"That's not a handgun, that's artillery."

[vakkotaur]

Yesterday jmaynard and I headed up to the Twin Cities to meet a couple people and go to a range to do some shooting. One of the guys in the group brought something rather unusual, a .500 Smith & Wesson revolver. It is big. It is heavy. And it is LOUD.

Watching someone else fire it was interesting. Other folks were firing weapons in the other lanes of the range and there was a background of *plink* and *pop* and the occasional *bang* then there was a *BOOM* and the rest stopped for a moment. I was glad I had doubled up on hearing protection. I had the range-issued earmuff style things, but had put in foam earplugs before putting those on.

I fired it (a total of seven shots), and I'm still feeling the effects today. I'm not really sore as such, but I know I took a bit of a kick from how my hands feel. I can't really see owning or using something like that. It's a very potent novelty, but it doesn't seem very practical. I can now say I fired a .500 S&W, but I have no great desire to go out and get one of my own. Nor to fire one again, really.

Comments

[jdm314.livejournal.com]

I have never head of that brand of rootbeer.

[kinkyturtle.livejournal.com]

Smith & Wesson isn't root beer, it's cough drops. Or cooking oil. Something.

[jcw-da-dmg.livejournal.com]

Smith & Wesson isn't root beer, it's cough drops. Or cooking oil. Something.

It's cough-drop flavored cooking oil. Guaranteed to make your kids go "Blech!"

[taper.livejournal.com]

It's a revolver that big and a seven-shooter? How is it not a heavy object of fetishization in movies et al?

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

No, it's a five-shooter which I fired a total of seven times. Jay fired the first three times and I fired the remaining two. Later I fired a full set of five myself. The revolver is heavy enough as a five, and this was the version with the shortest barrel: compensator (which is not an option) plus three inches. I suspect that in a movie it would appear comical due to the sheer bulk of the thing.

[malterre.livejournal.com]

Apparently there is a place in NH where you caan pay to fire a semi-auto machine gun.
They too, said "Interesting experience, no need to own one."
The caliber of that gun (The S&W) mystifies me. What is the purpose, can't see one...

[vakkotaur.livejournal.com]

A friend of mine, upon hearing that S&W described it as "the ultimate defensive carry handgun" replied: "The S&W Model 500 isn't a defensive-carry handgun. It's not even a hunting handgun. It's an anti-aircraft handgun." Even the guy who owned it said it wasn't really practical.