.500 smith and wesson question

M

myke_728

New member
EE Expired
Rating - 100%
2   0   0
Location
Hillsburgh Ontario
Ok, I did it. I bought the "Big Boy".

What I would like is some input on is which scope I should consider mounting on it.

I guess my main concerns are something rugged enough to take the punishment that this gun is going to dish out.
Something with decent optics.
And something in a REASONABLE price range. I am not saying CHEAP, but I can not afford a $750 scope right now!

NOW, before anyone starts in on how this is an "Impractical gun"...etc etc, I drive a 1 ton diesel, 4X4, cab and a half, long box, as my DAILY driver. I am the KING of oversized AND impractical! lol

That being said, any input or thoughts on which scopes I should consider would be greatly apreciated.

Thanks

Mike
 
the gun is fun as hell to shoot so no saying it's useless here.. i have one too haha

that said i don't have a scope on mine and no real interest to add one
 
whatever you put on her, don't go cheap. Cheap and recoil tolerant do not go together. There's a used Leupold 4x handgun scope in the case at Shooter's Choice in Kitchener right now...I think 150-200? Give em a call, they'll ship
 
JD Spanner said:
Remember and hold on tight, I watched one go double tap with one pull of the trigger .

Spanner
Click to expand...

Uhhh, Sorry but am I missing something? How does a revolver do a double tap with one pull of the trigger? And what do you mean by "Remember"? Remember what?
 
Re; double tapping a revolver.

With the big kick guns like the 460 and 500 revolvers the recoil energy can deform the hands and wrists holding it enough to allow the trigger finger to sit in place while the gun recoils back then springs forward far enough to fire a second shot. Actually "bump fire" rather than "double tap" would be a better way to call this. But there are a fair number of cases you can see on You Tube. I've also been present when it happened while I watched.

The trick seems to be to hold on somewhat tighter than normal and pull back smoothly but firmly on the trigger with intent to pull the trigger to the rear travel limit and HOLD it there through all the smoke, noise and kick.
 
That "double tap" or "bump fire" whichever you want to call it, is something I had been warned about. In fact, it was suggested that I only load 1 round at a time at least untill I get used to it. (The kick that is).

Thank-you for your help guys. I think I will try to get to Kitchener this week and check out that 4X Leupold. I need to buy some more ammo for the beast too. And I might see if they have a Die set for re-loading too.
 
I have used a fixed 2x Burris on my 44 Mag and now a 480 Ruger, both in 7.5" barrels. The 44 Mag was a SS Redhawk, while the 480 Ruger is a Ruger Super Redhawk. I have found that when in the field a 1-2x magnification is better for finding the target in the scope, while on a shooting range, a larger magnification could be useful, because there is no haste to find your intended target. Obviously a variable may then be best for general use, but I would be unsure about how bad the recoil of the 500 S&W would be on the variable scope.

Depending on what you want to do with your 500 and where you are going to shoot, I would suggest the best quality fixed 2x scope with EER that you can afford. Smaller also worked best for me when carrying the scoped revolver in a holster when hunting in South Africa.

Enjoy your 500 S&W. There is no need to have to justify anything about owning it. If you can afford it and use it safely, do it. I cannot handle the recoil on my wrist so cannot enjoy it!
 
BCRider said:
Re; double tapping a revolver.

With the big kick guns like the 460 and 500 revolvers the recoil energy can deform the hands and wrists holding it enough to allow the trigger finger to sit in place while the gun recoils back then springs forward far enough to fire a second shot. Actually "bump fire" rather than "double tap" would be a better way to call this. But there are a fair number of cases you can see on You Tube. I've also been present when it happened while I watched.

The trick seems to be to hold on somewhat tighter than normal and pull back smoothly but firmly on the trigger with intent to pull the trigger to the rear travel limit and HOLD it there through all the smoke, noise and kick.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, watched some youtube videos, definitely gonna be more aware of it when I buy a large cal revolver.
 
Last edited:
BCRider said:
Re; double tapping a revolver.

With the big kick guns like the 460 and 500 revolvers the recoil energy can deform the hands and wrists holding it enough to allow the trigger finger to sit in place while the gun recoils back then springs forward far enough to fire a second shot. Actually "bump fire" rather than "double tap" would be a better way to call this. But there are a fair number of cases you can see on You Tube. I've also been present when it happened while I watched.

The trick seems to be to hold on somewhat tighter than normal and pull back smoothly but firmly on the trigger with intent to pull the trigger to the rear travel limit and HOLD it there through all the smoke, noise and kick.
Click to expand...

Good point and may well be what actually happens. I've had it occur on a couple of occasions and your suggestion for a slightly firmer than normal grip has merit as a solution.

This big hand cannon has really shone for me in the accuracy department. I've mentioned it in previous threads that virtually anything I've put through it shoots well. Hot loads, light loads, cast and jacketed, all do well. For me, it did seem that once I got to bullet weights over 500grs, the groups did start to open up.

Even with the Hogue grips it came with, I did find that with hot loads and heavy bullets, it could be painful on the bottem side of the index finger knuckle area. I had a set of Jordon Trooper stocks made by Herritt's that I adapted/fitted to my 500 and that seemed to be the solution. It's still a handful, still has the ability to inflict pain at both ends but I no longer experience that intense localized discomfort.

 
Last edited:
I just use the stock sights on mine, haven't bothered and no interest in a scope as I cannot hunt with it. :)

as for the bump fire... from what I've seen is people pull the trigger and release, then when the recoil starts to bring it back towards them instinct kicks in and you tense up to stop which clenches all fingers including the trigger finger causing the second shot.

The first one I shot was in Vegas and they had two snap caps glued into the cylinder so you could take one shot at a time with a snap cap between
 
condomboy said:
The first one I shot was in Vegas and they had two snap caps glued into the cylinder so you could take one shot at a time with a snap cap between
Click to expand...

That's beautiful; do they rent full autos with the fun switch glued to semi, too?

I understand their concern, but as I said they're probably handing over other guns that would be just as dangerous in un-trained hands. The solution is to do a little training session (‘Hold the trigger all the way back on recoil’).
 
condomboy said:
The first one I shot was in Vegas and they had two snap caps glued into the cylinder so you could take one shot at a time with a snap cap between
Click to expand...

red_bailey said:
That's beautiful; do they rent full autos with the fun switch glued to semi, too?

I understand their concern, but as I said they're probably handing over other guns that would be just as dangerous in un-trained hands. The solution is to do a little training session (‘Hold the trigger all the way back on recoil’).
Click to expand...

After watching this, I can see the reason for the snap caps. I don't let newbies shoot my 460 for this reason.


(E) :cool:
 
I removed a part from the hammer assembly and turned mine into single action only. It was fast and easy to do. No more double fires.
 
Gluing dummies into alternate chambers is certainly one good option. Or until a new owner gets the hang of the gun simply load singles or skip chambers so there's empty or spent casings in between live loads.

As for training at rental ranges there's simply no way to "train" to avoid what happened to that girl in the last video. And really they were darned lucky that when it lifted up and shot the second one pretty much straight up and "into space" that it didn't kick out of her hands or twist and end up shooting sideways towards one of the camera guys.

And in looking at what happened to her perhaps it's as much how the gun swings in the shooter's grip that produces the bump fire. It's certainly not a bump fire in the semi auto sort of way. Still recoil related for sure but not in the same way as a "slide fire" conversion or the usual light hold and bump off the finger simulation of full auto like with semis.

The thing is that with a little more time with the gun and grip scales that fit the shooter's hands well that there's no reason why even that daintly girl would not be able to shoot the big 500 just fine. It simply surprised her and maybe she'd need to work on the grip method and find grips to fit her smaller hands better.

I've actually shot the shorter version of the big 500 and 460 one handed without the gun jumping out of my hands or in any way producing a dangerous situation. But I could imagine having sore hands if I did much of it.
 
BCRider said:
The thing is that with a little more time with the gun and grip scales that fit the shooter's hands well that there's no reason why even that daintly girl would not be able to shoot the big 500 just fine. It simply surprised her and maybe she'd need to work on the grip method and find grips to fit her smaller hands better.
Click to expand...

Training would consist of one cartridge so you could see how it really feels, plus the very clear direction on trigger follow-through. And they should make sure the grips they have installed are sized Medium, not XL. Don't get me wrong; I understand the terrible liabilities hanging over a rental range, especially in the ridiculous tourist city of Las Vegas where people who have just had their first beer and their first taste of all the other licentious freedoms available decide to top it off with their first time firing a gun, and hey why not jump right into the deep end! I just don't like to see a fine machine like this hobbled and possibly scarred.

Gluing in two dummy rounds doesn't solve the problem; in a 5-shot cylinder, there will always be two live rounds sequential. You start on 1, 2 and 4 are dummies, that puts 5 right next to 1. Unless you carefully ensure the cylinder is closed on 5 so that it advances to 1 first (making 1 spent when 5 comes up), there is a recoil bump potential in there somewhere. Then if someone is directly supervising your loading, they might as well be giving you the hands-on direction to avoid this embarrassing premature discharge.
 
red_bailey said:
Training would consist of one cartridge so you could see how it really feels, plus the very clear direction on trigger follow-through. And they should make sure the grips they have installed are sized Medium, not XL. Don't get me wrong; I understand the terrible liabilities hanging over a rental range, especially in the ridiculous tourist city of Las Vegas where people who have just had their first beer and their first taste of all the other licentious freedoms available decide to top it off with their first time firing a gun, and hey why not jump right into the deep end! I just don't like to see a fine machine like this hobbled and possibly scarred.

Gluing in two dummy rounds doesn't solve the problem; in a 5-shot cylinder, there will always be two live rounds sequential. You start on 1, 2 and 4 are dummies, that puts 5 right next to 1. Unless you carefully ensure the cylinder is closed on 5 so that it advances to 1 first (making 1 spent when 5 comes up), there is a recoil bump potential in there somewhere. Then if someone is directly supervising your loading, they might as well be giving you the hands-on direction to avoid this embarrassing premature discharge.
Click to expand...
When I first shot my 460V, I only loaded one round. Didn't want to launch one into space :p ;).
As for the 2 snap cap issue thing you bring up, they probably only load two rounds. One empty cylinder, live round, snap cap, live round, snap cap. Always close the cylinder with the empty one at TDC. You'd have to do something on a planet-killing level of stupid to make that go full auto :slap: :kickInTheNuts: .

(E) :cool:
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom