any of you who own a 500 smith may have noticed that cabelas and midway are showing a 500gr hornady XTP jfp but there is no load data available. I contacted hornady and hodgdon powder about load data, hornady will email you the data, although it's not real impressive, and hodgdon said they might have data by mid year but more than likely the end of the year, also hodgdon said they will be skipping this year for there annual reloading manual and it will be back for 2006. here are a couple of the loads listed from hornady.
powder starting vel max vel
H110 23.8 1000 32.5 1300
W296 24.9 1000 32.4 1300
AA1680 29.9 1000 40.2 1350
they were using hornady brass with winchester large pistol primers and a c.o.l. of 2.040 and there is a disclaimer that these loads are intended for use with large pistol primers.

Impressive is a relative term. It is more impressive than a 454 Casull but not as impressive as a 50 Alaskan.
That is 1300 from an 83/8th's revolver not a test barrel like others give velocity from and the data is held to levels safe with pistol primers.
The data is not up to the actual SAAMI specs on the load which would gain more velocity but what would one do with more?
I've had the Hornady data for some time now.

your right about impressive being a relative term but that being said my 475 linebaughs produce more energy with a 400 grain jacketed bullet than the hornady loads listed for the 500, also the the 350 grain in the 500 is producing more energy and a higher taylor knock out value, but as you said these loads are not up to full pressure. as for the reason for wanting more velocity it's simple, why buy a 500 or any other big gun unless you want maximum performance which does include of course more recoil, but if thats a problem people should'nt own guns like that in the first place. It's kind of like building a 700HP smallblock for your old chevelle and then only use it as a grocery getter and show piece, if you don't take it to the track whats the use, buy a pinto.

If you really want to start launching 500gr bullets, in a HANDGUN, and take advantage of that kind of power-KE, you need a case and firearm that can launch these bullets at 2000+ FEET PER SECOND. That would yield close to 5000 FOOT POUNDS OF ENERGY

Is there such a cannon? If there is, who could handle such an arm.

The 500 S&W is at its best with 350-440 gr projectiles.

The factory loads of 500 S&W commercialy avaliable, scare away all but hardened shooters. After busting about 5 caps in a row, most can't keep a hole in the target at 30 yrds.

I don't think the 500 XTP will sell for long.

Lets see if I'am right. What da' ya'all think?

how about a 700gr fmj out of a handgun at 2205! no I aint been drinking, if you have the 25th anniversary edition of the blue book of gun values look at the last page, it is called THUNDER, it is a single shot pistol in 50 bmg. they show an email address of TripleAction50@aol.com the gun has a muzzle brake and nitrogen recoil reducer, they say it's the ultimate in home defense and plinking. I don't know about you but I think someone fell off the hay truck one too many times.

Not sure about the 500 grainer out of the .500 S&W, but my 440 LSWCGC over 38 gr H110 does an honest 5-shot average of 1675fps! Yes it is a hammer, but if you look at the energy figures and the Taylor KO factor calculated in our Members only section, I should describe it as the Hammmer of Thor!!
Also, using the calculator, I see why Gary uses the 416 Taylor. I can't wait for my Rigby barrel to get here!!! Anyway you look at it, there are not any other REVOLVERS that come close. Not the .480, not the .454. Not the others. The .500 S&W is King of the Hill!! for now.......gerry

I agree it is the king of production revolvers but it would be nice to get data from hornady without it being sandbagged. I'm sure it is capable of pushing the 500gr bullet past 1350. I want to know why hornady is still using pistol primers anyways, there 475 brass is set up for rifle primers so why not the 500 brass.

Rod, my Starline* 500 brass uses the LR primer. My Hornady 500 brass uses the LP pirimer and it is a pain not to have this standardized! Even our gun companies cannot communicate with each other!! However, I have not seen any difference in velocity or accuracy in this comparison. That made me feel better.

BULLELK, I wanted to check something out on our earlier conversation about the king of revolvers. century arms (at least as of 2002) builds a revolver in 50-70 and 50-110. i don't have the balistics for the 110 but the 50-70 pushes a 550gr cast to over 1620 and a 550 grain jacketed to 1560. now thats serious!

Oh Rod I know, and I hear that. As I sit here looking at my .500, I let my mind wander and wonder how much bigger they can get and still be considered a 'handgun'? Maybe we should change teh rules and limit that term to only weapons that can handled and controlled with only one hand? Talk about getting out of hand! Gerry.