s&w 460 or 500
12-25-2008, 10:55 PM
#11
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Coralville, IA. USA
Posts: 3,802
RE: s&w 460 or 500
ORIGINAL: renegadelizard
no, what im saying is if you are going to buy the 460, versatility is not as it appears...if you fire 454 or 45lc loads out of a 460, you are going to get a leading problem in your chamber...this will make cleaning difficult and if you fire too many of those 454's or 45lc's, then you wont be able to chamber a 460 in it without some hardcore knuckle busting cleaning...to me, it made much more sense monetarily to buy a 454 and the reloading componets, develope a load the my raging bull liked, and stick with it. as far as range and caliber performance, the 454 seemed the better option for me..i can load anything from 185 grain bullets at over 2000 fps to 390 grain bullets at 1300 fps....effective range is as good the load you pick, ie, a 185 gr at 2000fps is a bell ringer at 200 yards all day, and longer ranges are a distinct possibility...my current pet load is a 300gr xtp leaving the barrel at 1700fps...with an estimated 8 inch diameter kill zone on a whitetail, my maximum point plank range is 173 yrds...pretty dang good for a pistol, and that 300 grain slug is still moving at 1173 fps and still pushing 916 foot pounds at that range...plenty good enough for deer, and at 100 yards its pushing 1200 fpe..plenty enough punch for elk....i know the 460 is just as capable, but i simply wouldnt go that route unless the 460 was what i wanted to shoot...and 460 is gonna cost more to shoot and reload cause its new and shiny....
no, what im saying is if you are going to buy the 460, versatility is not as it appears...if you fire 454 or 45lc loads out of a 460, you are going to get a leading problem in your chamber...this will make cleaning difficult and if you fire too many of those 454's or 45lc's, then you wont be able to chamber a 460 in it without some hardcore knuckle busting cleaning...to me, it made much more sense monetarily to buy a 454 and the reloading componets, develope a load the my raging bull liked, and stick with it. as far as range and caliber performance, the 454 seemed the better option for me..i can load anything from 185 grain bullets at over 2000 fps to 390 grain bullets at 1300 fps....effective range is as good the load you pick, ie, a 185 gr at 2000fps is a bell ringer at 200 yards all day, and longer ranges are a distinct possibility...my current pet load is a 300gr xtp leaving the barrel at 1700fps...with an estimated 8 inch diameter kill zone on a whitetail, my maximum point plank range is 173 yrds...pretty dang good for a pistol, and that 300 grain slug is still moving at 1173 fps and still pushing 916 foot pounds at that range...plenty good enough for deer, and at 100 yards its pushing 1200 fpe..plenty enough punch for elk....i know the 460 is just as capable, but i simply wouldnt go that route unless the 460 was what i wanted to shoot...and 460 is gonna cost more to shoot and reload cause its new and shiny....
Secondly, if you do shoot cast lead .45 Colt loads, the factory loaded stuff is loaded well below the point where leading is a problem, and if you handload your own, don't load hot .45 Colt or .454 Casull loads with cast bullets and use a hard lead alloy (no pure lead bullets). I just opted to always load jacketed bullets.
So to answer your question, I'd go with the .460 S&W because it is more versatile and much less expensive to shoot if you don't handload. Both the .460 and the .454 are powerful cartridges for a handgun, and it doesn't take long before the cumulative effects of recoil makes the gun unpleasant to shoot. Having the option of shooting .45 Colt makes the gun a fun and pleasant plinker, and is a great way to practice a lot of shooting without discomfort. Additionally, if you handload there is plenty of load data available for the more stoutly built handguns like the Ruger SRH and S&W Model 460 that will duplicate the ballistics of the .44 Magnum in .45 Colt cases if you want to go that route. Lots of options and flexibility.
Mike
12-26-2008, 07:37 AM
#12
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: central Ky
Posts: 2,867
RE: s&w 460 or 500
I'll stick with my .44 magnums and my .454 Casulls. IF I didn't already have the magnums I have, I would look at the .460 S&W. After looking at it, and I have shot several examples of each, I would likely decide to go with the .454. There's reasons that drew me to the .454 Casull in the 1st place, and these reasons are still valid. Sure, it rocks to know you would be able to shoot an deer/elk/etc at 200 yards with an REVOLVER, but in actual practice these advantages pale. To ME it just makes sense to stick with the .454, as in actual use both the .500 and the .460 are not near as versaitle as they (S&W) would lead you to believe. Before you get a rope out bigcountry-let me explain
For a LOT of different styles of hunting with handgun, the ONLY 1s that make sense when using .460 is using solid rest ONLY. As bigcountry already said, it's just too damn heavy of a handgun to use offhand, or with a hasty field rest. That alone precludes still hunting, much of spot & stalk, and even some stand hunting when solid rest isn't available. Not only are these revolvers too heavy, without solid steady rest the whole concept of being long range capable just went completely down the drain. I don't care WHO YOU ARE, you're NOT going to be able to RELIABLY shoot deer/game offhand at 200 yards with revolver-it's very difficult with rifle, let alone handgun. So now we see that for most usual hunting, the added range of the .460 is unusable EXCEPT when very steady rested.
Now we come to price of firearm and price of ammo. The .460/.500 costs about twice as an .454. In regards to ammo cost, it's actually going to be very reasonable when reloading the .460 but the bullets alone for the .500 are going to run more than all the componets for .460. Since you only have an .357, I'm going to assume you're not going to load for your new magnum, at least not to start with. Go price .460 and .500 ammo. It's higher than a cat's butt in 1st snow of the year-especially now. In final conclusion, is the huge S&W magnums useful-hell yeah but really only to experienced handgun hunters, and only then when shot off rest. The bottom line is they're really too much of a good thing. SURE I LOVE to shoot them,but I usually shoot them like an liberal politicion-meaning somebody else's guns & ammo and at their cost. Both the .44 magnum and the .454 Casull are in MY twisted mind, actually MORE versaitle than the big S&Ws because they are more shooter friendly in an wider range of handgun hunting styles. The S&W magnums are unmatched in revolvers, and great for what they're designed fo, but only advanced handgun hunters will be able to use them to their utmost maximum potentional. THAT'S why I say I'm happy with my .44 mags and .454s. In your case of just breaking into handgun hunting, I feel you'll be better served with the .44s and .454s. They will still kill anything you want at reasonable revolver ranges while being much easier to shoot. Now let somebody give me 1 of these big boys (HINT HINT) and I MAY change my tune.
For a LOT of different styles of hunting with handgun, the ONLY 1s that make sense when using .460 is using solid rest ONLY. As bigcountry already said, it's just too damn heavy of a handgun to use offhand, or with a hasty field rest. That alone precludes still hunting, much of spot & stalk, and even some stand hunting when solid rest isn't available. Not only are these revolvers too heavy, without solid steady rest the whole concept of being long range capable just went completely down the drain. I don't care WHO YOU ARE, you're NOT going to be able to RELIABLY shoot deer/game offhand at 200 yards with revolver-it's very difficult with rifle, let alone handgun. So now we see that for most usual hunting, the added range of the .460 is unusable EXCEPT when very steady rested.Now we come to price of firearm and price of ammo. The .460/.500 costs about twice as an .454. In regards to ammo cost, it's actually going to be very reasonable when reloading the .460 but the bullets alone for the .500 are going to run more than all the componets for .460. Since you only have an .357, I'm going to assume you're not going to load for your new magnum, at least not to start with. Go price .460 and .500 ammo. It's higher than a cat's butt in 1st snow of the year-especially now. In final conclusion, is the huge S&W magnums useful-hell yeah but really only to experienced handgun hunters, and only then when shot off rest. The bottom line is they're really too much of a good thing. SURE I LOVE to shoot them,but I usually shoot them like an liberal politicion-meaning somebody else's guns & ammo and at their cost. Both the .44 magnum and the .454 Casull are in MY twisted mind, actually MORE versaitle than the big S&Ws because they are more shooter friendly in an wider range of handgun hunting styles. The S&W magnums are unmatched in revolvers, and great for what they're designed fo, but only advanced handgun hunters will be able to use them to their utmost maximum potentional. THAT'S why I say I'm happy with my .44 mags and .454s. In your case of just breaking into handgun hunting, I feel you'll be better served with the .44s and .454s. They will still kill anything you want at reasonable revolver ranges while being much easier to shoot. Now let somebody give me 1 of these big boys (HINT HINT) and I MAY change my tune
.
08-08-2009, 01:11 PM
#13
Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 4
I don't hunt but I luv shootin big revolvers for fun and the awe factor. One shot with the 2" 460ES was all it took for me. Found my best price on Gun Broker and 'bought it now'. Went with the 5" barrel. Reloading this round is a snap, get a set of Lee dies for $28 and your good to go. The factory Hornady 200 gr FTX 460 S&W MAG @ 2200 fps runs about $1.50 per round. The accuracy of this gun is superb! The lead alloy bullets produced by Oregon Trails and others hardly lead up the barrel at all, even up to 1800 fps.
08-09-2009, 08:58 PM
#14
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location:
Posts: 781
Id go 460 versatility, power for long range if you need it,fun! 
If I already had a 454 then maybe not, but in buying the 460 you get a 454 and a 45. The 3 for 1 deals just makes more sense to me. If youre shooting long range you should have shooting sticks on hand so steadiness is a non-issue. I have s hot the xvr with the barrel comp and I had no problems at 25-50 yds without a rest and I had shot 44s that kicked harder than th is one. The barrel leading mentioned is a non-issue also so pay no mind to that.
If I already had a 454 then maybe not, but in buying the 460 you get a 454 and a 45. The 3 for 1 deals just makes more sense to me. If youre shooting long range you should have shooting sticks on hand so steadiness is a non-issue. I have s hot the xvr with the barrel comp and I had no problems at 25-50 yds without a rest and I had shot 44s that kicked harder than th is one. The barrel leading mentioned is a non-issue also so pay no mind to that.
08-15-2009, 12:33 PM
#15
Junior Member
Join Date: Oct 2007
Posts: 12
I own a 460, and i shot a 500 before i bought it--- that and the ammo delima made my mind right up! I scoped mine using Warne mounts with a Leupold Vari V 3, and got a scoped holster off the S&W website (made by desantis). I pleasure to shoot 45 Colts in it, and even with 460'S in the pipe, its still not nearly as hard to handle as the 500, but for a hunting gun, still ballistically superior at the same time. I love my dearly!
