.500 S&W anyone?

[Bill in Oregon]

Anyone here at Paco's house playing with one of these bad boys? What brass, bullets, dies and loads are you working with?

[pwl44m]

Local Candy Store has one but I didn't show enough interest so He pulled and says He is gonna keep it. He doesn't sell used Guns per say but does have some. He wants My Colt Pocket 32 so maybe I can work a trade.
Do You have one or Thinkin ?
Perry

[O.S.O.K.]

I've got one but it's a NEF Handi

Star Line brass, H110 and Lee 440 gas check cast.

Here's the boolit next to a Lee 310 44 and a Lyman 35 cal IIRC - Berry's 350 grain bullet in the case.



Hurts my shoulder and I'm not what you call recoil sensitive...

That NEF is only about 1/2 pound heavier than the S&W X revolvers.

[Sixgun]

Nope on having one but my nephew shows up at my place a month ago with one, along with 300 factory once fired brass. Says I could have it all for $700. I declined as the 44 is about all I can deal with anymore.

[Pitchy]

Had one Bill but traded it off for a Marlin 95 Cowboy.
It is a fun neat gun, i bought a bunch of bulk ammo from Cabela`s that shot good without severe recoil. I also had a couple boxes of Hornady 350`s at around 2,000 fps that did recoil severe.
Never got a chance to hunt with it and it will put down anything ya shoot with it if hit right but heavey to carry.
I figured i`d get more use out of the levergun.

[jhrosier]

I bought a H&R in 500S&W a while back.
I cast a bunch of 440 gr bullets in a Lee mould and punched out some plastic disks with a 1/2" hole punch to use instead of gas checks. They were dipped in melted lube and shot sized as cast over 50 grs volume of 777.

The idea was to re-create the big-bore carbines of the Civil War era. It was a lot of fun and reasonably cheap to shoot.

Jack

[Bill in Oregon]

Perry, I just found a used one with the 8 3/8 barrel. Probably be here by next weekend. I'll start low and work up, as the day is long past when I pretended to myself that recoil didn't matter ...



OSOK, that Lee is a handsome boolit.
Pitchy, you're probably right about a lever gun being a more practical firearm.

[Blaine]

I had a chance to shoot a friend's about 12 rounds worth. Recoil very stout but not painful. It's just too big to haul around.

[Panzercat]

This is still one of my bucket rifles.

Proudly built in the USA, the Big Horn Armory Model 89 lever-action rifle in .500 S&W Magnum continues the rich legacy of American firearms design and development. Built from the ground-up and solidly engineered using the latest CNC technology, the Model 89 embodies the best of the old Model 86 and Model 92 lever-actions in a modern platform capable of handling the powerful .500 S&W Magnum. Both rifle and carbine models are manufactured with 17-4 stainless steel precision machined and properly hardened to deliver consistent downrange performance and rugged in-the- field dependability. The selected American black walnut stock and forend are fitted with integral front and stud rear sling swivel mounts. The pistol- grip buttstock has a one- inch recoil-taming pad. Stock and forend are given several coats of a durable synthetic satin finish. The standard rifle and carbine are equipped with aperture rear and post front sights. The Model 89's large, hunter-friendly curved- lever enables ease of operation, especially with gloved hands. Honoring the long tradition of great American sporting rifles, the new Model 89 .500 S&W Magnum provides hunters with pride in ownership, and a powerful advantage afield.

[AJMD429]

Got a used Handi-rifle with a broken front sight and a skidded scope mount for $125 or so; looks like some dude shot it once with a scope, got scope-eye, and dropped it.

Haven't shot it much, but got it as sort of a 'companion piece' to a .50 Beowulf upper since it uses the same bullets and pretty much the same load data.

So far just shooting factory loads to generate brass for reloading, so no loading experience yet.

[Rusty]

I was thinking a Handi in .500 would make a nice hog rifle with a can screwed on the front end. Jr. keeps telling me my .44 is enough. I know he's right but it sure would drop 'em in their tracks.

[AJMD429]

I was thinking a Handi in .500 would make a nice hog rifle with a can screwed on the front end. Jr. keeps telling me my .44 is enough. I know he's right but it sure would drop 'em in their tracks.

I always thought a .45-70 Encore barrel I have could be threaded and 'canned' and I shoot subsonic 552-grain cast bullets (Lyman #462560) out of it at subsonic velocities. Unfortunately, I couldn't get anyone in the suppressor industry to tell me for sure that a .45 ACP-level can would handle a 'cat-sneeze' load for sure - they all said too much volume/pressure could blow the can up with a .45-70 sized case... A higher-pressure can like for .458 Winchester or .50 BMG was just too darned expensive to deal with.

[rock-steady]

I'm using the Lee 440gr cast from wheelweights and lubed with alox. I use a reduced charge of Unique for a mild recoiling load. A 440gr lead boolit with a huge meplat at about 1,200 fps is heap good deer medicine.

[buckeyeshooter]

Mine is a 6 1/2 inch pc gun. I shoot 275 grain bullets with a big charge of unique mostly. less recoil than my 3 inch 29. Deadly accurate and deadly on deer.

[O.S.O.K.]

I've got a few loads still of the hot rod level and I'll shoot em up but once they're done, I'm going to work up a nice load for deer hunting - like the 1200 fps load listed by rocksteady. Maybe up to around 1400 but no faster. It just plain hurts to shoot with the full bore loads and I won't be going after tyranasaurus's any time soon, so...

That load with 777 might be fun too! Would make some good smoke for sure

[Molasses]

There's one of the .500 Performance Center S&Ws somewhere in the back of the safe. I asked the local reloading store guru about loads for it right after getting it and was advised to use the Remington 385 gr. bullet over H110. That's worked fine for me so far.

[Bill in Oregon]

OSOK, fill that case with some FFFg Swiss and you'll just about have a.50-70 wheelgun. I plan to try this at least once ...

[Ji in Hawaii]

Swimming pools don't stand a chance! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBqZ62JpgHo

[awp101]

I bought a H&R in 500S&W a while back.
I cast a bunch of 440 gr bullets in a Lee mould and punched out some plastic disks with a 1/2" hole punch to use instead of gas checks. They were dipped in melted lube and shot sized as cast over 50 grs volume of 777.

The idea was to re-create the big-bore carbines of the Civil War era. It was a lot of fun and reasonably cheap to shoot.

Jack

Ohhh, that sounds like scads of fun! Almost like a Smith Carbine... How hard did you cast them and to what size? What kind of plastic for the disks?

Must....stop....thinking...about...this....

[Bill in Oregon]

Ji, that was great! Long live the INNER CHILD!!!

[jhrosier]

.....
Ohhh, that sounds like scads of fun! Almost like a Smith Carbine... How hard did you cast them and to what size? What kind of plastic for the disks?

Must....stop....thinking...about...this....

I use a mix of range scrap, typemetal & solder that I try to get close to #2 Lyman alloy. The bullets are dropped into a bucket of water to cool & harden them. I'm not sure about the hardness but they won't scratch with a thumbnail.

I leave them at whatever size they cast in the Lee mould as they chamber easily. After I dip them in melted lube (LARS Carnauba Red), they get pushed through a 1/2" drill bushing to remove the excess lube. The actual size of the bushing is a bit over 1/2", .503 or so.

I use 1/32" polypropylene to make the wads but I would cut them from the sides of polyethylene milk jugs if I had nothing else handy. An ordinary 1/2" arch punch will leave the disks 1/64" or so oversized so they are a nice press fit in the cases. I was hoping that they would help to scrape the fouling from the bore with each shot. These may not be needed but they also don't seem to hurt anything. I was not prepared to waste big money on copper gas checks for a low velocity load.

The 777 was used to get the nostalgic smoke, and yes, it is just like shooting the Smith carbine. The 777 is not real cheap. I could get the same velocity with a less expensive load of Unique, but the boom & smoke is a good part of the fun.

Jack

[awp101]

Many thanks Jack! Now to confer with the CFO...