The new kid on the block is the .500 Magnum by legendary gun makers Smith and Wesson. 

It was in February 2003 that Smith & Wesson introduced this new Revolver, it was intended to put the company back on top and recapture its now infamous title of " The most powerful handgun in the world" The Smith & Wesson Model 500 .50calibre Magnum was designed around an entirely new cartridge developed and designed by leading USA ammunition manufacturers Cor-Bon.

This firearm is now the worlds most powerful production handgun. It is 3 times more powerful than the devastating .44 magnum as made famous in the 1971 movie "Dirty Harry" by Clint Eastwood.

The images below show a Smith & Wesson 50th Anniversary Model 29 .44 Magnum and Clint Eastwood as 'Dirty Harry' with his Smith & Wesson model 29 .44 Magnum. Incidentally, just because of the advent of the .50 caliber Magnum, the legendary.44 Magnum should never be underestimated, it is still one hell of a powerful handgun.

Magnum revolvers have actually been around since 1935 when Smith and Wesson produced a .357 Magnum revolver to replace the police's relatively underpowered .38. Then in 1955-6 the .44 Magnum was produced and in 1961 the .41 Magnum appeared. Of course it wasn't until "Dirty Harry" came along that the .44 Magnum received world wide recognition and came out of the closet.

The image below depicts a .50 Magnum with shorter 4 inch barrel with recoil compensator vent at the guns muzzle.

There have been other gun manufacturers since producing big caliber handguns especially the .454 Casull Magnum, .475 Linebaugh Magnum, .480 Ruger Magnum and Desert Eagle .44 Magnum and very powerful .50AE Auto Express. Smith and Wesson stated that it was time to put their name back on the top of the list.

Below, the  images are of the Desert Eagle 50Auto Express and .454 Casull Magnum.

Smith and Wesson introduced this new .500 revolver to supercede the .44 Magnum and other makes as the most powerful handgun in the world with a new size  'X' frame. 

The image below depicts the new .50 'X' frame Magnum above a .44 model 629  'N' frame.44 Magnum. And in comparison the .50 makes the big .44 look quite small. Smith & Wesson have always named the size of a gun with letters of the alphabet, 'J' being the smallest and now 'X' as the biggest. 

J Frame

K frame

L frame

N frame

It must be noted they that haven't called the .500 the 'Z' frame, does that mean that the may produce two more models in the future, by keeping 'Y' and 'Z' in reserve ??

Ammunition.

In the National Rifle Associations magazine "American Rifleman" they stated that this new .500 Magnum is more powerful than some rifle rounds and that the .500 Magnum combines the convenience of a handgun but with the power of a rifle.

Ammunition manufacturer 'Cor-Bon' developed the new cartridge for this gun and is also the factory that provides the ammunition for it as well, presently with six 'factory' loads available which are:

note: Even the lightest bullet is twice as powerful as the .44 Magnum bullet !

The 440 grain it can be noted has a muzzle energy of 1.25 tons ! This bullet is not designed to expand or deform upon impact but to keep as much energy as possible for the deepest penetration of whatever object is unlucky enough to be its target.

The image below depicts the Smith & Wesson .50 Magnum Hunting handgun with shoulder straps, recoil and blast compensator along with a scope rail for the attachment of telescopic or red-dot sights.

The normal operating pressure of the .50 Magnum revolvers cylinder is 50,000 psi (pounds per square inch) but to prove how safe the gun is for the potential shooter, the cylinder is 'proofed' at the factory. The gun is fired on a special bench with a mechanical device to pull the trigger. The .50 Magnum's cylinder chambers are all proofed to 71,000 psi. Smith and Wesson Metallurgy engineers actually attempted to deliberately blow one up and they seriously overloaded the charge in the cartridge and  then bench fired it expecting the cylinder to explode or at least shatter. 

The super pressure cartridge (above) designed to do this, produced 90,000 psi !! and the cylinder only deformed and bulged out slightly in the test. This proves how safe the gun is to fire.

The two images below illustrate what the normal muzzle blast looks like when the gun is firing its normal  ammunition. 

As you can see, not only does the blast extend form the muzzle but it also emits out of the side where the cylinder face meets the breech of the barrel. Even though it looks extreme it is reported that the recoil of the gun only raises the muzzle up 45 degrees, the .44 magnum could go as high as 90 degrees.

The below image shows the 275 grain Barnes solid copper hollow-point HEX bullet on the left that is designed to split open on impact and on the right the 400 grain Jacketed soft-point bullet that is designed to mushroom and deform upon impact. The bullets incidentally were fired into ballistic gelatin which is a big block of stiff jelly like substance that is supposed to simulate flesh !

A commercial Ammunition company in the USA called 'Ballistic Supply' have made the worlds  heaviest revolver bullet especial designed for the .50 Magnum. Its a 700 grain bullet that delivers one ton of energy. Here is the actual size photo of it below.

Specifications.

The .50 Magnum is a double action revolver, meaning that the gun can be fired by pulling the trigger to both cock and fire in one go, or the hammer can be pulled back into a "locked" position until the trigger is pulled to fire it.

As the image below illustrates it only has a five round capacity as opposed to a .44 Magnums six.

The standard .50 Magnum weighs 4.53 Lbs is 15 inches long with the 8.38 inch barrel taking up most of the length. Also incorporated is an integral self engaging hammer block with a hammer key-lock safety system. The guns sights have adjustable rear with interchangeable front post. The sight radius is 10.75 inches.

The barrel is rifled with 6 left hand twist grooves and along with the rest of the gun is finished in a brushed stainless steel. Hogue rubber recoil absorbing monogrips are fitted as standard.

Summary.

Has the Magnum handgun now reached its finale with the advent of the .50 caliber ? I would think that it has because to go to any further extremes would surpass a handguns premise of a small, compact and portable weapon.

The caliber of a full run production handgun it is thought will never now go over .50 of an inch and with the capability of the .50 Magnum to kill anything on the planet as it is anyway, the necessity isn't there. Before the .50 magnum went into development it was reported that a .75 Magnum had been contemplated by Smith and Wesson engineers but never got past the drawing board. There are also USA Federal "Boundary" laws that state .50cal is the maximum allowed for handgun development.

It is with this gun then that Smith and Wesson go into the 21st century. Their name established again as the true king of handgun manufacturers.

By way of contrast, below is a Colt 5 shot revolver which fires a 2mm pinfire bullet...which was the worlds smallest production cartridge.

          Enlarged image of the cartridge

Above is actual size of the revolver and the ammunition. Many little guns were made in the late 1800's to fire this bullet.

I said Smith & Wesson  have the Worlds most powerful production handgun which is true, but the stand alone worlds most powerful handgun ever is a title that belongs to another ....

worlds biggest handgun.     worlds smallest handgun.     to my links.