S&W 500 "light load"

[HARRYMPOPE]

I have. 6.5" model and have found the NOE 502- 322G with 12g of unique is a hunny of a load.
Off bags at 25 yards 5 shots nearly touch.
Just passing it along.Offhand its very pleasant

[RJM52]

Was wondering if you have chronoed the load....

Have been using 18.0 grains of Unique with 350 grain cast and jacketed bullets and they run 1050+- from a 4" barrel...

May have to try your load if it is that accurate...

Thanks...Bob

[memtb]

Light loads do make the big ones a lotta fun to shoot! memtb

[carelesslove]

carelesslove, here !

Soon after the .500 came out, I obtained an 8 3/8", followed by a 4". I immediately bought reloading dies and components.

Right away, I knew shooting either one of these at anything approaching full power, was not in the cards for me. At that time, there was not a lot of info available for "loading down" the .500, so I did a little "safe experimenting".

I selected the RCBS 400 grain "SWC" mold and settled in on some reasonable velocity objectives and found a recoil level I thought I could live with, until I built up some resistance to increasing recoil.

All this was short-lived, because I found that 14.0 gr. of UNIQUE and the RCBS 400 SWC (cast & sized to 0.501", from an alloy that measures ~7 on the SAECO scale) would deliver the velocity goal I wanted (1000 fps, in the 4" - 1150 fps, in the 8 3/8").

Initially, I dropped the 14.0 grain load from my old trusty RCBS Uniflow measure and got very acceptable extreme spreads and single digit Standard Deviations (10 round strings), when fired over my Chrony.

Accuracy (over sandbags) was tough to measure - one ragged hole at 25 yards.

Along this time, I was gifted with an Intellidropper (newfangled, electronic gizmo) and found that loads from the old Uniflow produced the same level of chronograph data & accuracy - in both guns !!!

This finding, plus producing all the recoil I wanted, has allowed me to practice with this loading and (sparingly) experiment with heavier bullets and higher velocities.

At my advancing age and fading eyesight, I may be "maxed out", but a 50 cal. 400 grain slug at 1000-1150 fps is nothing to sneeze at !

After obtaining a .460 and going through the same process, I have observed a common thread in my reloading practices. That "old, dirty, smoky" UNIQUE truly has a "sweet spot" and it shows up clearly in the chronograph data in .357, .41, and .44 - particularly in heavier (cast) bullet weights. The numbers probably ain't lying and virtually all these loadings are under sonic velocities - less BANG.

This has dramatically affected my practice shooting and has allowed me to focus and better manage my load experimentation - which is rather expensive in these larger calibers.

To some degree, I know this is "wussing out" on the quest for power, but I have to practice, to shoot these bigger cartridges well.

Thanks, Tom "carelesslove" Love

[LeonardC]

Nice write up Tom, thanks. I cast the same RCBS bullet, but run a lighter UNQ charge. I may up it a bit to see if I can find the sweet spot. I have a lot of 231 and may move in the same direction with it as well. The ES on the 231 loads were less than for UNQ in the same speed range.

For more thump I just buy and load the 440 hard cast and aim for the same speed window (using TightGroup) you do with the 400. If I ever need to use it, it will be at fur burning distance.

[RJM52]

The main reason I went 18.0 grains of Unique is if I double charge a case it fills it within a little of the case mouth. A double charge of 20 grains fills the case right to the top. 20.0 gives 1230 fps with the 350 JHPs...still a manageable load.

[Liberty1776]

If I was going to start a noob on my 500 S&W Mag, I'd load with with light Unique loads and 440gr lead slugs.

Anybody can fire these and still say they shot a 500 S&W.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

They are such a massive hunk of steel. The single action Ruger 50 conversions are more appealing to me. But so costly. Too bad they don't make them in 500 Linebaugh.