I am working on some 500gr bullet loads for my Contneder and I'm just curious about other people's experience with them. I have no idea what the recoil will be like, so I'm starting out really slow. My loads are starting with 28gr of IMR 4198 and working up slowly. UI can't wait to try them.

I have no experience shooting 500 gr. but I did spot for someone once at an IHMSA match. He used 400 gr. at the chickens, pigs and turkeys. He switched to 500 gr. for the 200 meter rams. After knocking over the forth ram he sat up holding the grip in one hand and the frame in the other. He sheared the grip bolt in half. I would say the recoil was "considerable".

GRK just for the heck of it at least once a year I'll shoot through a forty round IHMSA match with my 15" Encore in 45-70 loaded with 58.5grs of Varget under a Rem. 300gr JHP.

It's fun till about the second of bank of turkeys and then it starts to be a real chore maintaining enough concentration to overcome what you know is going to happen in your hand when you drop the hammer.

As far as the 500 grainers go I never have tried them, my above load is very accurate and I'm sure it's capable enough to handle anything I'd ever want to hunt with it.

Ike

Ike, I recently aquired a 14" contender barrel with muzzle tamer. I also picked up a Nikon 2x scope to put on it. I dont have it mounted yet but when I do I'm going to try 300 gr. Rem. bullets over H322. I plan on trying it out at a match just for kicks. Maybe i'll work up a 405 gr. load but I am definately going to stay away from 500gr. loads. I need to save my wrist for 80 round matches.

I loaded a couple of 500gr hornady rn last year.I started with a load in the middle of the list for a trapdoor.This was not a real hot load and I was shooting it in a 14" tube of my T/C.I shot the first round and thought it had broke my thumb,Man it did kick a little.I shot 3 more rounds all were a real experence.I will stay with the 300 gr bullets no more 500 besides the 500 have got to be hard on your pistol.Recoil has never bothered me but these really got my attention.
Good Luck and have fun.

Thanks for the feedback. My regular load is 41gr of Re 7 and a Cast Performance 405 WLNGC. This load is nothing too powerful, but at least it's still fun to shoot.
The 500gr loads came about as a bit of a bet. A few people said they didn't think I was dumb enough to try them. I have a few loaded with low charge trapdoor loads. Now I just have to find the time to try them.

I've shot some 500 grain Hornadys in a 45-70 contender with 14" barrel and muzzle tamer. The velocity was around 1450 fps. It was quite painful!!! My hand ached for a week.

I have shot a handful of the 500 cast bullets in my Contender 45-70. I am using 23.0 of SR4759.
I was going to run these over the chrono yesterday and the battery gave out.
Yes they are a handful, but not to the point of making my wrist ache. The 405's with a medium dose of XMP5744 was a lot worse.
I will put it this way, I would rather shoot the 500's in the 14" 45-70 than 300's in a full tilt 44 mag.
Jeff

My experience with this caliber in a Contender is extremely limited -- and for good reason. While mild loads with heavy bullets were a little rough, climbing the ladder with the powder charges soon turned the 45-70 into a beast that i did not want to deal with. My Ruger SRH .44 Magnum with a 320 grain Cast Performance bullet at just under 1400 fps is about my limit of handgun rounds/rigs that I consider enjoyable to shoot (I don't shoot any ported barrels).

Wow, this is an old post. As an update, I did try the 500gr bullets in the contender. They ranged from just plain fun to down right painfull. I have since upgraded to a 45-70 BFR. I plan to try the same 500gr loads in this gun when I get a chance.