S&W .500 Magnum Gel Tests, Cylinder Gap Blast, Internals & Construction

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In the mid-1950s, Smith & Wesson announced to the public their new Model 29, chambered in .44 Magnum. This gun was the culmination of the work of Elmer Keith: Rancher, author, and firearms genius. This offering in .44 Magnum was successful with the big bore and hunting crowds, but failed to take off with the public.

I Blame Clint Eastwood

In 1971, Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan brought to the double-action Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44-Magnum revolver to the mainstream, with these words:

“’Did he fire six shots or only five?’ Well, to tell you the truth in all this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a .44 Magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world and would blow your head clean off, you’ve gotta ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?”

From that moment, the success of the Model 29 was a lock. Many were purchased for full retail plus a nice premium. More than a few were only shot once before they were put up on a shelf along with the words “This is my Bear gun—I can’t bear to shoot it.”

Smith & Wesson was the king of big bore double action pistols until the .454 Casull came along. The .454 was developed in 1957 by Dick Casull and Jack Fullmer.

Second Place was Just the First Loser

In 2002, Smith & Wesson’s Herb Belin proposed the idea of developing a gun to regain the title of the world’s most powerful production revolver. The work would be split with Cor-Bon and the S&W X-Gun engineering team (Lead Design Engineer Brett Curry, along with Rich Mikuta and Tom Oakley).

The design requirements given to Cor-Bon were to launch a .50-cal projectile in the 400-grain range at around 1,600 feet per second (fps) and produce 2,200 ft.-lbs. of muzzle energy. As a comparison, the vaunted .44 Magnum can push a roughly 250-grain bullet at around 1,300 fps with muzzle energy in the 1,000 ft.-lbs. range. The .50 AE round for comparison pushes a 300-grain projectile around 1,500 fps for 1,400 ft-lbs. or so of energy, while the .454 Casull pushes a 300-grain bullet at around 1,600 fps for a muzzle energy of 1,800 ft-lbs.

To meet those requirements, a whole new frame that could accommodate the new .500 round would have to be designed. The decision was made to create the X Frame. The design’s success and speedy creation were facilitated by the SOLIDWORKS design software.

The sheer weight of the resulting gun was impressive, ranging from 56 ounces to 82 ounces. The lockup was designed around a center pin in the rear of the cylinder, mated with a ball detent in the frame. The barrel was torqued into the frame to form a solid rear attachment point, and then a shroud was installed over the barrel. The butt of the gun was taken directly from the K/L-Frame’s round-butt frame design, to allow a firm grasp on the beastly thing. The grips for the new Model 500 were designed by Hogue: A full-wraparound type (verse the open rear common for K/L frame) with recoil-cushioning inserts. Smith & Wesson brought back the fourth side-plate screw that left in the late 1950s to stabilize the revolvers larger side plate.

My First Time

I distinctly remember the first opportunity I got to shoot the X-Frame. I was at a local indoor range that was hosting a Smith & Wesson Day event in late 2004. For a mere $10, one could fire three rounds through their choice of the .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum or the 460 XVR. I happily threw down a crisp $20 bill and took my turn on each of the guns. The .500 Magnum was clearly the big dog, and I was sure that I had experienced the new King of the Hill, but I still had questions.

A number of years later, while on a hog hunt with several members of the Chicago Police Department SWAT team, one of my cohorts hefted out his 8.38-inch X-Frame. Naturally, we set up bowling pins and I got to take my turn on the big bruiser. I was able to control the gun, and you’ll be relieved to hear that we vanquished the bowling pins and suffered no casualties in the battle. Needless to say, the bowling pins were only able to absorb one direct hit from the 300+ grain projectiles we were launching… but it was a tense skirmish all the same.

I’ve fired countless guns over the years, but I vividly remember these two stories because this is a gun of consequence. Its sheer weight and size alone command respect, but the ability to combine both speed of (up to 1,800 fps) and mass (up to 500 grains) on target makes the .500 Magnum a truly awesome weapon.

The Gun

When the opportunity presented itself, I jumped at the chance to test the 4-inch Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum. This gun actually has a 3-inch barrel with a choice of two interchangeable muzzle brakes that are easily installable via the included Allen wrench. Although I would hesitate to call it a “carry gun,” the 4-inch barrel on this one makes it more practical as a portable howitzer for self-defense—possibly in deep bear country? The trigger breaks at 11 lbs. 8 ozs. double action, and 4 lbs., 8 ozs. single action.

The 4-inch 500 Magnum is equipped nicely with a rear adjustable sight mated with a black front post with a red insert. The top of the barrel shroud is adorned with milled lines that match those on the inset rib of the rear adjustable sight. There was only the slightest play on the cylinder, both side to side and end to end, and the cylinder was timed precisely with a crisp lockup. This big gun was not clumsy at all; it felt and handled like a well-proportioned precision machine. The custom grips designed by Hogue for this gun felt good in the hand, and I appreciated the wraparound design even before shooting the gun.

SPECS

• Chambering: .500 S&W Mag.
• Barrel: 4 inches
• OA Length: 10.25 inches
• Weight: 56 ounces
• Grips: Synthetic
• Sights: Adjustable rear, red ramp front
• Action: Double-action
• Finish: Stainless steel
• Capacity: 5
• MSRP: $1,369.00

What I Wanted to Know

Flashing forward now to late 2016, this gun has been available for well over a decade, and the lore surrounding the brute force of this massive handgun is legion. There have been plenty of tales about what this gun is capable of doing, both to the lackadaisical shooter and the intended target. I decided I needed to sort through some and separate fact from fiction.

I’ve read stories about people who left their thumbs in front of the forcing cone, and as a result had their skin peeled completely away. I’ve heard about people pulling the 500 as a last-ditch effort to repel an animal who was swapping the roles of prey and predator. I also wanted to try shooting the gun one-handed to see what effect that would have on both accuracy and the well-being of said hand. I have been told that the muzzle blast from the ports on the end of the barrel were extremely violent towards anything around or above the muzzle.

Some Sort of Gun Review

Knowing that this was not going to be my typical gun review, my trip to the range was going to involve shooting different kinds of media. I first selected my round, which would be the Federal Premium 275 Grain Barnes Expander, which lists a velocity of 1,660 ft./s at the muzzle. Keep in mind that this ammunition runs about $3.25 a round.

My next task was to gather the test medium necessary for what I had in mind. This required a trip to the local grocery store, where I purchased hotdogs, soft aluminum pie plates, gallon jugs of water, and cases of 12-ounce bottled water. Then I loaded up several blocks of clear ballistic gel, cardboard targets, and every pair of shooting gloves that I could find.

As I pulled out of my driveway to head to the range, I was thinking to myself … “This is by far the strangest kit that I have ever loaded out for a gun review.”

Boy, Did I Find Out

The first order of the day was to chronograph the rounds and determine just how much velocity the 4-inch Smith & Wesson X frame would deliver. I set up the Caldwell Ballistic Precision Chronograph G2; I got my first look at the G2 at the Shot Show earlier this year. This is a revolutionary new design that mounts the lights underneath and the recording instruments on top. This simple solution resolves many of the problems that I’ve had in the past when trying to get the right amount of light above the windows. It also came with its own tripod and paired via Bluetooth to my iPad, which made recording the velocity data almost effortless compared to what I had endured for years with my other chronographs.

The results of chronograph testing on the round revealed a consistent velocity of 1,532 feet per second, with very little deviation from the 4-inch sample. I believe that with the longer barrels available, the advertised 1,660 ft./s of the Federal Premium 275-grain Barnes Expander would be quite achievable.

I wanted to do some accuracy testing next, and I was looking for a more real-world test than your typical bench test. I settled on a distance of about 21 feet and fired the gun first with both hands, then strong hand only, and then weak hand only. The accuracy was more than acceptable, but I would be remiss if I did not mention that the robust recoil supplied by the gun detracted from my work. Once you’ve fired about 25 rounds from this gun, you’ve had all you want for the day. The five-shot groups that I was able to turn in were about 1.5”. They were a little low and left, and I’ll readily admit that that was all me. I think with a rest the gun would shoot 1” at 50 yards without a doubt.

I’ve found that a couple of good benchmarks for a round’s power are containers of water and ballistic gel. I set up seven one-gallon containers of water and let loose from about 10 feet. After the shower was over, I found the Barnes 27-grain solid copper bullet lodged in the fourth plastic jug. Next, I hurled a round into a case of 24-12-oz. water bottles to see how robust of a shock the round carried. The .500 took out 14 of the 24 bottles, with only six being in the path of the round.

The next test was to deliver a round into a 10% 16x6x6 Clear Ballistic Gel, as per the FBI standards. Knowing that this shot was going to anything but standard, I lined two of the 16-inch blocks end to end. This resulted in the round coming to a rest 3½ inches into the second block. 19.5 inches of penetration and the wound cavity were impressive enough, but I wanted to try one more test. Specifically, I wanted to get a visual of the results of a contact shot. I felt that this would somewhat replicate firing on a predator that was upon you. I placed the muzzle against the first block and let loose the round with one hand on the gun. The blast launched the gun backwards almost uncontrollably. The block of gel catapulted into the air and flipped end over end, bounced off the table and landed a few feet away! The projectile came to rest in the second block of gel, at almost the exact same spot the first round settled on.

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Finally, it was time to poke at some stories I have read on the internet. The first one was the end of a thumb being blown off and peeled to the bone by the blast from the forcing cone. The test I had devised was to insert a ¼-inch metal rod into a hotdog and fire the gun while holding it to the side of the gun. The results were swift and certain: It peeled the hotdog back about an inch, and the force was substantial. This was no rumor—had I put my thumb there instead, I have no doubt that I’d have had a bad day.

It was time to put the legendary muzzle blast to the test. I wanted an idea of the force of the blast, not just the fire, so I wrapped a pie pan over the top of the muzzle. I had to watch the video to get an understanding of what had happened—it was like a metal snowstorm.

I was hoping to find an urban legend in the mix, but this gun and round delivered on every outlandish claim that I could find.

The Bottom Line

The S&W 500 is clearly every bit the gun you’ve heard it is—I was unable to find any evidence of exaggeration. Now, this gun is big, heavy and expensive to shoot, but it definitely delivers what most handguns will never approach. It can clearly be used as a backup gun for any large game. It can undoubtedly be used as a backcountry self-defense gun for any kind of predator that you would encounter. However, this gun is not to be treated with anything but a healthy dose of respect; it will punish you for the smallest lapse in control. If you have a need for this gun, there are probably only a few other replacements available to you. I suspect that the vast majority of these live calmly in a safe, only to be drawn forth when absolutely necessary: To establish who at the range has the biggest, baddest handgun. When the S&W 500 does make its rare appearances on the range, it is definitely a smile-maker. Everyone that I offered the chance to took me up on the opportunity to take a shot, and even though it does buck, none regretted taking their turn on the X-Frame.

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So, if you want to get one, you can be assured you are getting one of the most interesting revolvers on the market, and one that harnesses an unbelievable amount of power. So, mind those fingers, hang on to that grip and trip off this portable howitzer on the range or in the field. You will not be disappointed.

To learn more, visit https://smith-wesson.com/firearms/model-sw500-4.

To purchase on GunsAmerica.com, click this link: https://www.gunsamerica.com/Search.htm?T=SMITH%20%26%20WESSON%20500&ltid-all=1&as=365&cid=645&ns=0&numberperpage=50&.