500 magnum is able to kill any animal on the planet with a good bullet and shot placement. I use it for hunting whitetails but bought it when I went out to grizzly country on vacation. Years ago i helped a buddy put down a deer. He had shot it through the neck and the bullet angled down through its spine toward the rear. That deer refused to die despite 3 .40 cal barnes tac xpd rounds to the neck and skull and a 6.5 creedmoor to the back and neck. We ended up having to just slit its throat. After that i realized animals are way tougher than you could imagine and I decided i never wanted see one suffer like that again. So i figure, if I ever need to finish of an animal again bigger is better. Although it is just plain cool to own a .50 cal handgun.
Agreed. The only times I've felt bad as a hunter killing things is when I have failed to minimize suffering, or failed to retrieve a downed animal.
Some guys up here hunt elk with 50 caliber rifles for the reasons you mentioned regarding the toughness of life.
I shoot 300 win mag 180 grain and I've found the biggest difference to be the bullet. They discontinued Barnes MRX tungsten core and those are just an off switch. Nothing I've shot ever moved from where it was when I pulled the trigfer. Whereas everything I've shot with Barnes 180 grain TSX or TTSX has ran away and died elsewhere, necessitating a retrieval.
Props to the person owning and using a 50 caliber handgun effectively. Id be more concerned about hurting myself, or missing.
Believe it or not, the 500 mag is actually a great shooting gun with light bullets. It has fantastic accuracy, you just need to be prepared for recoil and learn a great deal of self control when squeezing off a round. The first time you shoot it, you will flinch. It takes a couple range trips before you can do anything with it. If i can get in range im going to shoot a deer with one this year, but it's definitely an acquired skill.
(post is archived)