500 S&W Hunting Loads for H&R Handi-Rifle

conor_90

conor_90

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Recently acquired a 500 S&W rifle. Would like to make a load as a backup for spring bear hunting and it would be great to hear from some more experienced folks on the performance of various bullets.

I have h110 powder and the other option appears to be lil' gun which I cannot find.

I currently have

-400 grain woodleighs,

- some factory 500 grain hornadies (I see a lot of fragmentation in tests of these; any comments? they sure look impressive)

Thinking of ordering some barnes busters, barnes 275 grainers and have some hardcast 440's on the way once I can get my hands on some gas checks.

Any comments? I think they will all be effective for close range bear. Just curious if anyone has a preference having used a variety of the bullets on game.

Thanks for your responses.
 
I haven't shot anything that walks with them, but I load home cast 440gr (Lee Mold) in front of 38 gr of H110 for my Handi, and its a hammer on both ends. Shot a 16-18 inch Fir tree with one. 1/2 inch hole going in. About a 4 inch hole on the other side. I would have no issues at all using it on a black bear. It's plenty accurate too, until I start getting flinchy...
 
Most accurate load and big ball of fire is 350 gr Hornady XTP / 41 gr of Lil'gun, this load out of my NEF is clocking just north of 1900 fps...

This load is a major thumper... JP.
 
^ have you taken anything with it JP?

I think a store in the city has those bullets I will be on the lookout.
 
4-5 years ago, i had 50 of these rounds loaded HOT, i went into my field with my NEF, the rounds, and a Busnell tube red dot and blasted 20 marmotts, and i busted the red dot to...

Seldom i have a shoulder ache, but this time i did big times...
Those marmotts never had a chance... JP.:)
 
conor_90 said:
Hmm maybe I have to go gopher shooting with mine.
Click to expand...

Word of caution, remember, if you miss,;) all you're doing is 'building' them a new home or tunnel system:p. In the S&W handgun, what I've been pleasantly surprised by is the accuracy.



Seems that anything I put through it, jacketed, cast, light and/or heavy loads, they all shoot well. Accuracy for me did seem to fall off a bit when I tried jacketed bullets over 400gr. This is the jacketed selection I use.



And, these are the cast I get from a friend locally that's into casting in a big way.

.

There's primarily two powders I use. H110 for heavy loads and Unique for the odd batch of light loads. I get great accuracy with H110. With the early brass being made to accept LP primers, I found that with the odd round, occasionally there would be poor ignition resulting in unburnt powder. This 'deficiency' was corrected in later production brass, by the likes of Starline, making brass that would accept the hotter LR primers. That older production brass I put aside to use for light loads.
Most of my load data initially came from the guy I get my cast bullet supplies from. In addition, some load info is available on a few applicable websites of interest. Along with these sources, the Speer, Sierra, Hornady and Lyman Pistol & Revolver Handbook, 3rd edition supply all I need and then some.
 
conor_90 said:
Do you find the accuracy with the 440's to be acceptable?

Thanks for your response.
Click to expand...

In reality, moderate loads using the 440gr cast were the first cast loads I shot with the 500. For that reason only, that bullet in cast is probably my #1 choice. I'm going to get a little long winded here so hang in there for a moment. My 'intro' to the 500 was when a shooting buddy acquired a S&W 500 at a local gun show years back. He showed it to me and asked my opinion. I told him, it's the biggest chunk or stainless I've handled since I retired from a local Pulp & Paper Mill. I know what I can do with the 44 Mag but didn't turn the offer to go 'try' it out with him. The loads were using the 440gr cast at about 1000 f/sec. He stapled a target to the end of a block of wood ant gave me five rounds to slowly shoot off of a rest at about 25yds. When he retrieved the shot target he said, I'm keeping this!! there was one big 1 1/2" ragged hole. I was impressed!!! Having second thoughts, I decided if it shot that well, I 'needed' one. Again, as in the targets I've shown in my previous post, everything I've put through it has shot well.
If you're looking for a source of decent cast bullets, let me know and I'll PM you my suppliers contact info.
 
Johnn thanks for the offer but I have a friend who casts them locally and has given me quite a generous deal; I just need to find some gas checks for them.

I'm looking to imitate 45/70 performance or as close as I can get in the smaller package.

For sub 400 grain bullets I have another pistol cartridge in mind to pick up.
 
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