Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

bawana · Rookie Member Joined: Mar 22, 2010 Posts: 3

you really have to "work" up to the big bores
the s-w 460 doesnt have the recoil you would expect. it is vented and heavy. but try a 454 casull. that gun has nasty recoil you can feel in your hands and is more uncorfortable. shooting big bores can give you a flinch and think would be hard to get rid of.
the s-w 629 8" is a great gun. can take a boar with one shot, 300 gr hornady completely thru rib cage. much less recoil with a crisp smooth trigger.
I think if you wanted to shoot the 460 the smith and wesson 8 inch is great gun with minimal recoil. single shots dont think will add to accuracy that much and teh revolver is really needed when you miss at deer as i have. using a scope and holding with a heavy handgun,you will miss. but what fun!

Grumulkin · Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 6:09 am Post subject: Re: Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

bawana wrote:

you really have to "work" up to the big bores
the s-w 460 doesnt have the recoil you would expect. it is vented and heavy. but try a 454 casull. that gun has nasty recoil you can feel in your hands and is more uncorfortable. shooting big bores can give you a flinch and think would be hard to get rid of.
the s-w 629 8" is a great gun. can take a boar with one shot, 300 gr hornady completely thru rib cage. much less recoil with a crisp smooth trigger.
I think if you wanted to shoot the 460 the smith and wesson 8 inch is great gun with minimal recoil. single shots dont think will add to accuracy that much and teh revolver is really needed when you miss at deer as i have. using a scope and holding with a heavy handgun,you will miss. but what fun!

Actually, I shoot scoped single shot handguns including the 460 S&W Magnum. I also shoot unscoped revolvers in 460 S&W and 454 Casull.

I have the following observations:

1. I would say you will probably NEVER get a revolver, scoped or otherwise, to shoot as accurately as an Encore.

2. Thus far, my take with single shot handguns includes Black Wildebeest, Springbok, Mountain Reedbuck, Zebra, Red Hartebeest, Klipspringer, Duiker, a couple of Cape Grysboks, Steenbok, European Fallow Deer and Impala. Nothing I ever shot with a single shot handgun got away so I don't really look on hunting with a single shot as a real disadvantage. Also, believe it or not, it's possible to reload a single shot in about the same time as it takes the hunters on TV to take the safety off their bolt action rifles.

3. I would consider the recoil in my 460 S&W revolver no worse than the 454 Casull. That's because of a larger and more cushy grip design, the extra weight in the S&W and because of the muzzle brake which the 454 doesn't have.

mattyvac · Rookie Member Joined: Mar 13, 2008 Posts: 11

Grumulkin,

Considering your experience is greater than mine, I would like your opinion on which bullets you prefer for the 460. I load and reload the cartridges (not just the guns' chambers). The .451/.4515/.452 size bullets are plentiful enough, but the ones which can stand the velocity are few. Bullets which can stand the speed AND perform well on big game are even more rare. The two Barnes bullets, 200 and 275 grains, are the two most popular. Any others found to be useful I'd sure like to know about.

Grumulkin · Posted: Wed Mar 24, 2010 2:26 pm Post subject: Re: Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

What I've used with great effectiveness on game up to the size of Zebra (a 750 lb. animal) are Hornady 250 gr. SST/ML (the ML stands for muzzle loader) bullets. These have been very accurate in my Encore.

To load those bullets in a revolver, the COAL has to be much shorter than for the Encore which limits powder capacity (I use 2400) and thus velocity. I've tried Barnes 200 gr. bullets and they were quite a bit less accurate than the Hornady bullets.

mattyvac · Rookie Member Joined: Mar 13, 2008 Posts: 11

Grumulkin,

Thanks for the help. Seems those ML bullets are popular, and effective. Stands to reason. Any preference for powders? I've only heard of loads that used H110 and Little Gun. Got both, but I'm just looking for more info.

Grumulkin · Posted: Thu Mar 25, 2010 2:19 am Post subject: Re: Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

Regarding the bullets, the muzzle loader bullets look suspiciously like the bullets Hornady uses in their factory 460 S&W Magnum loads and in their saboted shotgun loads.

I tried H110/Win. 296 for 460 S&W Magnum loads and it didn't do nearly as well as 2400 in my Encore.

I've never used Lil' Gun. There was a thread on another forum in a Freedom Arms section regarding the use of Lil' Gun in Freedom Arms revolvers. The owner of Freedom Arms posted about Lil' Gun burning so hot that it would rapidly damage revolver barrels. After that read, I'll never use it in anything.

bawana · Rookie Member Joined: Mar 22, 2010 Posts: 3

grumulkin,
do you still feel a need to shoot the 454 casull now that the s-w 460 is available.
what is your opinionof the s-w 500? ever shoot it and if so, accurate?
that info on lil gun powder was quite useful-i wont use it either unless i here better news.

stovepipe · Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 9:04 am Post subject: Re: Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

mattyvac wrote:

. My daughter cherishes her 458 Lott Derringer for carrying around in her purse, especially to those high stakes poker games

Wow!

mattyvac · Rookie Member Joined: Mar 13, 2008 Posts: 11

Dear 'pipe,

Just a joke, in response to super monster caliber handguns. In my opinion, if shooting or hunting gets so boring that you feel the need for a handgun that can shoot a 400 grain bullet 2500fps, you might have done all there is to do in this sport. Either that, or you really hate your hand!

stovepipe · Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 11:08 am Post subject: Re: Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

Holy cow- ya had me going. Big time!

460 Smith is impressive. I'm surpised at the lack of felt recoil in connection with all that blast, they did an excellent job of making it very shootable. The blast-wave is just something else for a 4".
I'd shoot the comped 460 over the .454's I've seen.

If I'm going bigger than a .44m it's 480 Ruger all the way.
Easier to shoot and PLENTY of engery at HG ranges. I was bent when Ruger pulled it as that was the best big bore ever IMHO.

Aw heck, who am I kidding, I want them all!

Grumulkin · Posted: Tue Apr 06, 2010 6:25 pm Post subject: Re: Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

bawana wrote:

grumulkin,
do you still feel a need to shoot the 454 casull now that the s-w 460 is available.
what is your opinionof the s-w 500? ever shoot it and if so, accurate?
that info on lil gun powder was quite useful-i wont use it either unless i here better news.

I like my 454 Casull quite a bit. The FA 83 is such a finely crafted handgun it's a pleasure to shoot. It's also a bit slimmer and lighter than Smith & Wesson's 460 S&W Mag. revolver. Of course, the 460 S&W revolver has a bit better range and is faster on the reload. It's hard to say which one I like better.

I've also shot a 500 S&W revolver and liked it but never bought one; if one came up at the right price with at least a 5 inch barrel, I would probably buy one. In my opinion the ones with a 2 inch barrel are plain ridiculous and the 4 inchers aren't legal for Ohio deer hunting.

I do have a scoped and braked 500 S&W Mag. barrel for my Encore which is good for 1 to 1.5 inch 3 shot groups at 100 yards off the bench. Shooting 400 gr. bullets, the Encore 500 S&W Mag. has more more felt recoil than any other handgun I shoot and that includes a 375 H&H Magnum. It will really clear your sinuses.

mattyvac · Rookie Member Joined: Mar 13, 2008 Posts: 11

[quote="stovepipe"]

Easier to shoot and PLENTY of engery at HG ranges.

Stovepipe,

What do you mean by 'HG'?

Matt

Grumulkin · Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 5:51 am Post subject: Re: Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

HG = Hand Gun

mattyvac · Rookie Member Joined: Mar 13, 2008 Posts: 11

Of course! Duh. I didn't think of that. And that was an easy one. Makes me wonder what other things get by me. Oh well.......

stovepipe · Posted: Wed Apr 07, 2010 10:52 am Post subject: Re: Bullets for 460 S&W Magnum

Been there, did that on the 300 Win Mag Loads thread myself... Laughing