.500 S & W , anyone load for one? Anyone use rifle powder?

jumprightinit

New member
I was looking for some loading data for the 700 gr. cast bullet and only find a couple of different brands of powder used. Both of which I don't have any. I've got some Trail Boss and you can shoot a full case of that and still have a moderate load. I use H4227 with my 350 gr loads and that works well but I've yet to find it used with the 700 gr bullet. Anyone have any different powder data than 'lil gun' or 110?
 
Holy Cow Batman, mines a handful with the 350's I could only imagine what it'd be like chunking out 700 grainers!!! Considering what ammo cost for these hand cannons I can certainly appreciate why you'd want to reload for it if it was something you shot much.

Mine only has a 4in barrel, it's my CCW. NOT, but it really is the 4in. version. I could only imagine what kind of rodeo the 2 1/2 would be like to shoot.
 
Well the 8 3/8" barrel is a handful if it's loaded up close to the max. The 700's are justa novelty and to see if anyone would shoot them. I can load up a moderate load with the Trail Boss but I hate that stuff. I'd like to find an alternative powder .
 
I've not loaded any 700gr.and most likely never will. I load 350 and 400's and I use 49gr. of 5744 with the 350's. I like the 5744, seems to be accurate and pretty clean also I have a dealer that stocks a lot of Accurate Arms powders and the stuff meters great.

PLEASE WORK UP TO THAT LOAD CAREFULLY
 
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Originally Posted By: biggen0_8I've not loaded any 700gr.and most likely never will. I load 350 and 400's and I use 49gr. of 5744 with the 350's. I like the 5744, seems to be accurate and pretty clean also I have a dealer that stocks a lot of Accurate Arms powders and the stuff meters great.

In all honesty, my 4in 500 has always been kind of a novelty gun for me. Bought it because I thought the thing just looked cool as he11 and I sometimes forget just how big these things are. Until I read things like this and the thought of shooting a handgun with a 7 0 0 freakin grain bullet is a realization and it really puts it into perspective when I see loads for these things and the powder charge is around 50 grains. That's a lot, especially when you compare it to other normal size pistol rounds that are in the single digits.

I used to load 22.8gr of 2400 in my 44 w/240's that was way over max for a pistol and I thought that was A LOT compared to my 9mm but that 22.8 load for my 44 looks anorexic compared to what the 500's gobble up for powder.
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OK so I realize I really didn't help you any with my first post, so a little research brought up this link. Do be aware that most guys have trouble stabilizing the 700gr.bullets, the twist just isn't right for that long of bullet.

http://handloads.com/loaddata/default.as...wder&Source

B23, I'm like you, in that my 500 is more for entertainment and for my DRAR (daily recommended allowance of recoil) I have a friend who uses one for whitetails and it definitely drops them with authority, but I don't see myself using mine for that. My Ruger SBH handles that just fine.

 
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The handload Data Link is by far one of the best sources. Matt with Mattsbullets.com sells the bullets you are using and loads the same bullet in ammo. He might give you some guidance. I cannot help because I do not go that route anymore. The largest bullet I shoot anymore is, the 440 grain cast with Titegroup 14.5 -16 grains That load will handle anything and is not hard on my hands. Tite group is far better than Trail Boss and it is not position sensitive. FYI: with Titegroup you can use a magnum pistol primer if you wanted to. The rest of them it is better to go the large rifle or Large magnum rifle primer.

Rifle Powders : H110 and VHIT N110 Vhit is high in price, but much more accurate than Hodgdon. H110 takes mag primer and Vhit regular rifle primer

Shotgun powders: LIL gun and Longshot. Lil gun is similar to the H110 on burn rate. gives better performance in some cases. Both these regular rifle primer.
 
OK I don't have a 500 Mag, but I do have a 460 Mag, and I run a 47.0gr. charge of H-110 pushing a 240Mag. XTP bullet and that's enough for me out of a 8 3/8" barrel. I shoot mine at an indoor range every week, most of the time just 5 shots, for the [beeep] was that factor. I say if you can shoot a 700gr. bullet than you are the man!!!!
 
Originally Posted By: B23Holy Cow Batman, mines a handful with the 350's I could only imagine what it'd be like chunking out 700 grainers!!! Considering what ammo cost for these hand cannons I can certainly appreciate why you'd want to reload for it if it was something you shot much.

Mine only has a 4in barrel, it's my CCW. NOT, but it really is the 4in. version. I could only imagine what kind of rodeo the 2 1/2 would be like to shoot.

HAHA! That's the same thing I was thinking! I use a ton on Lilgun with a 350 gr. Mine is the 12" S&W with a brake. I could not imagine a shorter/lighter pistol with a 700 gr. I would have to strap in to shoot that one.
 
BTW, I shot my cousins 8-7/8 Smith and Wesson with factory ammo . I am 6.4 and 250 pounds but I can honestly tell you after 2 shots, my wrists have had it. It's almost to the point that is not even fun to shoot. My 12 inch is a dream to shoot and I can shoot it with no problems at all.
 
My 4in 500 is definitely a handful and I can shoot all five before I give my wrists a rest. They made a 2.5in barreled version that came in a case that was marketed as a bear defense gun. When I bought my 500 they had one of those kits in 500 and 460. If I recall the 500 had orange grips and the 460 had yellow. Neither had a muzzle brake like all the others. I thought then, dang, a snub nose 500 with some stout loads would likely be brutal on the wrists.

I've nicknamed my 500 the "oxymoron" because it's fun to shoot but it's not fun to shoot. lol
 
Mine is the 8" with a brake, and it definitely lets you know when you touch it off. If I run two cylinders full through it, my elbow will let me know the next day. But I love shooting the big stuff.
 
Well I got my 700 gr bullets from Matts and since I haven't got to a shop to buy any other powders I loaded up some test rounds with Trail Boss. Thats the only powder I have on the shelf that I could find data on for the 700's. I haven't shot them yet. I guess I'll have to try to find some H110 and Lil Gun. I'd like some data on H 4227 since I have several pounds of that but all of the data on that I can find is for lighter bullets in the 350 gr range. I shoot the 350's for the most part and the H 4227 works fine with those. I have shot the Trail Boss with the 350's and didn't like it much. I probably won't like it with the 700's either but at least I'll get a few down the barrel before I get a chance to get some other powders. If you have never used Trail Boss it's a weird powder, shaped like little donuts, 8 gr's is about as much as you can load with the 700's just because you can't compress the Trail Boss. The seated 700's just about hits the powder, basically a full case full load.
 
Originally Posted By: jumprightinitWell I got my 700 gr bullets from Matts and since I haven't got to a shop to buy any other powders I loaded up some test rounds with Trail Boss. Thats the only powder I have on the shelf that I could find data on for the 700's. I haven't shot them yet. I guess I'll have to try to find some H110 and Lil Gun. I'd like some data on H 4227 since I have several pounds of that but all of the data on that I can find is for lighter bullets in the 350 gr range. I shoot the 350's for the most part and the H 4227 works fine with those. I have shot the Trail Boss with the 350's and didn't like it much. I probably won't like it with the 700's either but at least I'll get a few down the barrel before I get a chance to get some other powders. If you have never used Trail Boss it's a weird powder, shaped like little donuts, 8 gr's is about as much as you can load with the 700's just because you can't compress the Trail Boss. The seated 700's just about hits the powder, basically a full case full load.

When you do get a chance to shoot some of these things I'd certainly like to hear what it was like. Dang, 700gr bullet out of a handgun has got to hit like Thor's hammer. I think Hornady's A-max for the 50 BMG is only 750gr.
 
Well cross off any Trail Boss for the 700 gr bullets. I loaded some test rounds up with the Max load and one gr under. They shot like shooting a .22, they hardly made a bang. I'm still looking for some H 110 or Lil Gun locally, I hate to pay the hazardous materials shipping charge for less than 25 lb shipments and I don't want ot buy that much of something I haven't tried. So cross off any Trail Boss unless you want something to let little girls to try.
 
Remember Win 296 is the same as H110, at least I believe that is, although some still argue that it's not. Might help in your search.
 
Originally Posted By: biggen0_8Remember Win 296 is the same as H110, at least I believe that is, although some still argue that it's not. Might help in your search.

in the blackout world we use them interchangeably. common knowledge is that they're the same so load data for either is useable for the other.

but treat it like switching lot numbers, expecially since its known to go from a nice safe load to 'holy crap that primer is flatter than *beep*' at the top end of the load range. that being said.. just work up a new load from scratch, and let it tell you when you've hit the top end of the safe load range.
 
Originally Posted By: jumprightinitWell cross off any Trail Boss for the 700 gr bullets. I loaded some test rounds up with the Max load and one gr under. They shot like shooting a .22, they hardly made a bang. I'm still looking for some H 110 or Lil Gun locally, I hate to pay the hazardous materials shipping charge for less than 25 lb shipments and I don't want ot buy that much of something I haven't tried. So cross off any Trail Boss unless you want something to let little girls to try.

Any chance you could post a pic of that 700gr bullet, maybe next to a 350 +/- grainer for comparison sake. A pic of a loaded round with one of those monster 700 grainers would be cool too. I'm curious to see how big one of those d*mn things is.
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FWIW, I can pm you my cell # and you could text me a pic if that'd make it easier. Also are these consumer available bullets or hand cast for personal use?

I don't recall if you said but are these big bertha bullets something you're just playing around with for sheets and giggles or do you have a purpose for them? Don't think it's something I'd ever be interested in but I am very curious about them and they DEFINITELY have a certain "Cool" factor going on!!

By the way, are you a Wet sider or Dry sider in the Evergreen state??
 
There are a few guys that load these 700's, as noted above Mattsbullets does, Underwood ammo, ballisticsupply. The version I've been reading about has a 95% MEPLAT, the penetration tests showed a bullet that actually ended up in a dang near perfect mushroom. Yes it's a civilian bullet, it's in the style of a stopper, lead wide flat nose.

Guys do make their own as well, have yet to see any solid copper/brass, but out of a 12" or a rifle something like that may be an outstanding bear stopper.

I was discussing a custom TC Encore build with bullberry to see if I couldn't pull 1600fps out of them somehow, 24" custom barrel... Who knows.

The 630gr grand canyon was also on the list to try, this was going to be my short range coyote gun as I didn't have an interest in going with the normal shotgun.

Ended up finding a Rossi circuit judge in 44mag though, six shots is better for engaging multiple dogs. 1-6x24 scope on it, has turned out to be far more accurate then I can believe and then any reviews have noted.

Perhaps some day that custom 500s&w encore will happen.
 
Originally Posted By: B23Originally Posted By: jumprightinitWell cross off any Trail Boss for the 700 gr bullets. I loaded some test rounds up with the Max load and one gr under. They shot like shooting a .22, they hardly made a bang. I'm still looking for some H 110 or Lil Gun locally, I hate to pay the hazardous materials shipping charge for less than 25 lb shipments and I don't want ot buy that much of something I haven't tried. So cross off any Trail Boss unless you want something to let little girls to try.

Any chance you could post a pic of that 700gr bullet, maybe next to a 350 +/- grainer for comparison sake. A pic of a loaded round with one of those monster 700 grainers would be cool too. I'm curious to see how big one of those d*mn things is.
thumbup1.gif
FWIW, I can pm you my cell # and you could text me a pic if that'd make it easier. Also are these consumer available bullets or hand cast for personal use?

I don't recall if you said but are these big bertha bullets something you're just playing around with for sheets and giggles or do you have a purpose for them? Don't think it's something I'd ever be interested in but I am very curious about them and they DEFINITELY have a certain "Cool" factor going on!!

By the way, are you a Wet sider or Dry sider in the Evergreen state??

Wet side, Ocean Shores. Here's the 700 gr Matts , with a 350 gr Berrys and a .45 ACP for comparison. Oh yeah, these are pretty much just for fun , but I may take it deer/elk/moose hunting too.

 
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