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The .500 S&W Magnum
The .500 S&W Magnum is a .50 caliber semi-rimmed revolver cartridge developed by Cor-Bon in partnership with the Smith & Wesson "X-Gun" engineering team for use in the Smith & Wesson Model 500 X-frame revolver and introduced in February 2003 at the SHOT Show. The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum was designed from the outset to be the most powerful production handgun cartridge. It has two primary design purposes: as a hunting handgun cartridge capable of taking all North American game species, and to be the most powerful production handgun cartridge to date.
To put the cartridge’s extreme level of power into perspective; the muzzle energy of a .500 S&W bullet fired from a typical commercial loading of the round is roughly equivalent to that of a 16 pound bowling ball traveling at a speed of over 70 mph. Smith & Wesson had been at the forefront when developing powerful handgun cartridges such as the .357 S&W Magnum and the .44 Remington Magnum. However, since 1960 the company's .44 Remington Magnum, which it had developed in partnership with Remington, was eclipsed by the .454 Casull. Since then, several other more powerful cartridges had been developed by Action Arms, Linebaugh, Ruger, Wildey, and Winchester for repeating handguns.
In 1971 Smith & Wesson had experienced a dramatic surge in orders for their Model 29 revolver in the .44 Magnum cartridge with which S&W production was not able to keep up. Available Model 29 revolvers were being sold for two to three times the suggested retail price, because of the low supply and high demand for the revolver. This surge in demand was due to the 1971 film Dirty Harry, where the Model 29 revolver was billed as the most powerful revolver (The .454 Casull designed in 1955 was not in commercial production until 1997).
With the entry of the .500 S&W Magnum and the Model 500 revolver, Smith & Wesson recaptured the title of the most powerful handgun, and with it an increase in sales. S&W product manager, Herb Belin, proposed the idea of developing the revolver and cartridge to the S&W sales team. With the backing of the sales team, the project was approved by S&W president Bob Scott. The ammunition was developed by Cor-Bon and Peter Pi in partnership with the S&W X-Gun engineering team of Brett Curry lead design engineer, Rich Mikuta, and Tom Oakley. Eleven months later, on 9 January 2003, the team unveiled the S&W Model 500 revolver and the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge. According to Belin, the cartridge was designed from its inception to be substantially more powerful than any other production handgun cartridge before it. Cor-Bon later developed the .500 S&W Special cartridge.
The .500 S&W Magnum is considered the most powerful commercial sporting handgun cartridge by virtue of the muzzle energy it can generate. Cor-Bon (now a Dakota Ammo brand) who together with Smith & Wesson developed the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge, offers several loads which include a 325 gr at 1,800 ft/s, a 400 gr at 1,625 ft/s and a 440 gr at 1,625 ft/s. Compared to the next most powerful commercial sporting handgun cartridge, the .460 S&W Magnum, which can launch a 325 gr at 1,650 ft/s or a 395 gr at 1,525 ft/s. The .500 S&W Magnum comes into its own when used with heavier bullets, particularly those with weights of 500 gr or greater. These bullets are often seated as far out as possible to take advantage of the complete cylinder length, so as to maximize the powder capacity which the case can provide. Several manufacturers currently produce the S&W .500 Magnum cartridge, with some of the top-performing rounds delivering 3,031 ft⋅lbf of energy with a 350-grain bullet traveling at 1,975 feet per second. It is claimed to be the most potent commercially available handgun cartridge on the market and provides power similar to long-established wildcat cartridges such as the .375 JDJ (J. D. Jones) and pistol loadings of the .45-70 Government. Indeed, some rounds use bullets weighing almost 1 oz. (~440 gr.), which are sent at about 1,500 ft/s – essentially the same performance of a 12 gauge shotgun slug.
The .500 S&W Magnum is a .50 caliber semi-rimmed revolver cartridge developed by Cor-Bon in partnership with the Smith & Wesson "X-Gun" engineering team for use in the Smith & Wesson Model 500 X-frame revolver and introduced in February 2003 at the SHOT Show. The .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum was designed from the outset to be the most powerful production handgun cartridge. It has two primary design purposes: as a hunting handgun cartridge capable of taking all North American game species, and to be the most powerful production handgun cartridge to date.
To put the cartridge’s extreme level of power into perspective; the muzzle energy of a .500 S&W bullet fired from a typical commercial loading of the round is roughly equivalent to that of a 16 pound bowling ball traveling at a speed of over 70 mph. Smith & Wesson had been at the forefront when developing powerful handgun cartridges such as the .357 S&W Magnum and the .44 Remington Magnum. However, since 1960 the company's .44 Remington Magnum, which it had developed in partnership with Remington, was eclipsed by the .454 Casull. Since then, several other more powerful cartridges had been developed by Action Arms, Linebaugh, Ruger, Wildey, and Winchester for repeating handguns.
In 1971 Smith & Wesson had experienced a dramatic surge in orders for their Model 29 revolver in the .44 Magnum cartridge with which S&W production was not able to keep up. Available Model 29 revolvers were being sold for two to three times the suggested retail price, because of the low supply and high demand for the revolver. This surge in demand was due to the 1971 film Dirty Harry, where the Model 29 revolver was billed as the most powerful revolver (The .454 Casull designed in 1955 was not in commercial production until 1997).
With the entry of the .500 S&W Magnum and the Model 500 revolver, Smith & Wesson recaptured the title of the most powerful handgun, and with it an increase in sales. S&W product manager, Herb Belin, proposed the idea of developing the revolver and cartridge to the S&W sales team. With the backing of the sales team, the project was approved by S&W president Bob Scott. The ammunition was developed by Cor-Bon and Peter Pi in partnership with the S&W X-Gun engineering team of Brett Curry lead design engineer, Rich Mikuta, and Tom Oakley. Eleven months later, on 9 January 2003, the team unveiled the S&W Model 500 revolver and the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge. According to Belin, the cartridge was designed from its inception to be substantially more powerful than any other production handgun cartridge before it. Cor-Bon later developed the .500 S&W Special cartridge.
The .500 S&W Magnum is considered the most powerful commercial sporting handgun cartridge by virtue of the muzzle energy it can generate. Cor-Bon (now a Dakota Ammo brand) who together with Smith & Wesson developed the .500 S&W Magnum cartridge, offers several loads which include a 325 gr at 1,800 ft/s, a 400 gr at 1,625 ft/s and a 440 gr at 1,625 ft/s. Compared to the next most powerful commercial sporting handgun cartridge, the .460 S&W Magnum, which can launch a 325 gr at 1,650 ft/s or a 395 gr at 1,525 ft/s. The .500 S&W Magnum comes into its own when used with heavier bullets, particularly those with weights of 500 gr or greater. These bullets are often seated as far out as possible to take advantage of the complete cylinder length, so as to maximize the powder capacity which the case can provide. Several manufacturers currently produce the S&W .500 Magnum cartridge, with some of the top-performing rounds delivering 3,031 ft⋅lbf of energy with a 350-grain bullet traveling at 1,975 feet per second. It is claimed to be the most potent commercially available handgun cartridge on the market and provides power similar to long-established wildcat cartridges such as the .375 JDJ (J. D. Jones) and pistol loadings of the .45-70 Government. Indeed, some rounds use bullets weighing almost 1 oz. (~440 gr.), which are sent at about 1,500 ft/s – essentially the same performance of a 12 gauge shotgun slug.
