Craig Boddington was the senior contributing editor of our modern gun and ammunition caliber dictionary. Craig was involved in the development and testing of many of these and writes from first hand experience. This dictionary was written exclusively for Wholesale Hunter with unique information found nowhere else.
GUN CALIBER DICTIONARY
Handgun Ammo
460 S&W Magnum
The 460 S&W Magnum, introduced in 2006, is an obvious follow-own to the big 500 S&W Magnum. The 460 uses a 1.80-inch case with a .4525-inch diameter bullet; like the 500 it is intended as a powerful revolver cartridge for big game hunting, but the 460 is faster and shoots flatter, with a 260-grain load at a whopping 2000 feet per second, yielding over 2300 foot-pounds of muzzle energy. This is not as powerful as the 500, so perhaps not as well-suited for extremely large game--but that's still incredible performance from a revolver! Needless to say, recoil is both fast and hard, with a lot of muzzle rise. This is a cartridge for experienced handgunners who aren't recoil-shy, but the 460 S&W has been proven extremely effective as a hunting cartridge. Smith & Wesson is the primary source for revolvers, but ammunition in multiple bullet weights is available from several manufacturers. — Craig Boddington
