It’s no secret. I have a proclivity for shooting big bore handguns with the Smith & Wesson 500 Magnum being my favorite. Up until last weekend, I had only previously fired some Hornday Custom ammo which use a 300 grain FTX projectiles and some HSM Bear Load ammo which use a 440 grain projectiles. Both of those are quite the handful. Last weekend, I had the opportunity to sling some Underwood Ammo loads which use a 700 grain projectiles, which to my knowledge are the heaviest pills available for the .500 Smith & Wesson Magnum cartridge.
It’s hard to describe the amount of recoil felt when the 700 grain Underwood Ammo cartridge, which has been dubbed The Forbidden Lipstick by friends and family due its size and rich red colored projectile, is fired. All I can say is that I’ve never experienced anything like it. Even compared to the other two loads of this cartridge I’ve tried, the 700gr Underwood Ammo load packs a lot more punch. Let’s compare the differences between the loads:
| Hornday Custom | HSM Bear Load | Underwood Ammo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bullet Weight (griains) | 300 | 440 | 700 |
| Muzzle Velocity (fps) | 2075 | 1500 | 1200 |
| Muzzle Energy (ft-lbs) | 2868 | 2199 | 2239 |
A quick glance at the muzzle energies on the table might lead one to believe the 300 grain Hornady would pack a bigger punch in terms of recoil. However, those numbers don’t agree with what my hands felt. Check out the shock wave that travels up my arm in the slow motion YouTube video as I send one of those 700 grain lead cylinders down range.
Did it hurt? Yes and my hand reminded me of that for a couple of days afterwards. Even so, the grin it put on my face was well worth it and I look forward to doing it again.