S&W 460XVR - Range Report

[TMan]

I couldn't wait to get home from China because I knew there was a S&W 460 XVR waiting for me.

The gun came with the "long" compensator installed. Looking through the box I did not find the other one, but found a card stating that it wasn't currently available, send in the card and we will send you the short compensator.

Okay, I knew one compensator was for lead bullets and the other for jacketed. So, what is with the long and short? It required a call to S&W who told me that the long one, which I have, is for the lead bullets, but you could shoot jacketed ones through it too.

The gun comes with the green fiber-optic sight installed and in the box is the gold-dot sight. I've previously used a gold dot sight, and they do work very well, but this green dot is very visible, and I think I'll leave it on the gun.

This gun weighs 4.6lbs, and just dry-firing it has clearly indicated to me that I need to start working out with weights. After holding it up for several seconds I noticed the front sight shaking. Consequently, I'm not expecting to set any accuracy records.

Guess what: nobody local has the ammo, nor does MidwayUSA have it in stock. They also aren't accepting back-orders. So, it looks like I'm going to have to shoot 454 Casull in it for awhile.

Trigger: the trigger is quite wide and smooooth. The double-action is heavy and my gauge just reads "over". The single-action mode is very nice and reads an average of 3lbs 12oz. It feels like a lot less than that because of the wide trigger. I hate to admit it, but the trigger in SA mode is better than either my 627 or 629, which came from the Performance Center. The designers really got this thing right for SA anyhow. Also, there is absolutely zero creep. Out of the box, I'm extremely impressed with the trigger. I have no plans to modify it.

Another thing that I really like about the gun is the grips. They are a soft rubber and completely cover the back-strap. When the back-strap is open, as it is with my 44 Magnum (S&W 629), the recoil is transmitted through the metal strap to the palm of the hand. This way there is something to absorb it.

Another great thing is the trigger guard. That may sound silly, but the gun I was shooting today was a Uberti .357 Magnum using S&B ammo. The trigger guard was slapping into the top of my middle finger and was uncomfortable. It forced me to apply more pressure with the shooting hand than I liked, which had a negative effect on my accuracy. There is no way that the trigger guard could hit my finger on this gun.

The hammer is very wide, which makes me happy because it makes it easier to use in SA mode.

The only thing that I don't like is the heavy DA mode. I think the spring is much heavier than what it needs to be. I used new snap-caps and the indentation made by the firing pin was a big one.

It looks like it may be awhile until I get the .360 S&W Magnum ammo, but when I do, I'll update this thread and modified the Subject line.

So far my initial pleasure quotient on a scale of 1 to 10 is a 9. If the double-action mode wasn't so heavy it would be a 10. It has far exceeded my expectations. I was tempted to wait for a Performance Center edition, but I'm glad that I didn't.

Santa may get a short list from me this year. ;D

[5ontarget]

adhlfh hdf nponi Sorry, I just wiped the drool off my keyboard. Sounds very nice, TMan. Speaking of sound, is there a way to "tripple up" on hearing protection with that thing? I'd imagine that this will be a rifle range only gun.

Glad to hear S&W continues to live up to their reputation of craftsmanship.

Here's a couple of sites with ammo...

www.corbon.com/users/corbon/catalog.html?Vl=24&Tp=2

www.ammobank.com/new1.html (free shipping for $45.00+ orders, which should be pretty easy to do at $27-$56/box of 20)

[TMan]

Thanks 5ontarget, I never thought about going to the manufacturer's web-site to see if you could order directly. I checked and Hornady sells direct to the users too. I hadn't heard of ammobank.com, but may order from them because of shipping charges.

It will be interesting to see if it is louder than the Bushmaster 97S. I've shot it at our pistol range and it clears the range rather quickly. The muzzle-brake sends a lot of noise back to the sides of the shooter.

I've also cleared the range shooting .357 Magnum through the Derringer. Of course people were getting nervous because the gun would go bang, and they wouldn't see any holes in my target. Of course the worse was the day I was shooting .45 Colt through it and destroyed the target holder. Talk about leaving the range with your tail between your legs.

Modified to add: whoops, forgot to mention that I now regularly wear foam earplugs with electronic muffs. That way I can hear unless someone is shooting, and the total sound is reduced.

[TMan]

I wasn't able to get the 460 S&W Magnum ammo, so I had to settle for shooting 454 Casull in the gun.

There were a lot of ooo's and ahhh's as the gun was being examined by my buds at the range. Actually, I was a little nervous since I'd never shot a 454 Casull round before. Added to this was my calculations came out to 24 ft-lbs of recoil energy. It also bothered me that I didn't have the correct compensator on the gun, and the factory rep told me that there would be less recoil with the correct one when I receive it in about 2 weeks.

As I took aim I couldn't believe how bright the green dot was on the fiber-optic sight. Remember how you are supposed to focus on the sight? No problem with this because it is so bright that it really gets your attention. Then after a short prayer asking God to forgive me of my sins (it would have been a longer prayer when I was younger. Not that I sin less now, I just don't remember all of them), I yelled "fire in the hole" and pulled the trigger. The gun came flying out of my hands, shattering my glasses, breaking my cheekbone, and knocked me to the ground. Well, that is what I expected to happen. Much to my surprise, there was a bit of muzzle flip, and I could feel the rubber on the grips move slightly in my hands. It was loud, as was expected. I looked at the target and the shot was high in the 9 ring. The next 4 rounds were also high and right next to each other. Wow.

After two clicks with the screwdriver and a change of targets, I shot the next 5 rounds. Incredible, all in the 10 ring. I've never shot a new gun that well. Hey, the only thing I ever came even close to shooting that well was the Sig P210 and the Beretta Stampede.

I then handed it to my best buddy. His group was dead-center too, and was even a little tighter than mine. (This is to be expected as he is a better shot than I am).

It is all we could talk about on the way home in the car. No gun has impressed either of us the way that this one has, and it didn't even come out of the Performance Center. He told me that he expected me to be all over the place on the target and couldn't believe the initial group even though it was high.

On a scale of 1 to 10, this baby gets a 12. Would I recommend it? You had better believe it. If you have to, sell everything else and buy one of these. If the 454 Casull recoil is too much for you, you can always shoot 45 Long Colt in it. Talk about fun to shoot - its a record breaker.

[TMan]

First I'll show you the comparisons between the 460 Magnum and some other popular rounds.



From left to right:
223 Remington
454 Casull
469 S&W Magnum
45 Long Colt
45 ACP
22LR

Next is a picture of my baby



Loaded for bear



Missiles ready for launch



Don't say it: I know, I know, I should have cleaned it before taking the pictures.

["DoubleAction"]

TMan; With a monster cartridge of that length, I was expecting to see a ball & detent lockup added to the cylinder yoke. Did I miss it somewhere ?

[TMan]

No, it is there, but you can't see it from the picture. I was holding the gun in left hand, camera in right hand. What is missing? A hand to focus the camera. Therefore, I had to set the focus and then move camera and gun toward each other until it looked in focus.

Notice the bottom round. It looks like the point of the bullet is totally rounded off. The depth of field is incredibly short with this lens. If you notice the one showing the back of the cylinder, on the bottom rounds the name Hornady is blurred.

Although they call these macro lenses, they really aren't the same as a true macro lens. The newer zoom lenses that I have don't have the feature. Just my two old ones off the 8008. I'm just happy as a clam that they work on the D100.

["DoubleAction"]

I think I found it on the other side of the ejector rod. Smith & Wesson began doing this extra lockup on the yoke on some of their performance center guns, especially the monster revolvers. Brownell's was offering the ball and detent for people to do it themselves a few years ago. S&W actually went back to the Triple Lock system of locking up the cylinder, something many thought should have been done with the 357 and 44 magnums.

[5ontarget]

The macro on one of my digital cameras is terrible, it looks more like a fish eye lens, sure you can be a couple cms from the subject, but getting enough light between it and the lens is hard to do at that distance too.

On a different note...back on topic...
How does it shoot with the .460's?
Also, I'm curious to know how your recoil calculations compared to real life situation with this gun. The formula you found seems to work, but it seems from your decsriptions, that the perceived recoil was less than expected.

[TMan]

I've only shot the 200 grain Hornady 460 Magnums. Corbon makes some heavier loads, but trust me - I have no interest in lighting up any of them.

My groups were not as tight with the 460 Magnum as they were with the 454 Casull. Whoops, I just realized I was on the rifle part of the range and was using the same target stand I was for the SU-16 so these were 50 yard groups. Therefore, they were probably better than the ones with the 454 Casull.

The thing that really puzzled me is that all my groups were low. I had heard that this would be the case, but I didn't understand why. I asked an ole boy at the range. He rolled his cigar around in his mouth and then said it has to do with recoil. The gun is moving vertically in recoil as the bullet leaves. In the case of the 460 Magnum it is getting out of Dodge in a heck of a hurry. Therefore, the gun isn't moving up as fast as it does with the slower 454 Casull.

There is definitely a difference in recoil, which was consistent with the calculations. It isn't a push back as much as it is a rise, which causes it to twist a little in the palm of your hand. With sensitive hands, which I have, after 20 rounds you really don't want to shoot anymore through it. It is a problem that it just is rough on your skin. If I were going to shoot more, I'd put on my Uncle Mike's gloves.

These are definitely not rounds that you would want to shoot through an Airlite Sc, but the big old X frame handles the recoil quite well.

After my first round, I wasn't distracted by any other shooters. They all stopped and watched and LISTENED.

I also shot my Beretta Laramie, which I wasn't too pleased with, the X-Five, and the SU-16. The range officer shot each of those, but wanted no part of the 460. I can understand that - I want no part of the 500.