.500 S&W defense ammo

[envonge]

Hello,

I currently conceal carry an S&W .460 4" and just recently bought a S&W .500 4" and would like to rotate carrying each.

I am not very firmillar with defensive .500 S&W magnum loads and would like to know which would be recommended by the members here.

I was thinking something like the below:
http://www.midwayusa.com/mediasvr.dl...eitemid=427559
http://www.midwayusa.com/mediasvr.dl...eitemid=361538

Thanks

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Miggy]

Dude, I think only blanks for S&W .500 should have enough power to knock somebody down for good and not fearing overpenetration.

IMHO, short of you living in the wilderness and having to deal with exotic, thick-skinned wildlife, you should rethink your carry options.

[Schwebel]

I also think you might be "asking" for trouble with a weapon of that magnatude. If you ever were involved in a shooting, I'm sure the headine would be something like "Man with elephant gun decapitates burgler with one shot". Then every liberal nutbar would want to ban the gun, and may cause you more legal trouble than it's worth. I think you should be able to carry what ever caliber you wish, heck if I could find a way to CC a 12 gauge it would be my EDC, but just a little food for thought.

[dustoff451]

Howdy- I respect your right to carry but... I have to jump on the band wagon here.
CorBon makes a load called the S&W 500 Special.
It's made in 2 different loadings. One is a 350 gr. JHP moving out at 1350 fps/1417 ft.lbs. and a 350 gr. Full Metal Jacket at 1200 fps/1119 ft.lbs.
TOO MUCH, please contact a lawyer.

[CopperKnight]

If you are really looking for an answer, either one is much more than sufficient when defending against bad guy humans or gators.

I, along with the others, strongly suggest you rethink your carry gun. The risk of overpenetration and having a round go through things it shouldn't is too great.

[PaulG]

IMHO you could fire another couple of well aimed shots with a "lesser" gun in the same time you are trying to wrestle the 500 down out of recoil.

Sometimes more is not better.

[General Geoff]

I'm going to disagree here on principle of weapon of choice here, at least for the 460. He can handily load .45 Colt rounds which stand little chance of overpenetration, and in that gigantic chunk of steel he's lugging around concealed (how, I don't know), it will have just about zero recoil, and thus may actually be a better defense weapon than a featherweight .357 mag wheelgun, which would kick much more and be harder to control for followup shots.

[tvsjr]

500 S&W? For defense against HUMAN threats? You're kidding, right?

You own the bullet once you squeeze the bang switch, wherever it may go and who/whatever it might hit. 500 has a HUGE risk of overpenetration... and what if you miss the first time?

If you're in the woods and concerned about bears, maybe. For human threats, get something more suited.

[P95Carry]

To each his own!

But certainly a ''50 spl'' load would seem total max both for gun handling and, possible legal fallout.

Effective caliber - no doubts there but in reality I somewhat doubt much more than 44 mag or .45LC is really gonna be needed to help the odds in your favor.

[dustoff451]

Websters circa 1966 says-
pis'tol, n; a small firearm made to be held and fired with one hand.

[Derrin33]

Thats a little overkill for me, but to each his own. And really if you shoot someone with a 500 do you need a "self defense round" My uncle has one and we run an electric motor shop. We shoot THROUGH the hulls and they measure up to 7" thick. So....a self defense round?

[Captain Crunch]

Honestly, now, are we really taking this thread seriously? How does a person conceal a revolver of this size without printing? How would a person have to dress in order to hide the fact he was packing one of these big boomers and still blend in with the crowd, considering the Florida climate?

Does anyone even make a concealment holster for the big Smiths? Of course, there's always the "Mexican carry" option.

But the big question is why?

I suppose the answer could be "because I can".

There's overkill and then there's overkill.....

[randytulsa2]

The real answer to the question here, once it has been decided that one wishes to carry that weapon, is "anything". It will all be effective.

That .50 Special sounds like it's a little less insane, fwiw.

[Shadowsbane]

Takes that whole mantra about "carrying the biggest caliber you can fire accuratly" to a whole new level.

Against a gator, the 500 would be perfect. Against a person, the gun itself would probally offer enough stopping power, just club em with it.

However, if you are dead set on carrying such a monster of a weapon, you may want to check and see if Glaser offers any of their safety rounds for it. May help a little against penetration, but probally not all that much.

[chiefs-special-guy]

I have to agree- it is not a good idea at all. if you fired it indoors, i would think permanent deafness would certainly result- the pressure wave would collapse your ear drums. also, wouldn't these guns weigh maybe 50-60 oz unloaded? as to shooting lesser ammo (500 special or 45 colt or... 454.."lesser"...??), if you want to do that, buy a revolver chambered for one of those cartridges. the legal side also looks terribly unfavorable. now, i do not like to criticize another man's choice- we know where that gets us. but i would urge something smaller.
God Bless