*&^%$# 500 S&W

[Cuda440]

So, my dad bough a 4" 500, and I bought a 5" 460. We love them both, great fun to shoot.

Last week, my dad asked me to find and order some 500 ammo for him, and thats where the problems started... (rant on)

That **** is EXPENSIVE! $40 for 12 rounds of Cor-Bon? $55 for 20 rounds of Hornady? $65 for 20 rounds of Winchester???

WTH, I can buy Hornady 200gr. 460 for $22 for a box of 20, why is the 300gr. 500 $55?

Second rant- 500 is sold out almost everywhere, unless you want the ultra-light loads.

Which brings me to my third rant- Why is 80% of all the available 500 ammo loaded so light? If I'm paying $50 for a box of 500 ammo, why is is down-loaded to the same energy as a 44 mag? Are there really that many people that want to look macho with a 500, but cant handle the recoil? The cartridge is capable of well over 3,000 Ft-Lbs, but 3/4 of the available ammo is under 1500 Ft-Lbs, and at least a 1/4 of the ammo I found was under 1100 Ft-Lbs.

So really, Who buys a $1200 gun, and $3/rd ammo, but wants it to shoot as light as a 50 cent round of 44mag?

It wouldn't be so bad if the light ammo was at least cheap, but its still $2-3 a round. Why is it so different from a 460, where you can buy hot Hornady ammo for $1 a round?

<RANT OFF>

Oh well, its not my money. I'm just really glad I bought the 460 and let my dad get the 500.

[Travis590A1]

One of the first things I do before any firearms purchase is look into ammo for it. The most expensive ammo I buy are slugs and buckshot for my mossy. Any gun that averages $2 or more per round is useless to me since you limit yourself on trigger time....(depending on your financial situation)

[sammy]

Time to start reloading? If you shoot more than once a month buying factory for anything but rimfire is just silly. Just a guesstimate but you can probably load a box of 50 500 S&W for 10 bucks or less.

[dadoody]

Time to bust out the .22s

[Gts408]

Reload your own.

[1nickatnite1]

yup, that's why i started reloading as soon as i bought my 1911. going to get a 44 mag next and didn't even have to consider ammo costs.

[battleship]

No need to reload with a SW 500 your not going to shoot it that much without your arm dropping off. Lighter rounds are much higher in velocity and a 350 grain round can do an awful lot of damage at a much higher speed. 500 grain and up are just recoil monsters.

[Lc17smp]

Your just buying ammo from the wrong stores. I love my 500 and ammo is actually quite reasonable. Try these guys for some real 500 loads. http://www.ballisticsupply.net/Defau...x?tabid=252105

[Cuda440]

I agree, reloading is the best cure, but I'm not sure if I want to invest the time or money in the equipment when in all honesty, I don't make it to the range very often. I doubt that 500 will see more than 100 rounds a year, its just the fact that its triple the price of 460 ammo, and most of its loaded light that bugs me. The amount of money spent isn't really a problem, but I cant help but feeling that I'm getting scalped by the ammo companies. (PMC 50BMG is 2.79 a round- but 500 smith is $3?)

No need to reload with a SW 500 your not going to shoot it that much without your arm dropping off. Lighter rounds are much higher in velocity and a 350 grain round can do an awful lot of damage at a much higher speed. 500 grain and up are just recoil monsters.

Yeah, I understand that, but we've been shooting Hornady 350gr, at 1900 FPS, and 2805 Ft-Lbs. If you look up other 300-350gr loads, they're around 1400 fps and 1500 ft-lbs but they cost just as much

Your just buying ammo from the wrong stores. I love my 500 and ammo is actually quite reasonable. Try these guys for some real 500 loads. http://www.ballisticsupply.net/Defau...x?tabid=252105

Interesting, thanks for the link. The 350gr and 385gr look decent for the price

[IVC]

Which brings me to my third rant- Why is 80% of all the available 500 ammo loaded so light?
...
The cartridge is capable of well over 3,000 Ft-Lbs, but 3/4 of the available ammo is under 1500 Ft-Lbs, and at least a 1/4 of the ammo I found was under 1100 Ft-Lbs.

You're not alone. This is my pet peeve too - hard to find loads above 3,000 ft-lbs. However, there are many in the 2,200-2,800 ft-lbs range available on CTD. That's as close as it gets, I guess.