.500 S&W Magnum
Introduced 2003Cor-Bon and Smith & WessonCIP standard
Also known as 500 S&W Mag., 12.7×41mmSR: the same cartridge under different names, all of which find this page.
Dimensions and pressure
Generated from the schema, like every specification table on this site, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table.
Identity
- Designed by
- Cor-Bon and Smith & Wesson
- Introduced
- 2003
- Production
- not recorded
- Standards body
- C.I.P.
- Case type
- Semi rimmed
- Case shape
- Straight
Dimensions
Pressure
- Maximum pressure
- 370 MPa53,664 psisource
- Pressure standard
- C.I.P.
SAAMI and C.I.P. measure pressure differently and their figures are not interchangeable, which is why the body is always named beside the figure.
Loads
Velocity is recorded per barrel length as published. A gun page interpolates between these points and never projects beyond them.
300 gr FTX
Hornady
- Bullet mass
- 19.44 g300.0 grsource
300 gr as published on the manufacturer's product page, converted to grams (1 gr = 0.06479891 g).
- Cartridge mass
- not recorded
- Bullet type
- FTX
- G1 BC
- not recorded
- G7 BC
- not recorded
| Barrel | Velocity |
|---|---|
| 215.9 mm8.500 in | 594.4 m/s1,950 fps |
500 gr InterLock FP-XTP
Hornady
- Bullet mass
- 32.40 g500.0 grsource
500 gr as published on the manufacturer's product page, converted to grams (1 gr = 0.06479891 g).
- Cartridge mass
- not recorded
- Bullet type
- InterLock FP-XTP
- G1 BC
- not recorded
- G7 BC
- not recorded
| Barrel | Velocity |
|---|---|
| 215.9 mm8.500 in | 396.2 m/s1,300 fps |
Chambered in
Computed from every entry that lists this cartridge. Nothing here is hand-maintained.
- Taurus Raging Bull
Taurus Armas
Gallery
Image credit
- Title
- File:500 SW Magnum - SP - 3.jpg
- Author
- Malis
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:500_SW_Magnum_-_SP_-_3.jpg
Image credit
- Title
- File:500 SW Magnum - SP - 1.jpg
- Author
- Malis
- Licence
- Public domain
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:500_SW_Magnum_-_SP_-_1.jpg
Detail
The .500 S&W Magnum is a semi-rimmed .50-calibre revolver cartridge developed by Cor-Bon with Smith & Wesson’s “X-Gun” engineering team for the Model 500 X-frame revolver, both unveiled early in 2003. It was designed from the outset to be the most powerful production handgun cartridge, a title Smith & Wesson had held with the .44 Magnum until the .454 Casull overtook it. S&W product manager Herb Belin proposed the revolver and its cartridge to the company’s sales team, and the project ran for eleven months from approval to unveiling.
The case is a straight cylinder that headspaces on its rim, but the rim is only slightly larger than the body, which lets the round cycle more smoothly through tubular magazines than a fully rimmed revolver cartridge; it does not feed well from a box magazine, where the rim tends to lock into the extractor groove of the round beneath. Its bullet is 0.500 inch across, smaller than the 0.510 inch of the earlier .500 Linebaugh. Cor-Bon later brought out a shorter .500 S&W Special for milder shooting in the same revolvers, and Taurus chambered its Raging Bull for the full-length round for a time.
The dimensions and pressure ceiling on this page come from the C.I.P. datasheet for “500 S&W Mag.”. Both loads are Hornady factory ammunition, spanning a light 300-grain bullet and a heavy 500-grain one, each with a velocity the maker states for an 8.5-inch test barrel. No ballistic coefficient is recorded for either.
References
- .500 S&W Magnum · 1371858917 · read 2026-09-24
- C.I.P. TDCC datasheet — 500 S&W Mag. · 2014-05-20 · read 2026-09-24
- 500 S&W Magnum 300 gr FTX · read 2026-09-24
- 500 S&W Magnum 500 gr InterLock Flat Point XTP · read 2026-09-24
Last verified 2026-09-24 · review status: draft