 yards so it's pretty low.

Suggestions?

 

[sothoth]

It's a 4" barrel BTW

 

[Bill Raby]

Try shooting from a rest to see if it is you or the gun. Its probably you. Its takes a while to get used to these.

 

[sothoth]

Try shooting from a rest to see if it is you or the gun. Its probably you. Its takes a while to get used to these.

It's probably me. I guess I am asking why I shoot it so low. Flinching prior to firing in anticipation of recoil?

 

[Wise_A]

Could be recoil anticipation (pushing the gun down in anticipation of the recoil), could be "chicken finger". Chicken finger is where you start/stop/start your trigger pull because you're mentally afraid of the break. Sometimes that's recoil, sometimes it's a shooter performance thing--you're afraid of making a bad shot, losing a match, having people see you make a poor shot, etc, so you subconsciously avoid breaking the trigger until you consciously force yourself to. Sometimes this is accompanied by relaxing or tightening the grip as the trigger is pulled.

 

[murphydog]

Agree with shooting it from a rest (and letting an experienced friend do the same).

I have read the best way to handle recoil in these with full loads is to not try to restrict muzzle rise...at least up to the point where the rear sight dents your forehead . Please let us know what happens with your next range session.

 

[iPac]

You want a very tight grip on the gun but not so tight that your hands tremble. Then, during firing, even with a nice tight grip, you have to allow for the natural recoil of the weapon to occur. That is the difference between semi-autos and revolvers. If you don't allow that, the revolver won't be accurate.

Just a suggestion as it took me a while to transition to revolvers from semi-autos, but now that I'm there, I have trouble when shooting semi-autos now.

 

[Protocall_Design]

I have found over years of shooting both target loads and magnum loads what works for me. It consists of a very firm grip, tighter on the support hand, concentrating on sight alignment and trigger pull, and holding still THROUGH the shot, till the bullet is on the target. The better you can execute these basics, the better shot you will be. Easier said than done. Shooting is a mental discipline. The mind tells the body what to do. The mind is harder to control than the body because it's not a physical entity that we can see or touch.

The holding still bit is where many lose it, as they are trying to compensate for the recoil by pushing forward on the gun, or tightening the grip at the last moment, or looking over the sights to see where the bullet hit. Any of these will give a low shot. The object of the game is to keep everything the same until the bullet is gone.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

Load a few cylinders with mixed complete cartridges and empty cartridge cases. Watch the front sight and call your shots. If you have a flinching or anticipation problem, you will see it when you drop the trigger on an empty.

 

[richardw]

I suggest a firm grip in all cases with any gun.

A common cause of shooting low is when the shooter slightly bends the arm at the elbow. It breaks the straight line that the barrel and the arm should maintain. That bend forces the tip if the gun to rise and the shooter compensates for the rise when sighting by bending the wrist down.

When I first trains on the M1911 I and many others shot low. Right handlers tended to shoot low to the right and left handeds shot low and to the right.

Our trainers stressed the need to keep the elbow straight and not bend the wrist. In other words handgun barrel and the arm should be in straight alignment. It worked for us. We began to shoot straight.

 

[292]

2 things that helped me. Shoot all by yourself and use your weak hand to cock the hammer. I tended to flinch much more with an audience. I learned get my strong hand grip correct and not change it when cocking. I haven't shot a 500 but a few times, I did OK using techniques learned shooting 44 mags.

 

[sothoth]

2 things that helped me. Shoot all by yourself and use your weak hand to cock the hammer. I tended to flinch much more with an audience. I learned get my strong hand grip correct and not change it when cocking. I haven't shot a 500 but a few times, I did OK using techniques learned shooting 44 mags.

I'm not pee shy but maybe I'm trigger shy?

 

[DonD]

I suggest a firm grip in all cases with any gun.

A common cause of shooting low is when the shooter slightly bends the arm at the elbow. It breaks the straight line that the barrel and the arm should maintain. That bend forces the tip if the gun to rise and the shooter compensates for the rise when sighting by bending the wrist down.

When I first trains on the M1911 I and many others shot low. Right handlers tended to shoot low to the right and left handeds shot low and to the right.

Our trainers stressed the need to keep the elbow straight and not bend the wrist. In other words handgun barrel and the arm should be in straight alignment. It worked for us. We began to shoot straight.

I'd strongly disagree. What works with a 1911 which is a pipsqeak compared to the 500 doesn't work with the 500.

My personal opinion is if you make an effort to keep your elbows locked you're going to start hurting yourself orthopedically.

It is simply impossible to stop a heavy 500 Mag from bucking in recoil. Keep a good tight grip and for the most part, let it ride up.

My thoughts after shooting 500s for 14yrs with no elbow or wrist problems, now at age 70. Don

 

[BillyMagg]

I'd strongly disagree. What works with a 1911 which is a pipsqeak compared to the 500 doesn't work with the 500.

My personal opinion is if you make an effort to keep your elbows locked you're going to start hurting yourself orthopedically.

It is simply impossible to stop a heavy 500 Mag from bucking in recoil. Keep a good tight grip and for the most part, let it ride up.

My thoughts after shooting 500s for 14yrs with no elbow or wrist problems, now at age 70. Don

Yep, you can have mine, no desire, but I did recently pick up a 44 Mag with the endurance package to shoot some healthy reloads..

I had my Culina's on the gun, and frankly, it did kick, and it did hurt a little..Put on my leather chore gloves and things got much better.

today I received a new set of S&W round butt rubber grips with the allen head screw,, they completely cover the back strap and fit very well..

So I'm looking forward to shooting that 29 with the rubber grips,, by the way, I like the Chapman modified Weaver for just about any serious shooting.. handles recoil well, allowing the revolver to recoil as needed, while maintaining full control of the weapon

 

[Flipside]

I just picked it up from jail today and shot a few rounds with it. Fun revolver!! I shot some 300 grain Hornady, 400 gr Magtech, and 500 gr Hornady. It was a hoot!

I'm guessing it'll take a little while to get used to the new beast. I'm not sure if I should try to keep the grip as tight as possible or relax into it and let her kick? Thoughts?

I have been shooting consistently low, which I also do with 44 mag, so I think it's me. Because recoil is so stout, I'm guessing i'm flinching hard but then again I'm probably 8" low at 10 yards so it's pretty low.

Suggestions?

I see others have made some suggestions... it may not be you, or your ammo.

I went through two 3.5" PC 500's before the third hit the mark.

Doubt I'll ever know what the problems were with the first two as Davidson's replaced the pistols outright. All I can say is the third one works; the second one was so bad, the sights couldn't be adjusted far enough the poi=poa. You may have a different model than mine, but it may have the same problem.

 

[sothoth]

I'll try shooting gloves. Thanks for the mention, Billy.

I also looked at some range reports/reviews that agree with DonD and iPAC saying that fighting the recoil is a losing battle and it's better to let your arms bend up when the round goes off. I totally wanted to man up and tame the beast when it fired, but perhaps that was the problem... this beast can't be tamed!

I'll try some 300 grain and move back up if needed. In the meantime, I'll work on the grip and try not to fight muzzle rise and try dry firing or the empty cartridge trick to see if I'm flinching.

I'll reply when I can get back to the range. Probably this weekend.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

A glove definitely helps. I am philosophically and tactically opposed to them (except for winter deer hunters), but in my limited experience, a glove can cut groups far smaller than in half, and make shooting a MUCH more pleasant experience.

YMMV.

 

[sothoth]

I see others have made some suggestions... it may not be you, or your ammo.



I went through two 3.5" PC 500's before the third hit the mark.



Doubt I'll ever know what the problems were with the first two as Davidson's replaced the pistols outright. All I can say is the third one works; the second one was so bad, the sights couldn't be adjusted far enough the poi=poa. You may have a different model than mine, but it may have the same problem.

Well that's disturbing. Mine is this one, I think you had the one with hi viz sights, yeah?

Model S&W500™ 4" | Smith & Wesson

Was it really the gun? I wish I could blame it on that and not myself but I'll try the suggestions everyone made, I am pretty sure I'm a flincher