S&W 500 for deer hunting?

[bluehen59]

Anyone have positive or negative stories of deer hunting with a S&W 500 magnum?
What would be it's effective range? Scope or not? Thanks

Just asking since I don't care for rifles other than my AR.

[DavidTM]

I've never hunted with one. I've shot several rounds from both the 500 and the 460 and both are fantastic handguns. The one's I have shot had 4X scopes on them and they were quality scopes such as Leupold's. Anything less and from what I hear, they will fade to black in short order.

Now, the ballistics of the 460 are almost identical to the 45-70. Yes, it's true as I've ran both and compared 'em. So, the 500 will be pretty close to 'em as well. Now, I love to hunt with my Marlin 45-70 using a 405gr. lead FP bullet with a MV of 1800fps. There is no blood trail because the deer just drop right there.

I'm sure with a broadside shot from the 500 you will experience the same. Now, that said my 45-70 when zeroed at 100 yards will drop 17" at 200 yards and almost 60" (yes....5 feet) at 300 yards. But..if I hit a deer in the vitals at 300 yards it will die. However, usually I will put myself in a place where my shots are no longer than 200 yards. And you should put yourself in a place where your shots are no longer than 100 yards. The handgun will down a deer at longer ranges, but only if the shooter can hit the small vital area at the longer ranges.

But use it. These are fantastic handguns.

Dave

[Michael Black 47]

I've never hunted with one. I've shot several rounds from both the 500 and the 460 and both are fantastic handguns. The one's I have shot had 4X scopes on them and they were quality scopes such as Leupold's. Anything less and from what I hear, they will fade to black in short order.

Now, the ballistics of the 460 are almost identical to the 45-70. Yes, it's true as I've ran both and compared 'em. So, the 500 will be pretty close to 'em as well. Now, I love to hunt with my Marlin 45-70 using a 405gr. lead FP bullet with a MV of 1800fps. There is no blood trail because the deer just drop right there.

I'm sure with a broadside shot from the 500 you will experience the same. Now, that said my 45-70 when zeroed at 100 yards will drop 17" at 200 yards and almost 60" (yes....5 feet) at 300 yards. But..if I hit a deer in the vitals at 300 yards it will die. However, usually I will put myself in a place where my shots are no longer than 200 yards. And you should put yourself in a place where your shots are no longer than 100 yards. The handgun will down a deer at longer ranges, but only if the shooter can hit the small vital area at the longer ranges.

But use it. These are fantastic handguns.

Dave

thank you for your imput on the 500. I bought the later s&w 500 with the interchangeable comp and i love it. got about a 100 round free from the shop too My pocket is happy for this. Also are there any recommended loads when hunting with the it?

[bluehen59]

I wouldn't be taking any shots past 100 yards. Thanks for the information.

[DavidTM]

thank you for your imput on the 500. I bought the later s&w 500 with the interchangeable comp and i love it. got about a 100 round free from the shop too My pocket is happy for this. Also are there any recommended loads when hunting with the it?

Just looking at the Hodgdon http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol web site, I would suggest using something like the Hornady 350gr. XTP. The Hodgdon web site shows this load data pushing the 350gr bullet in the 1800fps velocity range. (Not including the lower velocity powders). I'd say used one of those powders and of course, work 'em up from at least 10% below the maximum watching for pressure signs.

But hit any size whitetail with that bullet, and hit 'em in the boiler room, and you have your jerky for awhile.

Dave

[Michael Black 47]

Just looking at the Hodgdon http://www.hodgdonreloading.com/data/pistol web site, I would suggest using something like the Hornady 350gr. XTP. The Hodgdon web site shows this load data pushing the 350gr bullet in the 1800fps velocity range. (Not including the lower velocity powders). I'd say used one of those powders and of course, work 'em up from at least 10% below the maximum watching for pressure signs.

But hit any size whitetail with that bullet, and hit 'em in the boiler room, and you have your jerky for awhile.

Dave

thank you for the info. I gess i can put my dies to use in the future. I thought about doing a reload project along this.

http://www.glockpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=13484

but to go all the way i thought about a mold for this

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...-00-52_870.jpg

600gr hp with a 1 inch cavity. the power of the imagination. the expansion alone.

[MOUNTAINORACLE]

IMHO I think that 500 Mag maybe a little overkill for PA whitetail....I have taken two cow elks with my 500 both taking 2 shots at a range of between 80 to 110 yards.

[firebird.77]

I agree that its definitely overkill...I would load on the lower end of the spectrum.

Many whitetail have been taken with the .357 Mag in both revolvers and carbines

[mosseater]

Been hunting with a .44 Mag for many years and have yet to recover a slug out to ranges of 80 yards. 240 gr HP @ 1500 blows right through. Your experience with the 500 will likely be similar. Overkill? Meh, probably. If you can down load them or use lighter bullets that's what I'd do. Keeps the recoil down and the wallet in tact. My biggest rap about the 500 (never shot one, but handled one) is that it's physically huge in comparison to others. If you can find a load that's easy on the budget and the hand which would allow you to get prodigious practice, that would be the ticket to longer ranges. Personally, reliable vital hits beyond 100 yds takes some dedication in my opinion. The gun can do it but can you? Most can't. When I was much younger and had excellent vision, I could punch paper fairly reliably out to 100 even with open sights. Ain't happening now, that's for sure. I keep it to 50 or less these days. Good luck.

[Clark Kent]

I went out in Maine last year one day with the 500, but never had an opportunity to use it. For me, the first couple of shots were on the money then a flinch would set in. I was using off the shelf 350grain federal loads advertised as a deer round. This year, I've worked that flinch out of my system with plenty of practice and I'm able to hit a 6" plate at 100 yards with the iron sights.

Ammo cost is a big factor, so I really suggest reloading this round. Just make sure you get all rifle primed brass. My starline brass is marked with an R indicating rifle. Some of the earlier brass cases used large pistol primer pockets.

This year, I've also worked up a 400gr Sierra SP with mag rifle primers over H110. I intend to try this load out on black bear and whitetail given the chance this year. I found that this load flys rather flat out to 100 yards. At 25 and 50 yards I'm about 3-4 inches high (ran out of sight adjustment) and at 100 yards about 5-6 inches high. I'm running a 6.5" barrel with the 0.300 front blade and was running a 0.130 rear blade sight. I was unable to find a replacement front blade high enough so I've since filed off 30 thousands from the rear blade, which was already adjusted all the way down. I could probably avoid all this by simply running a lighter bullet, but I'm looking to stick with 400 grain rounds for all my 500 shooting.

I also suggest having some sort of shooting sticks as the weight makes stablizing this heavy pig difficult. Or maybe plan to shoot from a down tree or some sort of support. I'm using a tripod trigger stick to support mine. Using a tripod vs a bipod as the bipod would require a support hand and I'm not interesting in keeping that support hand near the front of the cylinder gap. The blast is rather significant on the 500, which after 50 or so rounds off the tripod is already burning up the rubber strapping that is on the cradle.