Just picked up a BFR 500 S&W

[wellfedirishman]

Today I just picked up (currently it is in 10 day CA wait) a BFR 500 S&W. I was looking for a S&W 500, but couldn't find one anywhere at a decent price (well north of a grand for anything, if even in stock).

Found the BFR, pretty much new in box with a fine leather holster for $585 at a local store. Couldn't pass it up. It is from about May of 2003, so not drilled/tapped for a scope. Everything is tight, looks perfect (Sorry, no pics yet, I should have taken them at the store).

Anyone have any experience with these? I need to get myself some dies, brass, mold, and a boatload of magnum powder :Fire:

Can anyone suggest a nice target load recipe (i.e., fun to shoot without being overly nasty). My Sierra manual doesn't list anything.

Powders I have include:
Green Dot (lots), Lil'Gun, Unique, Titewad, Titegroup, International Clays, Trailboss.

Thanks!

[hickstick_10]

i think shooting trail bos would be damned hilarious........and fun out of a 500

Bet ya you could watch the bullet fly to the target

[wellfedirishman]

Here are some loads, including a bunch of Trailboss ones :-)

http://www.reloadammo.com/500sw.htm

[dubber123]

I think you did better than you think getting the BFR Vs. the Smith. The .500 Smith my brother got proved to not be a wise purchase. He sold it and bought a BFR. I am a S&W fan by the way. Let us know how it shoots.

[wellfedirishman]

Can anyone recommend a light bullet mold in 50 caliber? I ordered the Lee 440 grain (a thumper).

Are there any lighter (e.g. 250 grain) wimpy molds or bullets available? What about cast bullets for the 50 AE (Desert Eagle) or 50 Beowulf?

[dk17hmr]

I use a Lee 50 caliber hollow base for plinking with trail boss.
http://www.grafs.com/product/262093

Cast them out of WW, tumble lube them and push them through a lee sizer .501". Works pretty good out of my handi rifle. Been thinkin about a .500 round ball so with 2 or 3 shoved in the case....could be fun.

440gr Lee is a damn good bullet by the way.

[wellfedirishman]

Thanks, that looks like a good idea. I was thinking of round balls too, a 3-ball load would work great in that long cylinder.

[Trey45]

I'm going to be keeping a close eye on this thread, I have been considering a BFR in 500SW Mag for a while now. Let us know how you like yours, loads etc if you don't mind. This just might be the match to light the fire under my hindparts and get me moving on one of these.

[69daytona]

You cant go wrong with the BFR in 500, if you go to the vendors section and look up MiHec, he just finished our group buy 380gr HP/FP mold, he might have a few left, for cast bullets the lowest I have found is 375gr.
10gr of unique will push the 375-385gr right around 1000fps depending on barrel length. you will find it fairly comfortable to shot up to 1400fps and if you are use to recoil 1600 is real easy.
I have some 325gr JHP that go 1600 out of a 4 inch and they are fairly easy to shoot.
I like corbon brass but have a bunch of starline too, just as good but cheaper. For your hotter loads I like to keep with H110 or Lilgun.
I have a 175gr RF GB mold I would be willing to sell if your interested. Also Lee dies are the cheapest and work the best.
We do have a 700gr HP/FP group buy mold going on right now if you want to get in on that.
Will be posting a 600gr HP/FP soon.

[ole 5 hole group]

I think you did better than you think getting the BFR Vs. the Smith. The .500 Smith my brother got proved to not be a wise purchase. He sold it and bought a BFR. I am a S&W fan by the way. Let us know how it shoots.

Why is the SW 500 an unwise purchase compared to the BFR? The BFR is a mighty fine revolver and I have a couple but I've also got a couple S&W's and I haven't found the X-frame to be sub-standard. The BFR 500 is a mighty 72 ounces with that 45/70 cylinder and should help damped the recoil with some of the heavy loads. $585 was a great price, best price I've heard of in a long time.

[dubber123]

Why is the SW 500 an unwise purchase compared to the BFR? The BFR is a mighty fine revolver and I have a couple but I've also got a couple S&W's and I haven't found the X-frame to be sub-standard. The BFR 500 is a mighty 72 ounces with that 45/70 cylinder and should help damped the recoil with some of the heavy loads. $585 was a great price, best price I've heard of in a long time.

The one my brother had shot great. Accuracy wise. Anything approaching the oft touted power levels would unlock the cylinder and rotate it backwards. The next hammer fall was on an already fired case. Several trips to S&W did nothing. It did this to several shooters. I watched a vid of a guy shooting one on this forum, and on the third pull, yep a click. Nobody noticed past oogling over the recoil, but I did. I suggested it had rotated backwards, and the poster of the vid admitted that is what happened. That makes 2. My brother finally gave up on his, and sold it to a local guy for $400. He told the fellow about the unlocking, and the guy said "no problem, I only shoot targets, and the one I already have does the same thing". That makes 3, and thats enough for me to recommend the BFR over the Smith. Like I said, I'm a S&W fan, but not of the 500's.

[wellfedirishman]

$585 was a great price, best price I've heard of in a long time.

Yes, they were asking $650 but I haggled a bit and they offered for $585 + tx. Not bad, especially with the holster it came with (a very fine black custom holster made for this revolver).

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like I made a good purchase. Now I need to start loading up some rounds.

[Frank]

If I had a BFR 500, I'd get some mag pistol primers and some Win 296. Don't forget to post those targets. :Fire:
My BFR 45-70, 4 shots, 100 yds.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=123&pictureid=2055
My .475 Linebaugh. Sighter shot to the right, clicked it over fired 5 shots into the can, 100 yds, creedmore.
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/picture.php?albumid=123&pictureid=2054

[doghawg]

Irishman

I used to have two .500's...a 8 3/8" Smith and a 7 1/2" BFR...sold the Smith. I get about 80 to 100 fps more velocity with the same loads with the BFR. That long cylinder has the bullet rippin' right along by the time it hits the b/c gap. I find the BFR recoil much more bearable than with the Smith.

I just started casting for the BFR (400 gr. RCBS) and haven't sorted that part out yet. The first try (at 1300 fps) produced a very badly leaded forcing cone. On the next try I backed off to 1000 fps and softened the alloy with the results shown. No leading but I've got more ideas to try......

[44man]

Due to the distance the boolit has to travel to the forcing cone I have the best luck with 22 to 25 BHN boolits out of my 45-70. I am getting 1632 fps and even a PB shoots like this if hard enough. Softer lead and a PB just scatters at 50 yards but a softer gas checked boolit shoots OK except for some fliers.
My gun is just too fast for deer with hard boolits so I hunt with softer alloys, fliers are not bad enough to worry about.
I worried big time about the jump to the gap but it was unfounded. This has turned out to be the most accurate revolver I ever shot in my life. Hard boolits, felix or Lar's CR lube and the darn thing will shoot 1" targets at 100 yards all day. If I can see a target, I can hit it.
I get zero leading as long as the boolit is hard. 50-50 WW's and pure PB will lead the bore a little even if oven hardened.
The .500 should shoot any velocity needed to find accuracy if the alloy is worked on and a good lube used. Avoid LLA like the plague.
Now the BFR in .500 has a 1 in 15" twist so it will shoot better with a heavy boolit. You might want to lean towards 500 to 525 gr. Light boolits will work better at the lower velocities, don't push them, great for plinking.
This is 50 yards. That center group is 5 shots in 5/16".

[wellfedirishman]

Thanks Guys, that is great advice. Those are some darn good groups!

I will try a heavy boolit with rifle lube, and see how that shoots.

[Doc_Stihl]

I use a Lee 50 caliber hollow base for plinking with trail boss.
http://www.grafs.com/product/262093

Cast them out of WW, tumble lube them and push them through a lee sizer .501". Works pretty good out of my handi rifle. Been thinkin about a .500 round ball so with 2 or 3 shoved in the case....could be fun.

440gr Lee is a damn good bullet by the way.

+1 To what Dk17hmr said. I actually run my HB modern minie right through the sizer and it it lubes it up nicely, crimp gently on the front drive band and they work nice in my encore.

The lee 440 is an awesome boolit.

[wellfedirishman]

Big thanks to 69daytona for letting me try his 500 S&W today and for some sample boolits. It was a ton of fun to shoot.

I am hooked, and very pleased that I picked up the BFR. Now I need to buy stock in the maker of H110 and a lead mine...

[wellfedirishman]

Well, I finally picket up and had possession of it, at least for a while...

Oscar the cat decided he is taking over the box and the gun with it.

http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm138/wellfedirishman/OscarBFR.jpg

Don't mess with me...
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm138/wellfedirishman/OscarBFR2.jpg

[44man]

Smart cat! :drinks: