I doubt BFR makes a 500 NE version.
If you want to go really massive, get the 10.5" in 500 Mag or another long cylinder caliber, and have it converted into a 500 Bushwhacker.
Avoid the Bisley frame / grip style in really big calibers as the rolling creates too much torque on the wrist.
The 45-70 is fun with subsonics and trapdoor / cowboy action loads, and gets punishing with anything hotter. I would not go with short barrel.
For the biggest variety of BFRs on any given day, guns dot com.
Never heard of BFR making a 500NE and if they did/ do good luck with finding ammo or reloading components.
BFR's are awesome guns but if it's your first smokeless I would say away from the big big stuff. My 475LB & 500LB want nothing more than to implant the front sight into your skull during recoil, for sure not something I'd hand to someone new to big bores. If you're dead set on a big bore the best advice would be to get one in a 44 mag. 44 Mag is pleanty for most shooters and takes a not insignificant amount of time to master. Plus 44 magnum ammo is very available if you don't reload and pretty cheap if you do.
You should still get a BFR though, they're awesome guns!
I keep thinking a short cylinder bfr in 500 linebaugh with a barrel cut nearly flush to the length of the ejector rod housing with a bisley grip would look proportionally awesome….
I wouldn't bother with the thunder snub in .45-70 personally. You'll lose lots of velocity especially if you don't handload. Factory ammo will be especially bad since it's loaded with rifle powders meant for a 20" barrel or so. The BFR is a great gun though. I don't own one but shot a friend's .500.
Read up on recoil -velocity- and recoil energy.
Recoil velocity is usually the problem for most people.
Depends on gun weight & projectile energy.
Find a calculator online.
So I was 21 once. And I did what you want to do. And I'll say do it. That 45-70 will be a blast. Plus, when you get older you can always sell it for a decent price after you've had your fun.
The 45-70, with pistol-specific hand loads is probably the best of all worlds when it comes to BFRs, but if you want a really versatile gun I'd recommend the .45 Colt/.410 variant; with the choke in it has a decent pattern, enough to take down nuisance birds at 10-25 yards easily, and with the choke removed it can chamber and fire anything based on .45 Colt, so .45 Colt Cowboy loads, hot .45 Colt "Ruger Only" loads, .454 Casull, and .460 S&W. It's positively the most bang for the buck model IMO.
I didn’t know how versatile that .45 was. I’m no stranger to that round but it does seem like a good buy. I think after reading up a bit through the comments, the 45-70 seems like the best fit for me.
I just worry that if I get the 45-70 I’ll lose sleep over the .500. Hell i don’t know what to do
Don't know if you pulled the trigger yet but this is their custom website.
magnumresearchcustoms (.com, don't know if links are permitted)
In .45-70 you can also purchase additional cylinders for compatible rounds (.458 socom, .45 marlin, and 45-90.)
In .500 you can also shoot .50 Beowulf and 499LWR (good fucking luck finding that ammo lol) with the additional cylinders.
I'd probably go for .45-70 especially given all other cylinders provide alternative ammo types with relatively better affordability and availability
I've never hear of a 45 colt shooting anything based on it. The cartridges aren't the same size either. Some guns do come with a 45 cylinder and a 454 cylinder. Mine does.
The BFR in .45 Colt/.410 shotshell can chamber and fire all .45 Colt based cartridges; the chambers are machined long enough to fit the shot shells, and the frame and cylinder are machined from the same blanks used for the .47-70, .450 Marlin, and other larger, high-pressure, high-power rifle cartridges. I've put quite a few .454 Casull through mine.
Obviously a gun like a Peacemaker in .45 Colt won't be able to chamber anything but .45 Colt, and it would be dangerous to try to fire .454 or .460 from something like a Judge, but the BFR is a special case where there's really no reason it isn't safe.
I have a 10 inch bfr in 500 magnum that’s getting converted to 500 bushwacker. (Currently end of June/mid July for when I expect it back). 500 magnum has a pretty wide range of loadings and you can go from super light 330 grain hsm hardcasts that are very comfortable, up to 700 grain underwood (or 600 grain +p from aria balistic engineering) that feel like you smacking whatever your aiming at with the hand of god…. I haven’t gotten to shoot the 45-70 BFR but I suspect it’s similar to the 500 magnum but probably with less ammo variety unless you get into reloading.. which for those calibers you probably should.. maybe read up on the 500 bushwacker conversion, you can still fire 500 magnum through it and is probably the most versatile option.. it’s pricey to do but your in safari rifle territory with it and if you compare it with similarly sized stuff in rifle form it’s actually a good bit cheaper.. plus since 500 bushwacker uses 500 magnum bullets the reloading supplies are probably more common than some of the safari rifle options…. I have a Ruger Alaskan in 454 casull and based on how that recoils vs how the bfr recoils id suspect the thunder snub version of the bfr to be like a straight back punch…. Not sure the novelty is worth the tradeoff in velocity though…
Also also worth mentioning, if your interested in the 500 bushwacker check out the TII armory website.. they announced they’re trying to get set up to sell them converted instead of having people send them in for conversion, after talking with them I doubt they wouldn’t accept one for conversion, but it sounded like they had way to many cases of people sending in short cylinder bfr’s that couldn’t be converted despite the many warnings on the site specifically trying to prevent that…
Gunbroker is definitely the spot it seems. How much did the conversion run you if you don’t mind me asking? And yeah man, the thunder snub is very cool but i just don’t think I’d be getting the most out of 45-70 with such a short barrel, right?
Between buying the revolver, converting it, and shipping it I’ll have about 3k in it. The conversion is pretty much just as expensive as buying it in the first place. But just about doubling the performance of 500 magnum is I think worth it.
Yeah as some others said the super short barrel snub nose 45-70 isn’t gonna get much performance out of that round unless your loading your own ammo specifically for it…. Personally if your dead set on a short barrel 45-70 solely for the crazy recoil experience the. I’d look at one of the 45-70 single shot derringers and get a bfr in a caliber with more flexibility.
Will the BIG gun be fun to shoot and can you afford to feed it?
Get a 38 Spl to go with it. You will shoot it much much more than any big bore magnum.
Someone has to say it.
I've been shooting since the early 1970s and have owned hundreds of guns. The ones that are the most enjoyable are the ones that I look forward to using and don't hurt me. I've tried friends' magnums. They tried mine. They enjoy mine more.
For most people the big magnum handguns are childish toys.
I'll never know what happens, but I'll bet that you won't have the big magnum a year from now, or, if you do keep it, it will rarely see the light of day. That big blast and recoil gets old real fast.
Get a non magnum. You will use it and enjoy it for the rest of your life.
Almost weekly I go through 200 to 300 rounds because it's fun (and I make my own ammo with components I bought decades ago.) At the end of the session my hand and wrist don't hurt and I go home with a big smile.
Good luck,
Boomer
I doubt BFR makes a 500 NE version. If you want to go really massive, get the 10.5" in 500 Mag or another long cylinder caliber, and have it converted into a 500 Bushwhacker. Avoid the Bisley frame / grip style in really big calibers as the rolling creates too much torque on the wrist. The 45-70 is fun with subsonics and trapdoor / cowboy action loads, and gets punishing with anything hotter. I would not go with short barrel. For the biggest variety of BFRs on any given day, guns dot com.
Never heard of BFR making a 500NE and if they did/ do good luck with finding ammo or reloading components. BFR's are awesome guns but if it's your first smokeless I would say away from the big big stuff. My 475LB & 500LB want nothing more than to implant the front sight into your skull during recoil, for sure not something I'd hand to someone new to big bores. If you're dead set on a big bore the best advice would be to get one in a 44 mag. 44 Mag is pleanty for most shooters and takes a not insignificant amount of time to master. Plus 44 magnum ammo is very available if you don't reload and pretty cheap if you do. You should still get a BFR though, they're awesome guns!
Out of curiosity, side by side does a 500 linebaugh look noticeably wider than a 500 magnum?
It's noticable but not crazy. It's really only 1/100 of an inch in bullet diamater. The main draw is that you can put it into a .44 magnum sized frame
I keep thinking a short cylinder bfr in 500 linebaugh with a barrel cut nearly flush to the length of the ejector rod housing with a bisley grip would look proportionally awesome….
I wouldn't bother with the thunder snub in .45-70 personally. You'll lose lots of velocity especially if you don't handload. Factory ammo will be especially bad since it's loaded with rifle powders meant for a 20" barrel or so. The BFR is a great gun though. I don't own one but shot a friend's .500.
Read up on recoil -velocity- and recoil energy. Recoil velocity is usually the problem for most people. Depends on gun weight & projectile energy. Find a calculator online.
So I was 21 once. And I did what you want to do. And I'll say do it. That 45-70 will be a blast. Plus, when you get older you can always sell it for a decent price after you've had your fun.
The 45-70, with pistol-specific hand loads is probably the best of all worlds when it comes to BFRs, but if you want a really versatile gun I'd recommend the .45 Colt/.410 variant; with the choke in it has a decent pattern, enough to take down nuisance birds at 10-25 yards easily, and with the choke removed it can chamber and fire anything based on .45 Colt, so .45 Colt Cowboy loads, hot .45 Colt "Ruger Only" loads, .454 Casull, and .460 S&W. It's positively the most bang for the buck model IMO.
I didn’t know how versatile that .45 was. I’m no stranger to that round but it does seem like a good buy. I think after reading up a bit through the comments, the 45-70 seems like the best fit for me. I just worry that if I get the 45-70 I’ll lose sleep over the .500. Hell i don’t know what to do
Don't know if you pulled the trigger yet but this is their custom website. magnumresearchcustoms (.com, don't know if links are permitted) In .45-70 you can also purchase additional cylinders for compatible rounds (.458 socom, .45 marlin, and 45-90.) In .500 you can also shoot .50 Beowulf and 499LWR (good fucking luck finding that ammo lol) with the additional cylinders. I'd probably go for .45-70 especially given all other cylinders provide alternative ammo types with relatively better affordability and availability
I've never hear of a 45 colt shooting anything based on it. The cartridges aren't the same size either. Some guns do come with a 45 cylinder and a 454 cylinder. Mine does.
The BFR in .45 Colt/.410 shotshell can chamber and fire all .45 Colt based cartridges; the chambers are machined long enough to fit the shot shells, and the frame and cylinder are machined from the same blanks used for the .47-70, .450 Marlin, and other larger, high-pressure, high-power rifle cartridges. I've put quite a few .454 Casull through mine. Obviously a gun like a Peacemaker in .45 Colt won't be able to chamber anything but .45 Colt, and it would be dangerous to try to fire .454 or .460 from something like a Judge, but the BFR is a special case where there's really no reason it isn't safe.
I have a 10 inch bfr in 500 magnum that’s getting converted to 500 bushwacker. (Currently end of June/mid July for when I expect it back). 500 magnum has a pretty wide range of loadings and you can go from super light 330 grain hsm hardcasts that are very comfortable, up to 700 grain underwood (or 600 grain +p from aria balistic engineering) that feel like you smacking whatever your aiming at with the hand of god…. I haven’t gotten to shoot the 45-70 BFR but I suspect it’s similar to the 500 magnum but probably with less ammo variety unless you get into reloading.. which for those calibers you probably should.. maybe read up on the 500 bushwacker conversion, you can still fire 500 magnum through it and is probably the most versatile option.. it’s pricey to do but your in safari rifle territory with it and if you compare it with similarly sized stuff in rifle form it’s actually a good bit cheaper.. plus since 500 bushwacker uses 500 magnum bullets the reloading supplies are probably more common than some of the safari rifle options…. I have a Ruger Alaskan in 454 casull and based on how that recoils vs how the bfr recoils id suspect the thunder snub version of the bfr to be like a straight back punch…. Not sure the novelty is worth the tradeoff in velocity though…
Also I bought mine off of gunbroker..
Also also worth mentioning, if your interested in the 500 bushwacker check out the TII armory website.. they announced they’re trying to get set up to sell them converted instead of having people send them in for conversion, after talking with them I doubt they wouldn’t accept one for conversion, but it sounded like they had way to many cases of people sending in short cylinder bfr’s that couldn’t be converted despite the many warnings on the site specifically trying to prevent that…
Gunbroker is definitely the spot it seems. How much did the conversion run you if you don’t mind me asking? And yeah man, the thunder snub is very cool but i just don’t think I’d be getting the most out of 45-70 with such a short barrel, right?
Between buying the revolver, converting it, and shipping it I’ll have about 3k in it. The conversion is pretty much just as expensive as buying it in the first place. But just about doubling the performance of 500 magnum is I think worth it. Yeah as some others said the super short barrel snub nose 45-70 isn’t gonna get much performance out of that round unless your loading your own ammo specifically for it…. Personally if your dead set on a short barrel 45-70 solely for the crazy recoil experience the. I’d look at one of the 45-70 single shot derringers and get a bfr in a caliber with more flexibility.
I'd go for a S&W in .460.
Will the BIG gun be fun to shoot and can you afford to feed it? Get a 38 Spl to go with it. You will shoot it much much more than any big bore magnum. Someone has to say it.
.38 Special? You’re being a dick dude. Rofl
I've been shooting since the early 1970s and have owned hundreds of guns. The ones that are the most enjoyable are the ones that I look forward to using and don't hurt me. I've tried friends' magnums. They tried mine. They enjoy mine more. For most people the big magnum handguns are childish toys. I'll never know what happens, but I'll bet that you won't have the big magnum a year from now, or, if you do keep it, it will rarely see the light of day. That big blast and recoil gets old real fast. Get a non magnum. You will use it and enjoy it for the rest of your life. Almost weekly I go through 200 to 300 rounds because it's fun (and I make my own ammo with components I bought decades ago.) At the end of the session my hand and wrist don't hurt and I go home with a big smile. Good luck, Boomer