American Handgunner Taffin Tests

From the March/April 2008 Issue

The .500 JRH

The 245 gr. SWC over 10.0 gr. of Trail Boss is
equivalent to the .45 Colt but with bigger holes.

Another .500 cartridge and factory revolver to handle it have arrived on the scene. Several years ago gunsmith Jack Huntington began experimenting with .500 cartridges chambering them in Freedom Arms revolvers. Trying to decide which came first, Huntington’s .500 JRH or the Smith & Wesson .500 Magnum may be a chicken or egg first argument. It’s sufficient to say that currently the .500 JRH is basically a .500 S&W Magnum cartridge cut to approximately 1.400" (my fired brass measures 1.395") and can be reloaded with .500 S&W Magnum dies if the bottom of the crimping die is shortened approximately .200" to make up for the difference in factory brass length between the two cartridges.

I believe Cor-Bon was the first with factory loaded cartridges for the .500 S&W and then followed by Hornady and Winchester. The .500 JRH has also received factory loaded status with both brass and loaded rounds produced by Buffalo Bore and available through JRH Advanced Gunsmithing. Factory rounds feature a 440 LFN (long flat nosed) LBT bullet rated at 950 fps and a full house 425 LFN at 1,350 fps. There was a day I could handle either load all day, however nowadays I find the former load all I want to experience.

It was shot through two .500 JRH sixguns, both with 5 1/2" barrels, one a Custom Ruger and the other a factory produced BFR — more on these sixguns shortly. I also shot it through two Smith & Wesson Model 500s.

From the BFR .500 JRH the muzzle velocity was 973 fps with four shots in 2"; the Custom Ruger, which was scoped, 935 fps and 11/8"; the 8 3/8" Smith & Wesson Model 500, 985 fps and 1 5/8"; and finally the 4" Smith & Wesson Model 500, 900 fps and a 2" group. I have been beat up with recoil enough over the past 25 years to know I did not want to shoot the full power load in the relatively lightweight BFR and Custom Ruger. I did clock this load through the two Smith & Wesson Model 500s resulting in muzzle velocities of 1,422 fps and 1,235 fps. I’m perfectly happy with the 950 fps load as there’s nothing in the lower 48, and especially in Idaho, which cannot be taken with a 440 hard cast bullet at 950 fps.

“One minute-of-bison” groups with the
.500 JRH Jack Huntington Ruger.

Big Bore Sixguns

Tillotson, one of the gunsmiths at JRH Advanced Gunsmithing, graciously allowed me the loan of his Ruger for two months, even though I made snide remarks about his choice of grips. Grips are highly subjective and his truly are, being of extra thick black and red laminated construction. I was not captivated by their looks however I must admit they certainly handle recoil well.

This JRH Custom Ruger has a 5-shot cylinder, of course, of the free-spinning variety, which allows it to be rotated in either direction when the reloading gate is opened. This is especially helpful if a bullet should jump the crimp, as the cylinder can be rotated backwards and the offending cartridge removed. A custom locking base pin is fitted and the trigger pull measures at 2 3/8" on the RCBS Premium Trigger Pull Scale. This entire .500 JRH Custom Ruger is finished in a very nice deep blue while the front sight, which has a bright red-orange insert, is set on a barrel band. I did not get to use the iron sights as this Ruger came with a 2X Leupold scope mounted. This particular sixgun was a perfect example of why everyone has to sight each gun in themselves. The owner had it sighted in dead on at 50 yards using his hands and eyes; for me it shot quite accurately but 3" to the left at 25 yards.

The factory .500 JRH BFR from Magnum Research is a basic stock example right out of the box, except Huntington added a red insert in the front sight. The rear sight is adjustable, the balance of the gun is stainless-steel, it is fitted with a locking base pin, also has a free spinning cylinder, and the top of the frame is drilled and tapped for a scope base. The trigger pull comes in at 2 1/2". The grip frame, to me, is wrong for a big bore revolver being the standard Blackhawk shape and size. It’s nicely fitted with black micarta stocks, however I would prefer a Bisley-style grip frame to help handle felt recoil. Custom sixgunsmiths often line-bore their cylinders, that is the cylinder is held in place in the frame while the pilot hole is drilled through the front of the frame. Huntington tells me BFR sixguns are not line-bored but rather “The barrels are probed individually to each frame and the action is timed.” Both of these .500 JRH sixguns have been used to take American bison, and Huntington plans to take the BFR to Zimbabwe for Cape Buffalo in the near future.

Powerful .500 Loads

For reloading the .500 I chose two bullets, the 370 GC Hard Cast from Oregon Trail Bullet Co. and NWCP’s (Northwest Custom Projectile) 350 Low Velocity Jacketed FP designed for penetration and expansion at standard velocities. For reloading the .500 JRH with these bullets I used my set of RCBS .500 S&W dies and shell holder along with a shortened crimping die provided by Huntington. My goal was not to see how fast I could drive these bullets, but rather to come up with what I call every day working loads in the 900-1,000 fps range. In the process I came up with some pretty exceptional loads and found Hodgdon’s TiteGroup to be an excellent choice with both bullets, and using the same powder charge of 12.0 grains.

Firing these two bullets over this powder charge through the Custom Ruger resulted in just under 1,100 fps with the Oregon Trail 370 GCHC and four shots in 7/8" while the NWCP over this same charge clocked out at 1,160 fps and a 3/4" group. Both bullets also did well with 18.0 gr. of Alliant’s Blue Dot at 1,050-1,060 fps and groups of 1" or less. None of these loads may be considered full house loads, but I can’t think of anything in the lower 48 they cannot handle.

The Big .50s: .50 GI, .50 AE, .500 Linebaugh, .500
Wyoming Express, .500 S&W and .500 JRH.

Enjoy The .500

I wanted to come up with one more very pleasant shooting load that would be basically a .50 caliber equivalent to my most used .45 Colt load of a 255 SWC over 8.0 gr. of Unique. I had some .50 caliber 245 gr. SWCs on hand for use in the .50 GI. Loaded over 10.0 gr. of Hodgdon’s Trail Boss gave a muzzle velocity of approximately 800 fps and four rounds through the iron-sighted BFR clustered in a nice little group. This would make an excellent up close deer load with very mild recoil.

If one really wants the power the potential is there in the .500 JRH, just as it is in the .500 Linebaugh, .500 Wyoming Express and .500 Smith & Wesson. The loads I have listed are still powerful, without exhibiting excessive recoil.

For more info: JRH Advanced Gunsmithing, www.jrhgunmaker.com, (530) 268-6877; Oregon Trail Bullets Co. (offers a full line of hard cast bullets for both sixguns and rifles), www.laser-cast.com, (800) 811-0548; Northwest Custom Projectile (offers just about any big bore jacketed bullet custom designed with jacket thickness appropriate to their use), www.customprojectile.com, (406) 723-8683; Magnum Research, www.magnumresearch.com, (218) 746-4597.

Test-Fire: Huntington Custom Ruger

5 1⁄2" x .500 JRH

Load	MV (fps)	4 Shots/ 25 Yards (inch)

Buffalo Bore 440 LFN	935	1 1/8
Oregon Trail 370GC/12.0 gr. TiteGroup	1,096	7/8
Oregon Trail 370GC/12.0 gr. WW231	958	1
Oregon Trail 370GC/16.0 gr. HS-6	1,020	1 1/4
Oregon Trail 370GC/25.0 gr. H4227	920	1 1/4
NWCP 350 LV-JFP/12.0 gr. TiteGroup	1,059	3/4
NWCP 350 LV-JFP/16.0 gr. HS-6	999	1 1/2
NWCP 350 LV-JFP/25.0 gr. H4227	866	1 1/2

There's more from John Taffin
in the March/April issue...

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March/April 2008
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This column is sponsored by:

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