The Big X Review: Smith & Wesson X-Frame Line

Smith & Wesson regained their place as the owner of the most powerful commercial revolver on the planet twenty years ago. I say regained because the.454 Casull, which was used in the Freedom Arms Model 83 Single-Action Revolver a few years later than Mr. Callahan’s classic line, had eclipsed Dirty Harry’s famous words about the.44 Magnum being the most powerful. The 460 XVR with bipod mount. XVR stands, “X-Treme Velocity Wheelgun,” and this wheelgun provides plenty of it without being too overwhelming. In a revolver the.500 S&W cartridge is a powerful force capable of pushing bullets of 500-grains over 1,400 fps. The bullet weight and velocity mentioned above is just one example of this cartridge’s strength. There are many factory options of lighter bullets with even higher velocities. The engineers and gunsmiths at Smith & Wesson developed a larger revolver frame in order to harness the pressure, velocity, and recoil of a wheelgun. The X-frame was named after the company’s long-standing tradition of naming revolver frames by letters (small to big), such as J-, K -, L – and N -frames. This behemoth, designed to hold the 1.625 inch case of the.500 S&W, was christened “X-frame”. A couple of years after the.500 S&W came to light, S&W teamed with Hornady in order to add the smoking The.460 was the fastest production revolver round, pushing a bullet of 200 grains to 2,200 fps. The 460 XVR is a powerful revolver that can produce excellent groups. However, it can be picky about the ammo. You can try a few different brands to see what your gun likes. A friend of mine bought a.460 revolver right after it was released, and we were eager to test it. We were surprised that the recoil from the super-fast cartridge, in the big X frame, with its muzzle break and 8.38-inch bar, was manageable. I have a picture of my wife shooting the big revolver while she casually smashed small boulders. I won a Turkey at the annual turkey shooting in Sanderson, Texas one year, shooting the.460. For those unfamiliar with BP Polo, each contestant is assigned an empty tin at a distance of say 20 yards. You have six shots at the can and the winner is the one who gets the can the furthest. I can assure that a.45 caliber slug fired at 1,500 mph will send the can flying. The PC 460 XVR 3.5″ is one of the most powerful and ultimate short-barreled revolvers. These are powerful, hard-hitting rounds. These revolvers are designed for hunting and come in full-sized versions. They can be a little difficult to carry in the field. S&W offers a variety of X-frames that can be customized to meet your needs. The Performance Center 460 XVR, for example, is a beautiful gun and is easy to shoot and hold. The 460XVR and 500 HI VIZ are both good-looking five shooters with a 3.5-inch barrel. They weigh 58.8 ounces and 56.8 in smaller, easier-to carry sizes, compared to the full-grown versions, which can range from 71 ounces to 99.1 in weight. This is 4.4 to 6 lbs of wheelgun for big boys. I see these short guns being perfect for outdoormen who want a powerful double-action revolver that’s easy to carry. The same is true for the 4-inch gun. They also have options for those who aren’t afraid to bring the biggest guns into the woods. Some of these guns are so big that they even have slingswivels. S&W’s Model 350 is now available in the new 350 Legend. It is aimed at the deer hunter market in straight-walled cartridge country. The cartridge is composed of a 1.71 inch rimless case that launches.357 caliber bullets weighing between 124 and 180 grains at 2,000 fps. Phil Massaro compares the.350 Legend cartridge to the.35 Remington cartridge for a good comparison. S&W’s 350 ammunition and Hornady 350 Legend ammunition are great for medium-sized game. This rimless case can be loaded using the moon clips that come with the gun, or you can pick the rounds out of the chambers once fired, since there is no rim to extract them. Moon clips are simple to load. I found that giving the case a little turn when pressing the cartridge in the clip made it easy. I used a pocket-sized screwdriver to remove the empty cartridges from the “rim” end. If you don’t have a moon clip, a small screwdriver or a dowel rod would be useful to tap out the case. It’s possible, but I haven’t had a case stick in the chamber. It weighs 71.5 ounces and is 1.92 inches in width, 6.37 inches in height, and has a barrel of 7.5 inches. The fit and finish on this stainless steel revolver is excellent. The single-action trigger breaks crisply at just over four pounds. The double-action trigger pull is also very smooth. The front sight has a red ramp and the rear adjustable is white with a white outline. This hefty handgun’s long barrel makes it well balanced for off-hand shooting and handling. A size comparison between S&W N-frame.44 magnum and X frame 350 Legend. While I waited for Hornady’s test ammo, I bought a few boxes of ammo. I couldn’t resist shooting this revolver. Winchester’s “Target and Practice”, 145-grain, FMJ load grouped seven rounds at 25 yards into a 1.99-inch group. Browning’s 124 grain FMJ load printed a cylinder of them in a small group, the size of my palm. Hornady 165-grain FTX loads recently arrived, so I returned to the range. I fired seven rounds with a 2.3 inch group from a seated tripod-supported rest. I assumed it was coming from the port on the end of barrel. The PC Model S&W 500 has a 7.5 inch barrel. Sorry, Harry, but this is the most powerful pistol in the world. The big X frames are hunting guns. I tip my hat at S&W, for remembering handgun hunters. The 350 is an excellent choice for those who are interested in handgun hunting but have a fondness for the large-framed Smith. This model is a heavy-duty, double-action revolver with a cartridge that can take medium-sized game. This revolver and round is a great choice to take down one of the beautiful, large spotted deer in the Texas Hill Country. It’s easy to say that the 350 Legend is accurate and will do any job asked of it. I still prefer my revolvers with open sights, but I’m certain one could tighten groups and increase some distance with a good scope or red-dot, if so inclined.The muzzle is ported, which greatly reduces recoil and provides a pleasant shooting experience.Truthfully, I’m not a group shooter. I think they are great for deciding on a load and showing what a certain brand or load will do. For all practical purposes, I want a load that is powerful enough to hit the target on the first shot with the right bullet. If an open-sight.38 revolver can consistently produce fist-sized groupings at 25 yards, and can more often than not hold a cylinder of ammo within a standard-sized paper or dessert plate, at 50 steps from the field positions, then I’m ready to hunt. The shooter is the most important factor. The bigger requirement lies with the shooter. Download your free Storm Tactical printable target pack62 Printable MOA targets with DOT drills – Rifle range in YARDSThis impressive Target Pack from our friends at Storm Tactical includes62 printable targets for rifle and handgun ranges. The target grids and bullseyes are in MOA. Subscribe to the Gun Digest newsletter and we will send you your print-at home target pack immediately. Enter your email below.