.460 S&W Magnum

• Name —.460 S&W Magnum • Origin — United States • Type — Handgun • Designer — Hornady / Smith & Wesson • Design Date — 2005 • Production Date — 2005–present • Parent —.454 Casull • Case Type — Rimmed, straight • Bullet —.452 • Neck —.478 • Base —.478 • Rim Dia —.520 • Rim Thick —.059 • Case Length — 1.80 • Length — 2.300 • Primer — Large rifle • Max Pressure — 65000 • Bw1 — 200 • Btype1 — DPX Cor-Bon • Vel1 — 2300 • En1 — 2350 • Bw2 — 260 • Btype2 — PG Winchester • Vel2 — 2000 • En2 — 2309 • Bw3 — 300 • Btype3 — JFN Buffalo Bore • Vel3 — 2060 • En3 — 2826 • Bw4 — 360 • Btype4 — LLFN Buffalo Bore • Vel4 — 1900 • En4 — 2885 • Bw5 — 395 • Btype5 — HC Cor-Bon • Vel5 — 1525 • En5 — 2040 • Test Barrel Length — 8.375 inches • Balsrc — Corbon Ammo, Cartridges of the World, Buffalo Bore

The.460 S&W round is a lengthened, more powerful version of the popular.454 Casull, itself a longer and more powerful version of the.45 Colt. For this reason, the.460 S&W Magnum can be considered an example of a "super magnum". Consequently, firearms that fire.460 S&W are usually capable of firing the less powerful.454 Casull,.45 Colt, and.45 Schofield rounds, but this must be verified with each firearm's manufacturer (most lever-action firearms can only feed cartridges within a certain overall length and bullet profile range). The reverse, however, does not apply:.45 Schofield,.45 Colt, and.454 Casull handguns cannot safely fire.460 S&W rounds — nor can they chamber the.460 S&W because of the longer case length.

Smith & Wesson claims that the.460 S&W is the highest-velocity revolver cartridge in the world. It propels 200-grain (13 gram) bullets at 2409 ft/s from a 10.743-inch (273 mm) test barrel, 2,546.3 ft/s (776 m/s) from a 14-inch (356 mm) Smith & Wesson revolver, 2,656.8 ft/s (810 m/s) from a 10-inch (254 mm) BFR revolver, or 2,323.4 ft/s (708 m/s) from an 8 3/8-inch (213 mm) Smith & Wesson revolver. However, the.500 Bushwhacker cartridge can generate 3,004.6 ft/s (916 m/s) with a 230-grain bullet from a 14-inch (356 mm) revolver. The.460 cartridge achieves high velocities by combining light-for-caliber bullets, a large case capacity, and the high chamber pressures (65,000 psi maximum) typical of magnum rifle cartridges. At the same time, the recoil when shooting.45 Colt ammunition out of the Smith & Wesson Model 460 is comparable to recoil from a 9mm or.380 load, due to the significantly lower power generated by this cartridge. With Buffalo Bore's loadings, the.460 S&W can achieve 2826 ftlbf of energy by driving a 300 grain.452 caliber bullet at 2060 ft/s and 2885 ftlbf of energy by driving a heavier, 360 grain,.452 caliber bullet at 1900 ft/s. For comparison, Hornady's 9249 load for the.500 S&W Magnum cartridge offers slightly less energy at the muzzle, achieving 2868 ftlbf by driving a 300 grain (19 g) FTX bullet at 2075 ft/s. Buffalo Bore's loading for the.500 S&W cartridge offers much less energy at the muzzle, achieving only 2579 ftlbf by driving a 440 grain.500 caliber bullet at 1625 ft/s. However, the claimed muzzle energies of ammunition manufacturers may not be realized in real-world firearms, due to differences in forcing cone design, cylinder gap width, and barrel length.

Big Horn Armory's Model 90 lever-action is currently the only repeating rifle chambered in the.460 S&W, though a rimless variant of the cartridge, the.45 Raptor, has been developed for semi-automatic applications. The.460 S&W typically generates additional velocity from long guns, which flattens the trajectory and increases muzzle energy. The Ruger No. 1 single-shot rifle was once offered in.460 S&W, as well as the Thompson Center Encore Pro Hunter Katahdin single-shot rifle.