The Gun Blogs

While there are exotic arms which fire the .50 BMG the .500 Magnum is the current "over the counter" big kid on the block. The cartridge was developed by Cor-Bon with the "X-Gun engineering team at Smith & Wesson for use in their Model 500 revolvers and introduced in February 2003 at the SHOT trade show. Currently only a handful of models have been introduced that fire this massive caliber, including the X-Frame Model 500 revolver from Smith & Wesson, Magnum Research's "BFR" (Biggest, finest revolver), the Taurus Raging Bull and German Janz JTL-E 500. Each holds only five rounds to allow for thicker cylinder walls to accommodate the pressure generated by such a large and powerful cartridge.

It is claimed to be the most powerful handgun cartridge commercially manufactured with over 2500 ft·lbf (3.5 kJ) of energy created with a 440 gr (29 g) bullet travelling at 1625 ft/s (495 m/s). Some loadings can even achieve muzzle velocities of 2300 ft/s using a 325 grain (21 g) bullet. This produces a muzzle energy of over 3817 ft/lb. A good average is 350 Grains travelling at 1975 ft/s.

Bullet weights available for this cartridge, range from a 265 grain jacketed hollow point, to a 700 grain cast lead bullet. Moderate velocity, heavy bullet loads from the .500 S&W Magnum are similar in performance to the black powder .50-70 Government.

So, how does this stack up to say, being hit by a small car?

2,000 lb Car20 mph = 29.4 ft/s Light Car= 2,000 lbs. = .05 X (2,000 X (29.4X29.4)) = 86,436 ft/lbs
350 Grain .500 Magnum1343 mph = 1975 ft/s 350 Grains= .05 lbs. = .05 X (.05 X (1975X1975) = 9,756.5 ft/lbs

The base argument, and you would be right, is that the bullet translates its energy more efficiently as it has a smaller surface area. This being paper science does not take into account the surface area of contact which will reduce the amount of weight usable in transferable energy, but it does give us some idea of the equivalent potential energy. It also does not take into account the pull of gravity which effects the energy of objects in flight.

To level the field if we add in the pull of gravity we can better see the differences in terms of base energy which is closer to the advertised energy of the .500 magnum.

2,000 lb Car20 mph = 29.4 ft/s Light car= 2,000 lbs. = .05 x (2,000/32.4x(29.4X29.4) = 2,667.76 ft/lbs
350 Grain .500 Magnum1343 mph = 1975 ft/s 350 grains= .05 lbs. = .05 x (.05/32.4x(1975X1975) = 2,971.64 ft/lbs

The intended design for this cartridge is for big game hunting and wilderness protection, as well as for ultimate defense (bears, etc). As we see from our calculations the energy from the 350 grain .500 Magnum is very close to a car travelling at 20 miles per hour, though I wouldn't expect the same results. So I imagine the cartridge is pretty well suited for its intended purpose.

So please, shoot as you drive, safely and with one on on the road. You thoughts, as always, are much appreciated.

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