New 460 S&W Magnum

[saleen322]

When a member here replied to a post and mentioned he would like to aquire a 454 Casull, it reminded me of how well those original Freedom Arms 454s performed. They were so good back in the day that changes to the silhouette rules were considered to exclude them from competing in the revolver class. Well move forward to the present and I happened into a gun store today and I happened to see a 460 Smith and ........ well I got one. These 460s will shoot the 454 and 45 LC and I heard they are accurate so it will be time to find out. I really haven't messed with it much at all but I tried a couple of loads and after a small powder adjustment, it put 5 shots standing from 25 yards into a 2 inch group. The 460 seems to have that inherit accuracy the 454 did. These are big cartridges holding 48 grains of powder. A 460 is laying on the target with a 9mm and 45 ACP for comparison. The recoil is manageable but you need good ear and eye protection. I want to shoot it at distance but I had to get the sights on target before moving back. I will keep you posted on my progress.

[Steve_NEPhila]

Sweet. I am a fan of the .460 Magnum, yet have not picked one up yet. I prefer the .460 over the .500 due to the trajectory difference and the much less expensive projectiles. Rock on with that magnum goodness and keep us posted...

[harold63]

Not everyone can put up a group like that out of a big bore revolver. Clearly, you have shot one once or twice.

[leplat]

I do believe you where refering to me .
That is a damn nice gun. Congrats on the pick up.

[Kramer]

The 460 is nice piece. I also like that you can shoot 45 Colt and 454 Casull.

[brian]

Sweet. I am a fan of the .460 Magnum, yet have not picked one up yet. I prefer the .460 over the .500 due to the trajectory difference...

i just looked at federals online thingy(albeit an older version) and their 4loads(two each caliber) shot about the same out to 100 yards.
275 and 300gr for the .460 with 275 and 325 for the .500.

[SCBaldr]

That is a pretty Wheelie. If you shoot a .500 S&W mag, you'll find that the .460 is way more manageable and as Steve correctly pointed out, flatter shooting. I would not be at all surprised if, when you find the right case, bullet, powder, primer, seating depth and roll crimp, it puts bullets through the same hole at 50 yards or more.

[crinko]

I love taking mine to the range and seeing the looks on people's faces

[saleen322]

I moved this to a new thread.

[SCBaldr]

I saw that load that got the best grouping at 100 yards was using 48 grains of h110. I've used that powder loading for short barreled 45-70 carbines. For some reason, all of the short barreled magnums just love that stuff.

The gun I was loading for was an 18" H&R handi-rifle in 45-70. We were having real problems gettting it to group consistently at 100 yards with factory winchester super-x ammo. So we tried remington, better but not by much. We tried hornady, same as remington.

So after the fifth load I tried for it, I hit on the h110 and the group size cut itself in half with just the start charge. When we learned to use a 350gr. hard-cast lead minnie-ball, upped the charge several grains and seated .020 shallower. Those groups now are sub 1" at 100 yards.

I'm not at all surprised that your 460's performance is that good with the load you worked up. It might even get better with a hard-cast lead bullet of some persuasion.