500 Smith and Wesson Loads

Spawn-Inc

Spawn-Inc

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i bought a 500 and am eagerly waiting for it to be transferred. in the mean time i've reloaded some 350 grain XTP's, but i don't want to load to many until i get a feel for the gun.

has anyone ever tried using 50 cal muzzle loader bullets for the 500 S&W?

i just loaded up one 300 grain hornady FPB with 44 grains of h110.

the diameter is 0.499" on most of the bullet, but the bell/end of the skirt is 0.505"

IMG_1039.jpg
 
The only downside that I can see is two-fold. The same reason we are careful reloading hollow base wadcutters for .357mag. I download mine by almost half the full charge because I'm seating the whole bullet inside the case (wadcutter) thereby taking up any extra room provided by the hollow base. Remember that too much empty space inside a casing can be dangerous. The second reason we download with hollow bases is the lack of material in the actual bullet. In theory, too much pressure COULD blast through the hollow base leaving the bullet stuck in the barrel. I would do a little powder and .500 reloading research BEFORE launching those babies brother. Just my humble $.02. Cheers
 
I do not have the info on me off hand but I do not think the 50 caliber muzzle loader bullet is the right diameter. Also I can tell you one thing for sure it is not the right configeration.

Just buy the right bullet mould like I did and cast your own bullets and then shooting the 500 is very affordable.

Graydog
 
the only reason i put so much h110 is because of what they say about slow burning powders, i used 325 grain loading data. there is about .2" of space between the powder and the bottom of the bullet.

i have a lee 440 grain bullet mold i am buying off the seller as well a 600 grain mihec mold on order (early-min jan i hope!)


just looking to mess around more or less, muzzle loader bullets run the same price, maybe a bit more then proper bullets.
 
Not that it probably makes much difference, but what 500 are you shooting? I shoot an 8 3/8" S&W and use a variety of cast and jacketed bullets and basically with anything I 'push' through it, it shoots well. Heavy cast bullet loads, light loads and top end jacketed bullet loads, all do well.

IMG_1264.jpg


For heavy loads, my powder of choice is H110 and for light loads, Unique. The selection of cast bullets I use are;
  • 350gr FNBB
  • 370gr RFNPB
  • 410gr 'Keith' SWPB
  • 440gr LFNGC
And the jacketed;
  • Speer 325gr HP (modified)*
  • Hornady 350gr XTP Mag
  • Sierra 350gr JHP
  • Sierra 400gr JSP
*The modification to the Speer 325gr HP is the addition of a cannelure gooove to allow crimping. The starting load I decided upon was very close to what's suggested in the Sierra and Hornady manuals for their 350gr HP.

With this modification and admittedly a little after the fact,:redface: I contacted the tech people at Speer and asked their opinion. They strongly suggested, that as the 325gr was designed for the 50 AE and a maximum velocity of 1500 f/sec, I should drop my loads a little to keep them at that level.

Long story short, I'd like to suggest you similarily contact the people at Hornady for their recommendation:).

Last but not least, with cast bullets and jacketed bullets like the 500gr Hornady, for me, the accuracy seemed to drop off when I got to bullets of 500gr and heavier.
 
a 6.5" smith and wesson 500 is what i bought, half underlug.

IMG-20110608-00150.jpg

minus the sight, and knife.


have you ever tried the 700 grain bullets?
 
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