[woodwright]

This is a thread for only those of you that like the big boomers. What do you think of the 460 SW? A friend of mine had one and loved it. It was stolen 2 years ago, and now he is set on getting another one. I personally don't like the Smith and Wesson revolvers, or that caliber. I have a 45-70 BFR, and love it. But to each his own. However, I don't see much talk about them here. So am I missing something or are they just not that popular?

 

[funshooter]

I absolutely love mine. I have the 460 XVR the first time shooting it I hit a 12" sq. plate 140 yards 5 out of 15 shots all of the missed shots were with in 2 or 3 inches from the plate. I do not shoot as much as I would like so I think that that was not to bad for the fist time shooting it. This S & W 460 put the fun back into shooting hand guns for me I have let friends shoot it and all of them are impressed with how accurate the hand gun is and how well that cannoin can be controled. again it is by far my favorite hand gun that I own but it is not for everyone.

 

[unclenick]

That's an interesting question. I've noticed a number of shortened wildcats made from the longer heavy magnum cases have appeared. It's a way to get to the higher peak pressures without the weight of a long cylinder to lug around in the field. The .460 is not as long as a .45-70, but it's still pretty long. Having shot a couple of them, I would, frankly, take a Contender or an Encore into the field before taking a long cylinder revolver, preferring to have the extra steel weight put into extra barrel length. Otherwise, I would be looking for lighter and shorter, too.

On the other side of the coin, if you're going to have a combination revolver and lever gun in the same caliber, that .460's higher pressure will sure make for impressive performance. In QuickLOAD I can make it give a 300 grain bullet about 3500 ft-lbs ME from a 22" barrel. The .45-70 at commercial "Marlin" pressures of 35,000 psi, gives a 300 grain bullet about 3000 ft-lbs. It has to be driven to 43,100 psi for its wider bullet to match the .460 S&W on muzzle energy. Heavier bullets at that same pressure give lower ME just because the powder space available is diminishing. However, at that pressure, currently available powders let you keep increasing momentum to about 450 grains of bullet weight in the .45-70 (after which the loss in powder volume starts to curtail that, too), and momentum is what determines penetration, relative to shape. For that reason I've been using a flat nose 440 grain NEI #346 mold I have when I want a lot of destructive penetration from the 1895.

 

[woodwright]

The thing that kinda irritates me, is my friend goes on and on about the 200g bullet at 2200fps. "Its a 200 yard deer killer!" IMHO, how many would shoot a deer at 200 yards with a pistol? And with the muzzle brake, that high pressure round is so loud, I'm not sure your ears would take even one shot unprotected in a hunting situation.

Hes a young guy who is actually the one that got me into shooting. But he'll hear some "fact" from somebody that claims to know what they are talking about and he'll believe it hook line and sinker instead of investigating it himself. I keep trying to get him on this site, because I know alot of what he believes about hunting and balistics is flawed.

Sorry, I'll get off my soapbox now.

 

[funshooter]

When I fired my 460 XVR I fired it with both hands and no mono or cross bar help. The range I shoot at has a corrugated roof when I fired the hand gun all kinds of dirt was knocked loss from that roof and I scared every other shooter there with the percussion. The range I shoot at requires ear protection and every body wares it and I still Scared them. I do not know if I would take the 460 hunting do to the weight. I think if I was to carry that heavy of a firearm hunting I would much rather have a rifle and a smaller side arm. Just my opinion but I still love my 460. I also have the S & W 500 with a 4" barrel . The 460 XVR is still my favorite and funnest hand gun I own!

 

[45_70Sharps]

Not too interested in the 460, but I sure do want to get a BFR 45-70!

 

[Combat Diver]

AKsoldier just bought one and I'm contemplating one myself. I got a chance to shoot one just before I deployed last summer. Man, do I love the DA action on that gun. Shooting full house .454 and .460 at 25m DA rapid fire was awesome and so was the accuraccy. I would love to hunt with one of these (course will have elecrontic muffs on)

CD

 

[pruhdlr]

Not For Me.....But.....

I feel that the .460S&W is the best large game,pistol hunting,at the longer distances,chambering out there.

I know the single shots that are chambered in some of the rifle calibers are great,but especially in a revo,the .460 shines. I would love to see some different platforms come out in the chambering,including a short bbl'ed lever gun and possibly even a simi-auto. The .460S&W has allot more potential other than coming outta a revo.

I have a buddy that has a NEF Handi-Rifle chambered in the .460 and he has reported a substantial velocity increase over the revo. T/C makes a bbl for the Encore(Katahdin,20")chambered in .460 and have been contemplating the purchase of one of those. -----pruhdlr

 

[broom_jm]

I feel that the .460S&W is the best large game,pistol hunting,at the longer distances,chambering out there.

I know the single shots that are chambered in some of the rifle calibers are great,but especially in a revo,the .460 shines. I would love to see some different platforms come out in the chambering,including a short bbl'ed lever gun and possibly even a simi-auto. The .460S&W has allot more potential other than coming outta a revo.

I have a buddy that has a NEF Handi-Rifle chambered in the .460 and he has reported a substantial velocity increase over the revo. T/C makes a bbl for the Encore(Katahdin,20")chambered in .460 and have been contemplating the purchase of one of those. -----pruhdlr

Pruhdlr,

In deer camp this year a guy came in with one heckuva buck and as folks were asking all the normal questions, I wondered what gun he got it with. He nodded over toward the corner of the barn and leaning up against the wall was a stainless T/C Encore Pro-Hunter with a .460 S&W barrel on it, probably the 20" Katahdin you mentioned. I asked him if it was OK if I picked it up and looked at it? He said sure, so I was checking it out, shouldered it n' such. It was a really nice package and he had some decent glass on it, so I decided I would believe his story about shooting that buck at 173 yards, lasered!

Now, to complete the tale, Indiana law does not allow for cases longer than 1.625" to be used, from a rifle, during deer season. So, for the record, that deer wasn't harvested here...but if it was, it would have been illegal as ****.

 

[Whitworth]

For me, handgun hunting is an up close and personal proposition. That is why I do it. It is more difficult. That said, I am not averse to taking shots over 100 yards and practice frequently with my revolvers well beyond the 100 yard mark. I know my .475 Linebaugh consistently and repeatably drops 18-inches at 200 yards, and I have it sighted in for 100 yards.

I have tested the XVR rather extensively and it is a really large and cumbersome revolver. The marketing behind the .460 caliber was brilliant and clear -- to have the fastest (highest velocity) revolver/cartridge combination available commercially. It achieves this bragging right in spades with lightweigh bullets. While they work really well on thin-skinned game, high-speed light bullets aren't the ticket for thicker-skinned game. With heavier bullets -- still at high speeds -- relatively speeking (395 grain WFNs at 1,525 fps), the performance on hogs I shot wasn't spectacular -- this of itself doesn't prove much of anything, but it didn't leave me with much confidence. By contrast, everything my .475 touches reacts almost predictably.

Now on to muzzle energy -- something that is calculated and not measured, is also a marketing tool and a poor way to compare and contrast cartridges. The .454 Casull has better "paper ballistics" than even the .500 Linebaugh, but the much vaunted Casull is much lower down on the food chain I can assure you.

Personally, if I was to get a .460, I would pick a good middle-weight bullet, somewhat north of 300 grains, and run it at moderate speeds -- so, if I stick to those criteria, I can make do with a .45 Colt and actually carry it on my hip.

One last issue worth mention (someone else touched upon his) is the noise created by the brake on the XVR -- holy smoke! You absolutely must wear hearing protection even in the field when hunting, or you will lose your hearing in short order.

Sorry for the long post, but I hope it helps.