When I first got it, I bought two hundred 350 grain factory loads. After less than half those rounds one afternoon, I literally thought I had broken bones in my wrist. It took over a month before I no longer felt pain in my hand. I subsequently invested in a pair of jack hammer gloves which make it tolerable. I put a scope on it and those same rounds broke the reticle loose inside the tube so with every round, you could see the cross hairs rotate a little more. I have since loaded up some less brutal ammo that doesn’t break wrist bones or scope reticles. I’m looking at getting some 440 grain projectiles next though. That’s equal to a 1 ounce shotgun slug flying out the end of the barrel. Eventually, I want to do some penetration tests with some max loads and see if this thing will shoot through IIIA body armor the way I think it will. BTW DJ, the .500 develops significantly more muzzle energy than a 45/70. I think it would easily crack an elephant’s skull and shred its brain but you would have to be one ballsy SOB to go on that hunt. I think it would be particularly effective out of a rifle barrel however. you would be looking at energy levels in the 4000-5000 ft/lbs level with a rifle length barrel. I have been keeping my eyes open for a lever gun chambered in .500 SW mag.
I personally do not recommend large caliber hunting weapons as they tend to tire my gun bearer. Also, the recoil often causes me to splash whisky all over my shirt.