.500 S&W legal for deer?

[nkantzer]

Is the 500 S&W a leagal barrel to use during the firearms deer season. Am thinking about getting a barrel for my Contender and am wondering what everone thinks.
Second question does anybody know of a good company to make a barrel if its not readily avaliable, like the 500S&W or a 454 Causual.

 

[FredMcIntire]

Yes, the 500 S&W is legal; however, there are much better choices in the Contender that are less punishing and more enjoyable to shoot, not to mention better ballistics and affordability.

I would highly suggest the .357 Remington Maximum. Its a deer hammer ! I would also look at 7x30 Waters, .30-30 Ack Imp, and the .35 Remington.

Here's a link to check out for custom Contender barrels:

T/C Contender Custom Shop Barrels - Made to Order by EABCO

Look on Gunbroker, too !

Let me know if you need more help or info.

Fred

 

[Yeah]

7s and 30s don't make the cut in rifles regardless of headstamp, though they do well in pistols. So, flip the while thing on its ear and go with a rifle cartridge in a pistol, starting at 243 Win and stopping at 7-08 to cover all ground.

Consider Bergara for your barrel needs.

 

[dbd870]

The 500 is an Encore only round anyways; 357Max is a great suggestion for a rifle barrel.

 

[kludge]

Legal. For both pistol and rifle.

Bullberry for barrels.

Just to clarify, are you looking for a pistol or rifle barrel?

+1 for .357 Max in a rifle. (22-24")
+1 for 7-30 Waters in a pistol (14")

 

[nkantzer]

Looking at rifle barrel, promised the wife wouldnt buy a new gun but we are looking into barrels for the Encore...So the rifle barrel is what im looking for not in a pistol, Im just trying to figure out what would be the best rifle cartridge for deer. This is gonna be my first purchase a big Muzzle loader fan and trying to widen my horizons.

 

[Mgderf]

Looking at rifle barrel, promised the wife wouldnt buy a new gun but we are looking into barrels for the Encore...So the rifle barrel is what im looking for not in a pistol, Im just trying to figure out what would be the best rifle cartridge for deer. This is gonna be my first purchase a big Muzzle loader fan and trying to widen my horizons.

Until you said this, I was going to suggest the venerable 45/70. Easy to come by, you can load them hot, and they thump a deer like the best of them.

Unfortunately it's ONLY legal in a pistol configuration, and ILLEGAL in a rifle.

I have a Super 16 45/70 for my Contender and it just devastates a deer.

 

[1911Shooter]

Like everyone else has said it is legal to use. Its a good round, but you could do better. It is every expensive to shoot and is not every friendly to your shoulder. I have a 500S&W in a handi rifle that I have hunted with and its just not comfortable. The round is just overkill for deer within the range that you could take a shot. IMO go with something you can shoot for less money and better balistics.

 

[fireball168]

Second question does anybody know of a good company to make a barrel if its not readily avaliable, like the 500S&W or a 454 Causual.

Match Grade Machine.

We stock an assortment of popular Indiana Pistol Caliber Rifle barrels, plus our own creations.

 

[kludge]

Looking at rifle barrel, promised the wife wouldnt buy a new gun but we are looking into barrels for the Encore...So the rifle barrel is what im looking for not in a pistol, Im just trying to figure out what would be the best rifle cartridge for deer. This is gonna be my first purchase a big Muzzle loader fan and trying to widen my horizons.

Now would be a good time to start reloading, if you don't already.

With the 1.8" rule in place for 2012, and for best cost effectiveness, I'd go with one of the following:
.357 Maximum
.44 Magnum
.454 Casull
.460 S&W Magnum (takes advantage of the 1.8" rule)

The .44 Magnum is a 150 yard cartridge from a rifle, it's easy to buy ammo for and it's easy to hand load. I shoot .45 Colts from Rugers instead of .44 Mags, but that's just personal preference.

The .357 Maximum duplicates the .35 Remington ballistics, which is a time-honored round for hunting deer, and it's good out to 200 yards, maybe 250 yards with the right bullet and in the hands of a practiced shooter and hunter. Chances are good that you will want to handload to get the most from this cartridge, using the excellent 200gr FTX bullet from Hornady designed for the .35 Remington LeveRevolution ammo. Otherwise you will be stuck with flat nose/hollow point revolver bullets and you'll be limited to ~150 yards or so.

The .357 Herrett has about the same ballistics, but is harder to find reloading dies and brass for. It's a handloading only proposition, and you can form brass from relatively inexpensive and easy to find .30-30 brass.

IMHO, the .460 S&W doesn't offer much of an improvement over the .454 Casull for deer hunting, but with the right bullet (Barne$ 200gr) it will get you out to 200 yards. If you don't want to load your own ammo, either of these 45 caliber cartridges will have better availability at retail and runs about $1-$2 per shot. I load the 300gr XTP in my .454 Casull and from a handgun it's good to 125 yards before gravity takes over. From a rifle you can stretch that to 150 yards easily. From a rifle you can push the 240gr .454 Casull to 2,100-2,200fps. The .460 will go another ~150-200fps faster.

So at the muzzle, the .460 and the .500 have the most power. They also kick very hard, and as another poster mentioned, within the useable range for their trajectory they are overkill for deer.

And they are both "outperformed" by the .357 Max at longer range. (For "outperformed" I'm using a combination of factors, including the weight of the rifle and the amount of recoil in addition to ballistic performance).

For the least amount of up front money, ballistics, mild recoil, ease and cost of reloading, I'd go with the .357 Maximum.

.357 Maximum
The Great .357 Remington Maximum Revival

If you want MORE then look at the .358 WSSM/BFG barrels that fireball168 offers. After seeing my Savage converted to .358 WSSM, a friend from my gun club ordered one of the BFG Encore barrels for his rifle. Reloading with the WSSM case is more involved and more expensive, but you can get preformed brass from BFG. After that, reloading is like any other rifle cartridge, but a few more steps are involved than reloading for one of the "pistol" cartridges like the .357 Max.

 

[nkantzer]

Thank you for the info its going to come in really handy. Always wanted to start reloading my self so now might be the time. Since I have said this were is the best place to learn the ins and outs of reloading.
I will probably do a little more reseach on the .454 and .357 Max and will go with one of the two of those. thanks again.

 

[JStarr]

Yes it is.