Brian Pearce did a write up on the S&W 500 for the June-July 2021, issue # 332, for Handloader Magazine.
Kind of short on cast boolit loads.
The Hornady cases are nice, but end up being shorter. I prefer starline due to how well the bullets seat for me. Large rifle Magnum primers are best for H110 types of powder
mine!
You will enjoy the gun...just don't load it past the "fun"factor....
Have had a 4" since just after they were introduced...it is not unpleasant to shoot with lighter weight bullets, as in 400 grains and less...
Loads:
18.0 of Unique with a Berry's plated...1050 fps
20 grains of Unique with any 350 grain jacketed...Speer, Hornady, Sierra... 1240 fps....
Neither load is punishing in any way...
Bob
Factory 350s in that heavy, ported revolver don't feel any worse to me than 300s @ 1200 fps do out of a 6˝" 629. With the powders you have and the 440 grainers, I'd start with 15 gr of Longshot and a magnum primer (pistol or rifle) and work up. You've got lots of fun ahead of you!
And we thought the 44 magnum was something ...
If Elmer Keith could have lived to enjoy this one ... he would have loved it !
Certified Cajun
Proud Member of The Basket of Deplorables
" Let's Go Brandon !"
Unique:
when I was loading the 500, I worked up a load starting at 12gr (working up to 17.5gr) for a Ballisticast 385gr RF with PB. I started seeing the beginning of primer flattening with 17.0gr and I stopped there, didn't even shoot the 17.5gr loads. The 17.0gr load was a nice load that was accurate enough and wasn't punishing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun.”
― The Dalai Lama, Seattle Times, May 2001
I have found this load to be fun to shoot, quite accurate out to 75 yards on a shooting stick with aging eyes and a red dot. I would try a stronger load but this does what I want just fine. I've since stopped water dropping them as seeing what it did to a hog last season, they're hard enough with no issue. Such a fun gun.
This Doesn't Suck!
carelesslove, here !
I have thoroughly enjoyed this thread on the 500. I have a 4" and an older 8 3/8" and figured out - early on - that I needed to load them down, so I could learn how to shoot both these X-Frames, without developing a case of the "terminal flinches".
I like plain-based cast bullets and decided on the RCBS 400gr. mold and sized my bullets to 0.501". My goal was to find one load for both the 4" and the 8 3/8", that would produce 1000 fps, shoot an inch at 25 yards (sandbag rest), and not lead the compensators, or the barrels.
Within reason, I have found that medium range, barely subsonic, loads in "magnum calibers" are a good place to start. Looking at my loading habits (the stuff I tend to keep "in stock"), I was hoping that loading the 500 was going to be scalable.
In .357, I "stock" a few hundred 160 gr. SAECO SWC / 6.0 gr. UNIQUE, because it develops ~1000 fps, without blast, leading, and provides superb accuracy in multiple .357s. In .41 Magnum, the same can be said for 230 gr. SAECO SWC / 7.4 gr. UNIQUE, in both 4" & 8 3/8" barrels. In .44 Magnum, I load 250 gr. SAECO SWC / 9.0 gr. UNIQUE, in 4" thru 8 3/8" barrels, for ~1000 fps. All of these meet my criteria for accuracy and power, without excessive blast & recoil.
Scaling things, like estimated pressure, case volume, and bullet weight, I figured that 14.0 gr. UNIQUE would be a good starting point. It hit the mark right out of the gate! In the 4" 500, it shot great at 1000 fps. The 8 3/8" 500 took that load up to 1150 fps, but with acceptable blast & recoil. Accuracy was excellent and there was no leading - even in the compensator. I use this as my "stocking" load and practice with it exclusively. I have heavier loads for both barrel lengths, but always start out shooting this one,
I even went this route with the 460, when it came out. Again, scaling things to duplicate the same "sweet spot" I found in other calibers, the 460 really likes a 255 gr. SWC / 11.5 gr. UNIQUE and - predictably - produces 1000 fps and excellent accuracy. However, the additional weight of the 460 and the excellent compensator design makes it overly tempting to "pump it up". I frequently find myself firing a 300 gr. WFNGC, at ~1600 fps because it is so much fun. I know that if I pushed the 400 gr. 500 slug to 1750, it would be way too much for me!
Thanks for everyone's experience and insight. I was beginning to think that I was the only one loading the 500 down!
Tom "carelesslove" Love
If I owned a 500, I would look for published loads for HS6.
I would begin lighter with faster powders and after I was ready to venture beyond Unique, HS6 would be my next endeavor if it checked out as being appropriate.
Three44s
Quote Originally Posted by Bret4207
“There is more to this than dumping lead in a hole.”
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |