Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Fifty One – Fifty… No not the Van Halen album, and certainly not the California Law Enforcement term for a mentally disturbed person. Some may agree that anyone interested in using a firearm whose caliber is 500 or larger is probably disturbed in some context.
Table of contents
The Confusion…
The 50’s as they are termed, are two different animals of the same family. The original Fifty of modern times the 50BMG, uses bullets of .510 diameter. This is where some of the confusion begins. It is helped along by a ruling of our government to declare any new firearms calibers of this size to be “destructive devices”. This seems to be the driving force of the newer fifties to be true .50 calibers. I dove into hunting with handguns chambered in calibers that utilize .51 and .50 as their bullet diameter. There are several available commercial choices and there are a few more obscure choices.
50 ae…
We’ll start at the least powerful and progress to more power. The first useful .50 is one that I had previously disregarded as a novelty, the 50AE. My experience with the original .50AE platform, the Desert Eagle, showed it to be an accurate gun. I’ve shot one chambered in 44magnum, and I showed accuracy on the order of 6” at 100 yards with iron sights. However, the magazine and the operation of the Desert Eagle hinder the .50AE from achieving its full potential. If you use a different platform like a strong modern revolver. You can use a wider array of bullets and increase its hunting potential.
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Factory 50AE ammunition is loaded to an overall length of 1.575”. The cylinder of my Freedom Arms will accept a round measuring 1.765”. The factory 300gr. ammunition performs quite well in my FA. Providing over 1500fps and easily placing them into 2” groups at 50 yards. Using the Barnes 275gr. XPB I get almost 1600fps, along with accuracy bettering the factory loads. The Swift A-frame, a 325gr. bullet provides over 1500fps and 1665 ft-lbs of energy.
It places the .50AE into a category above the 44 magnum and comparable to the 480 Ruger. It deserves to be considered an effective entry-level .50 caliber for hunting. Using my FA 555 I’ve taken feral hogs beyond 100 yards and the factory 300gr. SP gave complete penetration. If anything 500# or larger was in my sights I’d use the 325gr. Swift A-Frame or 350gr. Speer DC.
The Twins…
Stepping up in power, we come to two that are virtual twins. The 500 Linebaugh and the 500 JRH. The Linebaugh is 510 in diameter and the JRH is at .500. The Linebaugh has been around since 1986, the JRH is more recent. The JRH is the brainchild of Jack Huntington, he made it to fit on the Freedom Arms 83 platform. It is based on the .500 S&W magnum, slightly modified to work on a normal framed gun.
In its brief existence, it has been used for all manner of game around the World, including dangerous game in Africa. My FA 555, has a spare cylinder chambered in 500JRH, it is my go-to caliber for large game. The JRH handles bullets 350gr. and heavier better than the .50AE. Mainly because the 50AE needs to headspace off of the cartridge mouth, so a strong crimp is not practical.
My Linebaugh’s…
Our other caliber the 500 Linebaugh, has a proven track record. My personal 500 Linebaugh’s are carried as general-purpose do-it-all revolvers. I carry them when I want more than a stout 45 colt. Even with relatively short barrels at 4” and 5” they provide more than enough accuracy out at 75 yards. I load 400gr. and 485gr. bullets almost exclusively in them, they provide 1200fps and 1000fps respectively.
The penetration provided by the bullets at those speeds comfortably handles anything I want to hunt or defend myself from. My 500JRH is set up for strictly hunting as a primary arm. The Linebaughs are set up to be worn and carried as field guns. I use them as tracking guns for following up game. As well as defensive guns for hiking or spending time in our western states. Both the Linebaugh and JRH using proper bullets, are suitable for everything on the planet. They are also quite capable when not used at maximum performance. A soft cast or JHP at 900-1000fps still makes a formidable hunting round. When used at that level it becomes easy to shoot and still very useful for most hunting tasks. One of my 500Ls is loaded at this level.
.51 or .50…
If you are considering one of the twins for hunting. Either is more than capable of handling any task. My sentimental favorite is the Linebaugh, however, bullet selection is better for the JRH. The major manufacturers have embraced the .500 caliber over the .510 diameter. We still have Hawk bullets to make custom jacketed bullets for .510-diameter handguns. However, none of the major manufacturers offers a jacketed handgun bullet for .510 guns. Some other boutique bullet makers offer excellent .510 bullets but they are few. The .500’s on the other hand, are available in weights as light as 240gr. to as heavy as 700gr. My favorites for the JRH are the same 325gr. Swift bullet used in the .50AE as well as others weighing up to 400gr. Good friends have used their 500JRH with 400gr. mono metal copper bullets to take a Cape Buffalo.
500 Linebaugh Maximum.
My first fifty is a .510 caliber as well, it is a .500 Linebaugh Maximum. The original .500 Linebaugh uses a case that is 1.4” long. The Maximum case measures 1.6” long. It is only available as a custom gun though, based on the Ruger Maximum framed guns. My .500 Max was built by John Gallagher and wears an octagon barrel, rich dark bluing, and a color case-hardened frame. Even though the Ruger Maximum frame is stretched longer compared to a standard Ruger Blackhawk frame. It does not look disproportionate like the S&W X frame or stretch frame BFR guns do. The weight of a Maximum is also less than a similarly barreled X frame as well. The weight of a 4” barreled 500sw is 55.4oz. and the weight of my 5.5” barreled Gallagher 500Max is 44.0oz
The .500 Maximum can push 530gr. bullets at 1400fps or 585gr. ones to 1250fps. The advent of tougher solid mono-metal bullets negates the need for heavier bullets to gain penetration. Using bullets made of material that does not deform easily and is lighter than our normally used copper and lead, allows more velocity and more penetration. The mono-metal bullets allow more moderately powerful handgun rounds to accomplish what was only capable of more powerful rounds. It is for this reason that my .500JRH is replacing my .500 Maximum as my go-to large game hunting handgun. The mono-metal solids accomplish the task with less weight and can be pushed faster and not fail. Sadly, the Maximum is strictly a custom proposition and the S&W is available as a factory offering.
500 S&W…
S&W offers some very nice options for the 500. The smaller shorter barreled version of the 500 S&W, I found to be difficult to shoot accurately. Compared to my 4” barreled single-action 500 Linebaugh, the recoil impulse is abrupt and jarring. I attribute this to the vertical aspect of the grip near the top. The single-action grip allows the gun to rotate rearward and upward with little to no jarring impulse to the hand.
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I am also able to accurately shoot a single action to 75-85 yards. The double-action S&W shoots similar-sized groups at half the distance. The design of the gun makes shooting it accurately difficult for me. It requires maximum grip tension to hang on to the gun instead of concentrating on what needs to be done for accurate shooting.
This is not to say that the 500SW is a bad cartridge, or that the X frame is a poor design. Very few people can accurately utilize the full power of the S&W or the Linebaugh Maximum. The majority of shooters will download or utilize reduced recoil ammunition. The 500Max and 500SW are both versatile cartridges and can achieve their tasks easily with reduced power ammunition. A 350gr. or 450gr. bullet at 1000-1300fps will adequately take any game you choose to chase if you place a bullet properly.
Conclusion On The 50s…
The 51s and 50s offer more, is more needed? No!! The 45s adequately handle all the World’s game. However, the biggest and the baddest have all succumbed to the 51/50’s. They are specialty cartridges. They are useful, versatile, powerful, and a handful but they are here to stay.
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