Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns S&W 500

You're right. A very sharp crack. Being partially deaf, I forget those things sometimes.

Lil Gun burns very hot. Much hotter than most powders from what I have read. It is particularly harmful with lighter bullets as they can be loaded with more powder, of course, and most want the velocity. I quit using it for my X-frames and Beowulf. Personally, I've found good accuracy and velocity with N110 for the x -frames and 1680 for the Beowulf. I suppose it might be an option if a person did not do a lot of shooting, but I have my guns to shoot, and didn't want to take the chance of damaging them, if I could avoid it.

I actually have seen some erosion on a 629, which has had a thou or two rounds of 296 & Lil'gun run through it - most high velocity light bullets.

Lil'Gun has given me excellent accuracy in a couple of guns, but I think going forward I'm gonna look at Ramshot Enforcer, first in the .480 Ruger, then maybe in other things.

Here's a comment from Bob Baker. I believe he owns Freedom Arms.

http://www.go2gbo.com/forums/index.php?topic=180437.0


We have seen numerous barrels damaged by using Lil Gun. According to customers, some had as few as 30 rounds using Lil Gun through them, some had several hundred. Before we figured out what was happening one customer had sent his gun in for a new barrel. Then 600 rounds later it came back for another new barrel.

A couple years ago we did a test with a M83, .357 Mag. using Hornady 180 gr. bullets. We loaded 50 rds. of three different loads. One was a heavy H-110 load and the other two both used Lil Gun in different quantities.

We fired the H-110 loads first, then cut off the threaded end of the barrel. Rethreaded the barrel and shot one of the Lil Gun loads then rethreaded the barrel and shot the last Lil Gun load.

We found even the light load of Lil Gun caused the gun to get extremely hot. The heavy Lil Gun load had the gun so hot the only place we could touch the gun was on the grips and they were very hot.

Under magnification the surface appeared to have heated to a point of flowing using the Lil Gun loads and the heavy load was worse than the light load. This is probably due to Lil Gun having about 10% more nitro glycerin in it than H-110.

um maybe we should be thinking of H-110 or 1680 or #9

I was thinking about Lil Gun and I am glad this post came up.

I will stick with H110 I love that powder

is h-110 just close to 296 or is it the same now with hodgon and win. being one in the same powder company now ?

I believe they are the same.

N110 isn't bad, either.
Here's a couple decent 5 shot groups at 50 yards. The 275 Barnes load might be a good one if I hadn't messed it up.

great info guys thanks to all and keep it coming!!

The 500 S&W package is an abomination to me. I'll stick with my portable 500 Linebaugh or, perhaps, opt for a 500 JRH and have all I would ever need on my hip or hanging off my shoulder.

There's also the .500 Wyoming Express which Freedom Arms sells in the model 83. Even they admit, however, that recoil is severe, even with subsonic loads

As big and goofy as my S&W 500 is, it is relatively easy to shoot with the 440's at 1385.

Were I to pack a revolver for SD in the hunting field it would be my FA 454C, 335 Cast Performance slugs at 1565 would get it done in a lot more practical package.

Gunner

Gunner,

A bit off cue, but have you seen the .500 S&W lever gun?

http://bighornarmory.com/products/carbine.php

DF

Not till now, that's sweet, would have to have one with a 24" octagon barrel, and a Lyman receiver peep.

Gunner

The factory peep is on the bolt. Looks pretty neat and is more streamline than conventional receiver sights.

DF

The .500 Smith and the BFR in 45-70 are a hoot to shoot.I run the same loads in my BFR as I do in my Guide gun making reloading alot easier....525 grain cast at 1300 fps and 425 grain at 1565 fps,both under 35K..I ran a Garret 420 through my BFR and it clocked the same,1565 fps.

7.5" barrel.....

Jayco

Some brass was made for the LP mag primer and it worked fine. Then brass is made for a LR primer and a LR mag primer IS NOT NEEDED.
I don't know where the idea came from that it needs a LR magnum primer.

I bought a 500 S&W barrel for my T/C Encore a while back. I was trying to save a friend some $ over factory ammo. Decided that it would be prudent to test the stuff before I gave them to him.
He likes heavy bullets. The cases were loaded with Li'l Gun and some of Rick Gibson's 600 grain WFNGCs.
It was the most unpleasant gun that I have ever fired. It hurt from shot #1.
Pete

A 50 Beowulf in an AR essentially duplicates the 500 S&W performance in an autoloader, so the gas system in the AR makes it very shootable. I'm sure it's also a bit heavier than the TC.

Oh hell BFR, I had to pull near 300 rounds of ammo cause the damn winchester large rifle primer faces had become brittle and would shatter on pin strike, rockchucker got peppered in the face at last years boar hunt.

And, some of the primer material blew back in the firing pin hole causing the firing pin to remain [out] and ceasing up the revolver, the load was of medium power levels with 35 grs W-W 296 with the 440 gr CP WFNGC bullets at an easy 1385 fps.

After I pulled those dirty bastards and re-done everything with CCI-250 mag primers, all is good, that was a major fookin' PITA to fix.

Gunner