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500 S&W
pwillie
Member Posts: 20,253 ✭✭✭
....what bullet, and what grip to use..it came with a rubber grip, would a Hogue be better?
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Unless your a big game hunter handgun hunter? Can't see the point of the 500, at all? At least you can use 45 LC, as a light reasonably inexpensive plinking load from the 460.
As far as your questions are concerned? I would just get rid of it. It's neither practical, or a pleasant gun to shoot. My 2 cents.
As for bullet I'm not in to self S&M. Not in to hurting myself. Outside world does enough of that to me.
Just to emphasize (caliber; recoil; etc.) what some have already stated, here is someone that I know, shooting a borrowed Smith & Wesson revolver, chambered in .460:
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....what bullet, and what grip to use..it came with a rubber grip, would a Hogue be better?
Begging the question, which bullet you use depends on what exactly you're shooting at. If its paper, I don't think it matters. Heavier the bullet, the higher the recoil.
If you're shooting at a living thing, you'll want to match the bullet type to game animal. Are you shooting deer, elk, moose, bear? In GENERAL, the bigger the thing you're shooting at, the larger the bullet you'll want.
On grip, the Smith X-frame guns come standard with Hogue overmolded rubber grips, so its pretty likely your gun ALREADY has Hogue grips on there.
I happen to like those grips (at least on K frame revolvers), and if it were me, I probably wouldn't change them.
But grip choice is entirely subjective. My hands aren't your hands. If you have smaller or larger hands, or if you prefer wood grips, etc, or if the recoil smacks your hands, and you think a different grip would be better, that's up to you to decide. Shoot the gun first. . .then decide if the grip is causing you problems.
For what its worth, the "X" frame guns use the same grips as the Smith K/L, so there are TONS of choices out there. For a gun like this, I'd say make sure the grips DO NOT have checkering or any rough surface, because they'll grind your hands under recoil. You want soft, or at least smooth.
Echoing what Rufe said, these big bore revolvers are high recoil making them unpleasant to shoot. The ammo is expensive; typically $2-3 PER ROUND. Most people don't talk about this, but volume of these guns is also SUPER high. . .one shot without ear protection will cause permanent hearing loss. I think volume of these is high enough that even WITH hearing protection you're at borderline damage levels. . .you'll want plugs AND muffs, if you can.
IMO, they're really only good for four things:
a. Handgun hunting LARGE things (eg elk).
b. Defense against bears (and they're questionable for that).
c. Novelty value at range.
d. Taking up space in your gun safe.
There might be other niche applications (eg shooting through armor, etc), but none are realistic or practical for the average shooter.
Most people who buy these end up shooting them a few times, MAYBE bringing them out once in a while for friends to shoot ("c", above), and never using them again.
Edit, responding to below:
quote:I just bought a BFG, IN 500,,BECAUSE, ?
You don't know why? My guess is c.
And to be clear, I've got zero problem with people buying ridiculous guns "just because" the guns strike their fancy or for any other reason. If you've got the money, space, and inclination, why not? There are much worse ways to spend your money, and particularly if you buy a USED one of these at a reasonable price, you probably won't lose money later should you decide to sell it.
I'll just say for *myself*, already owning a bunch of guns I like but don't shoot enough, and a couple I don't really like or want to shoot, I try hard not to get more of the latter. I know with 100% certainty, if *I* bought an SW500, it would just sit in the safe unshot, indefinitely. Gun weighs literally as much as a brick.. .its not for me.