If you want to shoot the big cartridges like the .460 and .500, forget about the Smiths and buy a Magnum Research BFR. They are about the same price, more accurate, finish and polish are much superior,and have much less felt recoil because of the weight differential. In the last couple of years I have owned three S&Ws, the 5'' .500, the 6 1/2'' .460, and the PERFORMANCE CENTRE 14'' .460 XVR.
I will relate my experience with the .460 PC 14'' XVR on my first trip to the range. I was using my reloads consisting of a 300 gr. linotype bullet over a moderate charge of powder. Around the 30th shot the barrel unscrewed, man, you ain't seen anything until you've seen your barrel go downrange and the associated fireworks coming out the sides of the muzzle brake. Hmm,bullet must have gone down the barrel straight and the barrel rotated instead. Eventually found all the pieces and everything appeared undamaged. Upon closer examination of the barrel, it appeared that when the crown was cut, the metal chips dropped into the barrel around the pilot and about 3/4'' of the rifling was badly scored under the muzzle brake. After 46 e-mails and 14 months later, S&W replaced my revolver with a BRAND NEW PERFORMANCE CENTRE 14''.460. under warranty. Back to the range, about the 40th shot the same thing happened with the barrel and muzzle break heading down range, this time the barrel did not get as far as the first one and was much easier to find in the grass.So much for quality control in the custom shop. Upon close examination, the crown on this one appeared undamaged at the factory. I gathered up all the pieces and headed to my gunsmith. We set the cylinder gap, loke-tited the barrel, loke-tited the lock ring in place, aligned the muzzle brake and like-tited it into place. One last step, drilled the barrel and frame and pinned the assembly together, a step that S&W stopped doing around 1982 in order to save 5 cents in manufacturing costs. Now I can shoot this revolver any day of the week rather just on Sundays after attending Church Services.
The other .460 and .500 Smiths have been sent down the road, but they are another couple of bedtime stories of their own. Save your money and your body parts, buy a BFR and really enjoy shooting these big calibers. You don't have to wear a hard hat to enjoy these big boys, reload rather than paying $5.00 a round for factory ammo and enjoy these guns at a level of recoil you can handle. If you can't handle a .44 mag, stay away from these big boys.
I will relate my experience with the .460 PC 14'' XVR on my first trip to the range. I was using my reloads consisting of a 300 gr. linotype bullet over a moderate charge of powder. Around the 30th shot the barrel unscrewed, man, you ain't seen anything until you've seen your barrel go downrange and the associated fireworks coming out the sides of the muzzle brake. Hmm,bullet must have gone down the barrel straight and the barrel rotated instead. Eventually found all the pieces and everything appeared undamaged. Upon closer examination of the barrel, it appeared that when the crown was cut, the metal chips dropped into the barrel around the pilot and about 3/4'' of the rifling was badly scored under the muzzle brake. After 46 e-mails and 14 months later, S&W replaced my revolver with a BRAND NEW PERFORMANCE CENTRE 14''.460. under warranty. Back to the range, about the 40th shot the same thing happened with the barrel and muzzle break heading down range, this time the barrel did not get as far as the first one and was much easier to find in the grass.So much for quality control in the custom shop. Upon close examination, the crown on this one appeared undamaged at the factory. I gathered up all the pieces and headed to my gunsmith. We set the cylinder gap, loke-tited the barrel, loke-tited the lock ring in place, aligned the muzzle brake and like-tited it into place. One last step, drilled the barrel and frame and pinned the assembly together, a step that S&W stopped doing around 1982 in order to save 5 cents in manufacturing costs. Now I can shoot this revolver any day of the week rather just on Sundays after attending Church Services.
The other .460 and .500 Smiths have been sent down the road, but they are another couple of bedtime stories of their own. Save your money and your body parts, buy a BFR and really enjoy shooting these big calibers. You don't have to wear a hard hat to enjoy these big boys, reload rather than paying $5.00 a round for factory ammo and enjoy these guns at a level of recoil you can handle. If you can't handle a .44 mag, stay away from these big boys.
