NH Phantom
NES Member
Was looking for a 500 8" but found a great deal on a 4". Anyone shooting a 4" and can compare to an 8" ( talking about barrel length here)
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no personal experience, but if you are going to hand load you should be able to make a load that keeps it fun to shoot without dislocating your shoulder
Where is Eddie Coyle ?
Just don't ask him for his super secret reload formula
This. I have both. Was hoping for more pop from the 4" but honestly it's designed so well that an old 44 mag kicks more or the same anyway. The fireball is better in 4"Ive shot both and own a 4” myself. The only main difference I noticed was the fireball is larger in the 4” bbl. Accuracy seemed to be the same for me. I thought the shorter barrel made it balance better as well.
I was disappointed. All I heard was how bad the snub 500 is to shoot. Wasn't bad in my opinion. Maybe I got a bad one?I shot a gun club buddies' 500 mag snub . NEVER AGAIN ! Hands down the most painfull experience of anything I have fired. My heavy 12" 460 XVR rocks my clock but it's manageable .
Don't listen to NES, bunch of SOI BOIS here.Was looking for a 500 8" but found a great deal on a 4". Anyone shooting a 4" and can compare to an 8" ( talking about barrel length here)
Did it have a compensator? ( don't know if they all have it)I shot a gun club buddies' 500 mag snub . NEVER AGAIN ! Hands down the most painfull experience of anything I have fired. My heavy 12" 460 XVR rocks my clock but it's manageable .
I once had a TC 14" chambered in 444 marlin That f***er would cut your hand almost everytimeDon't listen to NES, bunch of SOI BOIS here.
I was told a 2 or 3" 44mag would be bad. It was awesome, I only stopped shooting because I couldn't shoot someone else's entire box of ammo.
Ya the first time I shot a 500 it was the 4" model. It was painful for sure. My warm 44 mag reloads is enough recoil for meI shot a gun club buddies' 500 mag snub . NEVER AGAIN ! Hands down the most painfull experience of anything I have fired. My heavy 12" 460 XVR rocks my clock but it's manageable .
I think it's preference. If you are going to reload you don't have to load max loads I don't see an issue with 4"- I own an 8 3/8 but even in 44 Mag I always owned 6 1/2 but that's just me...Was looking for a 500 8" but found a great deal on a 4". Anyone shooting a 4" and can compare to an 8" ( talking about barrel length here)
The 8 3/8 is definitely front heavy...I own itIve shot both and own a 4” myself. The only main difference I noticed was the fireball is larger in the 4” bbl. Accuracy seemed to be the same for me. I thought the shorter barrel made it balance better as well.
Did it have a compensator? ( don't know if they all have it)
Ya the first time I shot a 500 it was the 4" model. It was painful for sure. My warm 44 mag reloads is enough recoil for me
The second revolver I ever shot was a 454 after interviewing for a job with a NES member, he took me to the range, LOL.Depends on the load. Honestly I didn't think 500 out of a 4" was that bad but the load variation is gigantic.
454 casull though, that cartridge can go f*** itself. What a snappy, shitty cartridge when run hot. I think the problem is the guns are not heavy enough for the amount of juice being generated I mean I even fired it through a buddy's Super Redhawk and it was still f****** abusive .
Yes, all those guns are marketed to the people that have never gone hiking with a gun and never thought about using a gun, but like the thought of having a large gun, because if you don't have the most powerful rounds ever, the bear is not going to stop. OK, lol.Also the ruger Alaskan can go f*** itself too. I fired a few cylinders through those things what a useless f****** gun it does make you laugh though but you'll be unable to hit anything after the second or third round....
The second revolver I ever shot was a 454 after interviewing for a job with a NES member, he took me to the range, LOL.
It is very hard to tall about experiences with recoil when talking about 454 or anything larger because they can all be loaded hot AF or mild AF. So while one person will tell you how he will never shoot the gun again, others will tell you how they shoot 50 rounds every weekend.
This is like asking a group of people "does getting punched in the shoulder hurt?"
To the OP, the answer is it depends on a lot of things. Depends on how sensitive you are to recoil, how you hold the gun, how hot the load is ... like my example of the 44 mag in a short barrel, to me, it felt just fine, but many will tell you it is a horrible experience.
Don’t put a brace on that or you’ll be on trouble. Lol
The Alaskan tho it's actually not so much The Recoil although it's pretty significant it doesn't hurt it's just that the f****** gun is near uncontrollable because the muzzle is going to be jumping around on every shot like one of those mechanical bulls. Oh and the concussion basically if somebody shoots a bear with one of those things without any earpro on.... their hearing is probably going to be gone in at least one ear...
Wow, I really feel foolish for owning and liking the Ruger Alaskan in 454. Maybe I'm a recoil junkie or something, but I actually like it and don't find the recoil and follow up shots any different then shooting the 500 S&W. You want to talk hurt, shoot the 500gr round out of the S&W 500. It has the potential to cut the webbing between thumb and forefinger.