king' s outdoor world - Index

king' s outdoor world - Hunting Illustrated Magazine Dec/Jan 2008 - Coyote Crazy! - Index

and was starting to get the hang of
managing the recoil, so I offered it
to my brother and son to try out. My
brother shot a couple of rounds and
handed it off to my son who shot
one shot and gave it back. While the
gun was fun to shoot, the recoil was
enough to limit how much shooting
you could do with it. I had to fi nd a
load that was mild enough to allow
some serious shooting.
I did a little research and
found a company in Montana,
Montanabulletworks.com, which
offers cast gas-checked bullets for
the .500 at very reasonable prices. I
opted for the 410-grain, gas-checked,
semi-wadcutter and loaded it over
a charge of 10 grains of Unique
powder. When I had a batch of these
loaded up, I headed to the range
again to try them out. For the fi rst
shot, I didn’t know what to expect
so I tucked the rifl e in nice and tight.
My brother was standing behind me
to see where I was hitting and started
laughing again when I shot the fi rst
shot. Assuming that he was laughing
at me again and, as there had been
virtually no recoil at all, I asked him
what was so funny this time. His
reply was that he had watched the
bullet fl y to the target. Every shot
you could see that gas-check shining
like a tracer. It was fun to watch, but
the loads weren’t all that accurate.
So, for the next batch, I upped the
powder charge by 2-grains and tried
those. At 100 yards, I put the fi rst
fi fteen rounds into a four-inch circle.
I had found my “fun” loads! Now,
I can shoot rabbits without putting
When shooting the mighty
.500 S&W be prepared, it
packs a punch
WILD BILL’S BALLISTICS
What is the defi nition of a “hot load?”
Usually, hot loads are reloads that have
been loaded to near maximum (and even
beyond) the recommended amounts
of powder and bullet combinations
for a specifi c cartridge. Different
fi rearms handle loads in different ways. A load that may
be at maximum (hot load) in your fi rearm, may be fi ne in
someone else’s fi rearm. Factory loads are loaded to an
industry standard that has been defi ned as safe for powder
myself in the hospital, but I also have a
gun that will handle any animal on this
continent with ease.
It’s hard to fi nd any published
data for the .500 in a 22-inch barrel like
that one supplied with the Handi Rifl e
but, from my experience, it picks up
about 300 fps over the loads listed for
an eight-inch barrel. That means that a
350-grain bullet loaded up to the listed
maximum could easily exceed 2100 fps!
That translates to almost 3760 pounds of
energy. Your average 30-06 load with
a 180-grain bullet only produces 2700
pounds of energy. The downside to all
that energy is the recoil that goes along
with it. My Handi Rifl e weighs just a
shade over seven pounds with the scope.
That means with that same 350-grain
load there is almost 40-foot pounds of
energy hitting you in the shoulder. That
same 30-06, 180-grain load in a rifl e
of the same weight only produces 21foot
pounds of recoil. Needless to
say, you aren’t going to shoot many
rounds of the hot stuff off the bench in
any one sitting. But, when you load it
up with the mildly loaded cast bullets,
the .500 only produces 10 pounds of
recoil. This gun is so much fun to
shoot, your cheeks hurt at the end of
the day from the perpetual grin - not
to mention the fun of sneaking a full
power load in on good old laughing
boy when he’s shooting the mild
ones. (HA! Who’s laughing NOW?)
If you’re looking for a
gun that will handle everything
from rabbits to elk to grizzly bears,
consider giving the .500 S&W Handi
Rifl e a try. You won’t be disappointed
with it.
bullet combinations for
that caliber. This standard
pressure range should always be safe in fi rearms of good
quality and of modern manufacture. When reloading,
always start at approximately 10% below what is listed as
maximum and work up in small increments. As you work
up, look for signs of pressure as explained in your reloading
manual. Your fi rearm may show signs of excessive
pressure when you are still a few grains below maximum.
This is the time to stop as you have reached the hot load
of your fi rearm with the powder/bullet combination you
are testing.
5GUNS/OPTICS5 December/January 27