Anybody here reload .500 S&W Mag?

[crazymikie]

I'll take a picture of a bullet when I go home. They seem to be holding ok so maybe they changed the design. I took one and crimped the crap out of it and the plating didn't split, so maybe they thickened it as well.

Do you find the Lil Gun does less damage than the 4227?

I was surprised by the lack of flash from 4227... I was expecting more fire shooting out of the cylinder.

 

[EddieCoyle]

I have yet to find a powder that will run the .500 at full power and not erode the forcing cone.

You'll need a new barrel after 1000 rounds or so.

 

[EddieCoyle]

This is the bullet I was referring to:

Look how close the cannelure is to the base. It should be twice as high as that.

 

[exo]

Because the slow pistol powders need the bullet to stay put for a while after primer ignition in order to get a full burn. Too little powder or too light a crimp can cause squibs in the .500 with powders like 4227, H110/W296, and Lil' Gun.

Very illuminating, thank you. I've been using W296 but I had read that a strong crimp was necessary, so I used one. Took a few tries to get it set right so that the bullets weren't jumping forward under recoil.

I have yet to find a powder that will run the .500 at full power and not erode the forcing cone.

You'll need a new barrel after 1000 rounds or so.

Do you (or anyone) have a good picture of what forcing cone erosion looks like? It'll be a little bit before I get into that category (and my 440gr LGC loads are around 1300fps from my 4", so I don't think that'd be considered "full power"?) but I'd like to know what to look for.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Here's the forcing cone on one of my .460s. This one is not that bad.

Those radial score marks get deeper and deeper until the forcing cone resembles a hole saw. The barrel needs replacing when it starts spitting lead and/or jacket material out the sides.

 

[exo]

Those radial score marks get deeper and deeper until the forcing cone resembles a hole saw. The barrel needs replacing when it starts spitting lead and/or jacket material out the sides.

Good to know, thanks. I trust S&W has been good about replacing the barrels?

 

[jasons]

Those radial score marks get deeper and deeper until the forcing cone resembles a hole saw. The barrel needs replacing when it starts spitting lead and/or jacket material out the sides.

Mine's starting to get there. My cast bullets spit at me pretty good if I push them fast. I was digging chunks of (lead?) out of my face last time. (It's OK, anything is an improvement.)

 

[crazymikie]

They look exactly the same. Were you having problems other than them coming unseated under recoil. I thought I was having accuracy issues, but I had the same problems with factory ammo.

I think my eotech bit it, so I pulled it off last night and went back to irons. I'll see how they perform now.

This is the bullet I was referring to:

Look how close the cannelure is to the base. It should be twice as high as that.

 

[EddieCoyle]

Were you having problems other than them coming unseated under recoil.

I had really inconsistent ignition, and velocity numbers all over the map for full power loads using slower powders like IMR 4227, H110, and Lil' Gun. Chrono them and see how they do.

They ran fine in light loadings (Titegroup and Trailboss) with the bullet seated deeper and a light taper crimp.

ETA: Those things might run fine with a more aggressive roll crimp. I won't do that with plated bullets ever since I had part of the plating on a Rainier bullet strip off and end up in the forcing cone of a .500 (fortunately it was the last shot in the cylinder so I saw it before I fired again).

Maybe the Berrys bullets have thicker plating than the Rainiers so it will be OK. Or maybe not. I don't bother with plated bullets any more because I cast my own lead bullets that I can run up over 1700fps when I gas-check them.

 

[crazymikie]

I have to pick up a chrono, but I had terrible accuracy with the 4227 powder. I couldn't figure out if it was me (most likely), the gun, the load or the Eotech. I took the Eotech off and went back to irons- same problem. I then loaded them up some of the Berry's with 18 gr of Unique and things were much better. I also tried 33 gr of Accurate #9 and those were fine too. I used the same crimping process on the bullets with the #9 and I used a lighter taper with the Unique. No issues.

Now, I have to go and put the Eotech back on and see how things go.

It seems like the Berrys can take a pretty strong crimp without problem now that I changed powders. I'll have to see if I can borrow a chrono to see how things look.


Thanks for the advice. I think once I kill these 500 bullets, I'll try some lead.

I had really inconsistent ignition, and velocity numbers all over the map for full power loads using slower powders like IMR 4227, H110, and Lil' Gun. Chrono them and see how they do.

They ran fine in light loadings (Titegroup and Trailboss) with the bullet seated deeper and a light taper crimp.

ETA: Those things might run fine with a more aggressive roll crimp. I won't do that with plated bullets ever since I had part of the plating on a Rainier bullet strip off and end up in the forcing cone of a .500 (fortunately it was the last shot in the cylinder so I saw it before I fired again).

Maybe the Berrys bullets have thicker plating than the Rainiers so it will be OK. Or maybe not. I don't bother with plated bullets any more because I cast my own lead bullets that I can run up over 1700fps when I gas-check them.

 

[Manomet]

Well I finally got around to loading some of the "Grand Canyon" bullets from the Miha GB mold on Cast Bollits. I cast the penta hp and loaded it over 26 grs of H110. That is quite a hand full out of the John Ross 500 which I really haven't used much yet. Lots of fun but I don't think I would hand it to a small person or they would end up with a front site imprint in their forehead! Punched clean holes way high at 75'.