BIG BOOM!!!

[Hi Ball]

Holy Cow!......Well, I finally got nerve up to shoot my .460 Smith & Wesson with a full load. Jumppin wildcats, this pistol has more recoil than a friggin 10ga shotgun you betcha. Well, it sure as heck felt like it in my right hand and the pain after 2 shots was more than I wanted let me tell yeah.

It will be back to shooting those .45 Long Colts at 850 ft per second in the near future. This pistol is a very good conversation piece but I would trust myself to my .44 mag model 29 as far as back up in bear country (Just Kidding!!!) I have far to much respect for bears and what they can really do in the wild.

I'll simply stick with my .375H&H or my 416 Remmy if I need to talk a walk in the woods, as far as the bears are concearned. Pistols and bears seem to make great talk at the barber-shop or gunstore but trust me you don't wont to test yourself with a pistol on a bear.........I'll take that rifle anyday.:)

[Bushman]

Precisely why I stopped at the M629 .44 Magnum and truth be known, it gets the .44 Special diet more often than not. I don't know if you caught that episode of Mythbusters this week or not, but they simulated that guys thumb being cut wide open from the cylinder to barrel gas like the picture that was circulating around the Internet a year or so back. They sewed up some chicken parts around a bone structure and wired it down to where that guy's thumb was. Myth CONFIRMED. It ain't no myth!!!:eek:

[swamp]

i once saw a revolver chambered in 45-70 gov't.. i dont recall who the mfg was but I dont think i'd want to shoot it ...

[MOGC]

i once saw a revolver chambered in 45-70 gov't.. i dont recall who the mfg was but I dont think i'd want to shoot it ...

Swamp if memory serves that was the BFR firearms company. And no I'm not kidding, can't quite remember what "BFR" actually stood for... :)

I'm not into hand cannons or short rifles. To me personally a handgun should be handy. That ends with a 6" barrel and open sights.

[swamp]

i dont need a dislocated thumb or wrist injurys.... thinking 44 mag is a good choice between power and user friendliness... at least for me... some guys can handle the 454... but after 2 rounds my right thumb was a little sore.... the 454 in the ruger alaskan is very snappy to say the least...

[snuffy]

BFR = Biggest, Finest, Revolver.

My Bro & I shoot 460s. Mine a BFR 10" & S&W 8 3/8 and his a 5". Being seasoned citizens numbed by many life experiences didn't consider the recoil all that bothersome what w/it being an individual perseption ~ but the concussion pegs my fun meter! It is hemongus ! Seemed to rattle every molecue in my body. Both of my BFR and XVR have scopes and it helps moderate the recoil somewhat but can costs one his friends. They leave or relocate. We get lil' dust devils created just in front of our shooting position. I must wear muffs anytime range/field. If that costs me a shot at game in the field, I dismiss it as I sport hunt, not subsistance hunt (yet). I've only been involved w/heavy revolvers in the last couple of yrs so not an expert yet so I'm not crippled by trauma of yrs w/the big bores like the experts. If they hurt, I step down to something smaller for awhile

[rimrock]

theres always a compromise, between revolver weight,size,cartridge power and your ability to control it and your ease of carrying the revolver.
I tried the 500 S&W with full loads , its certainly usable but far more than your average beginner could use.
for most guys the limits in the 454 cassul and 445 dan wesson super mag range, go higher than that and the power tends to make the pistol rather difficult to use both fast and accurately
the 44 mags, with safe but heavy hand loads, are quite useful in my opinion, with 260-310 grain hard cast bullets, it does a fine job on DEER and HOGS, and while bear are rather scarce, where I hunt. the penetration on hogs leaves no doubt the powers available for a cool skilled shot to kill bear.
my 44 mags throw a hard cast 300 grain at near 1260fps (10")
my 445 DWSM mags throw a hard cast 300 grain at near 1500fps (10")
either does a very effective job
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0BQY/is_12_47/ai_79586225/

[swamp]

having shot a ruger alaskan in 454 casul, I find the recoil to be rather hard and especially snappy... making a quick follow up shot very difficult.... Probably the 44 mag would be a smarter choice for me

[Sidekick]

I fired my friends BFR in .500 S&W and let me tell you it's a handful. I shot his 454 Casull later and it seemed quite tame in comparison.

[DancesWithKnives]

I have a custom revolver chambered in 500 Linebaugh with a 5" barrel. It is built on a regular size frame (beefed up substantially). The recoil is tremendous but anything it hits is going to know it's been hit!

DWK

[GF.]

I seem to recall high praises for the .480 Ruger when that came out - wasn't it a gear of the year winner at F&S that year? Anyway, the writers seemed to agree that it was nothing that a good hand with a .44 Mag would find difficult to manage well, but of course the .44 has one almost undeniable advantage to it, and that's the word 'special' . Handloading is a great hobby, I suppose, but for those not yet into it, a .480 has 2 settings - 'full power' & 'off'.

Maybe they figured the .480 was going to be a poor fit for anybody who isn't a serious enough shooter to be able to A) roll his own or B) shoot full-power loads all of the time, but that there were enough hard-cores out there to make it viable. And maybe that's why they aren't making it anymore....

Seems the money these days is all on .44s and Casulls so that guys can shoot specials and LCs when they need a break....

Tell ya, though... If a session at the range leaves you aching, it won't take too many sessions to inflict a chronic injury.... Ears, wrists and retinas are all easily damaged, so you just have to make your choices wisely.... And maybe check the ego at the door.............

[rimrock]

for a experienced hand loader the 480 Rugers a great choice, its to bad the dan wesson super mags are not in production, as the 445 dwsm was and is a great choice, with a 10" barrel you can almost duplicate the 7" barrel 454 loads and still shoot 44 mags for practice

[GF.]

Anybody still making the .480? I think I remember a nice, gray finish on the Red or Super-Red. Not an option for me, regardless, but nothing wrong with having lots of choices out there.... I kinda wondered why Marlin never jumped on that round, since Ruger had no really good way to compete with their lever. Probably make a nice, ultra-handy carbine in a No. 1, too, but I don't think they ever built it.