Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Whitetail and Handgun Hunting

Hey all, picked up a 500 S&W and want to take a whitetail with it this fall. Narrowed it down to 2 bullet options, Buffalo bore 375gr XPB and the Underwood Xtreme Penetrator in 420gr. Anyone have any experience with either in deer or other large game? Thanks!

I'd pick the one that's closest to 45 ACP +P ballistics. You can kill a whitetail with a 38 Special.


Okie John

I'd think that 375 grain bullet would be plenty. But then again you put a half inch hole in the right place on any deer he's done for. I've got a 500 S&W rifle but haven't shot it yet. 44 mag is about my limit on handguns

i have a Ruger SBH (4 5/8" barrel) in 44 mag. i load a 255gr Keith-type bullet with a Skeeter load of Unique in 44 Special and that kills deer.

i have a TC Encore with a 23" MGM barrel in 500 Linebaugh. i use 450gr WFN (.512") and HS-6 that goes 1235fps and that will a deer. i use the 500L because of the vast pressure levels. the 500L goes 30,000-35,000psi while the 500S&W goes 50,000 - 60,000psi. that is a heck of lotta recoil for me to choose the 500S&W. the differences between the bullet are .500" (500S&W) and .510" (500L and 50 BMG). brass is available thru Starline, while "factory" cartridges are available through Buffalo Bore. i bought 250 cases and i reloaded 100 cases six or seven times. i have 150 cases in my drawer, waiting for the 100 cases to split or for me go to Valhalla. i'm betting on going to Valhalla before the cases split.





https://www.johnlinebaughcustomsixguns.com/500caliber
https://www.bighornarmory.com/product/500-linebaugh/
https://www.starlinebrass.com/500-linebaugh-brass

I think anything you choose in that hand cannon will be plenty. I've killed a couple of deer and numerous hogs with a 143gr round ball on top of 37gr of Triple 7.

357 mag from a S&W 66-1 six inch

I got a 500s&w 6.5" barrel . Try underwood 700grain

I ran into a guy shooting at a dirt pit that was shooting a Super blackhawk.
You would think I was lying if I said what his groups were at 100 yards with iron sights. He could shoot. He said that was all he had hunted with for a long time and killed his deer with 44/Specials he handloaded.
500 with anything will be plenty.

Grizzly also has .500 Linebaugh loaded ammo

i knew that some company had a load for the 500L. i haven't bought factory for about 30 years.

I bought some at a great price when I bought the gun. It shoots very well. It is a 435 gr WFN. When I spoke to John he said I would get the best accuracy with LFN bullets. Bought a bunch of brass, dies and a mould.

I shoot mostly 350 grain XTP’s in my .500 over Lil Gun. If there were ever a case of “It doesn’t matter what bullet you use,” it the .500 S&W and whitetail deer.

I have used a 41 Rem magnum in both a T/C Contender and a Ruger SRH with 210 XTP and 210 Nosler HP’s and never had any issues. I believe anything that steps in front of a 500 S&W with a 275 grain bullet is in trouble. 😁

I find the fact the you use lil gun powder in your 500s&w to be quite humorous.

Funny…never saw the irony in it before. It was originally developed, I believe, for the .410 shotgun and/or .22 Hornet, thus the name. Sure works well in not-so-little revolvers though. Of course, everything is relative. Even the big revolvers are relatively little guns.

LOL...that wasn’t lost on me when I was loading a Speer 325 uni cor jhp with 42 grains of it under the bullet. That load would kill dinosaurs. I use a Moyer’s 350 grain LSWC over 16 grains of Titegroup. Wonderfully accurate, pleasurable to shoot, and flatten deer quite nicely.

I bought a 357mag Ruger GP100- 6" with the intention of short range deer hunting in timber areas. 158 gr critical defense JHP are part of that plan.

I've shot them with 38 Spcl up to .454 Casull. My .41 Mag with 210gr XTP handloads is my favorite for Pa Whitetails. My 10mm XD was my go to in NY. The .38 Spcl was definitely a "stunt shooting" hunt as it was a S&W 637 1 7/8" barrel. Waited for a perfect shot opportunity at about 17 yards. Won the bet with my buddies that I couldn't get a deer with it

If you can kill a Whitetail with a stick, string and a razor blade, you can certainly knock ‘em down with a revolver. I started with a 41 Magnum & by a quirk of fate moved over to the 45 Colt. I have three Ruger Hunter’s, a 454 FA, a Magnum Research 475/480 & two 460 S&W Performance Center revolvers.

My favorite Whitetail gun is my 45 Colt’s. It is just so practical, simple & reliable. I load 250 XTP’S for sausage animals. Anything larger requiring more horsepower I certainly have covered.

I killed a couple with an old Security Six 6". 158 gr. JHP handloads work good.

Should be like taking out a hunting cabin with Fat Man..

Today, I was hitting 6” targets with fairly rapid shots at 50 yds with 44 Special, 250 HC at 975 fps from my S&W 329 44 mag. It’s enough.

Is this a real post? Extreme penetrators out of a 500SW mag for deer? It's a deer, not a Cape buffalo. Both rounds are inappropriate IMO. You need some tamed down lead soft point or hollow point, not a +P solid.

Is there any reason to load anything other than cast bullets in the 500 SW? Other than bullet availability and marketing? What would a man hunt with a 500SW that he couldn’t use cast bullets for?

in the mid to late 70s I killed a lot of deer & hogs some squir. a few gators with a well used mod. 10 S&W with a 4in. tube with store bought hand loads from a gun shop with 148 gr. wad cutters . no need for big bores down here

I think the last deer I killed with a revolver was from a 5.5” single six in 32H&R mag using 100gr Speer hp’s. Deer dropped where it stood. 500 mag sounds like waaaay too much of a good thing to me…. But heck I get it. We all like to tinker with our toys. Good luck on your quest.

Yep , it is fun , dropped em with T/C 14” 357 max and 10” 357 mag .
Got a 629 a few years ago and need to get blood on it soon
Have shot the 500 , saw the same problem with it I had with the T/C , too bulky .
Accurate as all get out though . My next quest will be a 4” 44 speacial for carry .
Kenneth

Why not a 45 Colt?

Great question. No WT's yet with a handgun for me, but if I was so inclined, I'd use this three screw Ruger SBH, line bored to .45 Colt by Jim Shroh, with Shilen barrel, long steel ejector. Jim made the front sight, I did the trigger job, used a piece of a
nail inside the trigger spring, fitted as a trigger stop. Works great, although fitting did take some trial and error. I fitted the stag grips, installed the Ruger Medallions.

I like the 270 gr. Penn bullets Thunderhead over a max dose of 4227. Big flat meplat makes a statement. Not a long range rig, but should be pretty neat in a tree stand. I'd feel pretty confident up to 50 yds or so. maybe a bit more in a pinch.

Cross draw Mernickle flap holster/belt combo completes the set up.

DF

You certainly got it working. Nice rig.

Thanks Reloder.

It does work. I don't really want a more powerful handgun for what I do; that one packs a wallop.

Another option is my Glock G40 10mm with KKM barrel which shoots cast bullets. The RMR sight is co witnessed by Trijicon high profile irons designed for suppressors.

I had Sinner's Mass in San Antonio work on the grip, removing the finger groves, doing their magic.

My gunsmith bud is a Glock trained armorer and I got him to do a trigger job. I tried an aftermarket trigger, sent it back. His work was better.

DF

When I was in search of a handgun my original choice was either a 44 mag or 45 colt in a 5” Ruger RedHawk
But a really nice 629 with a 5” barrel came along and price was right .
I initially carried it in a x draw rig and shot cast bullets in it .
But time rolled by and I decided to put some glass on it and went with across the chest rig and began experimenting with cast , Barnes , Hornady, and Speer 200 gr hollow points .
Shot some nice 1”-1.5” fifty yd groups with all of them setting on 296 .
Then came across some hand loads at a gun show , don’t remember the bullet manufacturer off the top of my head , but they were 200 gr hp’s
Bought a hundred bag took them home , they set on a shelf for a couple yrs and finally got around to slinging some down range .
First couple was at 25 yds and first three were in a slightly oblong hole , very slightly .
I smile and figure it’s a blind dog finding a bone thing and squeezed off three more , same thing .
Now they got my attention.
Moved back to fifty yds and fired three that was in a nice tight clover leaf , dam ! I’m thinking .
Three more , two strongly over lapped with a third holding a sliver of paper between it and original two , made scope adjustments D/C and have yet to get the opurtunity to put it in meat . They recoiled heavy enough that I have no doubts the velocity is adequate. But hopefully this year I’ll get it in meat
Searched the gun shows again as I would occasionally run into him and bought another 100 pack and put the word out at each opurtunity about the fellow , man makes a good product needs recognition.
They were labeled Deer Slayers or Deer Killers , don’t remember off the top of my head , but didn’t see no reason to monkey with anymore handloads .
The 44 speacial has caught my attention because a 38 used to be my carry gun and I just figured a 44 speacial would be a step in the right direction.
Not sure it will ever replace my G30 though , that little puppy is bad to the bone .
Kenneth