.460 S&W Magnum

[Zeebz]

With all the hype about .450 Bushmaster for lower MI deer, I am surprised that I don't see very many people talking about the .460 S&W Mag. You can shoot three different rounds through them (460 S&W, 454 Casull, and 45 Colt), and the .460 itself hits like a truck out of a rifle: about on par with hot loaded 45-70 Govt. It surprises me that more companies don't make more rifles chambered in it, as well as not hearing as many people talk about it.

[Rubber Duck]

I agree I looked into this round heavy for our area but there just wasn't many rifles available I even wrote Henry to let them know what a hit a Henry lever gun would in that caliber

[Smokepole]

I have the XVR .460 Magnum, and it does pack a wallop!

[Yoda]

About the only rifles I've seen in this caliber has been the T C Encore. Bring it up on youtube , looks like it packs quite a wallop on both ends.

[badman]

I have a single shot h&r in 500 mag. Fun shooter. Definitely has recoil. Drop a dear pretty hard. Lol

[Zeebz]

I agree I looked into this round heavy for our area but there just wasn't many rifles available I even wrote Henry to let them know what a hit a Henry lever gun would in that caliber

Yeah I have a Ruger No. 1 chambered in it (460 S&W), aside from that the only other rifle I know of that's really "built" from the ground up to handle the caliber is the Big Horn Armory Model 90, but those are over $2,500. I think the main issue with the .460 S&W is that it emits some insane amounts of pressure for a handgun round. It's rated at 65,000 PSI which puts it in the realm of 300 Win Mag, 338 Win Mag, and 338 Lapua in regards to pressure levels. It has so much pressure that early on it was causing the frames on the S&W 460 revolvers to crack. So just to handle it the action in a gun has to basically be built to handle magnum rifle cartridges. The only other lever actions that could chamber it besides the Big Horn Armory are the Browning BLR, and possibly the newer Winchester 1886s.

The Marlin 1895s I believe are rated up to 40,000 PSI which is good for some hot 45-70 loads, but still not near enough for the .460 S&W. I am not sure what Henry's rifles are rated at, but I would assume nothing they currently make could handle it aside from their Single Shot rifle.

[markopolo50]

I wanted a lever gun in 454 Casull. Rossi makes one but I wish that Marlin or even Henry would chamber a lever in that caliber. So I started looking at the T/C barrels and like Zeebz, found that with the 460 barrel I could shoot the 454 and 45. Don't really like the 20" barrel and MGM will make one out to 27". With a price near $400 just for the barrel, I am starting to look at the 450 Bushmaster. So many options, so little time, HA

[art]

.460 is an excellent handgun round- not so good as a rifle round due to loaded ammo available....a rifle just drives it too fast. Handloaders have way better options- better bullets, like the ones intended for .450 bushmasters, and ability to load it down a bit.

[Zeebz]

.460 is an excellent handgun round- not so good as a rifle round due to loaded ammo available....a rifle just drives it too fast. Handloaders have way better options- better bullets, like the ones intended for .450 bushmasters, and ability to load it down a bit.

I think it's a great rifle round, but I also definitely understand where you're coming from. Most handgun rounds gain very little velocity from a rifle barrel after a certain point. The .460 gains pretty good velocity across the board through a 20" barrel. Out of a rifle barrel it competes with rounds like the 30-30 and 45-70 in terms of velocity, which IMO is a nice advantage to have especially when we're limited to handgun rounds. Granted, the 30-30 and 45-70 aren't exactly super long range guns, but they shoot good out to a few hundred yards, as does the .460 out of a rifle barrel.

The main issue with the .460, which you brought up and I do agree with, is the power. It moves down range very fast and packs a ton of energy. Like I mentioned in the OP, standard .460 loads out of a rifle are on par with really hot 45-70 Govt loads which are excessive for deer. I think if you used a heavier hard cast bullet you might be alright, but definitely with something like the 200gr Hornady round you'll probably destroy a ton of meat if you make a bad shot. Like you said, though, I think the .460 really shines out of a rifle if you reload.

[josey wales]

The factory Corbon 200gr Barnes runs at around 2900 fps out of a 24" MGM bbl, Accuracy was fair, Same bullet from a 20" TC bbl was around 2500 fps, accuracy terrible,
Buffalo bore 275gr from the MGM bbl is avg 2525 fps with outstanding accuracy and devastating on deer,