S&W X-Frame

[Tatume]

Hello Fellows,

What's the consensus on the big S&W revolvers, especially the 460 S&W? Are they especially accurate? Are they dependable? What else do you have to say about them?

Take care, Tom

[dubber123]

I have shot a 460, but only short range, recoil was mild, the blast, not so much. I worked quite a bit with an earlier .500, it was VERY accurate, under 1" at 50 yds. with iron sights accurate. It also was NOT reliable, and eventually found a new home with a fellow who was not bothered by it's unreliable nature, as the one he already owned did the same thing.

[lar45]

I have a 4" 500 and if the barrel is pointed down at all when I try to eject the cases, I have had some of the cases drop down under the extractor star.
I emailed S&W about it and they responded with "We are not responsible for any of your handloaded ammo..." I replied saying that this was with factory ammo and heard nothing back from them.
So with the 500 just make sure that the barrel is pointed up when you extract your empties.

[Tatume]

I have shot a 460, but only short range, recoil was mild, the blast, not so much. I worked quite a bit with an earlier .500, it was VERY accurate, under 1" at 50 yds. with iron sights accurate. It also was NOT reliable, and eventually found a new home with a fellow who was not bothered by it's unreliable nature, as the one he already owned did the same thing.

Hi Dubber,

Unreliable in what way?

Thanks, Tom

[Tatume]

I have a 4" 500 and if the barrel is pointed down at all when I try to eject the cases, I have had some of the cases drop down under the extractor star.
I emailed S&W about it and they responded with "We are not responsible for any of your handloaded ammo..." I replied saying that this was with factory ammo and heard nothing back from them.
So with the 500 just make sure that the barrel is pointed up when you extract your empties.

Hi Lar,

I'm sorry to hear that about S&W.

Thanks, Tom

[dubber123]

Hi Dubber,

Unreliable in what way?

Thanks, Tom

The one I dealt with would unlock at firing, and rotate backwards. The next trigger pull would be a "click", as you would be dropping the hammer on the previously fired round. It was a regular malfunction. It went back to S&W twice, with no improvement. I drilled out the pocket for the cylinder stop spring to allow a beefier spring to be fitted, which didn't fix the problem.

I saw a video posted on here of a fellow shooting a 4" 500. Everyone oohed and aahed over it until I asked about the "click" in the middle of the video. The poster responded that it would unlock and rotate backwards once in a while.. The gun I worked on was sold to a fellow with an identical model, and the problem didn't bother him, as he "only shot targets, and the one I already have does the same thing". As I said, very powerful, very accurate, not so reliable in my experience.

I have not heard of the same complaints with the .460's. Perhaps just enough less recoil to keep them working correctly?

[DrCaveman]

Ive done maybe 300-400 rounds from my 5" barrel 460v. Never had the cylinder rotate backwards, and i pushed some pretty heavy loads (405 gr @ 1450 fps)

Reliability has been flawless with mine. My complaint might be the barrel twist rate, which smith & wesson never got back to me about. I know it is gain twist, but i wanted to know the starting rate and ending rate, to help me narrow down boolit choices by length, and to have a good guess how hard i would need to push them

In the current powder situation, a powder HOG like the 460 s&w cant really get proper load development, at least for me. Most loads needed 30-45 grains of powder, and then multiply that by 4 or 5 boolit designs, and a few different charge weights for each...a pound lasts about three outings.

That brings me to my other complaint: huge powder consumption, not much performance advantage over the 454 casull

The good points:
-my gun has excellent balance, even with its heavy weight
-recoil is very managable, even the huge loads (muzzle flash is another story...double muffs/plugs)
-accuracy at 75 yds was getting pretty decent, using my iron sights
-a cross draw shoulder holster (black mamba) makes carrying not too bad at all
-leading is virtually nonexistent, with my 300 gr GC loads as well as my 405 PB loads, with a .4525" boolit. Alloy was not even that hard, air cooled wheel weights. Pressures must have surpassed 50kpsi on some aa#9 loads. I know extraction was sticky...and primers are always kinda flat with that round, even factory loads (for me)

Ive since been working on my 44 mag 10.5" barrel since the weights are more reasonable, match up better with the twist rate, and powder consumption is HALF. Killing power is still plenty

Hope this helps with your choice!

[7br]

The really cool thing about them is if you are hunting from a tree stand and run out of ammo, you stand a pretty good chance of being able to kill a deer by dropping the revolver on it. On a more serious note, my brother in law's 460 was not unpleasant to shoot.

[44man]

The .500 will rotate backwards and a few have doubled from hammer bounce when that chamber it rotates to has a live round in it. It happens with the first shot with a full cylinder.
Even the early 29's suffered from reverse rotation and you would get a "click." I cured a few 29's by sticking a tiny lock tumbler spring inside the cylinder stop spring. We were getting double pin punches on the primer or past the primer on the case head.
Not all of them will do it, just depends.
It is why a 300 gr + is not a good idea in a 29, too much inertia.

[69daytona]

I have a PC500 10.5" and the omly problem after 8 years of heavy loads500-600and 700gr was a burr on the firing pin. never had it unlock or rotate backwards. very accurate and recoil feels about the same as heavy 44 mag until you get into the 600-700gr max loads.