The 460 with a Leupold scope makes a great hunting combo
.460 Smith & Wesson
A few years ago, Smith & Wesson decided to
make the most powerful revolvers in general production. The .500 was introduced
at the SHOT show in 2004 while the .460 came out a year later. With the .500 S & W they succeeded quite
well as it has more muzzle energy then any other revolver with energies going
up to 2800 foot LBS or so. They went on to produce the fastest production
revolver. Again they succeeded by introducing the .460 with a 200 grain bullet
rated at 2300 FPS , producing 2350 FT LBS. of energy. Through necessity, these are massive
revolvers weighing at 5 Lbs. plus empty. With this much power recoil is a major
factor and the revolver’s weight will mitigate it to an extent. The muzzle breaks also help but these guns are
not for the faint at heart. When you shoot these guns, the muzzle blast will
feel like someone is shoving you. They are specialized guns meant for serious
big game hunting. At that, they excel regardless of what you are hunting. The
gun is attractive being made from Stainless steel and isn’t blued.
The question that begs to be answered is why would you buy such a powerful and
specialized revolver? Some people want
the most powerful and fastest regardless if it is a car that can do 250 MPH or
a super powered revolver. The .500 can generate as much muzzle energy as a
30-06 with a top load. I know a guy that
had one with a 4” barrel and no muzzle break. At his request I made some heavy
loads utilizing a 400 grain bullet. He offered to let me try it, an invitation I
declined. Anyway he shot it twice and sold it. I shot a 10” with a break and scope and while
it is manageable, it is quite a handful. The redeeming feature was we were
shooting 275 grain bullets which helped to reduce recoil. Accuracy at 100 yards
was quite impressive. For the recoil junkie Hornady offers a 500 grain bullet
and load. If that isn’t enough one company offers a 700 grain bullet rated at
1250 FPS. No way no how I would shoot
that load, except in a rifle. Self inflicted pain has no fascination for me. The
reader might notice that recoil is frequently mentioned and that is for a
reason. I fail to see the logic in buying a firearm that can’t be handled by
the owner.
Of the two,
the .460 is more versatile. Besides the .460 ammo, you can shoot the .45
Schofield, .45 Colt, and the .454 Casull. Also there is a wider selection of 45
caliber bullets then the larger 50’s. With the two smaller cases you can use
conventional jacketed or cast bullets at the velocities that they produce. Do not use thin jacketed bullets with the .454
or .460 cases. Doing that can strip the
jacket off and leave it in the bore which may cause a problem with the next
round. Several companies make the proper
bullets for the .460 and I would suggest you use them. Companies such as
Hornady and Barnes makes jacketed or solid copper slugs while LBT makes cast
bullets up to 395 grains. They are cast hard with a gas check and are well
suited to the pressures involved. Keep in mind the .460 is set up to operate at
60,000 PSI, which is in the range of magnum rifles. Those specs require that
the guns are made out of the best steel available in order to stand up to that
abuse. Tolerances must be kept tight also to enhance the longevity and safety
of this revolver. The S & W is up to
the task as we have fired it quite a lot with no malfunctions due to the gun. The 460 requires a large rifle primer because
of the pressures and large amounts of magnum handgun powder involved. A magnum
rifle primer isn’t generally necessary though in real cold weather I would
consider one.
The gun is a double action type though the
single is a lot more practical. The trigger is great breaking at 2 & 3/4 lbs. single action. The double action trigger
is ok though I don’t see much use for it. With a scope and ammo the gun can weigh close
to 6 Lbs. which makes it difficult to hold offhand for most shooters including
myself. There is a bipod available as well as a sling. They would make sense if
a rest isn’t available. Out in the field a bipod would enable you to take
advantage of the 200 yard potential that this gun offers. Hornady advertises their 200 grain load as
being point on at 200 yards. With the velocity obtainable and the pointed
bullet, that claim is creditable. I have tested Hornady ammo in quite a few
calibers and it performs as billed in virtually all instances.
The gun that we tested has an 8 & 3/8”
barrel though other lengths are available. Shooting from a rest with the 200
grain Hornady wasn’t too bad as recoil goes straight back but the muzzle blast
can be only described as intense. Even
standing behind a shooter you can feel the blast. This gun definitely isn’t for
the faint at heart. There are two muzzle breaks one for lead while
the other covers jacketed slugs. There is a hunting holster and speed loaders
offered for the .460. That way you can carry it on a hiking trip and be ready
for anything.
The proof is in the pudding as to how powerful
the loads really are. We have a verity of factory loads plus some handloads we
chronographed and tested for accuracy. We also fired ammo with shorter cases
including the .45 Schofield, .45 Colt, and the .454 Casull. That is what I mean
by versatility. Anyway, here are some chronograph results. During the testing,
I had my Freedom Arms 454 with a 10” barrel and chronographed many of the loads
in both. The Casull was anywhere from a little over 100 FPS to 250 FPS faster
then the Smith. It may have been partly due to the longer barrel and lack of
porting or the tighter tolerances of the Freedom Arms Revolver. Anyway it was
an interesting test. Recoil was on the
brutal side with the heavy loads in both guns. When you shoot a certain amount of the heavy,
loads your hand tends to start hurting which is a good time to stop. If you
don’t mind carrying around the weight the 460 is pretty versatile.
LOAD BULLET VELOCITY COMMENT
5.3 gr Tite Group 250 grain cast 768 .45 Schofield
5.7 gr 231 230 gr Ranier 637 .45 Schofield
8 gr
231 250 gr
Hornady XTP HP 906 .45 Colt load
7 gr Tite
Group 250 gr cast 905 .45 Colt Load
7 gr Tite
Group 250 gr Hornady
XTP 868 .45 Colt Load
11 gr
HS-6 225 gr Hornady
FTX 918 .45 Colt Load
11 gr
HS-6 250 gr cast 940 .45 Colt load
Federal 225 SWC HP 897 .45 Colt load
Federal 225 Gr FTX 851 .45 Colt load
Buffalo
Bore 325 gr LBT 1369 .45 Colt Load
Buffalo
Bore 300 gr
LBT 1352 .45
Colt load
Buffalo
Bore 260
gr JHP 1489 .45
Colt load
Buffalo
Bore 325 gr 1531 .454 load
25 gr
2400 300 grain
cast 1352 .
454 load
Double
Tap 400 Gr WEN-GC 1280 .454
load
Double
Tap 250 Gr Barnes HP 1621 .454
load
Hornady 300 Gr XTP 1588 .454
load
Federal 300 Gr Swift A
Frame 1551 .454
load
33 gr 2400 225 gr Hornady FTX 1469 .454 load
Buffalo
Bore 325 gr LBT 1531 .454 load
Buffalo
Bore 360 gr LBT 1450 .454
load
Federal 300 Gr Swift A
Frame 1582 .460 load
49 gr of H-110 225 Gr FTX 1958 .460
load
Hornady 200 Gr FTX 2158 .460 load
Hornady 200 gr FTX 2106 .460 load
43 gr Lil
gun 240 gr Hornady XTP 1666 .460 load
50 gr FFFG
BP 250 grain cast 869.6 .460 load
44 gr
AA-5744 240 grain Hornady
XTP 1716 .460 load
Buffalo
Bore 275 gr Barnes XPB 1772 .460 load
Buffalo
Bore 300 gr JFN 1581 .460
load
Buffalo
Bore 360 gr 1471 . 460 load
50 gr AA
1680 240 gr Hornady XTP 1439 .460
load
Buffalo
Bore generously sent some loads in .45 Colt, .454 Casull, and the 460 S &
W. The .45 Colt and .454 Casull loads shot great giving the advertised velocity
and were consistent. The 460 loads however didn’t do as well. They were way
under advertised speeds with high SD’s. Also the cases stuck in the chambers
indicating high pressures. My guess is
they used a powder that while suitable in the shorter cases is too fast for the
.460 especially with heavy bullets. At a later date, I plan on working with the
heavy LBT bullets and see if I can improve upon those loads. That is one test I
am in no hurry to conduct. It isn’t on
my top 100 to do list of important projects. We shot some .45 Schofield with
cast bullets of 200 and 250 and mild loads. For some reason they keyholed,
perhaps due to the long travel in the
cylinder. We tried some Ranier bullets
and they shot ok so that theory went down the hole. Maybe it just didn’t like
those lead bullets. Keep in mind that
plated bullets at full power loads won’t work in the .454 or 460. The boxes
generally specify max velocity consistent with accuracy and I suggest that you
follow the advice. I have shot them over the specs and they are not accurate at
all. Plated bullets however make nice .45 Colt loads. That is why we try different bullets to see
what does and doesn’t work in a specific gun.
Just for kicks and info purposes, we tried some black powder loads in
the .460. As is usually the case with black powder, velocities are consistent
though after a dozen or so rounds it started to gum up and stopped functioning.
Of course the gun needed to be vigorously cleaned after shooting the black
powder and before we went back to the more conventional ammo. The .460 was inconsistent with some of the loads,
as with such a large case any light loads with magnum powders didn’t fare so
well. With the big case it is better to use full throttle loads and use the
shorter cases for the reduced stuff. Just
for fun we made some shot loads using 460 cases. The load was 12 grains of 231
and 250 grains of shot with a gas check on top. I cut a wad out of cardboard to
put between the powder and shot. They
proved effective up to 7 yards, which would dispatch a snake. If you do this,
be sure to remove the compensator to avoid a lot of shot coming backwards.
We obtained some bulletproof glass that is an
inch thick and of course, we wanted to see what shot through it and what
didn’t. We tried two .460 loads a 225 grain Hornady XTP and a 300 grain Barnes.
Both shot through with no problems though when we put a second piece behind the
first both loads were stopped. We shot a .44 mag load which was a 240 grain
soft point and it didn’t go through but did dimple the back of it. We had some .45
Colt and 9 mm but neither came near to going through but did make nice marks on
the glass. My guess is if we had armor piercing bullets in the .460, it
probably would have gone through both plates.
Another
interesting thing came to light, The .460 recoiled backwards while the .454
went up. That was due to the S & W having a muzzle break where upon the .454
lacks that feature. Trigger pull double action is 14 & ½ lbs.
while the single checks in at 2 & 2/4 lbs.
and breaks cleanly. I don’t imagine that very many shooters can control
the .460 shooting double action. I, for one can’t. If you want a high quality revolver that is
capable of killing anything on two or four feet, this might just be the gun for
you. I would imagine that it would do well shooting silhouettes out to two or
300 meters. If you can handle the recoil and muzzle blast then you should have
a winner. A scope definitely gets the potential out of this massive revolver. Be sure that it is
a quality optic meant for
intense recoil or you will be replacing your scope frequently.