I have a 6 3/8" S&W 500 Magnum, and it's my favorite revolver by far!!
There are two ways to load for them.....
1) OoooooooHHHHH!!!!
2) ahhhhhhhhhh!!
The Oooooo option uses a powder like Lil Gun, which respresents the factory loads you can buy at the store. Those hurt your hand for a long time. When I allow others to shoot those loads, I only place one at a time in the cylinder, and tell people very clearly to NOT DROP my revolver.
The ahhhh option is to use the Hodgdon Trail Boss powder. This version, with all boolits, right up to the 700 grain super T Rex logs, is very easy on the hands and wrist. They have about the felt recoil of a 38 Special +P.
I've written an article, published on my web site, discussing the subject.
LINK FOR THE 500 MAG ARTICLE - CLICK HERE
I've fired many thousands of boolits from my 500 Magnum, and it always draws an excited crowd at the range. Even with Trail Boss, it's extremely accurate!