A few years ago at a local gun show in Duncan, my longtime shooting buddy called me over to checkout his newest acquisition, an 8 3/8" S&W 500. He asked me what I thought and I told him it was the biggest 'chunk' of stainless steel I'd handled since I retired from the pulp mill
.
I wasn't really interested in one in the least but I got an invite to try it out the next day.
Never wanting to turn down an offer to burn someone elses powder, I agreed.
The loads were another friends handloads, 440gr. cast @ about 1000 f/sec. He pinned up a target on the end of a block of wood @ about 25yds and told my to squeeze off five slow ones off of a rest. When he brought the target back he said I'm keeping this. There was one ragged 1 1/4" hole
. I was hooked.
About six months later I picked one up in Victoria. One of the few handguns I've had that shoots well with virtually anything I've put through it. Cast, jacketed, heavy or light loads, all do well.
I did find, that even with the rubber Hogue grips it came with, recoil with hot loads and especially using heavy bullets can be brutal. It has the ability to inflict pain, at both ends. The custom grips have helped tame that somewhat.
There are a number of articles around, some I have
but one that may be of interest to you in line with your plans is
To Africa With A .500 S&W by Mark Hampton. My hope is to one day go after Moose in Alaska with the 500 and I made inquiries through a few sources there. It's #1 on my list of things to do and a little pricey for my taste/disposable income, so,
first I need a little luck on Loto 649.
Forgot, my 4" S&W 29 is my favorite handgun but if I was planning on using a handgun in Africa, the 500 would be my 1st choice. As far as I've been lead to believe, the 500 has about twice the power of the 44 Mag.
