King of the magnums: S&W's .500 master-blaster

American Handgunner, Jan-Feb, 2004 by John Taffin

Real handgun power began when the two Sams, Colt and Walker, put their heads together to produce the 1847 Walker Colt. For nearly a century, 88 years to be exact, Colt stood alone as the maker of truly powerful pistols, the Walker followed by the Dragoons, the .45 Colt in both the Single Action Army and the New Service, and the Government Model .45, all Colts. Smith & Wesson had chambered a few of their double action Hand Ejectors in .45 Colt, however most were chambered in .44 Special, which had to be specially handloaded to even come close to the .45 Colt.

In the 1930s, this country was in the midst of a Great Depression, and in the midst of all this, Smith & Wesson decided to take a chance. Not only did they introduce a new sixgun in what was a truly disastrous economy, they also brought forth the most powerful handgun anyone could ever imagine, at least in 1935. Advertised as more powerful than any .44 or .45, the .357 Magnum, sixgun and load, changed the face of sixgunning forever.

The .357 Magnum was so different than anything preceding it even such an expert as Phil Sharpe warned reloaders not to rush in where angels feared to tread. A very few individuals who loaded their .44 Specials to the max took an unconcerned look at the first Magnum, ignored it, and went back to their favorite .44 loads. However for most sixgunners, the .357 Magnum made Smith and Wesson the king when it came to powerful handguns.

In the last days of the last month of 1955, the second Magnum arrived from the King of Magnum Sixguns. Some few sixgunners had ignored the .357 Magnum; but nobody could ignore the new .44 Magnum. If the .357 Magnum was bad, this new Magnum was definitely the baddest. Col. Charles Askins, always looking for controversy, accused anyone who couldn't handle the .44 as having lace on his panties. Elmer Keith, who was directly responsible for the introduction of the .44 Magnum, said it was easier to shoot than a .38 Chief's Special.

The .44 Magnum truly made Smith & Wesson the King of the Magnum Sixguns--forever. There was simply no way a sixgun could ever be made more powerful than the .44 Magnum. Then, just to gain a tighter hold on their title, and with what some considered a step backwards, Smith & Wesson brought out their third big bore sixgun, the .41 Magnum in 1964. This has become a true connoisseur's cartridge and sixgun, with a "love-it or leave-it" following.

Now Smith & Wesson was truly entrenched as the total and absolute king. The laurels were brought out and upon them they rested. While they were resting, smugly, others were not. The dethroners were hard at work. Dick Casull began experimenting with his .454 Magnum in the 1950s. When Freedom Arms produced their first Model 83 in 1983 the cartridge became known as the .454 Casull. The .44 Magnum was no longer the King. Smith & Wesson snored away in ignorant bliss.

Then came more experimenters. John Linebaugh brought forth his .500, followed by the .475 Linebaugh, and the .475 and .500 Maximums. Some of these even went beyond the power level of the .454 Casull. The .475 Linebaugh became a production sixgun by both Freedom Arms and Magnum Research. The .480 Ruger arrived. Smith & Wesson kept their eyes closed. The king was dead.

Rumor Control

Then the rumors began. "Smith & Wesson is working on a new cartridge and sixgun combination. Don't tell anyone you heard this but it will be a .50 caliber on a totally new frame." Yeah, sure. At first I didn't believe it. After all, the giant had been asleep for nearly 40 years. For this to happen someone would have to wake him up, and everyone knows what happens when sleeping giants are revived.

The rumors were correct. The King is back on the throne, never to be overthrown again. If he is, I definitely do not want to shoot the "new" King of Horsepower. The new sixgun from Smith & Wesson is the double action Model 500 chambered in .500 S&W Magnum. Brass is made by Starline, bullets are by Barnes and CPBC (Cast Performance Bullet Co.), with factory ammunition by Cor-Bon and Buffalo Bore. The full-house load is a 440 gr. CPBC hard-cast, gas-checked bullet at a full 1,650 fps!

Let us stop and consider the full meaning of this. In 1935, the top load was a 158 gr. bullet at 1,500 fps with a muzzle energy of 790 ft/lbs. By 1955, we had a 240 at 1,450 fps for 1,118 ft/lbs; and in 1983, a 260 at 1,800 fps for 1,869 ft/lbs. Three powerful sixguns, and if you subscribe to such things as I do, TKOs of 12.1, 21.4, and 30.2 respectively. The .500 changes all previous thoughts of sixgun power with a muzzle energy of 2,658 ft/lbs and a whopping TKO of 51.9! TKO stands for Taylor Knock Out, which is simply a way of ascribing a rating number to big bore cartridges.

Let us also consider shooting this powerful cartridge from a 4.5-pound revolver. "Does it kick?" There is recoil--and there is felt recoil. The first is mathematical; the second is subjective. We do not all feel recoil exactly the same way, and felt recoil can also be reduced with a properly designed grip. However, there's a limit to how much we can reduce recoil with such a powerful handgun. To help us gain perspective, think of a .45-70 with a 440 gr. bullet fired at 1,650 fps from an 8-pound rifle. I submit there are not too many people who would want to spend the day shooting such a load.